I Enslaved The Goddess Who Summoned Me

Nathan intended to make their victory poison them instead.

The samurai believed they were about to gain everything.

They would receive Sadamasa’s weapons, march into the South, destroy Norihiro, and claim they had saved Kastoria from a dangerous Daimyo. Urakami would return north carrying glory and influence. The Akamine Clan would tighten its hold over lands that had never belonged to them. And Prince Takehiko would profit from every success won by the samurai who supported his claim.

But Nathan had no intention of allowing that victory to stand.

Urakami would be the blade that struck Norihiro down.

Then the South would see exactly whose hand had wielded that blade.

For a long moment, no one in the meeting house spoke.

The maps spread across the low table seemed almost too small to hold the fate of so many people. Roads led from Minami Kyoto to the nearby villages and trade routes. Another road curved west toward the Kajiya Hara Domain, passing through open ground where an army could march without being slowed by forests or steep hills.

Nathan’s eyes remained fixed on those roads.

Genzo watched him carefully.

”You want the people to believe the samurai invaded the South,” he said at last.

Nathan nodded.

”They will not need to be convinced of it. They will see them coming with their own eyes.”

”And Urakami will not leave after Norihiro falls,” Genzo continued. ”He will see Minami Kyoto as a prize. His men will expect him to take it.”

”I know.”

”Then how do we stop him without showing our hand?”

Nathan looked at the western road on the map.

”We do not stop him before he reaches the city.”

Several shinobi exchanged uneasy looks.

Hanzo, standing near the wall with her arms crossed, frowned slightly.

”You are letting the samurai march on Minami Kyoto?” she asked.

”Not the entire army,” Nathan replied. ”Urakami has ten thousand soldiers, but he will not move them all at once. He is proud. He thinks Norihiro is weak, and men like him never send their full strength when they believe a small force will be enough to win.”

Genzo’s expression slowly changed as he understood.

”He will send an advance force first.”

”Yes,” Nathan said.

”Enough men to pressure Norihiro. Enough to secure the road. Enough for Urakami to claim that he defeated him with ease.”

Nathan gave a faint nod.

”He will want a quick victory. The more effortless it seems, the more glory he can take for himself.”

Hanzo stepped closer to the table, looking down at the marked path leading toward Minami Kyoto.

”And Norihiro will ride out to stop him before he reaches the city.”

”That is what we need him to do.”

Nathan placed one finger on a wide stretch of land south west of Minami Kyoto.

”There are only a few places where two armies can meet without getting trapped between difficult terrain. Norihiro knows this road. Urakami knows it as well. If Norihiro chooses to strike before the samurai reach the city, this is where he will come.”

Genzo leaned over the map.

”And Urakami will be marching along the same route.”

”Yes.”

For a moment, the room fell silent once more.

Hanzo’s eyes narrowed as she studied the place Nathan had chosen.

”You are not just drawing Norihiro out,” she said. ”You are pushing both armies into the same battlefield.”

Nathan looked at her.

”Norihiro will think he is striking before Urakami can surround Minami Kyoto. Urakami will think he is crushing a frightened Daimyo before he retreats behind his walls. Both of them will believe the other side is walking into their trap.”

”And while they fight,” Genzo said slowly, ”we close every road behind them.”

Nathan nodded.

The plan was dangerous.

There was no easy way around that truth.

They would be standing between two armies that had no idea they were being guided toward each other. Norihiro’s soldiers would fight for their Daimyo, their homes, and their families. Urakami’s samurai would fight for status, payment, and the promise of power in the South.

Once the battle began, neither side would hold back.

And if either army learned that the shinobi had played a role in bringing them together, Minami Kyoto and the hidden village would become targets.

Hanzo looked toward Nathan.

”But what if Urakami wins too quickly?” she asked. ”What if Norihiro’s men break before he can be trapped? Urakami could march straight to the city afterward.”

”That is why we need the people of Minami Kyoto prepared before the battle begins,” Nathan said. ”The gates cannot open to him. The city cannot welcome the samurai as saviors.”

Genzo’s face became thoughtful.

”There are shinobi inside the city who can help with that.”

”I know.”

”We have people among the merchants, the servants, the stable hands, and the workers near the gates. Not enough to control the city, but enough to spread word and influence the right people.”

Nathan looked down at the map again.

”Then use them.”

Hanzo remained quiet for a moment before asking, ”Use them how?”

Nathan lifted his gaze toward her.

”Norihiro has ruled by convincing people that he is their shield. He has made the South believe the North wants to control them, that Kaguya cannot be trusted, and that the samurai are the only force keeping the capital from doing whatever it wants.”

”He already hates the samurai,” Genzo said. ”At least the ones who support Takehiko.”

”He does,” Nathan replied. ”And that hatred can work for us.”

He tapped the map once, directly over Minami-Kyoto.

”If the samurai march toward the city, the people will be afraid. If Norihiro dies fighting them, they will not see it as a quiet assassination. They will see a northern force entering the South and killing the man who claimed he would protect them.”

Hanzo’s expression turned colder as she understood the larger meaning behind it.

