"If our forces are insufficient, keep making more demands on each of our districts.  Are there enough troops in the castle town? We won't need to borrow troops from the Asai clan, will we? What do you think?" His voice was shrill and filled with fear, quavering th his own terror and failing spirits. The retainers had to take care that Tatsuoki's state of mind did not influence his own warriors.

By nightfall, fires could be seen from the castle. The advance of the Oda troops continued day and night, from Atsumi and the Kano Plain in the south and extending up the tributaries of the Nagara River toward Goto and Kagamijima in the west. As the Oda advanced, the fires they set became a tide of flame that scorched the sky. By the seventh day of the month, the Oda closed in on Inabayama, the enemy's main castle.

It was the first time Nobunaga had been in charge of such a large army. His determination to succeed could be understood from that fact alone. For Owari, this meant the mbilization of the entire province. If they were defeated, both Owari and the Oda would cease to exist.

Once the army had reached Inabayama, its advance halted, and for several days both sides engaged in bitter fighting. The natural stronghold and the Saito's seasoned veterans proved their worth. What was especially damaging to the Oda, however, was the inferiority of their weapons. The wealth of Mino had enabled the Saito clan to buy a considerable number of firearms.

The Saito had a gunners' regiment, which the Oda forces lacked, that fired on the attackers from the mountainside as they approached the castle town. Akechi Mitsuhide, the man who had created the regiment, had long since left Mino and become a ronin. Nevertheless, the young scholar had devoted himself to the study of firearms, and the founda­tions of the regiment were solid.

In any event, after several days of blistering heat and close fighting, the Oda troops finally began to tire. If the Saito clan had called on Omi or Ise for reinforcements at that moment, ten thousand men would never have seen Owari again.

Most ominous of all were the shapes of Mount Kurihara, Mount Nangu, and Mount Bodai, looming in the distance.

"You really don't have to worry about that direction," Hideyoshi reassured Nobunaga.

But Nobunaga was anxious. "A siege is not the right strategy, but getting impatient will only injure my own troops. I don't see how we can take the fortress, no matter what we do."

Camp councils were held over and over again, but no one seemed to have a good idea. Finally a plan of Hideyoshi's was approved, and one night soon after that he disap­peared from the advance guard.

Starting from the crossroads of the Unuma and Hida roads, which was four or five leagues from the end of the mountain range on which Inabayama stood, Hideyoshi set off with only nine trusted men. Drenched in sweat, the party scrambled up Mount Zuiryuji, which was far enough from Inabayama that no one would be on watch there. Among the men accompanying Hideyoshi were Hikoemon and his younger brother, Matajuro. Acting as their guide was a man who had recently become devoted to Hideyoshi and who felt a deep sense of obligation toward him, Osawa Jirozaemon, the Tiger of Unuma.

"Go from the base of that huge crag toward the valley. Cross that little stream yonder and head for the marsh."

Just when they thought they had reached the end of the valley and of the path as well, they saw wisteria vines clinging to a cliff. Rounding a peak, they found a hidden path to the valley that passed through a low growth of striped bamboo.

"It's about two leagues along this path to the rear of the castle. If you go that distance following this map of the mountain, you should run into a water sluice that leads inside the castle. Now with your permission, I'll take my leave."

Osawa left the group and turned back alone. He was a man who had a strong sense of loyalty. Although he was devoted to Hideyoshi and completely sincere, he had once sworn allegiance to the Saito clan. It must have pained him to lead these men up the se­cret path that led to the back of the castle of his former lords. Hideyoshi had guessed as much and had intentionally told him to turn back before they reached their destination.

Two leagues was no great distance, but there was virtually no path. As they climbed, Hideyoshi continually referred to the map, looking for the hidden pathway. The map and the actual terrain of the mountain did not match, however, no matter how long he com­pared the two.

He could not find the mountain stream that was supposed to be their landmark. They were lost. Meanwhile, the sun started to set, and it turned much cooler. Hideyoshi had not given much thought to the possibility of getting lost. His mind was on the troops laying siege to Inabayama Castle. If something went wrong at sunrise the following morn­ing, he would be doing his comrades a great disservice.

"Wait!" one of the men said, so suddenly that they all froze. "I can see a light."

There was no reason for a light to be in the middle of the mountains, especially near a secret path leading to Inabayama Castle. They had probably got quite close to the castle, and this was certain to be an enemy guardhouse.

The men quickly hid. Compared with the ronin, who were extremely agile whether they were scrambling up the mountains or merely walking, Hideyoshi felt at a disadvantage.

"Hold onto this," Hikoemon said, extending the shaft of his spear. Hideyoshi held on tight, and Hikoemon clambered up the precipice, pulling Hideyoshi up behind him. They came out onto a plateau. As the night grew darker, the light they had seen before flickered brightly from a cleft in the mountain to the west of them.

Assuming that the light was from a guardhouse, the path certainly would only go in one direction.

"We have no choice," they said, determined to break through.

"Wait." Hideyoshi quickly calmed them down. "There are probably only a few men in the guardhouse, not enough to worry us, but we mustn't let them signal Inabayama. If there's a fire beacon, it must be close to the hut, so let's find it and leave two men there first. Then, to stop any guard from getting away to the castle, half of you should go be­hind the house."

Nodding in assent, they crawled away like forest animals, crossing a hollow and entering the valley proper. The fragrance of the hemp in the fields was unexpected. And here were plots of millet, leeks, and yams.

Hideyoshi cocked his head to one side. The hut, surrounded as it was by fields, and of rough construction, did not appear to be a guardhouse. "Don't be hasty. I'm going to take a look."

Hideyoshi crawled through the hemp, trying to keep it from rustling. From what he could see inside the hut, it was clearly nothing more than a peasant's house, and terribly run-down at that. He could see two people in the dim light of a lamp. One seemed to be an old woman, sleeping stretched out on a straw mat. The other one looked to be her son, and he was massaging the old woman's back.

Hideyoshi forgot where he was for a moment, and gazed fondly at the scene. The old lady's hair was already white. Her son was quite muscular, although he didn't seem to be more than sixteen or seventeen. Hideyoshi was unable to think of this mother and child as strangers. He suddenly felt as though he were seeing his own mother in Nakamura and himself as a boy.

The young man suddenly looked up and said, "Mother, wait just a moment. Something's strange."

"What is it, Mosuke?" The old lady raised herself up a little.

"The crickets have suddenly stopped chirping."

"It's probably some animal trying to get into the storehouse again."

"No." He shook his head strongly. "If it were an animal, it wouldn't come close while the light was still shining." The young man slid out toward the porch, ready to go outside, and picked up a sword. "Who's out there, sneaking around!" he called.