Get Out! All of You, Get Out!

Matsubara Naiku truly got things done when he took money.

After leaving Inuyama Castle, Matsubara Naiku immediately sprang into action.

From Kuroda Township in Haguri District in the west to Inuyama Castle in Niwa District in the east, fishermen from seventeen villages along the twenty-five-kilometer riverbank were mobilized.

Thirty or forty small boats formed groups and began patrolling the Kiso River. Passing merchant ships soon noticed that the Ogawa Band, once so active, seemed to have vanished overnight.

Matsubara Naiku then reported to Inuyama Castle that the operation had been a resounding victory: several Ogawa Band boats had been captured, and more than a dozen men had been personally cut down.

Why were there no heads?

The bodies had fallen into the water, and the Kiso River flowed too swiftly to retrieve them.

But regardless, after the guards were deployed, the Ogawa Band truly vanished from around Inuyama Castle.

Oda Nobukiyo was delighted when he heard the news. He grinned for days on end and kept praising Matsubara Naiku as a man who knew how to get things done.

Naturally, Oda Nobukiyo did not refuse the reward Matsubara Naiku requested, generously handing over several dozen kan.

For a time, everyone in Inuyama Castle rejoiced. The gloom of recent days was swept away, and the place brimmed with vigorous life, as though all things beneath heaven were bursting forth in competition.

Five days later, on the Kiso River.

Two small boats drifted slowly to shore.

Two men stepped down from the boats. One of them spoke first. "Rokudayu, take down all the flags."

"What's the rush?" Hibino Rokudayu bent down and pulled waterweed from his straw sandals. "Isn't it tomorrow?"

Inada Uemoto took off his straw raincoat and gave it a shake, scattering the droplets.

"Lord Yamauchi said we should replace the Mokko Crest flags first, so we don't get mixed up when we raise the Jodo Shinshu banners again tomorrow morning."

Hibino Rokudayu thought that made sense. With dozens of boats changing flags at once, they could easily end up in a flurry.

"Then let's wait until the other boats return and change them together. I'm a little hungry. Where are we having dinner tonight?"

Inada Uemoto suggested, "How about going to Matsubara Estate for fish?"

"We've eaten that for several days straight. We might as well go back to Unuma Castle and have some rice in broth." Hibino Rokudayu seemed rather unwilling.

"You really won't go? I heard Matsubara Naiku summoned quite a few courtesans from nearby temples." Inada Uemoto said with a suggestive waggle of his brows.

Hibino Rokudayu stopped short and turned around on the spot. "Then what are we waiting for? The earlier we get there, the earlier we can pick!"

"Don't misunderstand. I'm not all that keen on courtesans. I just think the fish at Matsubara Estate tastes good."

Inada Uemoto nodded hurriedly. "Right, right, that's exactly what I think too."

Hibino Rokudayu's heart burned with excitement. Ever since joining the Ogawa Band, life had been looking more and more promising.

Back when they collected passage fees on the Kiso River, he could get sixty mon a day.

Now, serving under Matsubara Naiku as a guard, he received another thirty mon a day in subsidies.

When he had scraped out a living on the Kiso River before, he had depended on heaven for his meals. Now he had a guaranteed income every day. In the past, he would not have dared dream of such good fortune.

After Oda Nobukiyo of Inuyama Castle issued his order to "drive out the Ogawa Band," the Ogawa Band members collecting tolls on the Kiso River simply joined Matsubara Naiku's guards on the spot.

They were still the same people, and the boats were still the same boats. Only the flags had changed.

Flying the great banners of Jodo Shinshu, they were the Ogawa Band collecting passage fees on the Kiso River. Switching to the Mokko Crest of Inuyama Castle, they became guards maintaining public order.

They took Oda Nobukiyo's money with one hand and collected Yamauchi Kazutoyo's wages with the other.

To sum up Oda Nobukiyo's "bandit suppression" in one sentence: he was fighting himself!

Another day passed without incident. When the sun rose the next morning, the Ogawa Band began operating on the Kiso River again.

"What did you say?"

"The Ogawa Band has appeared again?"

"Didn't you say the Ogawa Band had vanished without a trace?!"

Oda Nobukiyo was dumbfounded. The coarse rice in his mouth instantly lost all flavor.

Matsubara Naiku held back a laugh and said softly, "Lord Shimotsuke, once the guards disbanded, the Ogawa Band began operating again. There's nothing I can do about it."

"How about you provide some more money, and I organize the guards again?"

Clang.

The bowl and chopsticks in Oda Nobukiyo's hands fell to the floor, their sharp sound ringing through the empty palace hall.

"That was two hundred kan!" Oda Nobukiyo's shoulders heaved as rage made his whole body tremble.

"If I threw that money into the Kiso River, wouldn't two hundred thousand copper coins at least make a splash?"

The moment Matsubara Naiku heard that, he became displeased. "Lord Shimotsuke, you can't put it that way, can you?"

"Just tell me this: during the ten-odd days our guards were deployed, wasn't the Kiso River peaceful?"

Oda Nobukiyo froze, then said bitterly, "But what I wanted was for the Ogawa Band to disappear for good and never show themselves again!"

"That's easy!" Matsubara Naiku raised his brows. "As long as Lord Shimotsuke keeps paying, I can guarantee lasting peace on the Kiso River!"

"I, Matsubara Naiku, value my word above all else. You can rest assured when I handle things!"

Oda Nobukiyo laughed in anger and flatly refused. "No money!"

"No money?" Matsubara Naiku's face darkened. "Then there's nothing to be done."

