Warring States Survival Guide
Chapter 121 - 74: Legendary Creature: Big Headed Ghost

Chapter 121: Chapter 74: Legendary Creature: Big Headed Ghost

Yamaguchi Keiji was turned by the Imagawa family and started a rebellion, which had a huge impact on the Oda Danjo Chonosuke household. After all, whether it was the Matsudaira family harassing them or the Oda main house in Qingzhou coming over to take advantage, those were all external threats—in Japan’s Warring States Era, that was pretty normal. Aside from Harano, the modern man, no one batted an eye.

But when a senior household retainer like Yamaguchi Keiji betrays you, that’s a whole different beast—this was an internal clan conflict. It meant a lot of people in Danjo Chonosuke’s household had totally lost faith in Oda Nobunaga, figured there was no future following him, maybe couldn’t even keep their own little clan safe, so it was time to find their own way out.

Oda Nobunaga seemed to pick up on this pretty sharply; instead of going ballistic and screaming for heads like before, he actually sent an envoy to try to talk Yamaguchi Keiji into coming back. Even after the envoy was killed, he still brought the Returning Horse Group and some young pages, personally heading to the Tianbai River frontline to try and talk things out with Yamaguchi Keiji.

But the talk didn’t happen—Yamaguchi Keiji was busy urgently building up fortifications along the Tianbai River, already dead set on siding with the Imagawa family. The two sides ended up clashing, each losing dozens of men before pulling back—Oda Nobunaga withdrew first, and when the Imagawa folks heard the fighting had started, a squadron of mounted samurai instantly rushed in. If he’d stayed any longer, he’d have taken a serious hit.

Still, when Nobunaga got back, he didn’t go all-out to mobilize troops for a big battle. For once, he managed to keep his cool, just sent a few household retainers and Lang Faction members to Tianbai River to build some fortifications and reinforce the defenses there, basically tacitly accepting the Yamaguchi Family’s defection. From now on, the Danjo Chonosuke household and the Imagawa family’s border would be redrawn around Tianbai River.

With someone making the first move, a bunch of local gentry in Chita County started wavering too—some openly, some on the down-low—leaning toward the Imagawa family. After all, one of the gates to the Chita Peninsula was now in Imagawa hands, and the "Big Dummy of Owari" didn’t exactly have a great reputation. Even if the war record was currently 1:1, these guys still didn’t feel secure. Everyone started looking for an exit, figuring they’d better stand with the strong.

At the very least, better to hedge your bets; otherwise, in this unlucky era, the more loyal you are, the faster you die!

So, a weird spectacle appeared: the Imagawa family hadn’t even officially fought the Oda Danjo Chonosuke household, but the whole Chita Peninsula was already showing signs of a complete regime swap.

In no time at all, the Danjo Chonosuke household was right back in stormy waters, about to lose 25% of its actual territory overnight.

At this point, the widow of the "Tiger of Owari," Oda Nobuhide—Nobunaga’s mother, Lady Tsuchida—actually marched into Nagano Castle, bringing over a thousand elite troops with Katsuyori Shibata accompanying her. After a serious chat with Nobunaga, she made a public appearance, making it clear she was ready to crush any more rebels side by side with Nobunaga. Only then did the widespread panic barely get under control.

"So, Oda Nobunaga and Oda Shinsei have made up again?" Harano was still waiting for another expedition, but didn’t expect things to play out like this: The Matsudaira family, the Qingzhou main house, and the Imagawa family all taking turns rocking Nobunaga, the whole Danjo Chonosuke household teetering on collapse—right at that moment, the two brothers who were about to fight for the family headship suddenly shook hands and agreed to put aside their feud and deal with external enemies first.

Pretty wild. At first everyone figured these two were definitely going to throw down, all eager to see how it’d go. In the end, it was the only thing they didn’t do. Instead, all the messiest fights happened elsewhere.

Ah Man scratched her cheek, hesitating, "I guess so? I mean, if those two fought again and both got wrecked, the whole Danjo Chonosuke household would be toast. Besides, even now Oda Shinsei probably isn’t confident he can take down Oda Nobunaga, especially since Nobunaga just trashed the Qingzhou army so easily—he’s still strong. Better to let Nobunaga deal with the Imagawa family for now."

"Makes sense!" Harano nodded softly, thinking that’s about right. Even if Oda Shinsei could beat Nobunaga and steal the family head’s seat, odds are nine out of ten the Imagawa family would swoop in and snatch the prize. Instead of that, it was better to let Nobunaga and Imagawa wear each other down, while he bided his time at Mosen Castle, building his own strength.

In that case...

Actually, not bad. The Danjo Chonosuke forces were back together, and you could say the "Tiger of Owari" was about seventy to eighty percent resurrected. The intimidation factor was back too—at least enough that the local gentry wouldn’t dare jump ship at the drop of a hat, lest they end up as an example for others.

The Imagawa family was also wary now. Having already scored some real gains, they were unlikely to launch a full-scale assault—no point risking a blunder and ending up uniting the Danjo Chonosuke household even further, maybe even pushing them into a deadly struggle that’d only benefit some third party.

Harano thought it over for a bit, then gossiped to Ah Man, "So what did Nobunaga and his mother talk about? Was there any other deal or secret agreement inside?"

"All I’ve heard is that Lady Tsuchida chewed Nobunaga out—her voice is so shrill even the dogs two floors down started shaking, and when Nobunaga came out his face looked terrible; he went home and smashed up a bunch of stuff."

That’s really all Ah Man knew. She practiced the Yang Technique, which was about gathering intelligence honestly—sneaking in for eavesdropping wasn’t her thing. "I don’t know the rest. Usually, no one dares get anywhere near that kind of meeting. Eavesdrop and your whole clan could be dead before you know it; best to keep as far away as possible. So, I couldn’t get any detailed intel."

Harano was a little disappointed his gossip mission fell flat—mainly because things were so boring in ancient times, not even a hint of entertainment, so he was dying for an Oda family primetime soap opera. But whatever, it wasn’t that important; as long as peace returned to Owari, that was good enough.