Yasushi Inoue - The Samurai Banner of Furin Kazan

In the corridor, he met one of his protector’s maids.

“Is Iohara-san 18home?”

“Yes, please wait for a minute while I get him.”

Ignoring her comment, Kansuke kept walking. The maid wanted to go ahead of him and tell her master about Kansuke’s visit, but she was hesitant to pass him. He had some kind of powerful aura in his short body and figure that humbled everyone before him. Nobody would dare go ahead of him.

“Are you there, Iohara-san?” Kansuke called out in front of the inner part of the room.

“Who is it?” came the response.

“It is Yamamoto Kansuke, I came here to see you.”

No answer came from inside. Kansuke could almost sense that Iohara’s expression had changed into disgust at the sound of his voice.

“Excuse me,” opening the sliding paper door, Kansuke stepped into the room. He was at least polite enough to sit at the edge of the room and bowed slightly.

“I am here today to negotiate.”

“What is it?” Iohara asked impatiently.

Iohara was sitting at his desk as if he had been reading. He slowly turned his white head toward Kansuke.

“A messenger came from the Takeda family requesting my service.”

A silence hung in the air as Iohara’s eyes flicked back and forth.

Then he asked, “Well, are you going to offer your service to them?”

“I cannot be a ronin forever.”

“How much is the stipend?”

“A hundred kan.”

There was a short silence.

“We shall offer you one hundred also, then.” Iohara replied.

“We have not inconvenienced you until now, have we?”

“I’ve had enough of being a retainer; I would like to capture a castle.”

“Do you really think that you can capture a castle with the art of war which you have learned at a desk?”

“It is possible!” Kansuke growled. Iohara shut his mouth and sat thinking for a moment.

“So you are going to serve them then. I’d better tell my lord.”

“It won’t make any difference whether you talk to your lord or not. It is obvious that you people don’t want to see me go, but at the same time you are too scared to use me in your clan.”

“Watch your language!” Iohara said curtly.

Kansuke said, “Isn’t it true that you are scared of me? Are you so scared of me that you cannot have my service?” Then he changed his tone, “However, you have been looking after me with food and clothing for nine years. I do have a sense of duty and obligation. So I shall sell only my body to the Takeda, but keep my heart here in the territory of Sunpu.”

As Kansuke spoke, a chuckle escaped his mouth.

Iohara turned abruptly towards Kansuke. His eyes, which normally showed indifference, shone with a chill.

“What do you mean by that?”

Iohara observed Kansuke closely to discover his intention.

“I shall receive a stipend from both the Takeda and Imagawa at the same time.”

Shocked, Iohara kept silent.

“I have never left here since I believed in the Imagawa’s future.”

Iohara said nothing.

“The Imagawa family is the strongest family along the east coast, so you can afford to send one of his vassals to the Takeda, can you not?”

After these words, Kansuke stopped speaking with an assured smile on his lips.

The wife of Lord Imagawa was Takeda Nobutora’s daughter.

Therefore, the two clans were related, but his own son Harunobu 19had exiled Nobutora when he was twenty-three years old. At present, Nobutora was under the protection of his son-in-law, Imagawa Yoshimoto. On the surface, the Takeda and Imagawa families remained allied, but the feud between Nobutora and Harunobu, father and son, was increasing the gap between the Imagawa and the Takeda.

Therefore, for the Imagawa, it was not such a bad idea to send Kansuke to the Takeda and at the same time to secretly give Kansuke a stipend from the Imagawa.

Kansuke stood up suddenly. But it wasn’t until after he had walked out to the hallway that Iohara prevented Kansuke from leaving his residence.

In early March, Kansuke left for Kofuchu 20along the eastern shore of the Fuji River. He was escorted by the three samurai from the Province of Kai. The slopes of the mountains, which were close to both sides of the rapids of the Fuji River, were adorned with fresh, green leaves.

They stayed two nights at an inn on their way to Kai.

Kansuke hated traveling and was in a foul mood. It was rumoured that he had traveled all over Japan to master the art of swordsmanship and there was nowhere he had not left his foot-prints. But the truth was that he knew nowhere but his home province Mikawa and a part of Suruga. It was only a story made up by the public that he had traveled all over Japan. But he did not deny the rumor; it wasn’t necessary to do so. Due to his knowledge, he could visualize the castle towns of both the western provinces and eastern provinces very clearly. He had acquired enormous insight through reading about the mountains, rivers, plains, and the climate of each particular province and fiefdom. He could easily visualize each castle and the geographical features around it, with extreme accuracy.

He never missed the opportunity to extract every element of knowledge from travelers from afar. He had an excellent memory and a vivid imagination, which surprised even him. He only had to hear something once and then never forgot any of the details.

From a single piece of information, he could extract extensive knowledge.

Itagaki Nobukata came to welcome him at the midpoint of his journey and brought the clothes, horses, spears, bows and arrows, and even the young pages that would serve Kansuke.

Kansuke was very satisfied. Not only had they treated him unexpectedly well, but the Province of Kai was almost exactly the same as the picture he had visualized in his mind. When they entered the castle town of Kofuchu, he thought that even the color of the clouds was exactly as he had imagined.

“How many times have you come to Kofuchu?” Itagaki asked.

“Three times.” He answered. That was not a lie, he thought.

That night Kansuke stayed at a wealthy samurai’s house which was located north of the Takeda mansion. The next day he accompanied Itagaki to see Harunobu at his mansion. Takeda’s mansion did not have the structure of a castle. It was a normal house other than it was surrounded by a moat.

In a spacious room, the twenty-three year old Takeda Harunobu sat and Takeda’s ministers and horsemen were sitting opposite each other in rows. Kansuke knelt and prostrated himself at the entrance. Being told to come closer by Lord Harunobu, he stood and proceeded closer to Harunobu, bending his body in a respectful bow.

Beside Itagaki was Obu Toramasa with Amari Torayasu next to Obu. Moving forward, Kansuke glanced at Takeda’s three key vassals. When he looked down, Amari’s wintry eyes remained in his memory. I don’t like him, he thought.

Harunobu did not utter a word, but kept constant watch on Kansuke’s grotesque appearance. Suddenly he said, “You are much more sturdily built than I had expected. I am sure you are not satisfied with a stipend of one hundred kan. I shall offer you two hundred.”

His voice was not loud but it was resonant. Kansuke lifted his face slightly in astonishment.

Then Harunobu added, “I shall give you one character from my name. From now on you shall name yourself Yamamoto Kansuke Haruyuki.

Kansuke thought, this was an unexpectedly generous young general. He bowed in silence. Itagaki came close by and whispered, “You should show your appreciation by your words.”

Kansuke lifted his face, and said in an expressionless voice,

“Thank you very much. To reciprocate this honour, I would like to participate in a battle to capture a castle as soon as possible.”