It appears that he's come to his doom. Ah, how sad, Kanbei thought. Without regret­ting his own fate, he lamented Murashige's ignorance. After the voices had drifted away, the peephole was closed again, but Kanbei was suddenly aware of a slip of paper that had fallen through. He picked it up, but could not read it that night. It was so dark in the cell he could hardly see his own fingers.

The next day, however, when the faint light of morning filtered in, he remembered the paper right away and read it. It was a letter from Odera Masamoto in Harima, ad­dressed to Araki Murashige.

This same bothersome character we talked about has come here, admonishing me to change my mind. I deceived him into trying to ascertain your mind first, so he'll probably arrive at your castle at the same time this letter arrives. He is a man of broad resources, so he'll be a burden as long as he's alive. When he gets to Itami Castle, I suggest that you take the opportunity and not let him loose in the world again.

Kanbei was shocked. When he looked at the date on the letter, he saw that it was indeed the same day that he himself had offered his remonstration to Masamoto and left Gochaku Castle.

"Well then, he must have sent this letter right afterward," he muttered to himself in amazement. He was struck by the realization that there are a large number of clever people in the world. And yet the world had called him—he who had taken such pains to abstain from shallow thinking and petty schemes—a tactician.

"It's interesting, isn't it? Being in the world."

Looking up at the ceiling, he spoke without being aware of it. The sound of his voice echoed as though he were in a cave. How interesting to be in the world.

As one might expect, there were lies and there were truths, there was form and there was void, there was anger and there was joy, there was faith and there was confusion. This was being in the world. But for a few weeks at least, Kanbei would be far away from the world.

*    *    *

The attacking forces disposed around Itami, Takatsuki, and Ibaragi castles were ready strike at any time. Nevertheless, the order to attack had not yet come from Nobunaga's headquarters on Mount Amano. In the various camps, the days passed so quietly that the soldiers' patience was beginning to wear thin.

"Still no word?"

Nobunaga had already asked this question twice that day. What he was having difficulty waiting for, however, was just the opposite of the source of the soldiers' impatience.  At this point, the Oda clan's position was extraordinarily and dangerously complex—not in regard to the western or eastern provinces, but right around the capital. If at all possible, Nobunaga did not want to fight a war here, at this time. And as the days passed, he worried over this policy of avoiding action in his home area at all costs.

Whenever he was anxious, Hideyoshi occupied his thoughts. He wanted him constantly at his side. Not long before, a report had come from this general upon whom he relied so much, telling him that Kanbei had stated his case to his former master, Odera Masamoto, and then had gone immediately to Itami Castle, where he intended to persuade Murashige to negotiate. Kanbei was even prepared to die on this mission, Hideyoshi had said, and he asked Nobunaga to wait.

"This shows a lot of self-confidence," Nobunaga said, "and Hideyoshi's not apt to be negligent."

But even though Nobunaga in this way persuaded himself to be patient, the atmosphere at his field headquarters was becoming charged with his generals' extreme annoyance. Whenever Hideyoshi made some trivial mistake, their resentment would erupt as though it had been smoldering under the ashes for a long time.

"I don't understand why Hideyoshi sent the man! Who is this Kanbei, anyway? If you look into his background, he turns out to be a retainer of Odera Masamoto. And his father is a senior retainer of Masamoto too. For his part, Masamoto is conspiring with Araki Murashige in communicating with the Mori and betraying us. He's acting in concert with Murashige while he has raised the banner of rebellion in the western provinces.  How could Hideyoshi have chosen Kanbei for such an important mission?"

Hideyoshi was criticized for his lack of foresight, and some even went so far as to suspect him of negotiating with the Mori.

The reports that began to come in all contained the same information: far from submitting to Kanbei's argument, Odera Masamoto had spoken out against Lord Nobunaga all the more. He had spread stories about the weakness of the Oda forces in the area. Moreover, his communications with the Mori had become more and more frequent.

Nobunaga had to admit that this was true.

"Kanbei's action was nothing but a deception. While we wait for good news from such an unreliable man, the enemy strengthens his connections and perfects his defenses, so that in the end our forces will achieve nothing, regardless of how fierce our attack is."

At that point, news finally came from Hideyoshi. It was, however, not good. Kanbei had still not returned, and there was no clear information. Moreover, the letter sounded hopeless. Nobunaga clicked his tongue. Suddenly he tossed aside the satchel that had contained the letter.

"It's too late!" Finally provoked, Nobunaga suddenly roared out angrily, "Secretary! Write this immediately and address it to Hideyoshi. Tell him he's to come here without a moment's delay."

Then he looked at Sakuma Nobumori and said, "I've heard that Takenaka Hanbei has confined himself in the Nanzen Temple in Kyoto to convalesce. Is he still there?"

"I believe he is."

Nobunaga's response to Nobumori's reply was as quick as an echo. "Well then, go there and tell this to Hanbei: Kuroda Kanbei's son, Shojumaru, was sent to his castle by Hideyoshi some time ago as a hostage—he is to be beheaded immediately, and his head sent to his father in Itami."

Nobumori bowed. Everyone around Nobunaga momentarily crouched in fear of his sudden anger. Not a voice was heard, and for a moment, Nobumori did not get up. Nobunaga's mood was capable of changing from one moment to the next, and his anger exploded without much difficulty. The patience he had exhibited until now was not part of his true nature. That had been strictly a matter of reasoning, into which he had had to put much effort. Therefore, when he did throw off the self-control that he so disliked and raised his voice, his earlobes began to redden, and his face suddenly took on a ferocious appearance.

"My lord, please wait a moment."

"What is it, Kazumasu? Are you admonishing me?"

"It would be presumptuous for someone like me to admonish you, my lord, but why have you so suddenly given an order to kill Kuroda Kanbei's son? Shouldn't you deliberate on this a bit longer?"

"I don't need to deliberate any more to see Kanbei's treason. He pretended to talk to Odera Masamoto, and then deceived me again into thinking that he was negotiating with Araki Murashige. That I've refrained from taking action for the last ten days is entirely be­cause of that damned Kanbei's schemes. Hideyoshi reported that to me just now. Hideyoshi's had enough of being made a fool of by Kanbei."

"But what if you summoned Lord Hideyoshi to give you a full report of the situation and talked with him about punishing Kanbei's son?"

"I can't make a peacetime decision at a time like this. And I'm not ordering Hide­yoshi here to listen to his opinion. I'm asking him to explain how he fomented this disas­ter. Hurry up and take the message, Nobumori."

"Yes, my lord. I'll convey this to Hanbei, as you wish."

Nobunaga's mood was gradually becoming darker. He turned to the scribe and asked, 'Did you write my summons to Hideyoshi, secretary?"

"Would you like to read it, my lord?"

The letter was shown to Nobunaga and then immediately passed to the chief messenger, who was ordered to take it to Harima.