This was, of course, not the first time Kanbe Hikaru had witnessed war.
Setting aside what he had seen and heard while wandering alone before, just considering the war between the Imagawa Clan and the Hojo Clan more than half a month ago, he had seen it up close, and even participated in it.
That time, the Band of Seven slaughtered wantonly in the area where the two armies were fighting, creating resentment.
And after Kanbe Hikaru slew four members of the Band of Seven and immediately swept away the demons of the four directions in one night, the direction of that war changed accordingly.
On the Imagawa Clan's side, the Thunder Beast was slain, the disaster in the city was cleared, and morale was greatly boosted.
On the Hojo Clan's side, Gakimaru was executed, the whole city woke up from the nightmare, and military morale was temporarily stabilized.
The two families should have fought even more fiercely.
But the sudden departure of the demons actually made both sides calm down.
After the Demonic Qi permeating the battlefield dissipated, those soldiers who had been driven mad by resentment gradually regained their sanity.
The generals who had been blinded by killing finally realized that if this war continued, the ones who would profit were not either side of them, but those demons hiding in the shadows.
Thus, the Imagawa Clan and the Hojo Clan reached a temporary ceasefire.
It wasn't for peace, just for a breather.
But at least, the flames of war in the Kanto region were temporarily extinguished.
This was a good thing for Kanbe Hikaru and Kikyo.
Without war, there would be no large-scale slaughter and resentment.
Without resentment, the demons in Kyoto would lose their most important nourishment.
Kidomaru's plan was disrupted by more than half.
This was also why, for the past half month or so, Kaede Village was able to maintain a rare tranquility.
But although Kanbe Hikaru never thought this tranquility could last too long.
Human war, in essence, never needed demons to drive it; as long as there were interests, ambition, and the struggle for power, the clash of weapons would never cease.
The ceasefire between the Imagawa Clan and the Hojo Clan was only temporary.
And on this land, there were far more than just these two factions.
However, right now, the speed at which the second war arrived still surprised Kanbe Hikaru.
Too fast!
...
Musashi Province, northern mountain path.
A soldier was running.
He was wearing tattered Ashigaru armor, his helmet had long since been lost somewhere, and his messy hair was covered in dirt and bloodstains.
His left arm hung by his side, twisted unnaturally—it was broken, and it looked like it had been severed by a sword.
Blood seeped from the stump, dripping along his fingers onto the mountain path beneath his feet, dragging out a long, dark red trail.
But he didn't stop.
He didn't dare to stop.
Behind him, the sound of hooves was getting closer and closer.
"Run... run..."
His lips were cracked, and his voice was so hoarse that he could barely speak a complete sentence.
He was a soldier at a Hojo Clan frontline outpost.
This morning, everything was still normal.
The ceasefire agreement between the Hojo Clan and the Imagawa Clan was still in effect; although the front line was tense, at least there was no clash of weapons.
Then, from the other direction opposite to the Imagawa Clan, the north, an army arrived.
There was no declaration of war, no ultimatum, not even any vanguard scouts.
It just appeared suddenly in the field of vision of the Hojo Clan's northern defense line.
The flag was—
Bi.
He recognized that character.
The Dragon of Echigo.
The God of War.
Uesugi Clan.
He didn't have time to look any further.
Because the speed of that army's charge was too fast.
The outpost was crushed, the defense line was pierced through, and hundreds of defending soldiers were completely routed within a quarter of an hour.
He was one of the few who escaped, but he knew he couldn't run away.
Those cavalry were far too fast for him.
"Please... someone save me..."
He stumbled over a hillside.
The view before him suddenly opened up.
A flat field, with cooking smoke rising in the distance.
It was a village.
He used his last bit of strength to rush over.
Kaede Village.
Under the Torii at the village entrance, Kaede was squatting on the ground, drawing with a twig.
She was drawing Kikyo and the handsome big brother, Kanbe Hikaru, standing side by side.
Although her drawing skills were questionable—the big brother was drawn as a ball of yarn, and sister was drawn as a crooked triangle.
But Kaede was very satisfied.
Just as she was about to add two eyes to the 'big brother', she suddenly heard a sound.
Footsteps.
Very hurried and panicked.
And heavy panting.
She looked up.
A blood-covered man rushed down from the mountain path, stumbling, and fell on the road at the village entrance.
"Help..."
He lay on the ground, his voice so faint it was almost inaudible.
"There... there is an army... coming from the north..."
Kaede was startled; she dropped the twig and turned to run.
"Big brother—!"
She rushed toward the direction of the shrine.
But she didn't need to shout anymore.
Because Kanbe Hikaru was already standing at the village entrance.
Demonic Qi gathered, filled with ghostly qi.
Clad in grey robes with pale hair, wearing a crimson oni mask, surrounded by blood armor and bone plating, he looked like an Asura demon—a true Asura ghost, cold and terrifying.
However, Kaede was no longer afraid at all; instead, she felt quite reassured, just as if she were seeing sister Kikyo.
He walked past Kaede, went to the fallen soldier, and squatted down.
"The Hojo Clan's army?"
He asked.
The soldier looked up, saw the crimson oni mask, his pupils constricted, and he instinctively wanted to retreat.
But he no longer had the strength.
"It's... it's Echigo..."
His voice was intermittent.
"Flying the 'Bishamon' flag..."
"So many people... thousands of them..."
"Heading south all the way... nothing can stop them..."
Kanbe Hikaru's eyes narrowed.
Echigo.
The 'Bishamon' flag.
As expected.
Although Musashi Province was under the control of the Hojo Clan, it bordered Kozuke Province to the north, which was controlled by the Uesugi Clan of Echigo Province, Sagami Province to the south, which was the Hojo Clan's headquarters, and bordered Kai Province controlled by the Takeda Clan and Suruga of the Imagawa Clan to the west, making it a battlefield from all sides.
And the only ones coming from the north were from Echigo.
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