"I'm going to leave Azuchi before nightfall and stay overnight in the capital. Then I think it would be better if I returned to Bizen."
"Now, why would you want to do that? At least why would you want to leave before we meet Lord Nobunaga again?"
"I don't feel like meeting him any longer." For the first time, Naoie manifested his feelings in both his countenance and his words. "And I think that Lord Nobunaga does not want to see me, either. Moreover, this is an enemy province with which I have no connection. It would probably be better for both of us if I left right away."
"It will compromise my honor."
"I'll come and thank you properly for the way you've treated me on another day, Lord Hideyoshi. And I shall not forget your kindness."
"Please stay one more night. I can't bear to see the two clans that I have brought together for a peace conference suddenly become enemies again. Lord Nobunaga refused to grant us an audience today, and he has his reasons. Let's meet again this evening and I'll explain them to you. Right now I'm going back to my lodgings to change out of these clothes. Wait for me before eating dinner."
There was nothing Naoie could do but wait until evening. Hideyoshi changed and returned to the temple. They talked and laughed as they ate their evening meal, and as they finished, Hideyoshi remarked, "Ah, that's right. I promised to tell you why Lord Nobunaga was so displeased with me."
And he started to talk as though he had just remembered the subject. In his desire to hear Hideyoshi's explanation, Naoie had put off his departure. Now Hideyoshi had hisundivided attention.
With artless candor, Hideyoshi explained why his own arbitrary settlement had offended Nobunaga. "It's rude of me to say so, but both the provinces of Mimasaka and Bizen would sooner or later have become the possessions of the Oda clan. So to make a peace treaty now with you was not really necessary. But if Lord Nobunaga did not crush the Ukita clan, he would not be able to divide its territory among his generals as rewards for their meritorious deeds. In addition, it was unpardonable that I didn't even seek His Lordship's permission. This is why he's so angry." He laughed as he spoke, but because there was not the slightest fabrication in what he said, the truth was manifested with a clear conscience even from behind his smile.
Naoie was overwhelmed. His face, flushed by sake, suddenly went pale as the blood drained from it. He did not doubt, however, that Nobunaga was thinking in this way.
"So he's in a bad mood," Hideyoshi went on. "He won't give me an audience and he won't meet you either. Once he's that resolved, he's not going to bend. I'm stumped, and I feel horrible for you. The pledge that you entrusted to me is still unauthorized, and long as it doesn't receive His Lordship's vermilion seal, there's nothing I can do. I will return it to you, so you might as well sever your connections with us, renounce the treaty, and hurry back to Bizen tomorrow morning."
With that, Hideyoshi took out Naoie's pledge and handed it back to him. Naoie, however, quietly stared at the light flickering in the tall lamps and refused even to touch the document.
Hideyoshi remained silent.
"No," Naoie said, suddenly breaking the silence. Courteously, he put his hands gether. "I'm going to entreat you to do everything you can once again. Please mediate with Lord Nobunaga for me."
This time his attitude was that of a man who had surrendered from the bottom of his heart. Until now he had appeared to surrender only because of the forcible arguments Kuroda Kanbei.
"All right. If you have that much confidence in the Oda," Hideyoshi said, nodding vigorously, and he consented to undertake the matter.
Naoie stayed at the Sojitsu Temple more than ten days waiting for the outcome. Hideyoshi hurriedly sent off a messenger to Gifu, hoping that Nobutada could mollify Nobunaga somewhat. Already having some business in the capital, Nobutada left for Kyoto soon thereafter.
Accompanied by Naoie, Hideyoshi then had an audience with Nobutada. Finally, through the latter's intercession, Nobunaga relented. Later that day the vermilion seal was affixed to the pledge, and the Ukita clan completely severed its ties to the Mori and allied itself with the Oda.
Hardly seven days later, however, whether by coincidence or for reasons of military expediencey, one of Nobunaga's generals, Araki Murashige, betrayed his lord and joined the enemy camp, raising the banner of rebellion right at the Oda's feet.
"It's a lie! It must be a lie!"
Nobunaga could not believe it at first. When the news of Murashige's revolt reached Nobunaga in Azuchi, his first reaction was denial. But the gravity of the situation was quickly confirmed when two of Murashige's senior retainers, Takayama Ukon of Takatsuki and Nakagawa Sebei of Ibaragi, cited moral obligations and followed Murashige in unfurling the banner of revolt.
The look of dismay deepened on Nobunaga's brow. The strange thing was that he showed neither anger nor his usual hot temper at this unexpected turn of events. It would be a mistake to judge Nobunaga's character as one of fire. But it would also be an error, in observing his coolness, to classify him as water. When you thought of him as fire, he was water; when you thought of him as water, he was fire. Both the heat of flames and the chill of water coexisted in his body.
"Call Hideyoshi," Nobunaga suddenly ordered.
"Lord Hideyoshi left for Harima early this morning," Takigawa replied nervously.
"He's already left?"
