Separated from him by the width of the river, Hideyoshi looked at the man, while Honda gazed steadily at the group of generals—one of whom was clearly Hideyoshi—who had stopped their horses.

Hideyoshi's gunners' corps began to open fire in response, but Hideyoshi once again reproved his entire army. "Don't shoot! Just hurry on! Hurry on ahead!" With that, he urged his horse on with all the more speed.

When Honda observed that action on the other bank, he yelled out, "Don't let them go!" and doubled his speed. Moving ahead on the road, he once again made a fierce musket attack on Hideyoshi's troops, but Hideyoshi would not take up the challenge and soon took up a position on a hill close to the plain of Nagakute.

As soon as they arrived at their destination, Hideyoshi gave orders to three of his generals to take the same number of light cavalry units and ride out quickly. "Do what you can with the Tokugawa forces that are withdrawing from Nagakute to Obata."

He made his headquarters on the hill, while his twenty thousand fresh troops spread out beneath the red evening sun, demonstrating their intention to take revenge upon Ieyasu.

Hideyoshi assigned two men as chiefs of a scouting unit, and they went off secretly toward Obata Castle. After that, Hideyoshi quickly worked out the military operations for his entire army. But before the orders could be sent out, an urgent report arrived:

"Ieyasu is no longer on the battlefield."

"That can't be!" the generals all said together. As Hideyoshi sat silently, the three commanders he had previously sent out toward Nagakute came hurrying back.

"Ieyasu and his main force have already withdrawn to Obata. We encountered a few scattered groups of the enemy that were late in retreating toward the castle, but the others seem to have been about an hour ahead of us," they reported.

Of the three hundred Tokugawa soldiers they had killed, not one had been a general of note.

"We were too late." Hideyoshi had no way to dispel his anger, and it clearly burned in the color of his face.

The scouts' reports were all the same: the castle at Obata had closed its gates and appeared to be quiet, proof that Ieyasu had already withdrawn into the castle and was calmly savoring today's military victory as he rested.

In the midst of his complicated emotions, Hideyoshi unconsciously clapped his hands and congratulated Ieyasu. "That's Ieyasu for you! He has remarkable speed. He retreats into a castle and closes up the gates without any boasting. This is one bird we're not going to catch with either birdlime or a net. But you watch, I'll make Ieyasu behave a littie more properly after a few years and have him bow in front of me."

It was already twilight, and a night attack on a castle was considered something to avoid. Moreover, the army had come from Gakuden without rest, so further actiontonight was temporarily postponed. The orders were changed. The men were to eat their provisions. Clouds of campfire smoke climbed into the evening sky. The scouts who had gone from Obata quickly returned. Ieyasu had been sleeping but got up to hear the report. Apprised of the situation, he announced that everyone would immediately be returning to Mount Komaki. His generals argued emphatically for a midnight attack on Hideyoshi, but Ieyasu just laughed and left for Mount Komaki by a circuitous route.

Having no other recourse, Hideyoshi turned his army around and withdrew to the fortified camp at Gakuden. He could not deny that the defeat at Nagakute had been a serious blow, even though it had been caused by the overzealousness of Shonyu. But it was also a fact that, on this particular occasion, Hideyoshi had been slow in starting.

It was not because Hideyoshi was measuring himself against Ieyasu on the battlefield for the first time. He had know Ieyasu long before engaging him in battle. Rather, because it was a standoff of master against master—a match between two champions—Hideyoshi was being especially circumspect.

"Don't pay any attention to small castles on the way. Don't waste time," Hideyoshi had warned, but Shonyu had been challenged by the garrison of Iwasaki and had stopped to crush it.

The abilities of Ieyasu and Hideyoshi would determine the outcome of the battle. When Hideyoshi heard of the defeat at Nagakute, he was convinced that his opportunity had come. The deaths of Shonyu and Nagayoshi would surely be the bait for taking Ieyasu alive.

But the enemy had appeared like fire and disappeared like the wind, and after he had gone, it was as silent as the woods. When Ieyasu withdrew to Mount Komaki, Hideyoshi felt he had just missed bagging a scared rabbit, but told himself that he had suffered only a little wound to the finger. Certainly there had been no great damage to his military strength. Psychologically, however, he had given Ieyasu's side a victory.

At any rate, after the violent half-day battle at Nagakute, both men were extremely prudent and watched the other's movements closely. And while each waited to seize a favorable opportunity, neither man would have even considered making a careless attack. Provocations, however, were made repeatedly.

For example, when Hideyoshi sent his entire sixty-two-thousand-man army out to Mount Komatsuji on the eleventh day of the Fourth Month, the reaction at Mount Komaki was nothing more than a peaceful, wry smile.

After that, on the twenty-second day of the same month, a provocation was set up by Ieyasu's side. A combined force of eighteen thousand men was divided into sixteen units and emerged heading toward the east.

Beating drums and raising war cries, a vanguard led by Sakai Tadatsugu and Ii Hyobu made repeated challenges, almost as if to say, "Come out, Hideyoshi!"

The moated palisades were defended by Hori Kyutaro and Gamo Ujisato. Gazing out at the raucous enemy forces, Kyutaro ground his teeth.

After Nagakute, the enemy had been spreading rumors that Hideyoshi's soldiers were frightened of the Tokugawa warriors. But Hideyoshi had made it clear that the soldiers were to make no sorties without his express order, so they could do nothing more than send runners flying off to the main camp.

When the messenger arrived, Hideyoshi was playing go.

“A large Tokugawa force is approaching our men at the double moats," the man announced.

Hideyoshi raised his eyes from the go board for a moment and asked the messenger, “Has Ieyasu himself appeared?"

“Lord Ieyasu has not come out himself," the man replied.

Hideyoshi picked up a black stone, placed it on the board and said, without looking up, “Tell me if Ieyasu makes an appearance. Unless he comes out at the head of his army, Kyutaro and Ujisato can fight or not, as they please."

At about the same time, Ii Hyobu and Sakai Tadatsugu at the front lines sent messengers twice with pleas to Ieyasu at Mount Komaki.

“Now is the time for you to make a personal appearance. If you do it immediately, we will undoubtedly be able to strike a fatal blow to the main body of Hideyoshi's troops."

To that Ieyasu responded, "Has Hideyoshi himself made a move? If he's still at Mount Komatsuji, there's no need for me to go out, either."

In the end, Ieyasu did not leave Mount Komaki.

During that time, Hideyoshi clearly meted out the praise and blame for the battle at Nagakute. He was particularly careful about the presentation of increases in stipends and rewards, but did not say a word to his nephew Hidetsugu. And, after having fled from Nagakute, Hidetsugu seemed to feel awkward in front of his uncle. On his return to camp he simply reported that he had come back and later tried to explain the reason for his defeat. But Hideyoshi only talked to the other generals seated around him and did not look Hidetsugu in the face.