Yura of the Hair Still Wanted to Take a Gamble

"Hm?"

Using her hair to control the villagers of Kaede's Village, she drove her puppets forward.

She prepared to storm the Hojo Army's camp, protected by trenches and flames.

When she saw the Hojo Army abandon its solid fortifications and charge out of camp to fight her blade to blade in the darkness, she was taken aback.

Yura of the Hair's surprise quickly turned to delight.

"Foolish humans, just as I thought."

At first, she had never expected things to go so smoothly. Knowing what human nobles were like, Yura of the Hair had already made her plans.

She had been ready to use up every last villager of Kaede's Village tonight.

"Hahaha!"

Yura of the Hair laughed, her alluring eyes curving into crescents. Standing on strands of hair suspended in midair, she gazed down with bloodthirsty longing.

With a wave of her delicate, enticing little hand, Yura of the Hair sent the villagers surging toward the oncoming Hojo Army.

"Kill, kill! They're only mere humans, anyway!"

Meanwhile, among the Hojo Army soldiers charging out of their camp...

Watching the villagers rush straight toward his troops, oblivious to their plight, Akechi Mitsuhide had no idea how to save them.

Cut these villagers down?

Wouldn't that be the same as killing them outright?

But if we don't cut them down, what can the Hojo Army do besides charge in and let the villagers slaughter us?

"My lord?"

Neither an Onmyoji nor a monk, Akechi Mitsuhide could only place his hopes in the lord beside him.

He hoped his lord had a better solution.

"Lord Hojo Akitoshi! I can see them! I can see that demon controlling the villagers with her hair!"

Before Hojo Akitoshi could speak, Kagome, who had stayed right by his side, hurriedly called out.

Drawing on the spiritual power the late Kikyo had left her, Kagome used her spiritual sight to make out the invisible strands of hair wrapped around everyone from Kaede's Village.

"Is that so?"

A faint smile on his lips, Hojo Akitoshi calmly ordered the samurai who had advanced to hold their formation.

"Throw the dye bombs, and throw fire oil bombs to the left and right of our line!"

Hojo Akitoshi issued the two orders in quick succession.

The dye bombs would reveal the hair wrapped around the villagers, while the fire oil bombs would protect both flanks of the Hojo Army's formation.

That would prevent the demon from using her invisible Hair Sea to attack his troops from the sides.

"Yes!"

The Hojo Army's Hatamoto Samurai answered loudly in unison and immediately carried out Hojo Akitoshi's orders.

In an orderly fashion, they threw dye bombs at the approaching villagers, revealing every last strand of hair.

At the same time, the fire oil bombs hurled onto both flanks of the formation ignited into raging flames.

Sure enough, as the flames burned, the invisible Hair Sea driven by Yura of the Hair had nowhere to hide.

"My lord!"

A glance at the situation on all three sides filled Akechi Mitsuhide and the samurai with confidence.

Their lord had seen through every one of the demon's tricks and countered them flawlessly!

What reason did they have to fear the mastermind who still dared not show herself?

Battle cries rang out as the Hatamoto Samurai advanced swiftly, raising their swords with a single target in mind: the hair wrapped around the villagers of Kaede's Village.

"Hyah!"

Amid their shouts, the villagers of Kaede's Village fell like wheat before a sickle.

After all, the villagers were ordinary people, with average physical strength and practically no martial skill.

How could they possibly compare to the Hojo Army's battle-hardened fighters?

Even having a demon control them from behind did not change that.

The reason was simple. With so many villagers to control, could Yura of the Hair really manage every tiny movement that well?

The Hojo Army's samurai formed groups of two or three.

One or two held the controlled villagers in place and blocked their blades, while the others spotted the demon's hair and cut it without hesitation.

Then one of them would quickly shoulder a rescued villager and run.

They carried these fortunate souls into the safety of the Hojo Army's camp.

Of course, some were skilled and daring enough to rescue villagers single-handedly.

