"Damn! Damn it! The damned Nobumoto Hosokawa! Hashiba Hideyoshi smashed everything around him in a rage, he had returned to Nagahama Castle, and Shibata Katsuya also went back to quell the rebellion because of the outbreak of Echizen Province.

It also happened to be in the middle of winter, and the roads were closed by heavy snow, and the families temporarily suspended their troops.

Taking advantage of this time, Takenaka Hanbei went to investigate the reasons for the defeat in the Battle of Shidake, and came to only one conclusion: Hosokawa Nobumoto!

"Whew... Hanbei, are you sure? Hideyoshi Hashiba finally calmed down from his rage, and he couldn't suppress his grief and anger when he heard only the words Hosokawa Nobumoto, his closest brother died.

"Although there is no substantial evidence pointing to Hosokawa Nobuyuan, but the subordinates who can do this can really not think of anyone else besides him. Cough... Cough! Takenaka Hanbei suddenly coughed twice, he has been busy lately, often staying up all night, and today he suddenly felt that his body was hollowed out.

"Half-guard, you have to pay more attention to your body, this family is all up to you now." Yushiba Hideyoshi greeted with concern, and then asked, "Is there no evidence at all?" ”

"Yes, I'm afraid that only Shibata Katsuya knows the truth of this matter, and his subordinates are just concluding based on speculation. One is that only a very few people know about the movement of the family, and these people are either relatives of the lord or old ministers who have followed the lord for many years, so the probability of rebellion is not great. Takenaka's heart warmed and he continued.

"Second, those who can know the trajectory of the family, in addition to the family, I am afraid that only his Hosokawa family has this ability. Don't forget, when our army enters and exits Mino and Ise, it will definitely not escape the eyes and ears of Sekigahara and Koga. Moreover, our army is a rapid march, and only the ninjas of the Hosokawa family have the ability to pass information to Shibata Katsuya before our army! So... The subordinates speculated that this matter must have been done by Hosokawa Nobumoto! "Takenaka Hanbei's analysis is reasonable, although there is no evidence, but it is true that only the Hosokawa family has this kind of strength.

"Don't you say! Did he Hosokawa Nobugen decide to side with Oda Nobutaka! So what to do? Aren't they even stronger! "What Yushiba Hideyoshi is most worried about is Hosokawa Nobumoto, he and Nobumoto don't deal with each other, the reason why he didn't tear his face is that he wants to destroy Kita Oda, and he has enough strength to compete with him again.

"This may not be, Hosokawa Nobumoto must want to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, and when we are both defeated, we will give a killing blow! Ay... Originally, according to the plan, let Araki Murashige drag him down, let's take the opportunity to annex Kita Oda here, but I didn't expect it to be a bad move. Takenaka Hanbei blamed himself slightly, the reason why he used sports warfare in the first place was to give the Shibata family a lightning blow and avoid the current confrontation situation.

Now... It backfired, and Hidecho Hashiba was killed in battle.

"The half-soldier doesn't have to blame himself, I can't blame you, we can only blame us for being unlucky, the decisive battle site of Zhiyue was chosen by ourselves, why do you say he is so inch! I just let Hosokawa Nobumoto guess it, alas... Regardless of the situation, the most important thing at the moment is to prevent the union of the Kita Oda and Hosokawa families. "Hashiba Hideyoshi didn't know that Hosokawa Nobugen was a traverser and knew the location of the decisive battle, otherwise, he wouldn't have chosen to kill him.

"This matter is easy to do, just leave it to your subordinates, if you can make the two of them directly opposed." Takenaka Hanbei seems to have a belly case for a long time, and his expression is very relaxed.

"Okay, I'll leave this to you, and besides... Let's continue to have a standing system. I regretted not listening to you at the beginning, and the peasants and soldiers were indeed the root cause of the failure, and I am also responsible for this failure. Soldier... Less is less..."Hashiba Hideyoshi gritted his teeth, although this would make it difficult for him to take care of both the north and south directions, but fortunately, the Shibata family in the north retreated.

"The lord is wise, then take advantage of the heavy snow in the north to close the road, and eliminate Oda Nobutaka first." Takenaka Hanbei appreciates the monkey's point, knowing that mistakes can be corrected, and it is very good.

I don't know when... In the central part of Ise Province, there was a sudden rumor that there was a nose and an eye.

It is said that in the Battle of Shidake, it was Hosokawa Nobumoto who delivered information to Shibata Katsuie, and what he said was reasonable, and the head was right. When Oda Nobutaka's adoptive father, Kobe Gumori, heard this, he didn't care either, because the rumors were true.

But then, suddenly, a different story emerged. It is said that Hosokawa Nobumoto has already begun to contact Oda Nobutaka and is ready to get rid of Hideyoshi Hashiba together. But because Hosokawa Nobumoto is on a westward expedition, he needs Nobutaka to fight the front station first.

Kobe Gumori couldn't sit still now, if this was true, then his son would be used by Hosokawa Nobumoto, but he couldn't let his son be blinded, so he rushed to Gifu Castle overnight.

"Father, why are you here?" Although Oda Nobutaka changed back to the main sect, he was passed on to Kobe Gumori since he was a child, and the word father is called habitual.

"My lord, I heard that you want to form an alliance with Hosokawa Nobumoto? Is that so? Kobe Gomori still respectfully calls him the lord.

"Huh? Father, how do you know? That's what I wanted, and I haven't had time to implement it yet. "Oda Nobutaka is very strange, he just came up with this idea, and his father knew about it, could it be a roundworm in his stomach?

"Oops! I'm glad I'm here, so you can't ally with the Hosokawa family! Yuchai is like a wolf, and he Hosokawa is a fierce tiger, seeking skin with the tiger? That's self-inflicted! Kobe Gumori had the right expression, secretly congratulating himself for his wisdom.

Why is that? I heard news from the Katsu family that the battle of Shidake was thanks to the help of the Hosokawa family, otherwise it would have been difficult to end well. He also said that this was a kind gesture from the Hosokawa family, so I must catch it. In Oda Nobutaka's heart, this world is still the world of his Oda family, and this minister is naturally still a retainer of his Oda family.

"Hey! Why are you still so naïve, don't you see Hosokawa Nobumoto's wolf ambitions? Isn't it enough to collect Sanuki, Fuawa, and Tuntamba, all of whom installed his Hosokawa clan? On the eve of the Second Cheongju Conference, you personally visited your home, hoping to get his support, but what was the result? Pretending to be stupid and having an ambiguous attitude, if he wanted to support you, he would have supported you a year ago, and you would have inherited the unification a long time ago, so why wait until now? "Kobe Gumori is really thinking about Shinko, and he is afraid that he will suffer. It's just that what he didn't expect was that he unknowingly fell for the Yang conspiracy of the half-soldier guard in Takenaka.

"That's... Ignore him? When Oda Nobutaka heard this, he also felt that it made sense.

"Hmph... Wouldn't that be too cheap for him, in my opinion... It's better than this... Let the two of them fight... Let's reap the fisherman's profits—" The two chattered softly, occasionally smirking evilly.