I'm a demon in Tokyo!

Chapter 176 The warlord in Okehazama was actually her! The final deadline, goodbye, Ina, goodbye.

It was midday, the sun was shining brightly but the temperature was cool.

Following behind Okabe Motonobu, Uesugi Tetsuya, accompanied by the two little ones, soon arrived at Mihiroma after a long absence.

The last time I came here was when I was holding the coming-of-age ceremony for Matsudaira Motoyasu.

"Please come in, Mr. Che. The lord is here."

Okabe Motonobu turned to the side at the entrance, revealing the quiet Mihiro-maru, just like the rest of the Imagawa-kan, to Uesugi Tetsuya.

Uesugi Tetsu subconsciously looked up toward the head of the table, and his steps, which were about to cross the threshold, froze.

He froze in place.

Because, at this moment, sitting in the main seat, was a black-haired girl, also dressed in black, with a cold and indifferent expression—

It was exactly the same black-haired warrior he had seen and killed with his own hands during the "Okehazama Trial" in the Imagawa clan's main camp!
In the rain of memory, the two figures, one blurry then and one clear now, gradually overlapped and eventually merged into one, indistinguishable from one another.

It was only then that Uesugi Tetsu realized what was happening.

No wonder he didn't see that "very conspicuous, slow-moving, short-legged fat man" Imagawa Yoshimoto back then.

So it turns out I did see it.

Instead, they had already met, but hadn't recognized each other.

As it turns out, Imagawa Yoshimoto did not flee in a panic as recorded in history, and was unfortunately caught and killed by the two Oda clan members.

On the contrary, he fought alongside his retainers until the very last moment, fearlessly battling to the death until the very end...

backbone.

Imagawa Yoshimoto has never lacked such things.

In the main seat, Imagawa Yoshimoto, with an icy expression, blinked with considerable confusion.

—Chejun, why are you standing at the door without moving?
Imagawa Yoshimoto could tell that Uesugi Tetsuya only froze after seeing her.

But apart from wearing a "worldly" outfit, is she any different from before?

—The name of this armor is actually “complete equipment of the present era”, which is a protective gear that has been further developed from “Ō-yō” and “Dōmaru”.

Compared to the large armor that could only protect the upper body, and the domaru that mainly focused on the front of the torso, the contemporary gakuzukuri can be considered the culmination of armor in the Sengoku period.

It is armor that is both flexible and provides the best protection.

The head of the Imagawa family lowered his eyes, his long, narrow eyelashes trembling slightly.

—Perhaps, Che-jun also wants a set of contemporary clothes similar to what she is wearing?
Although Che-jun's physical body is so strong that it doesn't need much protection, it's not just for protection...

Being handsome is another aspect.

Imagawa Yoshimoto secretly made a note of this matter, planning to take some gold to the blacksmith to have a set of tunics made for Uesugi Tetsuya after the affairs of Mikawa Province were settled.

A few seconds later, Uesugi Tetsuya finally snapped out of his reverie.

He lifted his foot and stepped over the threshold, subtly sweeping his gaze across the main hall—

Standing beside Imagawa Yoshimoto was Taiyuan Xuezhai, whose spirits had improved considerably; the solemn-faced Asahina Taiyuki and his son Taichi; and Matsudaira Motoyasu, a young man whose facial features were quite similar to those of Okabe Motonobu.

In addition, there were four or five retainers I didn't recognize.

These people are probably the core retainers of the Imagawa family... no, it should be said that most of Imagawa Yoshimoto's group of retainers.

Finally...

Feeling the intense gaze, Uesugi Tetsuya had to pause again.

Ii Naomori?

He glanced twice at the young man sitting near the end of the table, comparing him to the ferocious and ruthless face hidden in the rain.

Oops.

Uesugi Tetsu exclaimed inwardly.

I ran into someone I knew again.

He looked at Ii Naomori, who was staring at him with an intense gaze for some reason, and nodded to him.

Uesugi Tetsu walked into the main hall and bowed slightly to Imagawa Yoshimoto.

"Greetings, Lord Yiyuan."

The two-foot-tall man and Bai Shi behind him bowed deeply.

Imagawa Yoshimoto gestured for them to stand up, and after all three raised their heads, he spoke calmly: "Gentlemen, this is the Onmyoji Che, who has recently become famous in the Tokaido. He will serve as the vice commander in this battle of Mikawa."

No one spoke.

No one disagrees.

