“Would you please intercede for us? You're a respected elder."

“No, that would be a serious breach of etiquette," Tadatsugu answered.

But Honda insisted. "These men have not loosened their armor and are dressed for the battlefield. Everyday etiquette does not apply in this situation."

“There's no time for that," Ii said. "We're burning up with the fear that something may happen before he talks to us. If you won't be our intermediary, then it can't be helped. We'll have to appeal directly through his personal attendants and meet him in his quarters."

“No! He's in the middle of a conversation with Lord Kazumasa right now. You must not intrude on him."

“What! Kazumasa?"

The fact that Kazumasa was alone with their lord at this time only added to their uneasiness and discomfort. From the beginning of the campaign at Mount Komaki, they had viewed Kazumasa as a man playing a double game. And when Niwa Nagahide initiated a reconciliation, it was Kazumasa who had been involved in the negotiations.  They suspected that Kazumasa was somehow in the shadows of the most recent maneuvers, too.

When those feelings suddenly broke into a noisy commotion, it reached Ieyasu's ears, even though he was some distance away. A page now hurried down the corridor toward the retainers.

"You're being summoned!" the page announced.

Taken by surprise, they looked around at each other in awe. But the expression on the faces of the obstinate Honda and Ii revealed that a summons was just what they wanted. Urging on Sakai Tadatsugu and the others, they filed into the audience chamber.

Ieyasu's room was soon filled to overflowing with samurai in full armor.

Everyone's attention was focused on Ieyasu. Next to him sat Kazumasa. Sakai Tadatsugu was next, and behind them the very backbone of the Tokugawa clan was represented.

Ieyasu started to speak but, suddenly turning toward the lowest seats, he said, "The men in the lowest seats are a little too far away. My voice isn't very loud, so come up a little closer."

The men all packed in more closely together, and those in the lowest seats all gathered around Ieyasu as he began to speak.

"Yesterday Lord Nobuo made peace with Hideyoshi. I am thinking of sending out an official notice of this to the entire clan tomorrow morning, but apparently you've all heard the news and it's worried you considerably. Please forgive me. I was not trying to keep the facts from you."

All of them hung their heads.

"It was my mistake to mobilize in response to Lord Nobuo's plea. It was also my fault that so many good retainers were killed in the battles at Mount Komaki and Nagakute. Once again, the fact that Lord Nobuo secretly joined hands with Hideyoshi and rendered your righteous indignation and loyal anger meaningless is by no means his fault. Rather, it is due to my own oversights and lack of wisdom. You have all been completely and unselfishly sincere, and as your lord, I cannot find the words to apologize properly. Please forgive me."

At some point, everyone there had lowered his head. No one looked at Ieyasu's face. Shivers of unmanly weeping undulated from shoulder to shoulder like waves.

"There's nothing we can do, so please endure this. Strengthen your resolve and wait for another day."

After they had sat down, neither Ii nor Honda had said a word. Indeed, both men had taken out handkerchiefs and, looking aside, wiped their faces.

"This is a blessing. The war is over, and tomorrow I'll return to Okazaki. All of you should soon be on the road home, too, to see the faces of your wives and children," Ieyasu said, as he too blew his nose.

On the following day, the thirteenth of the month, Ieyasu and the greater part of the Tokugawa army withdrew from Kiyosu Castle and returned to Okazaki in Mikawa. On the morning of the same day, Ishikawa Kazumasa went to Kuwana with Sakai Tadatsugu. After meeting with Nobuo, he went on to visit Hideyoshi at Nawabu. Relaying Ieyasu's formal greetings, he presented the letter of congratulations and left. After Kazumasa had gone, Hideyoshi looked at the men around him.

"Look at that," he said. "That's just like Ieyasu. No one else would have been able to swallow this painful blow as though it were simply hot tea."

As the man who had made Ieyasu drink molten iron, Hideyoshi appreciated his feelings very well. Putting himself in Ieyasu's place, he asked himself if he would have been able to react in the same way.

As these days passed, one man who felt quite happy with himself was Nobuo. After the meeting at Yadagawara, he became Hideyoshi's perfect puppet. Regardless of the situation, he would ask himself, "I wonder what Hideyoshi would think about this."

Just as he had formerly relied on Ieyasu, he now worried about how Hideyoshi would react to whatever he did.

He therefore was inclined to go along with exactly what Hideyoshi had desired in fulfilling the conditions laid down in the peace treaty. Portions of his lands, the hostages, and the written pledges were all presented without exception.

At that point Hideyoshi relaxed a little. Nevertheless, thinking that the army should remain at Nawabu until the following year, he sent a messenger to the men in charge at Osaka and made preparations to spend the winter in the field.

It goes without saying that from the very beginning Hideyoshi's object of concern had been Ieyasu, not Nobuo. Since he had not yet concluded matters with Ieyasu, he could not say that the situation was under control, and his aims were only half-fulfilled. One day Hideyoshi visited Kuwana Castle, and after talking with Nobuo about various subjects, he asked, "How have you been feeling recently?"

"I'm in great health! And I'm sure it's because I have no unpleasant thoughts. I've recovered from the exhaustion of the battlefield, and my mind is completely at ease."

Nobuo displayed a bright and cheerful laughter, and Hideyoshi nodded a number of times, as though he were holding a child on his knee.

"Yes, yes. I imagine that that meaningless war wore you out, my lord. But you know, there a still are few remaining difficulties."

"What do you mean, Hideyoshi?"

"If Lord Ieyasu is left just as he is, he may cause you some trouble."

"Really? But he sent a retainer here with a message of congratulations."

"Well, he certainly wouldn't have wanted to go against your will."

"To be sure."

"So you'll have to say something first. In his heart, Lord Tokugawa would clearly like to make peace with me, but if he gave in on his own, he would lose face. Since there's no reason to confront me, he's probably perplexed. Why don't you help him out?"

There are many men among the sons of famous families who are extremely selfish, quite probably because of the illusion that everyone around them exits for their sake.  Never would they think about serving someone else. But, being spoken to in that way by Hideyoshi, even Nobuo was able to conceive of something greater than his own interest.

So, several days later, he suggested that he himself act as a mediator between Hideyoshi and Ieyasu. That was his natural responsibility, but he hadn't thought of taking it on until Hideyoshi had suggested it.

"If he'll agree to our conditions, we'll forgive his armed action in deference to your handling the situation."

Hideyoshi was taking the position of a victor but wanted to convey the terms for peace through Nobuo's mouth.

The conditions were that Ieyasu's son, Ogimaru, was to be adopted by Hideyoshi, and that Kazumasa's son, Katsuchiyo, and Honda's son, Senchiyo, were to be delivered as hostages.

Other than the destruction of the fortifications, the division of lands formerly agreed upon by Nobuo, and the confirmation of the status-quo by the Tokugawa clan, Hideyoshi did not seek any further changes.