A Pawn's Passage

The Tenshu Tower in Hikone Castle, Omi Province, had a typical Fenglin architectural style. It functioned as both a fortress and a residence.

The Tenshu Tower had a traditional hip-and-gable roof, complete with balcony parapets. The outer appearance did not match the interior layout. The main keep consisted of two main floors and a three-story observation tower, making it five stories tall from the outside. However, the hip-and-gable eaves were staggered and interwoven with the upper rooflines, creating six internal floors. The top floor’s veranda was set back within the outer walls, which were finished with white plaster. The gable ends had decorative variations, and the windows were designed like sliding doors, giving the structure a grand and elegant outlook.

Taking inspiration from the palace gardens of the Qi Dynasty, the Ii Clan had constructed Genkyu-en Garden within Hikone Castle. From the Hoshodai within, one could look upward to view the castle, a site typically reserved for the daimyo to receive honored guests.

Strictly speaking, Toyotomi Hidemochi was not the true master of Hikone Castle—the Ii clan was. However, due to the deteriorating political situation, Toyotomi Hidemochi had taken up residence here. As the Ii clan was a vassal of the Toyotomi clan, and with the daimyo of Hikone no longer residing in the castle, Toyotomi Hidemochi had instead assumed command over its daily operations.

At this moment, Toyotomi Hidemochi was having tea with a guest at the Hodashai in the Genkyu-en Garden. He had adopted customs from the Central Plains, wearing his hair in a topknot rather than shaving it in the sakayaki style. At 32 years old, he looked young, with delicate features. However, he was dressed in the fully traditional attire of a daimyo—a crested and folded black eboshi secured with decorative cords, a formal robe called the naga-hitatare, and long pants called the hakama, adorned with various sashes and layered sleeves. A ceremonial dagger hung at his waist while he held a ceremonial folding fan.

The man seated across from him wore a boat-shaped eboshi cap and plain outerwear, clearly dressed in the manner of a samurai.

The samurai held his teacup with two fingers, gently turning it but not drinking the tea. His gaze wandered over the landscape before settling on Toyotomi Hidemochi. “The Celestial Empire’s Sage Qingwei has named Your Highness as the next Kampaku, which is a tremendous honor, and yet, Your Highness does not seem pleased?”

Toyotomi Hidemochi gave a bitter smile. “Lord Hidesugu, Lord Hideyoshio, and Masahiro have all died suspiciously, and Lord Naosada was publicly beheaded. The omens of this path are far from certain.”

The samurai replied, “Fortune is always found in danger.”

Toyotomi Hidemochi lifted his cup in silence.

The trip to Xiujing was undoubtedly perilous, but should he survive it, he would become the new Kampaku. Even if he later passed the title on, he would still hold the honorific of Taiko granted to a retired regent.

That was why he had not refused.

Just as the samurai was about to speak again, he suddenly stood, a cold smirk forming on his face. “Another rat has slipped in.”

Toyotomi Hidemochi was already used to such disturbances. “I’ll trouble you once again, Sekishusai.”

Sekishusai was the hereditary name used by the heads of the Yagyu clan. The original bearer of the title had once studied under a Kensei, or a Sword Saint, and inherited the true essence of the Shinkage-ryu style. From that foundation, he developed the Yagyu Shinkage-ryu. Since then, every generation of Yagyu clan leaders took the name of Sekishusai, continuing the legacy. This practice was common in Fenglin.

The Yagyu clan had long served as swordsmanship instructors for the Chancellor’s Office. The current Sekishusai, Yagyu Sosei, was one of Fenglin’s Eight Kengo, ranked on par with Katsura Yoshiyuki, the assassin who had attempted to kill Sage Qingwei.

The most renowned technique of the Shinkage-ryu school was the Muto-dori, where the swordsman disarms an opponent with bare hands. Thus, Yagyu Sosei did not even draw his blade. With a single hand chop, he split the air along a visible distortion line, looking much like the strike of Martial Arts Practitioners.

At the same time, a figure was forced out by the strike, seemingly appearing from thin air, looking like a shadow in mist. Now, the intruder was less than 60 meters from the Hodashai, but neither their face, clothing, nor build could be discerned, only a vague silhouette. The fact that the intruder had gotten this close to a Kengo before being detected spoke volumes about their stealth prowess. Simply put, had Yagyu Sosei not been present, Toyotomi Hidemochi would likely already be dead.

Unwilling to take the blow head-on, the assassin exploded into dozens of shadowy clones and scattered in all directions.

“Koga Ninja?” Yagyu Sosei changed his form mid-strike, splaying five fingers outward like a claw.

In an instant, countless blade qi flared in every direction, weaving into a killing net that sealed off all paths, trapping every clone within.

Yagyu Sosei clenched his hand into a fist.

The killing net shrank rapidly inward, its threads becoming ever finer. Each clone it touched vanished instantly in a puff of smoke. Soon, only one figure remained, but it too burst apart with a pop, revealing itself to be a straw dummy that the net’s blade qi shredded into countless fragments.

Yagyu Sosei remained unfazed. With a light wave of his left hand, a silent, drifting gust of chilling wind began to flow.