Because whether it was the exorcism by heavenly lightning in front of everyone during the coming-of-age ceremony, or the outrageous 30,000 kan of a single strike when testing the earth, it was more than enough for Uesugi Tetsu to serve as "vice-general".

Not to mention combining the two.

"Come, Mr. Che, please stand here."

Imagawa Yoshimoto extended her right hand, slowly opening it to indicate that Uesugi Tetsu should stand to her right.

Upon hearing this, Uesugi Tetsu roughly understood why Imagawa Yoshimoto had summoned him here even though everything had been discussed and agreed upon.

Imagawa Yoshimoto wanted to use the pretext of being summoned to make his retainers more familiar with him.

This will make things easier for him, whether he needs to work for the Imagawa family or ask someone for a favor.

"Yes."

Uesugi Tetsu nodded slightly, first stirring his heartstrings so that the two-footed man would take Shiraishi to the last seat and kneel down with Ii Naomori.

Then, under everyone's watchful eyes, he walked step by step behind the head of the Imagawa family.

He stood side by side with the aged-looking Taiyuan Xuezhai.

He let out a soft breath and looked down again.

Okabe Motonobu smiled and gave him a thumbs up. Although Asahina Yasutomo showed a reluctant expression, his eyes clearly said "I'm convinced".

Matsudaira Motoyasu lowered his head, seemingly lost in thought.

Only Ii Naomori continued to stare intently at him, his entire being radiating an aura of "desire for battle."

At a glance, Uesugi Tetsu roughly understood the attitudes of these retainers towards him, who held this position.

Da da.

After waiting deliberately for two seconds, Imagawa Yoshimoto tapped the armrest with his finger and spoke calmly and unhurriedly.

"Today is the final deadline before the start of the battle in Sanhe."

Starting tomorrow, I will personally lead the army into battle—and appoint Yuan Xin as commander-in-chief and Che as deputy commander.

She propped her face up with Jia's arm, raising her eyes slightly: "If you have any objections, raise them now."

Everyone in the Imperial Hall lowered their heads.

A silence.

A full minute later, Imagawa Yoshimoto finally grunted and looked at Okabe Motonobu: "Is the palanquin ready for this trip?"

"My lord, the new palanquin has been prepared in the army camp," Okabe Motonobu replied earnestly, bowing. "We are ready to depart at any time."

"That's good."

Imagawa Yoshimoto nodded slightly.

It was customary for Imagawa Yoshimoto to travel by sedan chair when going to war.

However, the fact that he brought it up again at this moment in the Mihiro-mae, with the presence of his retainers, was actually to reinforce the stereotype that "Imagawa Yoshimoto would ride in a sedan chair and travel with the army" in order to deepen the public's perception.

In reality, Imagawa Yoshimoto had already chosen a double, intending to have the double ride in a palanquin when he went to war.

She then followed Uesugi Tetsu ahead to Mikawa Province to investigate the situation and search for the Heavenly Craftsman.

The retainers present still had no objection to Imagawa Yoshimoto's statement about "going to war in a sedan chair".

After all, it was customary for Imagawa Yoshimoto to travel by palanquin when going on long journeys. Although people had some reservations at first, they had gotten used to it by now.

Moreover, traveling by sedan chair only slightly slowed down the marching speed—since her lord was so kind, it was perfectly fine to tolerate her small requests occasionally.

Rather, aside from his perpetually cold demeanor, his obsessive-compulsive disorder, and his arrogance that completely disregarded most people, Imagawa Yoshimoto was practically the perfect head of household and daimyo.

For the next half hour or so, Imagawa Yoshimoto discussed some details of the expedition with his retainers.

……

"Then, see you tomorrow morning."

With this as his closing remark, Imagawa Yoshimoto, now clad in armor, stood up, nodded to Taihara Sessai and Uesugi Tetsu respectively, and then left Mihiroma alone.

Seeing that none of her retainers said much, Uesugi Tetsuya knew that she probably had other things to do after the "meeting".

After Imagawa Yoshimoto, who had maintained a cold expression throughout, left, the atmosphere in the Mihiroma suddenly relaxed.

"I'll be counting on you from now on."

The sprightly Taiyuan Xuezhai spoke earnestly to Uesugi Tetsuya.

Uesugi Tetsu replied, "I will do my utmost to protect Yoshimoto Hirai's safety."

After quietly thanking him, Taiyuan Xuezhai also quickly left the Imperial Palace.

