Let the Willing Take the Bait (Please Read On)

"Iemon, someone's following us."

"I know. They've been tailing us ever since we left Myōkō-ji Temple."

On the road leading to Tsushima Harbor, Yamauchi Kazutoyo and Horio Yoshiharu spoke in low voices.

"Most likely someone from Jodo Shinshu." Horio Yoshiharu glanced back from the corner of his eye and gave a highly certain answer.

"He's exactly who we've been waiting for! Do as we discussed."

Without giving anything away, Yamauchi Kazutoyo slowed his pace, pretending to be tired from walking.

Sure enough, before long, the man behind them quickened his steps and caught up.

"My lords, please wait!"

"What is it?" Horio Yoshiharu, standing beside Yamauchi Kazutoyo, replied coldly.

The newcomer did not get angry. Instead, he bowed and said, "Just now, at the gates of Myōkō-ji Temple, I heard you two asking where you might find a Jodo Shinshu fellowship. Might I ask, are you two..."

"What's it to you?" Horio Yoshiharu glared at him and deliberately showed off the sword at his waist, looking crude, rude, and more than a little dim-witted.

That sort of persona should have suited Hachisuka Masakatsu better, but when Horio Yoshiharu played it, he instead seemed inexperienced in the ways of the world, lending him an extra touch of innocence and simplicity.

"Please do not misunderstand. To be honest, I am the head of a Jodo Shinshu fellowship in Nakashima District," the man introduced himself.

The fellowship head was the person in charge of a fellowship. He would hold Buddhist gatherings in the village every few days, working together with monks sent by Jodo Shinshu to fleece money from the believers.

Yamauchi Kazutoyo shoved Horio Yoshiharu aside, instantly putting on a smiling face as his attitude took a complete one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn.

"Oh my, why didn't you say so sooner!"

"I am Ogawa Saburo, and this is my elder brother, Ogawa Jiro. Please forgive our rudeness."

The man hurriedly replied, "Not at all, not at all. I merely heard you two asking where you could find a fellowship of our sect. May I ask what business you have with us?"

Yamauchi Kazutoyo let out a long sigh. "To be honest, my brother and I were once warriors of the Iwakura Oda clan, but after our lord's house fell, we became ronin."

"Before the war, I promised to donate five kanmon worth of stipend land to Daikō-ji Temple outside Matsukura Castle in Haguri District as temple property. But because I could not fulfill that promise, I fell out with the temple."

To donate land to a temple meant placing it under the temple's name. Because temples possessed the privilege of "no entry for the shugo," such land no longer had to pay annual tribute to the daimyo.

The temples used this opportunity to seize land on a massive scale, so the daimyo were deeply displeased with these monks. Among them, Jodo Shinshu was the worst.

After all, other temples merely seized land and built monopolies. Jodo Shinshu also stirred up the common people to revolt from time to time. Who could stand that?

"Recently, I suddenly developed the thought of abandoning Nichiren Buddhism and joining Jodo Shinshu, so I came to have a look."

The man swept Yamauchi Kazutoyo with a scrutinizing gaze. "Since you are warriors from Haguri District, how did you end up in Nakashima District?"

"We simply couldn't stay in Haguri District any longer..."

"Do you know Yamauchi Tajima-no-kami Moritaka of Kuroda Township?" the man continued asking.

"Yamauchi Tajima-no-kami?" Yamauchi Kazutoyo pretended to think for a moment. "You mean Yamauchi Tajima-no-kami, who committed seppuku at Iwakura Castle?"

"Wasn't his name Moritoyo?"

"Yes, yes, Yamauchi Moritoyo. Look at this memory of mine!" The man slapped his forehead, as though he had genuinely misspoken.

"I do know Yamauchi Tajima-no-kami, though he does not know me." A trace of dejection showed in Yamauchi Kazutoyo's eyes.

Seeing this, the man immediately said, "Since you two are interested in our sect, why not come back to the village with me? There happens to be a gratitude service today."

"Really?" Yamauchi Kazutoyo said in delighted surprise. "Even if we are not followers of Jodo Shinshu, can we take part?"

"What are you saying?" the man said with a smile. "As long as Buddha is in your heart, you are a believer. The teachings of our sect exist to save all living beings."

"It's just..." The man blinked, hesitating to speak.

"I understand!" Yamauchi Kazutoyo held out his hand toward Horio Yoshiharu, who immediately took out a string of copper coins and handed it over.

"My brother and I are sincere in our devotion to Buddha. Please accept this humble gift, fellowship head."

The man's eyes lit up, but he did not accept it right away. Instead, he said, "Our sect establishes village fellowships not for wealth, but to show lost sentient beings the way through the maze and guide the world toward rebirth in paradise."

"Though this is our first meeting, I can see that you two are very lost!"

"Lost!" Yamauchi Kazutoyo nodded vigorously. "Especially lost!"

He took a Koshu ichibukin from his robes. Apparently feeling that was still not enough, Yamauchi Kazutoyo took out another and placed both in the man's hand.

"In past campaigns, I committed much slaughter and incurred countless sins. I only regret that I never learned the true essence of Buddha's teachings. Therefore, fellowship head, please do not shut my brother and me outside your doors."