”The South will blame Urakami.”

”And the Akamine Clan,” Nathan said. ”They will blame the samurai backing Prince Takehiko.”

Yukihime, who had remained close to Nathan’s side, spoke quietly.

”And then Kaguya will be the one left to offer peace.”

Nathan nodded.

”She cannot look like she conquered the South. The South must turn to her by its own choice. If they see the samurai as invaders, if they believe Takehiko allowed Norihiro to be killed for his own ambition, then they will need someone else to trust.”

”Kaguya-sama,” Hanzo murmured.

”The capital,” Genzo added.

Nathan’s face remained serious.

”Not because they are weak. Because they will have no leader left, and they will understand that the samurai never came to save them. They came to take control.”

The weight of the plan settled over everyone in the room.

It was more than an assassination.

It was more than revenge against a final Daimyo.

Nathan was trying to reshape the balance of the entire country.

If Norihiro died, the South would be left without the man who had held its loyalty together. If Urakami marched under the Akamine banner and brought war to Minami Kyoto, the samurai would become the enemy in the eyes of the people. And if Kaguya moved carefully afterward, offering stability instead of punishment, then the South could become part of Kastoria without being forced to kneel.

It was a plan built on timing.

On fear.

On anger.

And on the belief that powerful men like Urakami and Norihiro would be too focused on winning to see who had placed the pieces around them.

Hanzo let out a slow breath.

”It is risky.”

”Yes,” Nathan said.

”If Norihiro learns about the plan too early, he will close Minami-Kyoto and prepare for a siege.”

”Yes.”

”And if Urakami realizes he is being used, he may pull his soldiers back.”

Nathan gave a small nod.

”That is why neither of them can know enough to become suspicious.”

Hanzo’s gaze moved across the map, following the roads that would soon fill with soldiers.

”Then the information reaching them needs to be believable.”

”It will be,” Genzo said.

Nathan looked toward him.

Genzo’s expression had changed. The old shinobi leader had spent years working against the Daimyos in silence, gathering scraps of information and building trust among people who had every reason to fear speaking. Now he could finally see where all those hidden connections could lead.

”Norihiro has spies in every nearby town,” Genzo said. ”Merchants who report unusual movements. Local guards who pass along rumors. Men who work at inns and listen to the conversations of travelers. He believes he has eyes everywhere.”

”He does,” Nathan replied.

”Then we use those eyes.”

Nathan nodded.

”Find the people who fear him most.”

Hanzo looked at him.

”Why them?”

”Because fear makes people speak quickly,” Nathan said. ”A loyal man might wait until he knows the truth. A frightened man will report every rumor he hears if he thinks it might protect him.”

Genzo gave a faint smile.

”There are plenty of frightened people around Norihiro.”

”Then give them something to carry back to him.”

Nathan’s voice remained calm.

”Let them hear and confirm indeed that Sadamasa has agreed to arm Urakami’s soldiers for a while now, even before my arrival here. Let them see supplies moving out of Kajiya Hara. Let them hear that red armored men are gathering near the western road. Do not make the story perfect. A perfect story sounds prepared.”

Hanzo’s eyes narrowed with approval.

”So some reports should contradict each other.”

”Exactly. One man hears that Urakami is bringing two thousand soldiers. Another hears that he has five thousand. A third says he saw wagons loaded with weapons. Norihiro will not know which report is true, but he will know something is happening.”

”And the uncertainty will force him to act,” Genzo said.

Nathan looked at him.

”It will force him to make choices before he is ready.”

The room remained still for a few seconds.

Then Hanzo moved around the table and stopped beside the map.

”I can go to Minami-Kyoto.”

Genzo looked at her immediately.

”No.”

Hanzo turned toward him. ”Uncle.”

”You were just there,” Genzo said. ”Norihiro’s people may already know your face.”

”They do not know I am with the shinobi.”

”That does not make it safe.”

Hanzo’s jaw tightened, but she did not argue at once.

Nathan watched the exchange in silence.

Hanzo was capable. No one in the village doubted that. She had been trained to move through dangerous places, to blend in, and to keep her thoughts hidden behind a calm face. But Genzo was not only her leader.

He was her uncle.

And after losing her for so long, he was not ready to throw her back into danger without reason.

Nathan finally spoke.

”Hanzo should not enter the castle district.”

Both of them looked toward him.

”But she can work outside the city,” he continued. ”There are towns along the eastern road where Norihiro’s scouts stop for food and supplies. She knows how his men speak, how they carry themselves, and what questions they ask. She can identify them before they identify us.”

Hanzo’s expression softened only slightly.

”You would let me go?”

”I would let you do what you are good at,” Nathan said. ”But you do not take unnecessary risks. If the situation changes, you leave.”

Genzo stared at Nathan for a moment, then at Hanzo.

Hanzo did not look away.

At last, Genzo sighed.

”You will take two people with you.”

”Fine.”

”You will report every day.”

”I will.”

”And if you see anything that suggests Norihiro knows we are involved, you return immediately.”

Hanzo nodded. ”Understood.”

And she left.