“He probably hasn't gotten very far. With your permission, I'll take a horse and go fetch him back." It was rare for someone to seize the moment and rescue Nobunaga from his own impatience. When the retainers who were present turned to see who this someone might be, they discovered that it was Ranmaru, Nobunaga's page.
Nobunaga granted his request and urged him to hurry.
Noon came, and Ranmaru had not yet returned. In the meantime, reports from the scouts in the areas of Itami and Takatsuki Castle were arriving frequently. The one report among them that made Nobunaga's blood run cold announced yet another new fact.
“Just this morning at dawn, a large Mori fleet approached the Hyogo coast. Soldiers disembarked and entered Murashige's castle at Hanakuma."
The coastal highway through Hyogo that ran beneath Hanakuma Castle was the only route from Azuchi to Harima.
"Hideyoshi is not going to be able to get through." At the moment Nobunaga realized this, he also understood the danger of communications being cut between the expeditionary army and Azuchi. He could almost feel the hands of the enemy at his throat.
"Is Ranmaru back yet?" Nobunaga asked.
"No, my lord."
Nobunaga was once again sunk in thought. The Hatano, the Bessho, and Araki Murashige had now suddenly revealed their links with the enemy—the Mori and the Honganji—and Nobunaga felt that he was being surrounded. Moreover, when he looked to the east, he saw that the Hojo and Takeda had recently come to terms.
Ranmaru whipped his horse through Otsu, and finally caught up with Hideyoshi near the Mii Temple. Hideyoshi was resting there, or rather, having come that far, he had heard about Araki Murashige's rebellion and sent Horio Mosuke and two or three others to verify the reports and find out the details.
Ranmaru pulled up and said, "His Lordship ordered me to come after you. He desires to talk with you again. Would you return to Azuchi as quickly as possible?"
Leaving his men at the Mii Temple, he turned back toward Azuchi, accompanied only by Ranmaru. On the way back, Hideyoshi thought through what was likely to occur. Nobunaga would be furious at Murashige's rebellion. The first time Murashige had served Nobunaga was during the attack on Nijo Palace, when they had driven out the former shogun. Nobunaga was the kind of man who would show favor toward anyone who pleased him a little, and he showed recognition of Murashige's valor especially. Nobunaga had loved Murashige more than he had loved most men. And Murashige had betrayed Nobunaga's trust. Hideyoshi could imagine what Nobunaga's feelings must be.
As Hideyoshi hurried back to Azuchi, he blamed himself as well as Murashige. The man had been his second-in-command, and their personal relationship had been a close one. And yet he had not known that Murashige was up to this kind of foolishness.
"Ranmaru, have you heard anything?" Hideyoshi asked.
"You mean about Lord Murashige's treachery?"
"What sort of dissatisfaction might have motivated him to rebel against Lord Nobunaga?" They were a long way from Azuchi, and if they had sped all the way back, their horses would have become exhausted. As Hideyoshi trotted along, he looked back at Ranmaru, whose horse was coming a few paces behind at the same pace.
"There were rumors about this sort of thing before," Ranmaru said. "The story goes that one of Lord Murashige's retainers was selling army rice to the warrior-monks of the Honganji. There's a shortage of rice in Osaka. The land road has been cut for the most part, and the sea routes have been blockaded by our fleet, so there is not even the prospect of transporting provisions with the Mori's warships. The price of rice has gone way up, and if a man sells rice there, he can make an immense profit. That's just what Lord Murashige's retainer did, and when the affair was exposed, Lord Murashige took the initiative and unfurled the flag of rebellion, fearing that he would be questioned about this crime by Lord Nobunaga anyway."
"That sounds like a seditious rumor spread by the enemy. Surely it's a baseless lie."
"I think it's a lie, too. From what I've seen, people are jealous of Lord Murashige’s meritorious deeds. I think this disaster has been brought on by a certain person's slander.”
"A certain person?"
"Lord Mitsuhide. Once this rumor about Lord Murashige came out, Lord Mitsuhide had nothing good to say about him to His Lordship. I'm always at His Lordship's side listening secretly, and sure enough, I'm one of the people who feels miserable about this incident."
Ranmaru suddenly fell quiet. He seemed to realize that he had spoken a little too much, and regretted it. Ranmaru concealed his feelings about Mitsuhide as a young maiden might. At such times, Hideyoshi never seemed to pay attention to the conversation at all. In fact, he appeared to be completely indifferent.
"I can already see Azuchi. Let's hurry!" As soon as he pointed into the distance, Hideyoshi whipped his horse, completely disregarding his companion's concerns.
The main entrance of the castle was bustling with the attendants of retainers who had heard about Murashige's rebellion and were coming to the castle, and with messengers pouring in from the nearby provinces. Hideyoshi and Ranmaru shoved their way through the throng and into the inner citadel, only to be told that Lord Nobunaga was in the middle of a conference. Ranmaru went in and spoke to Nobunaga and then quickly returned telling Hideyoshi, "He requested that you wait in the Bamboo Room." He guided Hideyoshi to a three-story tower in the inner citadel.