A flash of greed passed through the man's eyes. As expected, they were big fish.

Most importantly, the man before him was clearly an uncultured, crude warrior. He probably could not even recite the Lotus Sutra. Otherwise, why would he have come to join Jodo Shinshu?

But Jodo Shinshu wanted precisely this sort of person!

Stupid, rich, and easy to fool!

At the gates of Myōkō-ji Temple just now, Yamauchi Kazutoyo's act of taking out gold had been far too conspicuous. That dazzling golden gleam, reflected in the sunlight, would have been difficult for anyone to miss.

"Easy enough, easy enough. Our village is not far ahead. Please follow me, my lords."

"May I ask how to address you?"

"Just call me Sasuke, my lord."

"Then why was Sasuke at Myōkō-ji Temple?"

"Of course, to spread the Buddha's teachings, so that believers who have mistakenly trusted other sects may turn back from their lost path." Sasuke smiled.

Recruiting people to improve performance and bring in revenue—Yamauchi Kazutoyo understood.

Watching the man beside him go on at length about Jodo Shinshu, Yamauchi Kazutoyo smiled faintly.

A true hunter often appeared in the guise of prey.

Yamauchi Kazutoyo wanted to establish ties with Jodo Shinshu in Owari. Naturally, he could not simply go knocking on their door like a fool. That would make his purpose too obvious and easily arouse suspicion.

After all, people in this era did not travel around much. Most only moved among their own hometown circles, and whenever they went out, they ran into acquaintances.

If Yamauchi Kazutoyo wanted to conceal his identity, he naturally could not join Jodo Shinshu in Haguri District. There were too many acquaintances there, and he could easily be recognized.

Yet if he joined in Nakashima District, unfamiliar faces like theirs would not earn the other side's trust.

Since that was the case, he might as well make a conspicuous show of it and wait for the fish to take the bait on their own.

Clearly, Yamauchi Kazutoyo's plan had worked.

"We're here!"

"This is the Kawada Village fellowship of Kariyasuka Township!" Sasuke stood at the village entrance and introduced it to Yamauchi Kazutoyo.

Seeing the sparse crowd at the village fellowship, Yamauchi Kazutoyo immediately showed a suspicious expression.

Sasuke was slightly embarrassed. There was nothing to be done about it. Jodo Shinshu in Kariyasuka Township had only been developing for a few years, so there truly were rather few believers.

Otherwise, he would not have needed to go everywhere recruiting people...

"Lord Ogawa, the temple of our sect here is called Seiganji Temple. Though it was only founded a few years ago, it is a branch temple of Shotokuji Temple in Nakashima District."

"You know Shotokuji Temple, right? It is the largest Jodo Shinshu temple in all of Owari Province." As Sasuke said this, he could not help straightening his chest, his face full of pride.

Yamauchi Kazutoyo suddenly understood. So this place was still in the fledgling stage of Jodo Shinshu's development. They had truly come to the right place.

Following their prior arrangement, Horio Yoshiharu still wore that keep-strangers-away expression, maintaining the image of an overbearing, unreasonable, crude warrior.

Led by Sasuke, Yamauchi Kazutoyo blended into the crowd.

A monk sat upright on the raised platform, tirelessly preaching to the twenty or thirty elderly, weak, women, and children below about rebirth in paradise. The response, however, was mediocre.

Sasuke stepped forward and whispered something into the monk's ear. The monk immediately stopped turning the prayer beads in his hand.

After uttering "Amitabha," the monk picked up an offering box and walked over to Yamauchi Kazutoyo with a genial smile.

"Sasuke has told this humble monk of the patron's request. Since you sincerely seek Buddha, this temple welcomes you most wholeheartedly!" As he spoke, the monk raised the offering box in his hands.

Yamauchi Kazutoyo went numb. This man's business skills were far too poor. Who asked for money the moment they met?

No wonder expanding their operations had been so difficult.

Still, it saved him some trouble. Yamauchi Kazutoyo hurriedly said, "My sins are too grave. Ordinary temples likely cannot erase them."

"May I go to Shotokuji Temple to cultivate myself?"

The monk was not offended. A small rural temple could only fool villagers. To catch truly big fish, one still needed a major temple. Yamauchi Kazutoyo's words suited him perfectly.

"Our sect's rules are strict. If the patron wishes to cultivate at Shotokuji Temple, you must at least first become a fellowship head."

"Then how does one become a fellowship head?" Yamauchi Kazutoyo caught on quickly, taking out money as he spoke.

Without showing any reaction, the monk dropped the money into the offering box and continued, "It is not difficult. The patron need only first recite, 'Namu Amida Butsu.'"

"Namu Amida Butsu." After Yamauchi Kazutoyo finished reciting it and saw no response from the monk, he hurriedly asked, "And then?"

"That's all!" The monk looked utterly innocent. That was the only phrase he had been taught.

"That's all?" Yamauchi Kazutoyo's eyes widened.

"Yes!" The monk clasped his hands together. "Congratulations, patron. You are now a devout follower of Jodo Shinshu."

Yamauchi Kazutoyo: ...