Swallow Return

He simply added, "Liu Yun did a good job and was a great help."

As he said this, Oda Nobunaga's gaze darted around, and he secretly glanced at Ryuun, seemingly a little guilty.

Ryuun was secretly amazed—Nobunaga actually felt guilty?

Could it be that this guy's integrity hasn't been completely extinguished?

Combining what Hideyoshi Hashiba had said earlier, and thinking about it carefully, Ryuun felt that there might be more to the story.

They haven't even officially acquired Ranshatai yet, nor have they left the Shosoin Repository of Todai-ji Temple in Nara. Why are they in such a hurry to establish a leadership position?

Could it be... that there is some unknown reason behind this?

While Liu Yun was still puzzled, he saw Oda Nobunaga raise his head and urgently say to the nine-tailed fox phantom floating in the air and about to disappear, "The outcome of the bet is decided, I have won!"

"Heh—is that so?" As the phantom grew darker, the nine-tailed fox's voice also became weaker, but it still retained an indescribable allure: "Prime Minister Oda is the greatest hero of Japan, he can't deny it on this point and take advantage of a mere woman like me!"

"How is this a denial?" Oda Nobunaga quickly waved his hand in rebuttal: "If I obtain Ranshatai before today, then I have won."

“But…” The almost completely transparent nine-tailed fox phantom cast a suggestive glance: “But today, if it weren’t for Lord Ryuun’s intervention, Prime Minister Oda would surely be trapped in the dream, wouldn’t he? Even if he had truly taken Ranshatai, he would have been just like the old Toki Rei-daifu, unable to control him and instead becoming an obstacle to him…”

“Sasaki Ryuun…” Oda Nobunaga glanced to the side, hesitated for a very short time, gritted his teeth, and resolutely said, “Sasaki Ryuun is a retainer of my Oda clan! Obtaining Ranshatai with his help can certainly be considered as my own doing!”

"Haha...that depends on..." The nine-tailed fox's voice was meaningful: "It depends on whether you two truly have the awareness of being one as ruler and subject, without any reservations..."

As soon as the words were spoken, the phantom floating in the air completely disappeared.

"I was in charge of the looting of Ranjata from the Shosoin Repository of Todai-ji Temple in Nara!"

Oda Nobunaga's roar echoed in the room, but there was no response.

"That's right! Without your command, my lord, we would never have been able to successfully seize Lanshedai!"

Hideyoshi Hashiba immediately expressed his support for his leader. He seemed to have regained his fighting spirit and was no longer listless. He spoke with great passion, but there was a lingering worry in his eyes.

The giant tanuki Tokugawa Ieyasu was still half asleep, his eyes blurry, lying on the ground swaying, seemingly not fully awake yet.

After listening to the conversation between Oda Nobunaga and the nine-tailed fox, Liu Yun finally understood the general cause and effect of the matter.

Then one has to feel embarrassed by the nine-tailed fox's last words.

"That depends on whether you two truly have the awareness that ruler and subject are one, without any reservations..."

That's a very...

Liu Yun certainly doesn't have that awareness.

Nobunaga probably didn't exist either.

So now is it very difficult to handle?

In addition, Liu Yun also felt somewhat annoyed with Oda Nobunaga and Hashiba Hideyoshi.

Since there's such an important reason, couldn't you have explained it earlier?

If things had been made clear from the beginning, I would have definitely focused on helping out, considering our past relationship, and perhaps we wouldn't be in this awkward situation now.

Suddenly, Liu Yun realized that Takenaka Shigeharu claimed he could not hold on and left the room, while Honda Tadakatsu had been ordered by Tokugawa Ieyasu to guard the area... Were these two doing this on purpose?

Chapter 261 A Duty to Do and a Good Job

Everyone regained consciousness, the nine-tailed fox phantom in the air disappeared, and it was finally time to harvest Lan Shedai.

The purpose of coming to Todai-ji Shōsōin in Nara has been achieved.

Those outside the door remained oblivious, as if blocked by a barrier, while only the four inside could enjoy the joy of victory ahead of time.

But is it really joyful?

After a brief moment of agitation and anger, Oda Nobunaga regained his composure, smiled calmly, and drew his short sword, slicing off a large piece, half a foot square and an inch thick, from the Ranshatai. This was a secret weapon used against the Honganji Ikko-shu sect.

Hideyoshi Hashiba, however, looked distressed and worried, his gaze darting between the faces of the people in the room, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't bring himself to speak. He had taken Ranshatai to cure Lady Nene's heart ailment, but his current appearance showed absolutely no joy.

