Three men, eight hundred schemes

"My lord, this is a golden opportunity!"

The same words, carrying the same meaning, rang out simultaneously in different places.

Facing Uesugi Kenshin and his handful of riders, Akechi Mitsuhide and Takeda Nobushige called out to their respective lords almost in unison.

Hearing this, Hojo Akitoshi and Takeda Shingen watched Uesugi Kenshin with grave expressions. He seemed to want to speak with them before their armies...

First, Takeda Shingen instinctively turned to look at the Hojo Army, which had halted a short distance behind him, still far enough away to spur their horses into a charge.

He tried to gauge what Hojo Akitoshi was planning.

If his opponent ordered his army forward... a calculating gleam shifted in Takeda Shingen's eyes.

Uesugi Kenshin was quite a catch, too!

Of course, so was the man behind him!

And what of Hojo Akitoshi?

At that moment, just like Takeda Shingen, he was observing the Tiger of Kai's movements.

Both men had the same idea: wait for the other to show his hand, then decide how their own side should act.

"My lord."

This time, the speaker belonged to neither the Hojo Army nor the Takeda Army, but was one of the horsemen riding forward with Uesugi Kenshin beneath his banner.

It was Nagao Masakage, both a relative of Uesugi Kenshin and one of his staunchest supporters.

"Isn't this too dangerous? You've ridden ahead lightly equipped, with only a handful of riders."

"If the tiger and the Qilin seize this chance to attack you, it would be a terrible blow to our already battered Uesugi clan."

"It's fine."

As he rode, Uesugi Kenshin smiled beneath his veil at those words.

He was pleased by his retainer's concern for him, and equally pleased that the situation was developing just as he had predicted.

Pointing ahead with a hand clad in a silk glove, Uesugi Kenshin spoke. He deliberately lowered his voice, though it still sounded somewhat androgynous.

"The Tiger of Kai has suffered a crushing blow from the Hojo Army. With the troops he has left, he won't serve as their vanguard."

"If he really sends his army forward to attack us, we need only turn our horses around. The Takeda Army could never catch us immediately."

"And what would happen then?"

"Our army, which might otherwise come to the Takeda Army's aid, would instantly turn on his battered forces."

"Seeing that, the Hojo Army would certainly take advantage of the situation and attack the Takeda Army as well."

"Caught between attacks from front and rear, Takeda Shingen would need to sprout wings to escape. Otherwise, this would be where the tiger met his end."

"Do you think Takeda Shingen would do such a thing?"

"No."

Nagao Masakage shook his head. He did not even need to think to know that no one could be that foolish.

Such a fool would hardly deserve the title of Tiger of Kai.

"But..."

"If the Hojo Army attacks us first, wouldn't Takeda Shingen join them?"

"He wouldn't."

Uesugi Kenshin answered his trusted commander's question with soaring confidence.

"For one thing, the Hojo Army has pursued them all night. Whether their horses still have that much stamina is doubtful."

"Then there's the distance. The Takeda Army stands between us and the Hojo Army."

"If the Hojo Army charges forward, will the Takeda Army think they're attacking us, or attacking them?"

"And again, consider the distance. Even if the Takeda Army attacks us, we can still withdraw at our leisure."

"The Hojo Army is even farther away. How could they possibly reach us in an instant?"

"My lord, you've considered everything! I failed to appreciate the breadth of your vision!"

Realizing that Uesugi Kenshin had thought of everything, Nagao Masakage bowed his head slightly on his galloping horse in admiration.

Yet one question still weighed on his mind, one he had not voiced.

With such a perfect opportunity before him, why did Uesugi Kenshin not simply send his army forward and swallow up both enemy forces?

Then nothing in all of Kanto would stand in the way of the Uesugi clan's rise to supremacy.

But after his previous two questions, Nagao Masakage felt that asking another would be unwise.

His lord Uesugi Kenshin's opinion of him would probably suffer, so he shut his mouth and simply stopped thinking about it.

All he needed to do was follow his lord, who had long shown the makings of a god of war.

"Mitsuhide, let's go forward."

After waiting quietly for a while, Hojo Akitoshi finally made his decision and spoke to Akechi Mitsuhide.

