Outrageous! (Please Keep Reading)

Bang!

A gunshot rang out.

Once the smoke at the bow dispersed, Yamauchi Kazutoyo's cold face appeared beneath the blazing sun.

"Kichibē, did I hit it?"

"You did!" Kichibē cried jubilantly at his side.

Yamauchi Kazutoyo swept out a hand. "Pull over. We'll have crane for dinner tonight."

Clap clap clap!

Maeno Nagayasu, beside them, applauded in amazement. "Who would have thought Iemon was also so skilled with a gun? To strike a waterfowl in the water from thirty paces away—his gunnery is no longer beneath Takigawa Sakonshōgen's."

"No secret to it—only practice makes perfect." Yamauchi Kazutoyo casually handed the gun to Kichibē, as though it were nothing worth mentioning.

Though guns, as a new kind of weapon, had yet to become widespread on battlefields across the country, they had already begun to show their edge in local conflicts.

In his spare time, Yamauchi Kazutoyo often practiced shooting with a gun. He had nearly used up all the ammunition Sobue Kan'emon had bought.

This gun produced in Kunitomo Village still had many flaws, and Yamauchi Kazutoyo was not quite accustomed to using it. Still, he could not buy anything better for the time being.

"Iemon, what is this bamboo tube hanging at your waist?" Like a curious child, Maeno Nagayasu tugged at Yamauchi Kazutoyo and peppered him with questions.

Yamauchi Kazutoyo removed one of the bamboo tubes and spread it open in his palm. "Nothing. It just looks nice hanging there."

Seeing that Yamauchi Kazutoyo was unwilling to say more, Maeno Nagayasu tactfully closed his mouth.

Although guns had now reached Japan, Japanese gun tactics and techniques remained quite backward.

At first glance, the bamboo tube in Yamauchi Kazutoyo's hand looked like an inconspicuous little trinket, but its value was immeasurable. It would be the means by which he rose in the future, so naturally he would not reveal it to others so easily.

"The timber Iemon needed has already been sent to Igi Mountain, but it seems castle construction has run into trouble lately." Maeno Nagayasu turned to business.

Yamauchi Kazutoyo asked, "What trouble?"

"Timber," Maeno Nagayasu replied. "The timber from Matsukura Castle is barely enough to build the plank screens on Igi Mountain, but it is unsuitable for the harbor below Igi Mountain."

"Simply put, Matsukura Castle's timber is easily corroded after soaking in water."

"So we are badly short of fine cedar, and in the Nōbi Region, timber like that generally comes from one place..."

Yamauchi Kazutoyo nodded. "Hida!"

Surrounded by mountains and barren of land, Hida Province was a provincial domain with scarcely any presence during Japan's Warring States period.

Yet Hida Province had its own advantages. It possessed vast quantities of high-quality construction lumber. Hinoki cypress and cedar in particular, prized for their resistance to rot and fine grain, were the first choice of great lords, court nobles, and temples for building castles and repairing temples.

For that very reason, Hida's carpentry was unmatched in Japan. Carpenters from Hida were sought after wherever they went.

"Since Koemon has raised this issue, I presume you already have a solution?" Yamauchi Kazutoyo asked.

Maeno Nagayasu replied, "I happen to know a carpenter from Hida. He can obtain fine hinoki cypress and cedar, but nearly all timber produced in Hida has already been reserved by the major temples."

"I am afraid we cannot gather the lumber we need in a short time."

Yamauchi Kazutoyo waved a hand. "That is simple. Purchase timber from Hida in the name of Nagashima Gansho-ji."

"But if someone asks about it afterward..."

Yamauchi Kazutoyo cut Maeno Nagayasu off directly and said with complete confidence, "What is there to fear? The timber was bought by Ogawa Saburo. What does that have to do with me, Yamauchi Kazutoyo?"

He did not know how long he could keep wearing the tiger's skin of Jodo Shinshu, so Yamauchi Kazutoyo would be a fool not to use it while he could.

It was not as if he truly intended to follow Jodo Shinshu in launching an Ikkō uprising. So long as the money reached his hands, that was enough. Why should he care if floodwaters surged to the heavens behind him?

"Just as Father said, Iemon truly is extraordinary!" Maeno Nagayasu gave Yamauchi Kazutoyo a deep look. It was impossible to tell whether his words were praise or criticism.

Once the orders had been given, Maeno Nagayasu immediately returned to Matsukura Castle.

The man he sought was a Hida carpenter named Shichibē. The residence where Maeno Muneyasu had retired into seclusion had been built by this very man.

