March, the 12th year of Tensho.

  The curtain rose on a new conflict, triggered by Nobukatsu Oda’s execution of his senior retainers who had been secretly communicating with Hideyoshi.

  Responding to Nobukatsu’s plea, Ieyasu seized Komaki-yama Castle with lightning speed, bracing to meet the Hashiba army. The eyes of all Japan were fixed on the Owari plains, anticipating a direct clash between the two titans.

  However, at this critical moment, the Hashiba army suffered from a decisive "vacancy."

  The peerless strategist, Kanbe’e Kuroda, was not on the front lines. Hideyoshi had entrusted him with the heavy responsibility of serving as the Chief Commissioner for the construction of Osaka Castle, as well as securing the western provinces against threats from Shikoku and Kyushu.

  In Kanbe’e’s absence, a sense of shallow overconfidence drifted through Hideyoshi’s camp. Ever since the crushing victory at Shizugatake, the retainers were infected by an arrogant belief: "Ieyasu can be trampled by mere numbers."

  The ill-fated "Nakairi" (Infiltration) tactic—a surprise raid on Ieyasu’s home province of Mikawa led by Hideyoshi’s nephew, Hidetsugu—was the direct offspring of this lethal negligence.

  The result was a devastating defeat.

  In the fields of Nagakute, Hidetsugu’s forces were annihilated by Ieyasu’s precision ambush. Renowned generals like Tsuneoki Ikeda and Nagayosh Morii fell one after another in the chaos.

  While the Tokugawa retainers roared with triumph, claiming the Hashiba were no longer to be feared, Ieyasu alone stared at the battlefield with cold, calculating eyes.

  "We won... But why was that man not by Hideyoshi's side?"

  A man like Kanbe’e would never remain a mere bystander in a battle that could decide the fate of the realm. The cheers of his men began to sound to Ieyasu like the "caller's cry" of a massive trap set by Kanbe’e. An unshakable suspicion gnawed at Ieyasu: perhaps the mountain of heads he had taken were nothing more than "sacrificial pawns" in Kanbe'e's grand design.

  Meanwhile, at Osaka Castle.

  The urgent report of the defeat reached Kanbe’e. After reading it, he did not so much as twitch an eyebrow. He simply spread a map in silence. Beside him stood his loyal retainers: Zensuke Kuriyama, Tahe’e Mori, and Kurouemon Inoue.

  "My Lord, Lord Hidetsugu has been defeated. Great generals like Tsuneoki Ikeda have perished. Panic is spreading through the camp. At this rate, Lord Hideyoshi’s prestige will be irreparably damaged!"

  Tahe’e’s frantic words were cut short by Kanbe’e, who raised his right hand slightly.

  "Do not lose your composure... Instead, look closely at this map. What we must observe is not a single battle in Owari, but the shifting winds of all Japan."

  Kanbe’e pointed not to Owari, but to a map of the entire nation.

  "Do not mistake this for a local conflict at Komaki. This is a 'net' that Ieyasu has spent over a year weaving behind our backs. Look. Narimasa Sassa in the North. The warrior monks of Negoro and Saika in Kishu. Motochika Chosokabe in Shikoku. Even the Hojo in the East show signs of coordination. All are baring their fangs at Ieyasu's signal. The victory at Nagakute is merely the 'spark' meant to ignite these anti-Hashiba forces across the country."

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  Zensuke and the others gasped. While they had been blinded by the wins and losses in Owari, a web of encirclement had spread across Japan. Kanbe’e’s eyes seemed to see through every single thread of that web.

  "Ieyasu is strong. In a direct clash of arms, perhaps none in Japan can match him today. However, your true duty is not to cut down enemies. It is to trample these 'sparks' one by one and isolate him."

  Kanbe’e’s intellect began to move soundlessly in the darkness. He activated his shadow network to the fullest, severing the alliances of various regions through a "violence of information."

