"Ishikari Mountain Bear! Did your scouts truly see clearly? These Ainu People of the Buyo Tribe really have three great ships, and armored Samurai?..."
"Truly! Truer than bear teeth offered to the Mountain God! Several of my scouts all saw it clearly! They were right along the Ishikari coast, rowing south, passing under the very eyes of our Mountain Bear Tribe!..."
"...These reinforcements heading south—how many men do they have? How many armored Samurai?"
"Three hundred? Five hundred? Our scouts didn't count that clearly, and they didn't get that close... As for armored warriors, at least fifty—no, a hundred!..."
"Damn it! What do you mean, fifty or a hundred armored Samurai?... Did you people actually see clearly or not? Were there really great ships?..."
"Absolutely true! Those ships were even longer than four hide rafts tied together! The ships were faintly packed full of archers and warriors! My scouts didn't dare get close. They were almost shot dead..."
"Hmm? Ships that long? Did some house send out three Kobaya Ships? Or perhaps three Kan-style ships? No, how could that be possible!..."
In the Wajin camp beneath Mount Ezo Fuji, discussion was boiling on all sides. The Kakizaki Clan retainers present either showed suspicion or furrowed their brows in thought, all shaken by the news brought by the Ainu Great Chieftain Ishikari Mountain Bear.
Kakizaki Mitsuhiro listened carefully for a long while. Seeing Ishikari Mountain Bear swear to it so solemnly, doubt and confusion appeared on his own face too. In this cold, barren northern country, what force could produce three Kan-style ships, packed full of armored Samurai, and go support the tribes of the Ezo People? It was simply beyond belief!
"Elder Kudo, whose great ships do you think they could be? Could they have been sent by the Matsumae