The Ogawa Band had a clear division of duties. In barely a month, they had methodically seized firm control of the middle reaches of the Kiso River.

Maeno Nagayasu's addition made the Ogawa Band like a tiger grown wings. It effectively provided them with an additional trade route.

Previously, Yamauchi Kazutoyo had needed to go to Tsushima Harbor and Nagashima Gansho-ji to sell goods. Now, he could sell goods and purchase supplies nearby at Matsukura Castle, greatly improving the Ogawa Band's internal operating efficiency.

More than half of the three-month agreement with Nagashima Gansho-ji had already passed, and Yamauchi Kazutoyo's answer sheet was filled with answers.

But while some rejoiced, others worried. Watching the Ogawa Band flourish so vigorously, Oda Nobukiyo of Inuyama Castle could no longer stand it!

At least one-third of Inuyama Castle's fiscal income depended on tolls from the Kiso River. The Ogawa Band openly intercepting passing merchant vessels on the Kiso River might not have meant much to Saito Yoshitatsu or Oda Nobunaga, but to Oda Nobukiyo, it was like pulling the firewood from beneath the cauldron.

"Outrageous!"

"Utterly intolerable!"

"This is simply beyond reason!"

"It would have been one thing if the Ogawa Band merely collected tolls, but they are even building a castle on Igi Mountain! They do not intend to leave at all!"

Within the palace of Inuyama Castle, Oda Nobukiyo was so furious after reading the intelligence gathered from every region that smoke practically poured from his seven orifices.

Had the Ogawa Band merely intended to make a quick profit, he could have endured it. But now they were undertaking massive construction and building a castle on Igi Mountain directly across from Inuyama Castle. How could Oda Nobukiyo possibly accept that?

Only the Kiso River lay between Igi Mountain and Inuyama Castle. So long as he stood atop the mountain, the scenery on the opposite bank was laid bare before his eyes.

It felt as though the Ogawa Band had knocked Inuyama-dono to the ground right before him, then strutted back and forth in front of him afterward.

They were bullying him far too much!

"Contact the village guards. Send Matsubara Naiku an order: drive this damned Ogawa Band out of my territory!"

Oda Nobukiyo issued the command in uncontrollable fury. Before long, every village within the Inuyama Oda family's domain received a mobilization order.

After learning of the "enemy situation," Matsubara Naiku first sent someone to tip off Hachisuka Masakatsu, then personally set out for Inuyama Castle.

"Lord Shimotsuke no Kami, this matter will be difficult to handle!"

The moment he entered, Matsubara Naiku began pouring out his grievances to Oda Nobukiyo.

"Lord Shimotsuke no Kami, you know how the Kiso River floods year after year. The common people have long suffered beyond endurance."

"Furthermore, the boats have fallen into disrepair over the years. They are fine for catching fish on the Kiso River, but asking us to fight the Ogawa Band is more than we can manage."

"In last year's Battle of Ukino, the Iwakura Oda clan lost more than a thousand men. The young and able-bodied men of the villages..."

"Enough!" Oda Nobukiyo snapped. "I do not want to hear your hardships. I only want the Ogawa Band out of my territory!"

"Just tell me—what will it take to gather enough ships for battle?"

A sharp gleam flashed through Matsubara Naiku's eyes, and he immediately began calculating the costs for Oda Nobukiyo.

Matsubara Naiku held up one finger. "First, we must build several large ships. That expense will be roughly fifty kan."

"Second, we lack bows. To send troops out, we must prepare at least thirty bows."

"The bows themselves are not expensive—only one kan and two hundred mon apiece—but arrows are costly."

"Each arrow costs one hundred mon. It is not excessive to equip thirty bows with five hundred arrows, is it? That makes another fifty kan for arrows."

"Then there is manpower. If we hire boats, a small boat costs several dozen mon a day. Prepare fifty boats for a limit of ten days, and that is another twenty-five kan."

"For any time beyond ten days, Lord Shimotsuke no Kami must give everyone some support money. Fifty small boats require two hundred men. I will not ask for much—six kan a day will do..."

As the figures poured unceasingly from Matsubara Naiku's mouth, Oda Nobukiyo's heart bled.

If this account were calculated carefully, would he not have to pay two hundred kan just for the preparation stage?

But matters had come to this, and Oda Nobukiyo could no longer concern himself with such things.

Oda Nobukiyo ground his teeth until they nearly shattered. "Isn't it just two hundred kan? I'll pay!"