  Against the Negoro and Saika of Kishu, he established a formidable defensive line around Izumi, thwarting their invasion of Osaka before it could begin.

  In the meantime, he tightened the informational net around Chosokabe in Shikoku, throttling him before a sword was even drawn. Motochika, having his water supply cut at Ichinomiya Castle in Awa, succumbed to the terror of "thirst" orchestrated by Kanbe’e. His army of one hundred thousand crawled to open their gates before even crossing the sea.

  When Narimasa Sassa marched from Etchu through the snow, Kanbe’e incited Kagekatsu Uesugi at his rear, forcing Narimasa to retreat.

  Using nothing but letters and information, Kanbe’e peeled away the "National Encirclement Net" that Ieyasu had painstakingly built, layer by layer, from the outside.

  Then, a secret letter arrived from Kanbe’e to Ishikawa Kazumasa in Mikawa. Since their meeting in Osaka the previous year, the "seeds of fear" Kanbe’e had planted in Kazumasa’s heart had grown. This letter was accompanied by a frigidly objective report on the current situation.

  ‘Mr. Kazumasa. Your victory at Nagakute was truly magnificent. Yet, does the sky visible from Mikawa not grow narrower by the day? Chosokabe in Shikoku cannot move; Sassa Narimasa is buried in snow. The wealth and destiny of Japan continue to gather here in Osaka. What awaits at the end of your victory—Tokugawa's glory, or a most honorable extinction? If you possess reason, the answer must already be clear. The only one who can save Lord Ieyasu now is you, through your betrayal.’

  Kazumasa trembled. Each time he reread the letter under his lamp at midnight, he hallucinated Kanbe’e’s cold voice whispering in his ear. The sensation of the Tokugawa being slowly pushed onto a "deserted island of history." Kanbe’e had accurately and cruelly gouged the space between Kazumasa’s devotion to Ieyasu and his mission to preserve the Tokugawa house.

  "Kanbe’e Kuroda... are you telling me to sell out my master? Or are you saying this is the only way to save him?"

  Kazumasa’s sobs echoed hollowly in the silent study.

  Meanwhile, Kanbe’e continued his cold counsel to Hideyoshi.

  "My Lord. Ieyasu is like a stone that only grows harder the more you press it with force. However, if you crumble the foundation supporting that stone—Nobukatsu Oda—it will roll away on its own. If you let him keep the 'name' while you take the 'substance,' that man will move easily. Strike at the Commander-in-Chief, Nobukatsu, directly. Leave Ieyasu 'alone'."

  Following Kanbe’e’s plan, Hideyoshi bypassed Ieyasu and reached out to Nobukatsu for peace. Lured by the "sweet honey" of preserving the Oda name and intimidated by the overwhelming army closing in from behind, Nobukatsu entered into a separate peace with Hideyoshi without consulting Ieyasu.

  November, the 12th year of Tensho. Ieyasu heard the news in his camp at Komaki-yama. The biting winter wind struck his cheeks.

  "Nobukatsu... made peace? Without a word to me?"

  His justification for war vanished into mist. Ieyasu lost his reason to fight and found himself isolated in a quagmire. Though he had won on the battlefield, on the political board, Ieyasu had been reduced to a "piece with nowhere to go." Every ally at his back had been erased by Kanbe’e’s hand, leaving him with nothing but the dishonorable label of a "rebel army."

  Deep within Osaka Castle, Kanbe’e looked up at the moonlit Great Keep under construction and allowed the corners of his mouth to turn up ever so slightly.

  "A poisoned chalice named 'Victory.' Ieyasu, even you cannot endure this thirst... Now, for the final touch. Mr. Kazumasa, I look forward to the sound of you knocking upon these gates."

  The invisible blade of a strategist who was not even on the battlefield was now reaching silently, but surely, deep into the heart of Kazumasa Ishikawa, and toward the throat of Ieyasu himself.

  Produced and written by a Japanese author, rooted in authentic Japanese history. Translated with the assistance of Gemini (AI).