Japan's Warring States Period: The Rise of the Wakasa Tiger

"The Tatsuno Castle is only about ten miles away from Shiroyama Castle. Akamatsu Kyojo (Akamatsu Harumasa, the official position of Sakyo no Daifu) has decided to settle there. It seems that he wants to have a good fight with the main family."

Yoshishige had a clearer understanding of Akamatsu Harumasa's return. He knew that this man had endured hardships to avenge his father, and had fought hard against the Amago clan for the honor of his family. Later, he would rather wander around than surrender to the Amago clan. This shows that his inner determination and unyielding spirit are far stronger than those of the impoverished people such as Isshiki and Yamana (Inaba).

Therefore, Yoshishige still paid enough attention to him and decided to move the powerful general Onitsuka Masaaki to Okiyan City and be responsible for the Harima defense line of "Okiyan-Shiroyama-Kamizuki" to deal with the invasion and harassment from Harima and Bizen.

"What about the Urakami family? What's going on?" Yoshishige continued to ask Yamamoto Shigeyuki.

"After sending Akamatsu Kyosho into Tatsuno Castle, Urakami Soube (Urakami Masamune's official title is "Soubesuke") also led his troops into Muroyama Castle. I heard that these days he has not only been recruiting soldiers and gathering his old subordinates, but also sent envoys to Bizen Tenjinyama Castle with the intention of reaching peace with his brother Urakami Totomi-no-kami (Urakami Munekage)." Yamamoto Shigeyuki replied.

"It looks like Harima and Bizen are about to start moving, so Mimasaka shouldn't be safe either, right?" Yoshishige asked back.

Yamamoto Shigeyuki nodded and replied with a smile, "The governor of Mimasaka and the lord of Iwaya Castle, Nakamura Kaga no Mori, is also unstable and seems to have started to contact the people of Sakusai to fight against the main family, but judging from the current situation, the effect is not significant."

"The Nakamura family originally relied on betraying the Akamatsu clan and joining the Urakami clan in exchange for the positions of Iwaya Castle and Mimasaka guardian. After the previous head, Nakamura Noriyuki, died, the Urakami clan, which they relied on, suffered a 'Great Collapse'. In addition, the current head is mediocre, and the Nakamura clan has long lost its former glory.

"The current Meimasaka clan is in disarray. As long as they can win over the Nakamura clan's enemies, such as Okawara and Miura, the Nakamura clan won't be able to stir up any trouble."

Yamamoto Shigeyuki was very pleased to hear that Yoshishige had made plans in his mind, so he joked: "My lord, you can think ahead of me in everything now. It seems that I am no longer needed here. I should return to Atago Mountain to continue supervising the construction."

"Shigeyuki, you are joking," Yoshishige smiled back, "I was very uneasy when I didn't bring you with me on this Western Expedition. I was hoping that you would quickly finish building the new city and come back to help me with my plans."

Speaking of "giving advice", Yoshishige suddenly had an idea and asked, "Is our family now bordering Bizen? Can we get any news about Bizen?"

Yamamoto Shigeyuki nodded and said, "It is true that part of it borders the northeastern part of Bizen, but I don't know what information the lord wants to find out. I think it's time to expand the intelligence network at home."

"I've been thinking about the intelligence network," Yoshishige nodded slightly in approval, "but now I want to know how the Ukita family in Bizen is doing now?"

"The Ukita family?" Yamamoto Shigeyuki scratched his head in confusion and asked curiously, "I have heard of it before. Their family had an Izumi-no-kami who was a famous warrior under the Urakami family. It's a pity that he died a few years ago, and the Ukita family declined. The current head of the family seems to be the grandson of Izumi-no-kami, but he is only fourteen years old. Although he is still in Bizen, he does not seem to have entered the government."

The Izumi no Kami mentioned by Yamamoto Shigeyuki was the lord of Bizen Toiseki Castle, and a senior official of Ukita Noriie, who served the three generations of Norimune, Sosuke, and Muramune. The Ukita clan, descended from the Miyake clan of the Baekje royal family, and made its fortune in Kojima County, Bizen Province, so it used the "komonji" as its family crest. At least since the ancestor Ukita main family, the Ukita clan has been a vassal of the Urakami clan, which inherited the Bizen shugodai, and came to prominence during the Ukita Noriie period.

Ukita Nobuie was extremely brave in battle. He helped Urakami Norimune to quell civil strife, saved the life of Urakami Munesuke, and cooperated with Urakami Muramune to defeat the attack of Akamatsu Yoshimura, helping the Urakami clan become the strongest force in the three countries of Harima, Bizen, and Bimasaka. He made great contributions to the prosperity of the Urakami clan throughout his life.

Unfortunately, in his later years, Noie lived in seclusion in Toishi Castle because of the loss of his beloved son. After the Great Collapse, Urakami Muramune died in battle, and his sons Urakami Masamune and Urakami Munekage were still young. Urakami Munekage's retainer, Takatori Castle lord Shimamura Morizane, took the opportunity to raid Toishi Castle in June 1534. At that time, there were no soldiers in the castle, and Noie was already old and unable to walk, so he was eventually forced to commit suicide.

After Noie committed suicide, his retainers scattered. His son Ukita Noriie fled without resistance. His legitimate son Hachiro was taken to Fukuoka, Bizen by his wet nurse. Soon after, Noriie and his son fled to Tomo Castle in Bingo Province.

However, with the help of Abe Yoshisada, a wealthy merchant and relative of his retainer, he finally returned to Bizen Fukuoka. Ukita Okiie also married his daughter as a concubine and had two sons with her.

In 1536, Ukita Okiie died of illness. Due to the bad relationship with his stepmother, Hachiro was sent to Dairakuin in Shimokasaga Village and raised by his aunt.

It can be said that after the death of Ukita Noie, the Ukita clan declined, and even though Hachiro, who was only 14 years old, became the new head of the family, he was despised by the Urakami clan because he had no use value. Under such circumstances, he could only live in the countryside, let alone avenge his grandfather and revive the family business.

Yoshishige knew that this Hachiro was none other than Ukita Naoie, who was later known as one of the "Three Great Counsellors of China" along with Amago Nobunaga and Mori Motonari. This man was an outstanding strategic figure and was the second most powerful conspirator in the Warring States Period after Saito Dosan. Historically, he expanded his power through alienation, marriage and assassination, and eventually defeated the Urakami clan, completely controlling the two countries of Beizen and Bizen.

His son Ukita Hideie was even more famous. As the adopted son of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, he was one of the "Five Elders" and devoted himself to the Toyotomi clan. He was eventually exiled to Hachijo Island by Tokugawa Ieyasu until his death at the age of 84.

However, at that time, Ukita Naoie was just a young man struggling to survive in the countryside. Not to mention ruling two countries, even serving the Urakami family would take two years.

Yoshishige felt that he had to seize this opportunity to recruit this strategist into his army. If the Urakami family got there first, they might suffer in the future when conquering Bizen, Mimasaka, and Harima.

Therefore, after talking with Yamamoto Shigeyuki, Yoshishige immediately appointed Kagawa Morihisa as his secret envoy to go to Bizen to recruit Hachiro. For safety reasons, Yoshishige also ordered his most trusted senior ninja Tanabe Hikomitsu to lead three or five ninjas to accompany him.

During this time, they entered Bizen as traveling merchants, and after avoiding the inspections of the Urakami clan along the way through the mountain roads, they arrived at Shimokasaga Village on April 3. With the guidance of the villagers, they finally saw Hachiro working in the fields. (End of this chapter)