Not far away, Okabe Motonobu stood up with a smile, beckoning Uesugi Tetsuya over to say something, when another enthusiastic voice squeezed in.

"Mr. Che!"

Ii Naomori strode over and bowed deeply to him.

A standard 90 degrees.

"Whether in politics or martial arts, I look forward to your guidance in the future!"

In terms of politics?

Uesugi Tetsu raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.

Ii Naomori said this purely so that he would have an excuse to spar with him later.

After all, he was an Onmyoji himself, and he practiced breathing techniques. It was impossible for him to achieve anything in the so-called "politics".

—In fact, that's exactly what Ii Naomori thought.

Because when he returned to Sunpu Castle from outside two days ago, he also tried out the Zanzemaru once.

Despite their best efforts, they only managed to get the black Zanzemaru to announce the number "eight thousand kan," and it didn't even make it into the top fifty of the list.

Therefore, when facing Uesugi Tetsuya, whose slashing power reached 30,000 kan, Ii Naomori naturally greeted him with the idea of ​​"hoping to exchange blows".

With many retainers around, Uesugi Tetsu didn't expose the flawed lie, but simply nodded: "Okay."

Overjoyed, Ii Naomori exchanged a few pleasantries with the two men before leaving.

He knew that relationships take time to develop, and bringing this up now would be too abrupt.

Next to walk over was Matsudaira Motoyasu, who had been keeping his head down and hadn't said a word.

The boy, who was considerably shorter than the two of them, said sincerely,
"Yuan Kang lacks experience in this expedition to Sanhe, and I hope the two of you will take good care of him."

Uesugi Tetsu: "Okay."

Okabe Motonobu then said directly, "Sorry, sorry, I am the commander-in-chief, and Mr. Che has to focus on the great demon. Neither of us has the energy for that."

"Hasn't Hanzo always been by your side? Why don't you just have him take care of you then?"

Okabe Motonobu's blunt words immediately created an awkward atmosphere.

Uesugi Tetsu remained silent.

Even if he did want to build a good relationship with the future old turtle in the long run, there was no need to go against Okabe Motonobu in such a public place.

For a clever person like Matsudaira Motoyasu, what he does is always more important than what he says.

He just thought,
"I have a feeling that Motonobu-nee's attitude towards Matsudaira Motoyasu is not very good."

Matsudaira Motoyasu, instead of getting angry or stiffening his expression, bowed his head earnestly upon hearing this.
"Lord Okabe's words are a lesson—even if Motoyasu has no experience, it is not a reason to rely directly on others."

Matsudaira Motoyasu's words directly transformed Okabe Motonobu's words into "education".

After saying that, he didn't stay there to make things worse for himself. Instead, he respectfully said goodbye and turned to leave.

Uesugi Tetsu watched the boy's retreating figure and said, "Matsudaira, he's very cunning." Okabe Motonobu shrugged noncommittally, "No matter how cunning he is, he's only half as cunning as our lord."

"The Matsudaira family's hostage... let him do whatever he wants."

She chuckled softly.
"Anyway, in the end, it's all for nothing when it comes to our lord."

She stretched out her finger, teasing the grime peeking out from the gaps in her armor, and laughed happily.

“Mr. Che, this little guy is really good. He can understand human speech and can even help me clean my weapons every day.”

It seems that Motonobu Okabe doesn't take the little turtle seriously at all.

But that's normal.

Matsudaira Motoyasu, who had just completed his coming-of-age ceremony, had nothing particularly noteworthy about him except for the enigmatic Hanzo by his side.

Uesugi Tetsu reminded her, "Yuanxin-nee, you'd better take him more seriously."

"well."

Judging from his tone, Motonobu Okabe remained completely unconcerned.

Therefore, Uesugi Tetsuya said no more.

"Ah, right."

After seeing that most of the people in Mihiroma had left, Okabe Motonobu casually said, "Also, let's turn back three days after we set off."

She pinched the scruff of the dog's neck with her fingers, made a face at it, and started talking as if it were something trivial.

"My lord wants me to take action with Hanzo on my way back."

But I don't trust Hanzo, and I don't trust those old fogies either.

“The military advisor of Taiyuan also knows about this, and he promised to maintain stability in the rear.” Okabe Motonobu condensed his qi into a thread and transmitted it to Uesugi Tetsu’s ear. “So all we need to do is act as the blade, and we don’t need to worry about anything else.”

"Just the two of us?"