The giant tanuki Tokugawa Ieyasu barely woke up after a while, but he was still sleepy and dazed. It took him a while to get up and carefully shave a small piece off the Ranshadai with his clumsy paws.

Liu Yun's emotions at this moment were anything but calm.

From the conversation between the nine-tailed fox and Oda Nobunaga, he overheard something chilling.

But I tried my best to suppress my associative thinking and focus my energy on the task at hand.

The details of the so-called "bet" between the Nine-Tailed Fox and Oda Nobunaga can be explored at a later time.

He pulled out the short knife from his bosom, cut two small pieces, each about the size of a teacup, from the orchid, put them in a piece of silk, and tucked them into his bosom. Only then did he feel a little more at ease.

That would be the end of a long-cherished wish.

If the information obtained earlier was correct, two pieces of Lanshedai should be enough to restore Igawa Asahi and Akiyama Rinko to their senses.

Compared to the complex political issues involved, rescuing the girls was much more enjoyable.

However, sometimes we are not in control of our own lives.

Even if you don't get involved in politics, politics may still come looking for you.

Ryuun only wanted to put the controversy aside, but he did not expect that after Oda Nobunaga put away Ranshatai, he suddenly laughed heartily and said: "How could that monster's low-level divisive tactics succeed? Sasaki Ryuun is a loyal retainer of the Oda family. With his help, I obtained Ranshatai, so I can also say that I won the bet with the Nine-Tailed Fox."

Upon hearing this, Toyotomi Hideyoshi immediately nodded in agreement, "My lord is right, that's exactly it! I think so too! The strange things that the monster said earlier must have been to sow discord—Lord Tokugawa Mikawa, and Brother Ryuun, don't you agree?"

Hideyoshi cast a long and earnest gaze at him, half of it directed at Tokugawa Ieyasu, and the majority at Sasaki Ryuun.

"Uh—" The giant tanuki, however, was not very accommodating. After a moment of hesitation, it decisively shook its head and said, "I'm sorry, I've only heard about the bet between Prime Minister Oda and the nine-tailed fox, but I know nothing about the specifics. As for who won today, we'll probably have to look at the detailed clauses in the oath to find out."

Liu Yun nodded in agreement, saying, "Indeed, what Lord Tokugawa Mikawa said is quite right. At least Lord Mikawa had heard about it beforehand, but I had never heard of it at all, so how could I not be even more confused?"

Hideyoshi Hashiba was stunned and remained silent.

A hint of anger flashed across Oda Nobunaga's face, but it disappeared in an instant, quickly replaced by a calm and composed smile. Then he gave a light snort and pointed a finger at him, saying, "Monkey, you're in charge of explaining in detail. Make sure they both understand that I did indeed defeat the Nine-Tailed Fox."

Then he turned and left, walking out the door.

A large group of samurai and servants waiting outside were overjoyed and excited to see Nobunaga striding out with a large piece of fragrant wood cut from the Ransha-shi. They all felt honored to be part of the group.

"Fantastic! Such a large piece is definitely enough to break the methods of those bald monks of the Yixiang Sect. Stone Mountain and Long Island will be within our grasp!"

“This item used to be exclusively enjoyed by the Ashikaga clan, the shoguns of the Muromachi shogunate. Now that you, my lord, have taken it, does that mean we can replace the Ashikaga clan?”

"More than just replacing them? The Ashikaga clan only relied on the protection of their fathers' and grandfathers' bloodlines; how could they possibly be compared to the Oda clan!"

"I used to hear people from the Kyoto area brag about how amazing this thing was, but now it seems it's nothing special. It's so easy to get it, isn't it?"

"Just like the Imagawa, Takeda, Rokkaku, Asakura, Asai and the like, who were once praised, all fell at the feet of the Oda family."

The retainers were buzzing with excitement.

The scene appeared less serious and respectful, reminiscent of the "country samurai" style of Owari people.

However, Oda Nobunaga was very satisfied.

Perhaps he could sense the reverence and sense of belonging shown in the words and actions of his retainers, which allowed him to forgive the lack of attention to detail in etiquette.

And at this time—

Hideyoshi Hashiba was trying his best to explain the so-called "bet" to Tokugawa Ieyasu and Sasaki Ryuun in a positive light.

"That's right... Our lord did indeed have some dealings with powerful demons like the nine-tailed fox—but there are plenty of daimyo who have done this kind of thing! You all know that our lord would never do anything he shouldn't do for a demon's help... Yes, that page Mori Ranmaru is a demon's clone, so he can be considered an envoy..."

Through the rapid but fairly detailed explanation, Liu Yun roughly understood the cause of the matter.

