The name of the great swordsman begins in Okehazama.

"You..." Sasa Narimasa's face instantly turned a deep liver color, and the veins on his hands, which were braced on the ground, bulged.

An apology? An apology to a nobody like Ma Huizhong who was just a nobody not long ago? And he even had to thank him? This was worse than death! Although his enemy had been killed by this young man before him, and his head had been returned to his homeland, he did indeed owe Shinsuke a tremendous debt of gratitude. But with the other party demanding it so aggressively, the meaning of that debt had completely changed, leaving only naked humiliation.

"Shin-suke, that's enough!" Lin Hsiu-chen couldn't help but speak up.

Disputes among retainers are acceptable, but to pressure a colleague in front of one's lord in this way is tantamount to challenging the lord's authority.

Nobunaga's face darkened, and he began tapping his knees again. He admired Shinsuke's martial prowess, but he absolutely disapproved of this kind of arrogant and unruly behavior. A balance needed to be maintained among his retainers, and merit needed to be rewarded, but authority needed to be upheld even more.

"Shin-chan! I've given him credit. I've increased his reward. Any further demands would be going too far!"

His words carried a hidden murderous intent. Maeda Toshiie, who was listening nearby, was terrified and desperately tried to signal Shinsuke with his eyes, urging him to back down immediately.

Shinsuke turned to Nobunaga, speaking neither humbly nor arrogantly: "My lord, please understand! It is not that I do not know my place. However, merit is the foundation of a samurai's character and cannot be tarnished. Lord Sasa publicly questioned my merit in killing Motonobu, which is to question my bravery and integrity. Motonobu was the enemy who killed his brother, Lord Sasa Masatsugu. I avenged Lord Sasa's blood feud and retrieved Hayato Masatsugu's head. Publicly, I should apologize! Privately, I should express my gratitude. This is only reasonable and in accordance with the way of a samurai! If this matter is left unresolved today, wouldn't it disrupt the family's rules if retainers were to fight each other in the future?"

He was, after all, a modern man, and he was quite adept at using magic to fight each other, even raising the banners of "the way of the samurai" and "domestic rules".

Niwa Nagahide nodded slightly, feeling that although the young samurai was arrogant, what he said was not entirely unreasonable.

Nobunaga was surprised by Shinsuke's quick wit and stared at him for a moment.

In this situation, it would be disrespectful to make eye contact with the lord, but it was also impossible to make Shinsuke obediently lower his head. He cleverly stared at Sasa Masashige with his eyes slanted to the side.

After a long silence, Nobunaga suddenly chuckled and turned to Sassa Narimasa, whose face had turned ashen. "Narimasa, what do you have to say?"

"My lord! I..." Sassa Narimasa gritted his teeth. To bow down to Shinsuke in public was harder than committing seppuku. But his lord had already spoken, and Shinsuke held the moral high ground. If he stubbornly resisted, he would appear petty.

He took a deep breath, as if using all his strength, turned to Shinsuke, lowered his head deeply, and his voice seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth.

"Lord Mori... I misspoke just now! Please forgive me!" He paused, lowered his head even further, and said in a deep voice, "Thank you, Lord Mori... for fighting for my brother's enemies and retrieving his remains! The Sasuke family... will forever remember this kindness!"

Every word felt like a dull knife cutting into flesh, yet it brought Shinsuke a sense of satisfaction.

"Not at all, Lady Sasa, I forgive you!"

The main hall was eerily quiet, and everyone could feel the barely contained shame and indignation emanating from Sassa Narimasa.

Nobunaga observed the situation with detachment, and seeing that the turmoil had subsided, he stopped pursuing the matter.

"Narimasa, I know very well what you and your family have done. Starting tomorrow, you will be the head of the Black Mother Robe Clan. After succeeding as the head of the clan, you must be even more composed." Then he looked at Maeda Toshiie and Shinsuke, "You two go to the Red Mother Robe Clan."

He didn't want Cheng Zheng and Xin Zhu to be fighting each other in the same team every day.

"Lin Zuodu, as I just said, rewrite the statement of apology and make it public to all troops!"

"yes!"