"Aren't the two of us enough?"

After the question and answer, Uesugi Tetsu had a clear answer in his mind.

Since Sister Yuanxin has discussed this matter with Taiyuan Xuezhai, it means that it is quite reliable—otherwise, the latter would not have agreed.

"time?"

"Meet at the entrance of the Imagawa residence at four o'clock in the morning on the fourth day after the expedition." Okabe Motonobu said, "Mr. Tetsu... according to the lord, you are to go ahead with her. You should be able to make it in time, right?"

"easy."

"I can rest assured that."

……

The next day, outside Junpu Castle.

A military formation consisting of seven or eight thousand foot soldiers and samurai was lined up outside the city. Despite the uneven quality of the soldiers, the entire formation was unusually quiet.

Whether they were foot soldiers temporarily conscripted or samurai clad in fine equipment, they all lowered their heads and kept their mouths tightly shut.

Because of the figure in black armor riding a tall horse.

A moment later, Okabe Motonobu jumped off his horse, startling the boy who was leading it. The boy bowed and opened the door of the large palanquin.

"My lord, please."

Under the watchful eyes of the entire army and many residents of Sunpu Castle, Imagawa Yoshimoto, dressed in a magnificent twelve-layered kimono, gently responded and slipped into the palanquin.

"Get up the sedan."

Okabe Motonobu shouted, then mounted his horse again, letting his chilling voice echo in the air outside Sunpu Castle.

"Let's go!"

—On a small hill covered in dense forest in the distance, Uesugi Tetsuya, who had seen the dark army slowly moving, withdrew his gaze and looked at the black-haired girl in plain clothes beside him.

"Lord Yiyuan, let's go too."

At this time, Imagawa Yoshimoto was dressed in civilian clothes, with only two swords hanging at his waist like other samurai.

A sword nominally a tachi, but in reality only slightly longer than Kaga Kiyomitsu's "Sōsan Samonji".

The other one is the slightly shorter "Matsukura E".

When Uesugi Tetsu saw the two blades, he noticed that they were both emitting a purple light, clearly indicating that they were at least epic-level weapons.

As for the twelve-layered kimono that Imagawa Yoshimoto always wore when he went out as "Imagawa no Naka de," he wore the full-length kimono of the time when he went into battle.

The Japanese bow "Iwa," which was much longer than her, was also temporarily stored in Uesugi Tetsuya's storage backpack.

Imagawa Yoshimoto nodded, glancing at the stark shadow cast by a tree nearby: "It's all up to you."

"Hanzo, you go alone to gather current intelligence. I will go with Yoshimoto, but we have another objective. If we are not seen by the appointed time, you can return to the main camp and tell the commander what you have seen."

Uesugi Tetsuya didn't mince words, directly spreading his hands towards Hanzo: "Give me a wisp of your aura, just in case."

The next instant, a deep shadow was placed in Uesugi Tetsuya's palm, and a hoarse voice echoed: "You can sense my presence within a kilometer..."

After he finished speaking, the shadows on the trees and Hanzo's aura quickly disappeared into the distance.

In just over ten seconds, Hanzo's aura vanished from Uesugi Tetsu's perception.

"So, Che-kun, how can we get there faster than Hanzo?"

After Imagawa Yoshimoto saw him withdraw his gaze, he crossed his arms and asked curiously.

"Two feet."

As soon as he finished speaking, the two-foot-tall adult, who had been prepared, landed lightly, stretching out his palm towards the air in front of him with a serious expression.

po~
With a crisp sound, a square, semi-transparent panel with "railings" around it appeared in front of the three people.

After the semi-transparent panel appeared, the two-foot-tall lady's face immediately turned pale. Her small body swayed twice, and she was caught by Imagawa Yoshimoto before she almost fell.

At the same time, Imagawa Yoshimoto tilted his head in confusion.

She felt that apart from its semi-transparent texture, this thing was no different from a lid in essence.

Is a lid proof that they can be faster than Hanzo?

The two-foot-tall man pointed at the ethereal floating platform she conjured using her illusory weapon abilities: "Lord Yi... Lord Yiyuan, please sit down."

Imagawa Yoshimoto sat on the floating platform, which was several square meters in size, with some skepticism, and then saw Uesugi Tetsuya sit on it as well.

“Che-jun…”

Just as she was about to ask a question, the two-foot-tall man she was holding mischievously raised his fingertip, causing the levitation board to rise rapidly to a height of 100 meters in the air.