According to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Oda Nobunaga had been involved with some ancient great demons for many years—the exact number is unknown, but it was certainly many years ago. This "Demon King" gained powerful external support through this, but also incurred a huge "debt".

Furthermore, this kind of "debt" cannot be repaid with gold, nor can it be offset through personal relationships; it requires certain special means to pay.

For example, Takeda Shingen sacrificed the lives of thousands of people at one time to maintain a bizarre "life-extending spell," or the monks of the Ikko-shu sect bewitched the minds of the people, absorbing their life force and converting it into energy for combat...

According to Hideyoshi Hashiba, Oda Nobunaga made the "bet" because he was unwilling to use such evil methods and had to deal with powerful demons like the nine-tailed fox in a more troublesome way.

The problem is that the "bet" at the time was probably about whether Nobunaga could take Ranshachi on his own.

It's hard to say who won and who lost in the current situation.

Clearly, there are no universal rules that both humans and monsters must abide by in this world, nor is there a ruling body with the ability to enforce the law.

So what should be done when Oda Nobunaga and the Nine-Tailed Fox disagree on the outcome of their "bet"?

Hideyoshi Hashiba also offered an explanation for this, but it was not very clear and sounded somewhat obscure and difficult to understand.

The gist is that if Nobunaga and Ryūun are of one mind and believe they are a united lord and vassal, sharing both honor and disgrace, then they can use their previous agreement to suppress the Nine-Tailed Fox. Otherwise, there will be very serious consequences.

The consequences will not only affect Oda Nobunaga himself, but also the entire Oda clan, and even everyone in the territories under the Oda clan's rule.

Liu Yun took these words with a grain of salt, as he was not yet capable of analyzing their merits and demerits.

He was also dissatisfied with "Monkey King's" previous concealment, and simply replied with a curt "I see."

Hideyoshi Hashiba looked somewhat embarrassed and apologized in a low voice, "Brother Ryuun, please forgive me. I was planning to explain things to you before I left for Nara, but we got into talking about something else and I forgot about it... I also want to apologize to Lord Tokugawa Mikawa..."

Liu Yun recalled briefly that the atmosphere had become a little awkward when the topic of Madam Ningning came up.

I was at a loss for words.

At this moment, the giant tanuki Tokugawa Ieyasu shook his head and said bluntly, "There's no need to explain this to me. After all, the only one who truly helped me today was Lord Sasaki. I was merely indebted to Lord Sasaki, so what right do I have to speak?"

“Yes…” Hideyoshi Hashiba frowned and nodded in distress, then sighed and said to Ryuun in a pleading tone, “Brother… you are still a retainer of the Oda clan, is that right?”

“Of course that’s right.” Liu Yun nodded, not denying it.

“So…” Hashiba Hideyoshi blinked, his eyes filled with hope, “You and His Highness can be said to be of one mind, sharing both honor and disgrace!”

"Hmm..." Liu Yun looked at "Monkey King's" posture and couldn't bear to refuse, but he really couldn't give a definite answer against his will.

"Well, please forgive my bluntness!" Tokugawa Ieyasu chimed in, seemingly for some unknown reason: "While Lord Sasaki is valued within the Oda clan, it's due to his exceptional talent, not because he's received extraordinary treatment. After all, he's only a newly appointed retainer, having served for two or three years. Expecting unwavering loyalty from above is asking too much. These days, haven't we all seen plenty of people from outlying provinces wavering between several daimyo?"

“Indeed, Lord Tokugawa Mikawa is quite right.” Ryuun repeated the sentence, then hesitated for a moment before adding more directly, “If it were Hideyoshi-nii-san, you would certainly be in trouble, and I, Sasaki Ryuun, would certainly do my best. But as for Prime Minister Oda… I can only say that I will do my best.”

Upon hearing this, Hideyoshi Hashiba stopped speaking, lowered his head, sighed dejectedly, and gave up trying.

Just then, Nobunaga's booming voice came from not far outside the door: "You three, hurry up! Now that you've got Ranshatai, there's no need to waste any more time here!"

There wasn't a single trace of frustration or disappointment in that voice.

It was as if Oda Nobunaga didn't care about what Hideyoshi had just worried about.

But whether based on intuition or reason, Liu Yun felt that it wasn't that simple.

Chapter 262 Why is Miss Oichi here?

Two thin slices, about the size of wine dishes, had just been cut from the Ranshatai and left the Shosoin Repository of Todai-ji Temple in Nara. They still retained a subtle, ancient, and mysterious aura. The wood slices were light and loose in texture, yet tightly bound together, without a single shaving along the way. The fine, dense grain was pleasant to the touch, and stroking them felt strangely comfortable.