Yasushi Inoue - The Samurai Banner of Furin Kazan

My lord being a daisojyo, it’s comical!” This time her laughter differed slightly from her previous outburst.

“Princess!” Kansuke thought she had gone insane. The way she acted, anybody might have thought the same.

“I like my lord only when he is ready to go into battle. I like him when he is not thinking about things like his wife, Princess Ogoto, or even me. He is best when he thinks about nothing but war. Any other time I do not like him. I would like Katsuyori to take from my lord only bravery as his birthright. Kansuke, please help Katsuyori to be a great general at war like my lord. I beg you, Kansuke.”

“You do not have to worry about that. It is so obvious that he will be the greatest archer in the whole country. He will be the greatest general anybody has ever seen. Just imagine him with the helmet of the Suwa Hossho.”

When Kansuke thought of Katsuyori in Suwa Hossho’s helmet, he just about fainted with joy. It was also his greatest dream to see Katsuyori at his coming of age.

Kansuke liked Harunobu and Princess Yuu. He loved both of them more than anybody else on earth. But to protect this child, who had inherited the blood of the two people he loved more than anyone and to bring him up to be a great general was his only goal from here on.

“Kansuke, shall we go back?”

Until called by Princess Yuu, Kansuke’s eyes had been focused on the slope of a far away hill. His eyes saw nothing as he dreamed of the future. There were a lot of things to think about.

Then, a young samurai approached, his horse galloping at full speed. When he came near Kansuke, he dismounted and said, “The lord will be here very soon.”

“What, the lord! I will return immediately,” said Kansuke. It must be another war, Kansuke thought.

The news of Shingen’s visit visibly put life to Princess Yuu’s face in an instant. The change was quite obvious to Kansuke.

“We must go back to the Kan-non-in Temple quickly,” he said to her.

“Kansuke, please go and get a branch of peach blossoms. I have no reward for him who renounced the world at my request.

So I shall show him peach flowers, at least.”

Kansuke was enchanted by her beauty as her face lit with joy.

This time, he thought, yes, definitely she is more beautiful than Princess Ogoto. And, he was satisfied with this thought.

Kansuke and Princess Yuu went back swiftly to the Kan-non-in Temple. Kansuke thought it had to be another war for sure, but Shingen sat on the veranda of the mansion and looked unusually relaxed. Looking at the peach flowers which Princess Yuu brought he said, “Peach blossoms. Blooming already?”

“The peach blossoms have been blooming for over a month,”

said Princess Yuu.

“Is that right? I have not noticed them at all,” answered Shingen. He had been too busy, spending day and night plotting strategy, to notice the peach blossoms, which covered the entire mountain and the fields of the Shinano and Kai districts.

Shingen, with his shaved head, looked rather cold. He must have appeared funny to Princess Yuu’s eyes. She looked as if she was suppressing laughter, but she resisted the temptation and did not bring up the subject at all.

“I thought you were taking to the field again,” said Kansuke.

“Taking to the field? Give me some time to rest,” he said in disgust. Then he looked at Princess Yuu and said, “Would you prepare for a banquet?”

Kansuke was about to withdraw and leave the two of them alone, but Shingen said heartily, “How about drinking sake together, with us for a change, Kansuke?”

This was the first time that all three of them had drunk sake together and it was quite a surprising request coming from Shingen.

The surface of the lake darkened as the day waned. The lake was unusually calm and not a ripple marred the placid surface. Across it, the summit of the mountains was still covered with snow.

“Well, we both have renounced the world, what should we do now?” Harunobu asked jokingly. “I will do anything that you tell me to do, Yuu. If you tell me to attack Kiso, I will do that. If you tell me to conquer Echigo, I will do that too.”

“You will do as I tell you!?” she said it quietly, then added,

“Why do you say such a sweet thing to me today, My Lord?”

“There is nothing sweet about it. Since I am in doubt about many things that I ought to do, I would like to decide my course of action by following your requests. I am facing the most difficult time in my life. Although lately I have been thinking things through thoroughly, it does not seem to solve any of my problems. That is why I would like to hear your opinion. Both Kansuke and I have exhausted all of our thoughts.”

Shingen’s tone was more serious this time. Listening to his lord’s words, Kansuke agreed that half of what Shingen was saying was true. It was the most difficult time for the Takeda family. But deciding his course of action from Princess Yuu’s suggestions sounded like Shingen was trying to quickly put Kansuke in checkmate.

Shingen’s true wish was to destroy Kiso, Uesugi, and whoever else stood in his way, utilizing his mighty power, as quickly as possible. But Kansuke had always been holding him back, and Shingen did not like that at all. Therefore he was going to use Princess Yuu’s request as the supreme order, without letting Kansuke interfere, and carry out her plans immediately. Kansuke could see right through his lord’s scheme so easily.

No matter what the princess demanded, this young general who had just renounced the world, had the confidence to win wars without fail.

“All right. Then I shall request…” Princess Yuu opened her mouth without a moment of hesitation. Kansuke lifted his face and watched Princess Yuu.

“Why do you not conquer Kiso? That is what you always wanted to do, is it not? To subjugate Kiso.” There was a slight tone of cynicism in her voice.

“Kiso?” said Shingen with a frown.

“Yes, you conquer Kiso, and then why don’t you marry your daughter to the Lord of Kiso? Up until now you took hostages from the families who surrendered to you, as in my case…” said Princess Yuu and laughed a little, “but I think it is dangerous to bring home a blood relation from the family you have destroyed.

In my case, My Lord, you were lucky since it was I. You were let off simply by having your head shaved. If it were anybody else but I, I guarantee you would have lost your life,” snapped Princess Yuu.

“Don’t be silly,” Shingen was dumbfounded.

“I am serious. Kansuke knows my feelings very well. I am not saying this because I am jealous of the women of Kiso. If you are planning to carry a beautiful woman from Kiso to Kai in a palanquin, you are going to regret it. You will quickly lose your life. There is no other person but myself who understands the feeling of having your whole family destroyed. Instead, I suggest that you send a hostage to the enemy.

“Hmmm,” Kansuke mused. It was unthinkable for a conqueror to send a hostage to the enemy. However, as Princess Yuu suggested, it could be a very effective strategy which nobody had ever thought of before. It was an idea only to be thought of by someone who had experienced being a hostage.

“Hmmm,” Kansuke mused again.

Shingen seemed to be taken aback by her words, and with an expression much like he was choking on a large piece of food, he said instantly, “All right, I shall conquer Kiso.” Then to Kansuke he said emphatically, “Kansuke, is it all right with you?”

“I agree with your idea of settling the Kiso affair before Echigo, and along with conquering Kiso, it is important to form an unswerving alliance with Imagawa and Hojo. 67

A small flame, which was ignited in Kansuke’s mind through Princess Yuu, was about to blaze in every direction.