"Wow--!"

Upon experiencing such a strong sense of weightlessness for the first time, Imagawa Yoshimoto couldn't help but exclaim, feeling as if his soul was about to float away.

After a couple of seconds, Imagawa Yoshimoto came to her senses and looked at Uesugi Tetsuya and Nisha-sama, who were both staring at her.

"Cough cough..."

The girl turned her head and coughed twice. Just as she was about to speak, she looked down and saw a field of vision that had expanded many times over and a military formation moving like ants in the distance.

She turned her head again, and then suddenly realized something.

—Am I in the air?!
Imagawa Yoshimoto's legs went weak for a moment from the altitude, but she still managed to remain calm and asked, "Tetsu-kun, are we going to travel like birds in mid-air from now on?"

"More or less."

Uesugi Tetsu held the little hand of the two-way healer and gave her strength: "But as long as you have a thought, we can fly safely to our destination at an extremely fast speed."

Imagawa Yoshimoto was stunned.

After a long while, she lowered her head and asked a completely unrelated question.
"Can the people down there see us?"

Uesugi Tetsu shook his head: "Of course you can't see it."

"Why... is that?"

Uesugi Tetsu: "The power of shikigami is sometimes unreasonable, Yoshimoto-kun."

He paused for a moment, then continued,

"Also—I'd like to visit Youdu Village, is that alright?"

He had a premonition that if he didn't take this opportunity to say goodbye to Tanaka and his family, he might never see them again.

"Do I even need to ask about something so trivial?" Imagawa Yoshimoto sighed softly. "Didn't I already say that everything would be up to you, Che-kun?"

call out--!
Amidst Imagawa Yoshimoto's approving remarks, the levitation board sped toward Aritari Village at an extremely fast speed.

Soon after, the levitation board arrived above Youdu Village.

"Please wait here for a moment, Lord Yiyuan."

After saying that, Uesugi Tetsu jumped from the floating platform that had descended to only a dozen meters above the ground and landed lightly at the door of the Ina family's house.

He listened intently for a moment and found only the sound of breathing inside the room.

Whatever.

Uesugi Tetsu didn't wait long and immediately reached out and knocked on the wooden door frame.

Suddenly, a heavy thud was heard coming from inside the earthen seat.

The next moment, a small head with a slightly wary expression popped out, but froze the instant it saw him.

Immediately afterwards, the girl revealed an uncontrollable joy.

"Che...Lord Che?!"

The curtain was flung open, and the girl, who wasn't even fully dressed, ran barefoot to the door without a care.

Ah Dao looked up in disbelief, gazing at the handsome face she thought she would never see again in her life.

"Lord Che?"

She tentatively asked in a low voice.

Uesugi Tetsu gently curved the corners of his mouth: "It's me."

It really is Lord Che!

The girl was so excited she almost jumped for joy, raising her hands and cheering.

But then she realized that Lord Che was now a samurai, so she couldn't lose her composure in front of him.

So Adao took a deep breath, placed her hands in front of her, and said respectfully, "Lord Che, please take the earth seat, and let me properly entertain you..."

"No need."

Uesugi Tetsu interrupted her.

He took out three items from his storage backpack: "I'm about to go to war with the army, and I've come here to offer your family some assistance."

Uesugi Tetsu first pointed to the cloth bag and said,
"This is ten taels of silver, as payment for Tanaka-ro's help to me back then."

Ah Dao blinked, wondering if he had misheard the unit.

Only when she felt the heavy weight in her palm did the girl suddenly realize what was happening, and stammered, "Lord Che, we can't..."

Uesugi Tetsu lifted her hand and placed a protective charm, infused with a trace of Five Thunder Magic power, on top of the bag.
"This is a talisman. Please wear it with you at all times. It can protect you in a critical moment."

Ah Dao stopped talking.

She dared not speak.

She had no idea what she had done to deserve such help from the esteemed Lord Che.

Finally, Uesugi Tetsu placed a standard wakizashi bearing the Imagawa family crest on her waist: "This is a wakizashi. If you encounter something you can no longer tolerate, I hope it will give you the courage to resist."

After giving away the three items, Uesugi Tetsu turned and walked towards the door without any hesitation.

Goodbye, Ah Dao.

The girl stood there blankly, looking in the direction he had left.

After a long while, Ah Dao murmured to himself,

"Goodbye."

Will we never see each other again, Lord Che?

(End of this chapter)