Beyond that, it was the natural conclusion to his kind of thinking that Nobuo would push Ieyasu to the fore and attempt to prevent Hideyoshi's rise to power. One night, after the beginning of the Second Month, Nobuo sent a messenger to Ieyasu. The two men bound themselves in a secret military alliance based on the mutual understanding that  they were both waiting for the time when they could strike at Hideyoshi.

Then, on the sixth day of the Third Month, the three senior retainers who had not been in the castle since that night at the Onjo Temple suddenly appeared. They had been specially invited by Nobuo to a banquet. Ever since the incident at the Onjo Temple, Nobuo had been convinced that the men were traitors, plotting with Hideyoshi. Just seeing -them made him sick with rancor.

Nobuo nonchalantly entertained the three men, and after they had eaten, he said suddenly,"Ah, Nagato, I'd like you to see a new firearm that has just arrived from a blacksmith in Sakai."

They went to another room, and as Nagato looked at the musket, Nobuo's retainer suddenly yelled, "By my lord's command!" and grabbed him from behind.

"This is despicable!" Nagato gasped, tying to draw his sword from its sheath. But he was knocked to the ground by his more powerful assailant and could only struggle helplessly in his grip.

Nobuo stood up and ran around the room, yelling, "Let him go! Let him go!" But the violent scuffle continued. Holding his unsheathed sword over his head, Nobuo screamed once again, "If you don't let him go, I won't be able to cut the bastard down! Let him go!"

The assassin was holding Nagato by the throat, but seeing his chance, he thrust the man away. In the same instant, and without waiting for Nobuo to strike, he stabbed Nagato with his short sword.

A group of samurai, now kneeling outside of the room, announced that they had killed the other two retainers. Nobuo nodded his approval. But then he heaved a great sigh. Regardless of their crimes, to have executed three senior advisers who had been at his side for many years was a merciless act. Such brutality, of course, had also been in Nobunaga's blood. But in Nobunaga's case it was born of passion and imbued with great significance. Nobunaga's evil and violence were seen as drastic but necessary remedies for the ills of the times; Nobuo's actions, however, arose from nothing more than his own petty emotions.

The killings in Nagashima Castle could have churned up raging waves that might have led to disturbances on all sides beginning that very night. But the murder of the three senior retainers had been carried out in secret, and on the very next day, soldiers from Nagashima were dispatched to attack each of the retainers' castles.

It was not unreasonable for people to imagine that the next great battle was imminent. Something had been smoldering since the year before, but the flame that leaped out here might be the one that would finally scorch all the world. That was no longer just idle speculation, but seemed a certainty.

The Hooded Warrior

Ikeda Shonyu was famous for three things: his short stature, his courage, and his skill at the spear dance. He was forty-eight, the same age as Hideyoshi.

Hideyoshi had no son; Shonyu, however, had three in whom he could take pride, and all three of them had grown to manhood. The eldest, Yukisuke, was twenty-five and the commlander of Gifu Castle; the second, Terumasa, was twenty and the commander of Ikejiri Castle; and the youngest would be fourteen this year and was still at his father's side.

Shonyu's relationship with Hideyoshi went back to the time when Hideyoshi was still called Tokichiro. By this time, however, a large gulf had opened up between the two. But Shonyu had not been left behind by the times. After Nobunaga's death, he was one of the men—along with Katsuie, Niwa, and Hideyoshi—who had been appointed to administer the government of Kyoto, and even if the position was a temporary one, it was prestigious. Moreover, right here in Mino, father and sons possessed three castles, while his son-in-law, Nagayoshi, was the commander of Kaneyama Castle.

It could not be said that he had fared badly. Nor was there any reason for him to feel uneasy. Hideyoshi was always tactful and often paid attention to his old friend. He even is nephew, Hidetsugu, engaged to Shonyu's daughter.

Thus in peacetime Hideyoshi shrewdly strengthened the ties between them against the day of emergency, but this year—as the decisive battle became more and more inevitable—he leaned more heavily on Shonyu as his main ally. Now he suddenly sent a messenger to Ogaki offering to adopt his son-in-law, Nagayoshi, and to give him the provinces of Owari, Mino, and Mikawa.

Twice Hideyoshi sent letters written by his own hand. The fact that Shonyu did not send a quick response did not mean he was envious or mean-hearted. He knew well thatserving Hideyoshi would be more advantageous than serving anyone else. And he understood that, while Hideyoshi had great ambitions, he himself would also receive great advantages.

What made it difficult for Shonyu to rouse himself to a response was simply the problem of the widely discussed moral justification for war between the eastern and western armies. The Tokugawa accused Hideyoshi of being a traitor who had already eliminated one of the sons of his former lord and was now ready to strike down his heir, Nobuo.

If I ally myself to Hideyoshi, Shonyu thought, I will have taken a poor step in terms of moral duty; if I help Nobuo, I'll be standing on moral duty, but my hopes for the future will be dim.

And Shonyu had yet another worry. Shonyu had close ties with Nobunaga, and because of that deep relationship he could not easily sever his relationship with Nobuo, even after Nobunaga's death. To make matters worse, his eldest son was a hostage in Ise, and Shonyu did not feel he could just abandon him to be killed. So, every time he received one of Hideyoshi's letters, Shonyu was confused. When he discussed the matter with his retainers, he listened to advice from two factions, one stressing the importance of justice and counseling against abandoning moral duty; and the other arguing that now was the time when a great advantage might be gained for the prosperity of the clan.

What was he going to do? Just as his confusion was growing more and more acute, his eldest son was unexpectedly sent home from Nagashima. Nobuo thought that Shonyu would be grateful to him and never betray him. Such an obvious ruse might have had the desired effect on someone else, but Shonyu was a man of some insight. He understood the act to be nothing more than a childish, high-pressure goodwill sales tactic and a transparent political calculation.

"I've made my decision. In a dream the Buddha told me to join the western army," he announced to his retainers. On the same day he sent a letter to Hideyoshi, declaring himself his ally.

He was, of course, lying about the dream from the Buddha, but immediately after Shonyu had made his decision, the general's innate ambition was suddenly set aflame by a casual conversation with his eldest son.

What Yukisuke mentioned was that the commander of Inuyama Castle, Nakagawa Kanemon, had received his orders to return to Inuyama soon after he himself had been released from Nagashima.

Until that day, Shonyu had been unable to decide whether Inuyama Castle would be his ally or enemy, but now that he had sent word of his support for Hideyoshi, Inuyama Castle would be an enemy right in front of him. Moreover, the castle was in a strategic area with natural defenses, and it was certain that Ieyasu and Nobuo considered Nakagawa Kanemon able enough to entrust with the first-line defenses of their provinces. If that were so, he had no doubt been suddenly detached from the Ise army for that purpose and ordered to return to his own castle.