"The harvest in the estate has been poor lately, and the common people are having a hard time. Some may well join the Ogawa Band. When that happens, Lord Shimotsuke, don't blame me for not warning you in advance."

"Are you threatening me?" Oda Nobukiyo slammed his hand on the table.

"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare!" Matsubara Naiku looked like a dead pig unafraid of boiling water. "That's simply how things stand. I still need to go back and farm, so please excuse me."

Rising and walking to the palace doors, Matsubara Naiku let out a long sigh. "Sigh, that Ogawa Band truly deserves to die!"

"Tell me, with such a long river as the Kiso River, why do they insist on targeting Inuyama Castle alone?"

Oda Nobukiyo immediately burst into tears. That one sentence shattered his defenses completely.

"Get out!"

"All of you, get out!"

"Drink!"

"Everyone drink!"

"Tonight, we don't go home until we're drunk!"

Hachisuka Masakatsu stood at the bow, a crate of local sake freshly bought from Tsushima at his feet.

The sake was cloudy and tasted terrible, but it was plentiful and cheap.

"You have to admit, the bows Inuyama Castle sent over are truly fine. They're better than the ones I used when I was a samurai. Oda Nobukiyo really is an honest and generous man!" Hachisuka Masakatsu's face nearly split with laughter.

What ordinary farmers knew how to use bows? Matsubara Naiku promptly resold them to Hachisuka Masakatsu at a low price, thoroughly upgrading the Ogawa Band's weapons and equipment.

As he was laughing, a boat slowly approached through the night. Yamauchi Kazutoyo leaped over carrying a wooden box. "Koroku, the accounts have been settled. Here are your hundred kan, all exchanged for Koshu gold."

"Haha, Iemon, just put it there." Hachisuka Masakatsu was deep in his cups and immediately offered Yamauchi Kazutoyo a bowl. "Come have a drink with us?"

"I'll pass on the drinking. Koroku, you know I never touch a drop." Yamauchi Kazutoyo politely declined.

This crudely made sake really could kill people. Yamauchi Kazutoyo never drank it. During Japan's Warring States period, there were simply too many samurai who died of cerebral hemorrhages from drinking.

"I won't disturb everyone's enjoyment. Carry on—I still need to make a trip to Matsukura Castle," Yamauchi Kazutoyo said.

"Be careful sailing at night!" Hachisuka Masakatsu could not help reminding him.

Yamauchi Kazutoyo nodded. After giving everyone a slight bow, he boarded his boat again and left.

Once Yamauchi Kazutoyo had gone, people immediately crowded around Hachisuka Masakatsu.

They were all Hachisuka Masakatsu's clansmen or fellow villagers. Twenty or thirty of them gazed at him with eager eyes.

Their stares made Hachisuka Masakatsu uneasy. "Don't rush, don't rush. It's only splitting the money. No one will be left out."

Handing the box to his younger brother Hachisuka Masamoto, Hachisuka Masakatsu stepped aside to enjoy the cool night breeze.

"Brother!" At that moment, another younger brother, Hachisuka Matajuro, quietly came over.

"What is it?"

Hachisuka Matajuro looked around first, then said softly, "We've collected at least several hundred kan on the Kiso River lately. Yet we only got a hundred kan. Doesn't that mean the lion's share went to Yamauchi Kazutoyo?"

Hm?

Hachisuka Masakatsu frowned. "Matajuro, are you drunk?"

"Brother, I'm not drunk!" Hachisuka Matajuro said indignantly. "Of the fifty or sixty men in the Ogawa Band, half were brought in by you. Why should we get only this much?"

"That Horio Yoshiharu only brought four men, yet he can still get over thirty kan after the accounts are settled. Why?"

"If you ask me, we should just strike out on our own. Then this Kiso—ow!"

"Brother, why did you hit me?" Hachisuka Matajuro looked at Hachisuka Masakatsu in confusion.

The anger had not yet faded from Hachisuka Masakatsu's face. "You bastard, a beating is letting you off lightly!"

After cursing him out, Hachisuka Masakatsu's tone softened somewhat. "Matajuro, do you really think collecting passage fees on the Kiso River is that simple?"

"If Iemon had not persuaded Jodo Shinshu and smoothed out relations on all sides, would you and I be sitting here drinking in peace?"

"Do not let the petty profits before your eyes blind you. The money on the Kiso River is easy to earn, but you still need to live long enough to spend it."

Counting the income from smuggled goods, the Ogawa Band had taken in far more than several hundred kan lately. But half of it had gone to Jodo Shinshu as money to buy their lives. Others might not know it, but Hachisuka Masakatsu knew full well.

"I'm thirty-four this year, already past thirty."

"I've drifted through half my life and accomplished nothing."

"But lately, I've come to understand a truth!"

Hachisuka Matajuro asked, "What truth?"

Hachisuka Masakatsu did not answer at once. Instead, he clasped his hands behind his back and calmly gazed across the still water ahead.

A breeze brushed past his temples. Hachisuka Masakatsu slowly opened his mouth. "When you're out in the world, you have to follow the right person."

The crescent moon reflected in the water, while insects chirped from the reed beds all around.

Hachisuka Masakatsu swayed with the bow of the boat, constantly reminding himself in his heart.

Daimyo!

The Kiso River was only the beginning. His goal was to become a daimyo!

"If I hear talk like that again, even if it comes from a brother born of the same mother, I'll cut him down all the same!"

As the words fell, Hachisuka Masakatsu's rugged face was filled with killing intent.

"Understand?"

Hachisuka Matajuro shuddered violently. "Yes, brother!"