Chapter :-69 A New Dawn (Part-1)

1608, Japan, Kyoto...

"Did he agree to Toyotomi clan's succession?"

"No, he seemed to be running out of patience. After spending more than two decades, serving others; he finally wants to take the risk and gamble with his life."

"Well, Ieyasu has always been the most patient general of them all….."

"Hideyoshi was understandably distrustful of Ieyasu, and five years passed before they fought as allies. The Tokugawa did not participate in Hideyoshi's successful invasions of Shikoku and Kyūshū."

"In 1590, Hideyoshi attacked the last independent daimyō in Japan, Hōjō Ujimasa of the Hōjō clan who ruled the eight provinces of the Kantō region in eastern Japan. Hideyoshi ordered them to submit to his authority, and they refused."

"Ieyasu, though a friend and occasional ally of Ujimasa, joined his large force of 30,000 samurai with Hideyoshi's enormous army of some 160,000."

"Hideyoshi attacked several castles on the borders of the Hōjō clan with most of his army laying siege to the castle at Odawara. Hideyoshi's army captured Odawara after six months."

"During this siege, Hideyoshi offered Ieyasu a radical deal. He offered Ieyasu the eight Kantō provinces which they were about to take from the Hōjō in return for the five provinces that Ieyasu currently controlled (including Ieyasu's home province of Mikawa). And this proved to be a fatal mistake."

"Ieyasu accepted this proposal. Bowing to the overwhelming power of the Toyotomi army, the Hōjō accepted defeat, the top Hōjō leaders killed themselves, and Ieyasu marched in and took control of their provinces, so ending the clan's reign of over 100 years."

"Ieyasu now gave up control of his five provinces (Mikawa, Tōtōmi, Suruga, Shinano, and Kai) and moved all his soldiers and vassals to the Kantō region. He occupied the castle town of Edo in Kantō."

"This was possibly the riskiest move Ieyasu ever made—to leave his home province and rely on the uncertain loyalty of the formerly Hōjō samurai in Kantō. In the end, it worked out brilliantly for Ieyasu."

"He reformed the Kantō provinces, controlled and pacified the Hōjō samurai and improved the underlying economic infrastructure of the lands. Also, because Kantō was somewhat isolated from the rest of Japan, Ieyasu was able to maintain a different level of autonomy from Hideyoshi's rule."

"Within a few years, Ieyasu had become the second most powerful daimyō in Japan. And now after Hideyoshi's death; he decided to seize power from the Toyotomi clan. Even the other 4-Elders together couldn't match his absolute tactics and power."

"Ieyasu would have won the Empire by retreating; if we, the alliance didn't have other plans for the country."

"What is the condition of the other 4-great clans?"

"Minamoto clan, Koga clan, Mikaelson clans are ready, but Oda clan has recently suffered a lot of damage after Nobunaga's death."

"Well, looks like this was as far as they could go…gather your men and attack Ieyasu, ask the Koga clan to deal with the Oda clan its better if no one survives…"

"But Master…! Nobunaga would not allow that to happen….! Why would you even want to do that…?"

"She is no longer an Oda; she belongs to the Gerard family. As for a reason, well the Oda clan will not be able to recover from the damage they took after Nobunaga's 'death' when we take over, their neighbouring [Shogunate] would surely attack them and try to assimilate them into their ranks."

"I want you to save a few upper-clansmen and send them to [Kyushu], there you can have them hidden for the rest of their lives…..Nubi made a lot of enemies, and it is better that we take care of them before the whole thing turns into a big mess."

"I don't want her going out of control after seeing one of her clansmen's head hung over the top of her clan compound. Make sure that the whole scene looks like someone had a great hatred for the Oda clan and killed every single one of them."

"….As you wish master…."

Kiyohime kneeled on one knee in front of Henrik and bowed her head before standing up and leaving the room. During this whole ordeal, he was sitting on a big chair with a brush in his right hand. His white hair covered his forehead while the ocean blue eyes seemed to glow ever so slightly.

Henrik gazed at his right arm wrapped with a white cloth covering the two-divine marks on it. The kanji symbol of the sun glowed with golden hue while the black rose tattoo which coiled against his whole arm had gotten bloodier.

In the eye of the black rose, a five tomoe (instead of three) blood-red eyeball was right there as if looking straight at Henrik who saw it. This eye was Izanami's [Command seal], signifying her status as his servant.

The bond between the master and the servants had grown to extreme levels, thus, in turn, increasing the effectiveness of the abilities it provided. A master and a servant with a common bond had average compatibility, but the more durable the bond was, the stronger would the master's control over their servants.

Izanami had already sworn to give her all to Henrik since he freed her.

She never resisted the strengthening of the bond whereas Amaterasu who refused to converse resisted quite a bit. As time went by, she could see the goodness within his dark heart, and maybe he wasn't a monster that she thought him to be.

The land of Japan was prospering due to his actions, no matter what he did, these were her people, her worshipers and now since the happiness in their lives was increasing, and it pleased her.

She had her reservations about Henrik, but he always acted maturely and didn't bother her at all, the strengthening of the bond between them somewhat scared her, it was like, slowly and slowly, the clothes covering her body were being removed….her secrets, her memories, her thoughts, her feelings were all being exposed to Henrik.

"You okay brother…?"

Henrik snapped out of his thoughts and answered in a calm tone.

"Yes I am alright sister…., Kiyohime, Nubi, Sasuke and Tachibana will be attacking Ieyasu tomorrow, I have told them to bargain for Honda Tadakatsu's loyalty. Sasaki will be fighting Miyamoto Musashi, the after tomorrow."

"After we take care of Honda and Musashi, we will mobilise our forces to take care of the [Shogunate] of Shimabara and pay Gracia a visit, hopefully 'he' will also be there….."

"After that, we can perform the ritual….."

"Very well, I have already finished all the preparations little brother."

"Thank you….sister, soon another one of us will wake this planet."

A beautiful smile bloomed over Henrik's face.