"Yes! All troops, heed my command..."

Akechi Mitsuhide immediately raised his sword, ready to order the entire army to charge.

"Wait. I meant just the two of us. Oh, and we need to take the excess armor off our horses."

Fortunately, Hojo Akitoshi reacted quickly. Had Akechi Mitsuhide finished his order...

They would have found themselves committed, with no easy way to back down.

"What?"

Everyone in the Hojo Army, Akechi Mitsuhide included, froze. Their lord did not intend to charge, but to ride forward lightly equipped.

Was he going to speak with Uesugi Kenshin before the armies?

"Lord Akitoshi!"

Deeply unwilling to agree, Akechi Mitsuhide tried to dissuade Hojo Akitoshi out of concern for his safety.

"This is far too dangerous, my lord!"

"There are only a handful of Uesugi riders. If we launch a surprise attack, they won't have time to rescue the Takeda Army."

"Even if we don't attack the Takeda Army and simply retreat, I believe the Uesugi Army will finish what we started."

"So you want to hand the Uesugi Army the enormous credit for killing the Tiger of Kai?"

Hojo Akitoshi beckoned several soldiers over, asking them to remove most of his armor and help strip the armor from his horse.

He asked with amusement.

"Besides, can you be certain the Uesugi Army will attack the Takeda Army once we withdraw?"

"Couldn't they instead join forces, seize this opportunity to form an alliance, and turn their spears against us?"

"After all, we're the ones who stand to gain the most if Takeda Shingen dies here."

"Well..."

Akechi Mitsuhide shook his head and considered it. How could he dare offer such a guarantee?

"Then we can attack the Uesugi Army directly!"

"I suspect Uesugi Ken-

shin might be among those riders. If we attack them, Takeda Shingen will join us."

"Are you sure?"

Still smiling, Hojo Akitoshi watched Akechi Mitsuhide, who had also begun removing his armor but remained indignant, and answered.

"Leaving aside whether we could destroy the Uesugi forces, if we killed Uesugi Kenshin here, our Hojo clan would still gain the most."

"The badly battered Takeda Shingen is counting on Uesugi Kenshin to help ease the pressure on him."

"Why would the tiger help us, then? Believe me, the moment our army shows any intention of attacking the Uesugi Army..."

"Takeda Shingen will be the first to bite us."

"Damn it."

Akechi Mitsuhide ran through Hojo Akitoshi's predictions again and again, clenching his fists as he stared ahead.

However unwilling he was to accept it, everything seemed to be just as his lord had said.

Uesugi Kenshin truly excelled at reading both opportunities on the battlefield and people's hearts. He had practically accounted for everything without a single oversight!

Still...

Urging his horse forward behind Hojo Akitoshi, Akechi Mitsuhide's eyes brimmed with admiration.

Uesugi Kenshin was formidable, but his own lord was every bit his match.

Though they seemed to have come off worse this time, their main objective had already been achieved. The Uesugi Army was merely taking advantage of the circumstances.

At most, they were petty thieves, nothing to fear.

"Ah, the Qilin and the dragon."

His neck had grown stiff from turning to look behind him so often. At last, Takeda Shingen let out a long sigh.

Until then, he had still clung to a faint hope. But when he saw Hojo Akitoshi ride out lightly equipped, having made every preparation...

Takeda Shingen suddenly looked a little older.

"Lord Shingen?"

Seeing this, Takeda Nobushige asked after him with concern, though he did not understand what was wrong.

"Let's go and meet the Qilin and the dragon."

Realizing that his little schemes no longer had any chance of succeeding, Takeda Shingen waved a hand, feeling a deep sense of loss.

In truth, just as Hojo Akitoshi had said, Takeda Shingen had hoped his opponents would act rashly.

Unfortunately, both the dragon and the Qilin had made the right choice.

In this small land of Kanto, a dragon, a tiger, and a Qilin now all lay poised.

"Heaven's will. Heaven's will."

"Whoever emerges victorious will surely become the future Ruler of the Realm."

With that admiring remark, Takeda Shingen collected himself and urged his horse forward.

He was going to meet the two formidable rivals in this land of gathering storms.