Across the battlefield, the Hojo Army's samurai used their own methods to uphold the benevolent path of their supreme lord, Hojo Akitoshi.

Meanwhile, Yura of the Hair clenched her teeth as she realized things were going nothing like she had imagined.

It was not as though Yura of the Hair had made no attempt to recover. She had tried taking advantage of the moments when the samurai rescued the villagers.

She used her hair to attack the samurai, or tried wrapping it around them to bring them under her control.

Yet every time she acted, Hojo Akitoshi saw through her in time.

No matter how many times Yura of the Hair tried, Hojo Akitoshi thwarted her every attempt!

"Damn humans! Damn Hojo Akitoshi!"

Tonight's operation had gone terribly. After fighting the Hojo Army for so long, she still had not gained any advantage.

If the seductive comb demon Yura of the Hair still could not figure out what was happening...

She would never have managed to roam the demon world so comfortably for so long.

Staring at the man calmly directing the battle from within a ring of samurai, Yura of the Hair seethed with hatred, yet could do nothing to him.

Strong, so strong! Amazing, absolutely amazing!

Standing beside Hojo Akitoshi, even closer to him than Akechi Mitsuhide was, Kagome had the best view.

Her attention remained fixed on Hojo Akitoshi.

The girl watched the man beside her calmly adjust his tactics at just the right moments. She watched him do everything he could to save the villagers.

She could not help herself. Her feelings were beyond her control.

Comparing the future she came from with the present, the girl was astonished to discover just how perfectly Hojo Akitoshi matched her image of an ideal daimyo.

"Ugly woman!"

Inuyasha paid no attention to the battle ahead. He was watching only Kagome.

So when he noticed Kagome's flushed cheeks and lovestruck expression, even though he knew Kagome and Kikyo were not the same person...

He could not stop the displeasure welling up inside him, as though the silver hair on his head had turned the green of a cuckold's cap.

"Oh, no."

Worried about letting Kagome march out with the Hojo Army alone, Kaede had followed-

Them out, and now she covered her face with one hand.

She had been a young girl once, too. One look was enough for her to guess something of the change in Kagome's feelings.

If her elder sister's reincarnation ended up together with Hojo Akitoshi, the head of Hojo...

Honestly, Kaede did not know how she should feel about it.

"Mitsuhide, pay attention."

In truth, Hojo Akitoshi had noticed all the shifts in the moods of those beside him, but he deliberately ignored the two women and the dog.

He spoke to Akechi Mitsuhide, who was guarding him.

"Gather some exceptionally skilled samurai around me. That demon should be getting restless soon."

"Next, we'll need individual fighters to break through and disrupt her formation as quickly as possible."

"What?"

Upon hearing this, Akechi Mitsuhide carried out Hojo Akitoshi's orders as quickly as he could.

At the same time, he was curious about his lord's assessment.

"Look. After fighting us this long, the demon should understand something."

"She can't defeat us head-on using those innocent villagers. That leaves her with only two choices."

He was explaining not only to Akechi Mitsuhide, but also to Kagome and the others beside him.

For the first time, Hojo Akitoshi dropped his smile and pointed ahead.

"First, she could retreat. But I don't think she'll choose that."

"Second, since the villagers can't defeat Hojo's samurai, she could drive them into the flames protecting our flanks."

"That would force us to struggle to defend every part of our formation, tearing open our rock-solid line."

"And in that brief moment of confusion, she could attempt a direct thrust through the center, straight into the main formation where I stand!"

"What!"

After hearing his explanation, Akechi Mitsuhide immediately went on full alert. He wanted to ask his lord, Hojo Akitoshi, to fall back.

But knowing Hojo Akitoshi, he also knew his suggestion would be rejected. Helpless, Akechi Mitsuhide could only tighten his grip on his treasured sword.

"Lord Hojo Akitoshi!"

Kagome, now just as nervous, cried out instinctively.