Nagamasa had been standing in the crowd that had dispersed a little before. When he heard Hideyoshi, he lost his self-control. Overcome with his love for his son, he ran forward, screaming abuse at Hideyoshi.
"What kind of foul play is this, holding an innocent child's fate in your hands, just so you can talk! If you're really the Oda general Kinoshita Hideyoshi, you should be ashamed of such a sinister scheme. All right! If you'll hand Manju over to me, we'll talk."
Oh! Lord Nagamasa, were you here?" Hideyoshi said, politely bowing to Nagamasa despite the man's expression. But he still straddled Manju and held the point of his short sword to the boy's throat.
Fujikake Mikawa spoke from one side in a quavering voice. "Lord Hideyoshi! Please release him! Isn't His Lordship's word sufficient? Put Master Manju into my hands."
Hideyoshi took no notice of what he was saying, and looked in the direction of Asai Nagamasa. Staring straight at Nagamasa's pale face and desperate eyes, he finally gave a deep sigh.
"Ah. So you too know what it is to love a blood relative? You actually understand compassion toward a loved one? I didn't think you understood that at all."
"Aren't you going to give him to me, you scum? Are you going to murder this young boy?"
"I haven't the least intention of doing that. But you, who are a father, don't have any respect for family affections."
"Don't talk foolishness! Doesn't every parent love his child?"
"That's right. Even the birds and beasts," Hideyoshi agreed. "And if that's the case, I suppose you cannot ridicule as foolish the fact that Lord Nobunaga, because of his desire to save Oichi, cannot destroy this castle. And what about you? You're Oichi's husband, after all. Aren't you taking advantage of Lord Nobunaga's weakness by tying the lives of a mother and her children to the fate of your castle? That's exactly the same as the way I now hold down Lord Manju and press this sword to his throat so that I can talk with you. Before you declare my method to be cowardly, please consider whether your own strategy isn't just as cowardly and cruel."
As he spoke, Hideyoshi picked up Manju and held him in his arms. Seeing the relief spreading over Nagamasa's face, he abruptly stepped toward him, put Manju into his arms, and prostrated himself at his feet. "I fervently beg forgiveness for this violent and rude act; from the very beginning, my heart was not in it. I took such a measure first of all to try to lessen the plight of Lord Nobunaga. But also I thought it regrettable that you, a samurai who has shown such admirable resolution to the end, might hereafter be spoken of as someone who lost control of himself in his final moments. Make no mistake; this was partly for your own sake, my lord. Please grant me the release of Oichi and her children."
He did not really feel as though he were appealing to the enemy commander. He faced the man's soul and completely divulged his true emotions. His palms were folded at his breast and he was kneeling respectfully in front of Nagamasa; it was obvious that this gesture arose from complete sincerity.
Nagamasa closed his eyes and listened silently. He folded his arms, his feet planted firmly. He looked just like a statue in full armor. Hideyoshi seemed to be mouthing a prayer to the soul of Nagamasa, who seemed to have become, as Hideyoshi had declared when he entered the castle, a living corpse.
The hearts of the two men—one intent on prayer, the other intent on dying—came into contact for just a moment. The barrier between enemies was lifted, and the complex emotions that Nagamasa felt toward Nobunaga suddenly fell away from his body like flaking whitewash.
"Mikawa, take Lord Hideyoshi somewhere and entertain him for a while. I would like time to make my farewells."
"Your farewells?"
"I'm leaving this world and I want to tell my wife and children good-bye. I'm already anticipating death and have even had a funeral service for myself, but… can separation during life be worse than separation at the moment of death? I think Lord Nobunaga envoy will agree that it is worse."
Shocked, Hideyoshi lifted up his face and looked at the man. Are you saying that Oichi and her children can go?"
"To embrace my wife and children in the arms of death and let them perish with this castle was ignoble. I had resolved that my body was already dead, and yet my shallow prejudices and evil passions remained. What you've said has made me feel a sense of shame. I earnestly beg you to look after Oichi, who is still so young, and my children."
"With my life, my lord." Hideyoshi bowed his head to the ground. In that instant he could imagine Nobunaga's happy face.
"Well then, I'll meet with you later," Nagamasa said as he turned to leave, and he walked back toward the keep in long strides.
Mikawa led Hideyoshi to a guest room, this time as Nobunaga's formal envoy.
Relief could be seen in Hideyoshi's eyes. Then he turned and spoke to Mikawa. "I’m sorry, but would you wait a moment while I send a signal to the men outside the castle;
"A signal?" Mikawa was suspicious, and not unreasonably so.
Hideyoshi, however, spoke as though his request were natural. "That's right. I promised to do that when I came here at Lord Nobunaga's command. In case things did not go well, I was to set a fire as a signal of Lord Nagamasa's rejection, even at the cost of my life. Lord Nobunaga would then attack the castle at once. On the other hand, if everything went well and I was able to meet Lord Nagamasa, I was to raise a banner. In any case, we agreed that the troops would simply wait until a signal was given."
Mikawa looked surprised at the man's preparations. But what surprised him even more was the signal shell that Hideyoshi had hidden near the hearth in the teahouse.
After raising the banner and returning to the guest room, Hideyoshi laughed and said, "If I had seen that the situation was not going well, I had planned to run as fast as possible to the teahouse and kick the signal-fire shell into the hearth. That would have been some tea ceremony!"
Hideyoshi was left on his own. It had been well over three hours since Mikawa had brought him to the guest room and asked him to wait for just a moment.
He certainly is taking his time, Hideyoshi thought, bored. The evening shadows were already darkening the fretwork ceiling of the empty room. It was dark enough in the room for lamps to be lit, and when he looked outside he could see the setting sun of late fall turning the mountains around the castle a deep crimson.
The plate in front of him was empty. At last he heard the sound of footsteps. A tea master walked into the room.
"As the castle is under siege, I'm afraid I have little to offer you, but His Lordship has asked me to prepare you an evening meal." The tea master cheered the guest by lighting couple of lamps.
"Well now, under the circumstances you don't have to worry about a meal for me. Rather than that, I'd like to talk with General Mikawa. I'm sorry to trouble you, but could you call him?"
Mikawa appeared soon afterward. In a little under four hours he had aged ten years; he seemed to have lost all vigor, and his eyelids showed the traces of tears. "I'm sorry," he said, "I've been terribly rude."
"This is really no time to be thinking about normal etiquette," Hideyoshi replied, but I am wondering what Lord Nagamasa is doing. Has he said his farewells to Oichi and the children? It's getting late."
"You're absolutely right. But what Lord Nagamasa said so bravely at first… well, now that he's telling his wife and children that they must leave him forever… I think you can imagine…" The old general looked down and wiped his eyes with his fingers. "Lady Oichi says that she does not want to leave her husband's side to return to her brother. She keeps pleading with him, so it's difficult to see when they'll be finished."