"Hideyoshi, I suspect that what you wanted to show me was neither eggplants nor unevaporated dew. What exactly is it that you would like me to taste?"

"Please guess, my lord. I'm an unworthy servant and my merit is negligible, but you have elevated me from a simple farmer to a retainer who holds a domain of two hundred twenty thousand bushels. And yet my old mother never neglects taking up the hoe with her own hands, watering the vegetables, and putting manure around the gourds and eggplants. Every day I give thanks for the lessons she teaches me. Without even having to speak, she tells me, 'There's nothing more dangerous than a farmer rising up in the world, and you should get used to the fact that the envy and fault-finding of others comes from their own conceit. Don't forget your past in Nakamura, and always be mindful of the favors your lord has bestowed on you.'"

Nobunaga nodded, and Hideyoshi went on, "Do you think I could devise any strategy on a campaign that would not be to you benefit, my lord, when I have a mother like that? I consider her lessons as talismans. Even if I quarrel openly with the commander-in-chief, there is no duplicity in my breast."

At that point, a guest at Nobunaga's side slapped his thigh and said, "These eggplants are really a good present. We'll try them later on."

For the first time Hideyoshi noticed that someone else was in the room: a samurai who looked to be in his early thirties. The man's large mouth indicated the strength of his will. His brow was prominent, and the bridge of his nose was somewhat wide. It was difficult to say whether he was of peasant stock or simply robustly built, but the light in his eyes and the luster of his dark red skin showed that he possessed a strong inner vitality.

"Have Hideyoshi's mother's home-grown eggplants pleased you, too, Kanbei? I'm pretty happy with them myself," Nobunaga said, laughing, and then, growing serious, he introduced the guest to Hideyoshi.

"This is Kuroda Kanbei, the son of Kuroda Mototaka, chief retainer of Odera Masamoto in Harima."

Hearing this, Hideyoshi was unable to conceal his surprise. Kuroda Kanbei was a name he had been hearing constantly. Moreover, he had often seen his letters.

"My goodness! So you're Kuroda Kanbei."

"And you're the Lord Hideyoshi I'm always hearing about?"

"Always in letters."

"Yes, but I can't think of this as our first meeting."

"And now here I am, shamefully begging my lord for forgiveness. I'm afraid you're going to laugh at me: this is Hideyoshi, the man who's always being scolded by his lord. And he laughed with a voice that seemed to sweep everything away. Nobunaga laughed heartily, too. With Hideyoshi, he could laugh happily about things that were not actually very amusing.

The eggplants Hideyoshi had brought were quickly prepared, and very soon the three men were enjoying a drinking party. Kanbei was nine years younger than Hideyoshi, but was not the least bit inferior in his understanding of the current of the times or in his intuition of who would grasp supreme power in the land. He was nothing more than the son of a retainer of an influential clan in Harima, but he did possess a small castle in Himeji and had embraced a great ambition from early on in his life. Moreover, among all who lived in the western provinces, he was the only one who had gauged the trend of the times clearly enough to come to Nobunaga and secretly suggest the urgency of the conquest of that area.

The great power in the west was the Mori clan, whose sphere of influence extended over twenty provinces. Kanbei lived in the midst of them but was not overawed by their power. He perceived that the history of the nation was flowing in one direction. Armed with this insight, he had sought out one man: Nobunaga. From that point alone, it could hardly be said that he was a common man.

There is a saying that one great man will always recognize another. In their conversation at this one meeting, Hideyoshi and Kanbei were tied as tightly together as though they had known each other for a hundred years.

Not long after his meeting with Kuroda Kanbei, Hideyoshi received a special assignment from Nobunaga.

"The truth is," Nobunaga began, "I'd like to risk my entire army on this expedition, but the situation won't permit that yet. For that reason I've chosen you as the one in whom I put all of my trust. You're to take three armies, lead them into the western provinces, and persuade the Mori clan to submit to me. This is a great responsibility that I know only you could take on. Will you do it?"

Hideyoshi was silent. He was so elated and so filled with gratitude that he was unable to answer immediately.

"I accept," he said finally with deep emotion.

This was only the second time Nobunaga had raised three armies and entrusted their command to one of his retainers. The first time was when he had put Katsuie in charge of the campaign in the northern provinces. But because it was so important and so difficult, an invasion of the western provinces could not be compared with the northern campaign.

Hideyoshi felt as though an incredible weight had been put on his shoulders. Observing Hideyoshi's unusually cautious expression, Nobunaga suddenly felt uneasy, won­dering if this were not too heavy a responsibility for him after all. Does Hideyoshi have the confidence to take on this responsibility? he asked himself.

"Hideyoshi, will you go back to Nagahama Castle before you mobilize the troops?" Nobunaga asked. "Or would you prefer to leave from Azuchi?"

"With your permission, my lord, I will depart from Azuchi this very day."

"You have no regrets about leaving Nagahama?"

"None. My mother, my wife, and my foster son are there. What is there for me to feel unhappy about?"

The foster son was Nobunaga's fourth son, Tsugimaru, whom Hideyoshi was brining up.

Nobunaga laughed and then asked, "If this campaign is prolonged and your home province falls into the hands of your foster son, where are you going to make your own territory?"

"After I subjugate the west, I'll ask for it."

"And if I don't give it to you?"

"Perhaps I could conquer Kyushu and live there."

Nobunaga laughed heartily, forgetting his earlier misgivings.

Elated, Hideyoshi returned to his quarters and quickly told Hanbei of Nobunaga's orders. Hanbei immediately sent off a courier to Hikoemon, who was in charge of Nagahama in Hideyoshi's absence. Hikoemon marched through the night, leading an army  to join his master. In the meantime, an urgent dispatch was circulated to all of Nobunaga’s generals, informing them of Hideyoshi's appointment.

When Hikoemon arrived in the morning and looked in at Hideyoshi's quarters, he found him alone, applying moxa to his shins.

"That's a good precaution for a campaign," Hikoemon said.

"I still have half a dozen scars on my back from when I was treated with moxa as a child," Hideyoshi answered, gnashing his teeth from the intense heat. "I don't like moxa because it burns, but if I didn't do this, my mother would worry. When you send news to Nagahama, please write that I'm applying moxa every day."

As soon as he finished the moxa treatment, Hideyoshi departed for the front. The troops that left the castle town of Azuchi that day were truly awe-inspiring. From his donjon, Nobunaga watched them leave. The Monkey from Nakamura has come far, he thought, countless deep emotions passing through his breast as he watched Hideyoshi’s standard of the golden gourd disappear into the distance.

The province of Harima was the jade pearl in this struggle between the dragon of the west and the tiger of the east. Would it ally itself with the newly arisen forces of the Oda? Would it side with the ancient power of the Mori?