It was another night with a bright moon hanging high above, spilling hazy moonlight over the earth.
In the brightly lit Hojo Military Camp outside Kaede's Village, Hojo Akitoshi and Akechi Mitsuhide sat elegantly facing each other.
On the low table between them lay what Kaede had just delivered-the supposed legacy of the late Kikyo.
"There's no need to wait for the monks we recruited to verify these."
Hojo Akitoshi smiled and pointed at the talismans.
"The paper used to make these talismans is indeed old, but nowhere near fifty years old."
"Never mind the ink on them. Look closely, and you'll see that some parts haven't even dried completely."
"My lord, I'll go bring that Priestess Kaede back under arrest."
Anything his lord Hojo Akitoshi could see, Akechi Mitsuhide could see as well.
In fact, before Hojo Akitoshi had even finished listing the suspicious points about these talismans, fury had already risen in his heart at being made a fool of.
It had left Akechi Mitsuhide barely able to contain his murderous intent.
"No matter. That isn't the point."
With a soft chuckle, Hojo Akitoshi gestured for Akechi Mitsuhide to be patient, then gazed pensively at the canopy overhead that blocked out the night sky.
"The guest we truly need to entertain on this trip is no mere doddering old woman."
"Even if she is the younger sister of Priestess Kikyo, who held the demons in check fifty years ago."
Meanwhile, beneath the moonlight gently spilling over the earth, Kaede was drenched in cold sweat.
She was hurrying toward the village.
"Something's wrong. Something's very wrong!"
She had taken talismans she had drawn herself and used them to deceive Hojo Akitoshi, claiming they were her sister's legacy from fifty years ago.
The more Kaede recalled what had happened in the camp, the stronger the ominous feeling in her heart became.
"That look in his eyes!"
Kaede muttered to herself. There was one thing she was certain of.
When she had produced the talismans, Hojo Akitoshi had looked at them with clear eyes that seemed to see through everything.
"But why?"
Stopping abruptly, Kaede looked back at the Hojo Military Camp, which radiated a chilling menace in the darkness like a tiger crouched upon the earth.
She could not understand why Hojo Akitoshi had not confronted her on the spot if he had already seen through her trick.
Why had he not used it as an excuse to seize her, or threaten her into handing over something more valuable?
And besides...
The more Kaede studied the Hojo camp, the more questions arose in her heart.
Yes, in this land torn by warring states, the Hojo under Hojo Akitoshi's management could truly be called wealthy and powerful.
Their military strength was among the greatest of the era.
But the Hojo Akitoshi she had heard about was not a man who enjoyed extravagance!
While marching to war, they had brought black dogs, brightly colored roosters, and cattle normally used to plow fields into their camp.
She could just about explain those animals as supplementary food supplies.
But surely there was no need to cover the entire camp with expensive cloth?
Draping the quarters of nobles and high-ranking samurai could be understood as a display of status.
But what purpose could it serve around the ordinary foot soldiers' quarters and the camp perimeter, other than flaunting wealth and luxury?
Moreover, Kaede's Village had no means of threatening the Hojo army.
The Hojo's true enemies, the Takeda and the Imagawa, were at Kawagoe Castle over a hundred li away. They could not possibly appear here in an instant to raid the camp.
Why, then, had they gone to all the trouble of digging moat-like trenches around the Hojo camp's perimeter?
"I cannot fathom you, Kirin of Sagami-Hojo Akitoshi."
The night breeze tossed Kaede's wisps of white hair into disarray.
The more she thought about these questions, the more doubts surfaced in her heart.
After standing there for a long while, Kaede had to admit that clever reasoning was not her strength, though her fifty-odd years had given her considerable experience.
Everyone had their own specialty. No matter how she tried, she could not work out Hojo Akitoshi's true purpose.
"Forget it."
If she could not figure it out, she would stop thinking about it. Kaede shook her head.
Since Hojo Akitoshi had seen through her without exposing her, and seemed to show no immediate intention of making trouble for Kaede's Village...
Why should she stand here tormenting herself?
Besides, Hojo Akitoshi was a concern for the future. Her immediate problem lay right before her.
At the thought of that dog-brained fool, who was probably still being subdued by Kagome, Kaede's trigeminal nerve began to throb uncontrollably.
That dog-brained fool who had shared such a tangled history of love and hatred with her sister was hardly easy to order around. She had better hurry back and keep an eye on things!
Her mind made up, Kaede lifted her foot to continue toward the village.
But just then, an icy presence drifted through her surroundings. Thanks to the abilities she had honed while traveling far and wide with her late sister Kikyo as a child, she sensed it.
"A demon!"
Though Kaede looked old and frail, she now displayed an agility that belied her age.
Forming a spell sign with her hand, she instantly spread a small, person-sized barrier around herself!
"Oh? Not bad."
As the barrier sprang up, a cool, melodious female voice drifted through the night breeze.
"There really is a demon?"
Hearing that voice, Kaede realized she had thought Hojo Akitoshi was lying about the powerful demon.
But now that she had encountered it herself, it was actually real!
I have to warn them at once!
With no time to think further, Kaede anxiously looked toward the village, peaceful in the distance.
That was the village she had protected for half a century!
Yet before Kaede could do anything to warn the unsuspecting villagers, or Kagome, who might still be subduing Inuyasha...
Dogs suddenly barked, roosters crowed, and cattle bellowed in the Hojo army's camp behind her.
In an instant, the previously silent Hojo camp-that crouching beast-awoke!
"Just as you'd expect from a Tōdai tradition. It really works."
He stood amid the clamor of the camp, surrounded by well-trained soldiers moving methodically into their battle positions.
Standing beside Akechi Mitsuhide on the command platform, Hojo Akitoshi tilted his head to listen to the animals, which were still crying out.
In truth, Hojo Akitoshi himself had not known whether bringing these dogs, chickens, and cattle would prove useful.
After all, according to Tōdai tradition, dogs, chickens, and cattle could provide some degree of warning against demons, ghosts, and the like.
But that was Tōdai, and this was Japan.
What if Tōdai's traditions simply did not work in Japan, like trying to execute an official of the current dynasty with a sword from the previous one?
For that reason, Hojo Akitoshi had also prepared a backup plan: wrapping the entire camp in cloth.
According to the information in his mind, Yura of the Hair's hair could become invisible, but it was still physical and would leave traces when it touched objects.
So if the animals failed to give warning, he could only hope the enemy's hair would press against the cloth and leave visible indentations.
Fortunately, Tōdai had not let him down.
"I suppose it was both inevitable and just as expected?"
Chuckling softly, Hojo Akitoshi thought of Yura of the Hair. In a certain sense, she could also be classified as a ghostly entity.
That meant the animals he had prepared were suited to the job after all.
"My lord!"
Listening to Hojo Akitoshi's quiet murmurs beside him, Akechi Mitsuhide felt nothing but admiration.
He stared at the seemingly empty air beyond the camp and thought of what might have happened without the animals' warning.
Their entire army might well have been wiped out without a sound.
Akechi Mitsuhide suddenly felt his teeth ache.
"What should we do next? Our opponent is a demon invisible to the naked eye. Should we...?"
"Yes. Begin."
Hojo Akitoshi nodded and smiled with refined composure.
Before you continue