This was the secret technique of the Shinkage-ryu, called Misty Wind, formed from a stream of blade qi condensed from chilling innate qi that was as thin as a thread, capable of seeking out targets on its own.

The Koga Ninja had used a strawman substitute to escape the net. But to deceive a Kengo, such tools had to be imbued with one’s own blood essence to perfectly mimic one’s aura.

Thanks to that, Yagyu Sosei had captured a trace of blood essence. Using it as a guide, the blade qi now tracked the ninja’s location. If the ninja had yet to flee, he would suffer under this invisible stream of blade qi, which was silent and deadly. A single touch would sever the body, leaving a mirror-smooth wound without a trace of resistance. It could even pass through armor without damaging it, cutting only the flesh beneath.

The thread of blade qi drifted skyward, straight at the Koga Ninja’s hiding place. Startled, the ninja leaped backward and began weaving hand signs, conjuring a wave of flames like burning clouds, turning the sky crimson as it poured toward the Tenshu Tower, not to harm, but to distract Yagyu Sosei.

With a casual twist of his hand, Yagyu Sosei redirected the sea of fiery clouds, transforming their widespread scattering into a towering column of flame that resembled a fire tornado. With another flick of his wrist, the fire tornado soared skyward, rising until it dissipated into nothingness.

Taking advantage of the diversion, the ninja slipped into the void, vanishing without a trace.

This time, the ninja did not attempt to close in on Toyotomi Hidemochi again. Instead, he chose to withdraw from Hikone Castle entirely. The way of the assassin had always been to strike from the shadows. If a single blow failed, they would retreat. He had tried twice; if he lingered now, he would surely be trapped.

Yagyu Sosei did not give chase. From start to finish, he had merely stood up from his seat and did not even move his feet. Now that the ninja had retreated, he calmly sat back down and resumed sipping his tea.

Toyotomi Hidemochi remained composed. “A Koga Jonin?”

Yagyu Sosei nodded.

Jonin was a ninja of the highest rank, capable of contending with a Kengo. However, a Jonin was fundamentally lacking, akin to a Rogue Cultivator, whereas a Kengo was like a Qi Refiner. In equal realms and in head-on combat, the Kengo would undoubtedly dominate.

The reason why a lone jonin had attempted the assassination rather than mobilizing a force like Katsura Yoshiyuki had against Sage Qingwei was that Toyotomi Hidemochi was not as formidable as the Sage Commander. Another reason was that Hikone Castle was unlike Xiujing. It was guarded by not just Yagyu Sosei, but many others, including gunmen armed with the Daoist Sun-Shooting Rifles, onmyoji, hatamoto, Shinkage-ryu swordsmen, Iga Ninja, and more. In contrast, the Koga Jonin specialized in stealth and infiltration, able to slip past these many layers of defense and strike at the heart.

Toyotomi Hidemochi sighed. “This happened here, inside Hikone Castle. I dare not imagine what dangers lie beyond these walls.”

Yagyu Sosei replied, “In my view, once you arrive in Xiujing, the Celestial Empire won’t let you stay in the Tenshu Tower immediately. They’ll likely house you in their army camp until the city is fully purged. That camp will be more secure than Hikone Castle. If the assassins couldn’t kill you here, they won’t be able to in the army camp either, which means their final opportunity lies in your journey from Hikone Castle to the army camp. That is the true danger.”

Toyotomi Hidemochi understood this. Though the journey was not long, it might just be a path to death.

Yagyu Sosei could not accompany him either. If the Kengo moved and the enemy factions saw assassination attempts failing, they might simply turn their attention toward a leaderless Hikone Castle. In the current climate, the loss of Hikone Castle was unacceptable.

If the Jinsho-ji Buddhists, Asahi-jingu Tenmon Sect members, and the Koga Ninja joined forces to strike Hikone Castle without Yagyu Sosei guarding it, a single day would be all they needed.

Clashes like Wuxing Mountain were rare. In most situations, a single Pseudo-Immortal was enough to hold a region.

Yagyu Sosei asked, “Have you contacted the army camp?”

“The army camp has sent word. A Yinglong Warship is already en route and will arrive at Hikone Castle shortly,” Toyotomi Hidemochi replied. “What’s more interesting is the people they’ve dispatched. You’ve surely heard of the Three Daoist Prodigies, right? They’re the three young heirs most likely to inherit the title of the eighth-generation Grand Master. Two of them are coming—the heir of the Zhengyi Sect and the heir of the Taiping Sect. The third is a young talent from the Quanzhen Sect, who isn’t far behind in prestige. At this point, I suspect that Sage Qingwei isn’t the heir of the Taiping Sect but of the Quanzhen Sect instead, and this is all a scheme to eliminate the successors of the Zhengyi Sect and Taiping Sect. If anything happens to those heirs, I can’t guarantee that those two sects won’t place the blame on me.”

Yagyu Sosei smiled. “None of your predecessors as Kampaku ever received such honor. You must understand that even in the Central Plains, only a first-rank Tianzhen Daoist master is permitted to travel aboard a Yinglong Warship.”

Toyotomi Hidemochi let out a bitter laugh. “I’d much rather forego such honor and ride to the capital in a simple palanquin, so long as I arrive safely.”