"As for you, Shinsuke," Nobunaga looked at him, "a salary of 500 koku. Manage it well. The merits of the Oda clan should be earned with more loyalty and bravery, not with eloquence."

"knew!"

"Continue inspecting the heads! Shinsuke, bring that person from the side hall here!"

Inside the side hall.

Kobayashi Heihachiro lay prostrate on the ground, feeling uneasy.

Shinsuke went in and called out, "Hey, come out! The lord wants to see you!"

Heihachiro looked up and saw Shinsuke. Under the lantern, that young yet fierce face was all too familiar.

He recoiled as if he'd seen a ghost, exclaiming, "My God!"

Shinsuke recognized the man but couldn't place him, so he casually snapped, "Hurry up!"

Heihachiro's hands and feet trembled as he struggled to his feet. "Is Lord Oda going to execute me?"

"I just told you to come over! I don't know what you're afraid of!"

"Okay! I'll go right now... I'll go right now." He hunched over and followed Shinsuke out, looking like he was about to cry again.

……

"I agree to your conditions," Nobunaga said bluntly. "Tomorrow at 7 AM, I will arrange for Sakuma Nobumori to take Motonobu's head to take over Narumi Castle. You only have one hour to withdraw from Owari!"

Kobayashi Heihachiro trembled and repeatedly said, "Yes! Yes! Thank you for your mercy, Your Highness! The castle gates will certainly open tomorrow at dawn!"

"I want a fully restored Narumi Castle, not ruins. Remember, only personnel are allowed to leave the castle; soldiers, armor, provisions, and weapons are strictly prohibited from being moved!"

"I understand! I dare not disobey!"

"Go."

Amidst the laughter and jeers of Oda's retainers, Heihachiro withdrew.

"Congratulations, my lord, on recapturing Narumi Castle!"

"Congratulations, my lord, on recapturing Narumi Castle!"

……

Lying in his newly assigned room, Shinsuke couldn't fall asleep. Suddenly, a question came to his mind.

Historically, Okabe Motonobu accomplished much more later in life. For instance, when he withdrew from Narumi Castle, he felt it would be beneath him to return home, so he went south and, along the way, destroyed Mizuno Nobuchika, a subordinate of the Oda clan, and burned down Kariya Castle.

If we calculate it this way, the Oda clan would have several hundred more soldiers, and we don’t know if that will affect the timeline of history.

Japan's Sengoku period is often jokingly referred to as village warfare because the scale of the battles was so small that even a few hundred people were considered precious.

The next historical event should be the Cheongju Alliance. During this time, I should also use 500 zhixing to recruit some of my own retainers.

……

Meanwhile, Nobunaga also couldn't sleep. He ordered all the windows to be opened, and Nohime's two snow-white arms coiled around him like water snakes.

"A-Nong?"

"Yes!" Nohime, perhaps because she was unable to bear children, looked even more charming than some of Nobunaga's concubines.

"I'm having trouble figuring out what to do with Yoshimoto's body..."

What makes you say that?

"I had planned to use his corpse as leverage to get Okabe Motonobu to exchange for Narumi Castle. But I never expected that Shinsuke would have already killed Okabe Motonobu this afternoon!"

"Then why didn't you hand over the heads of Yoshimoto and Motonobu to the Imagawa army at Narumi Castle?"

"I don't think it's worth it. If we trade these two heads for Narumi Castle, won't the Imagawa clan think I'm afraid of their retaliation?"

"My husband is actually worried about this?" Nohime's slender fingers concealed her smile.

"Yoshimoto's body is still in my hands. Burying him is a headache... If I do it hastily, it would be unbecoming of a samurai, but if I do it properly, it would make me seem afraid..."

"Then why don't you ask your retainers?"

"Do I even need to ask? Hideaki will definitely ask me to return it, Konroku (Shibata Katsuie) will definitely ask me to give it a proper burial, Goroza (Niwa Nagahide)... I can figure out what they're thinking even with my ass!"

"Why don't you go ask Lord Mori, who just accomplished a great feat?"

"Ask him?" Nobunaga hesitated for a moment, then, thinking he might get a surprising answer, he excitedly touched Nohime's pretty face. "As expected of my woman, Nobunaga!"