I became the Lord of the Eternal World in Tokyo.

Your bone strength has increased slightly!

[Your physique +1! ]

【Corona Breathing Technique (Iron Bones 3/500)】

[Effect: Upon reaching perfection, bones become as hard as black iron.]

—Skin forms the outline, bones form the support.

After hard bones come iron bones.

Uesugi Tetsu smiled.

—Once he has fully cultivated his skin, bones, flesh, and tendons, won't he become a humanoid Tyrannosaurus Rex capable of easily crashing down skyscrapers?

If even a master-level breathing technique can achieve this level of skill... the effects at the expert and even master levels are truly something to look forward to.

Thinking of this, Uesugi Tetsu shook his head, banishing this somewhat distant goal from his mind.

This is not something he should be considering right now.

He shifted his gaze to another prompt.

At the same time, the proficiency of the Five Thunder Technique: Qi Harmony, which can be practiced together with the breathing technique, has also increased by a hundred points, and is now over a thousand!

[Five Thunder Method: Qi Combination (Proficiency 1001/1400)]

"I feel that the improvement in my physical body is about the same as or even greater than when I was tempering my skin, but my attributes have only increased by a tiny bit?"

Uesugi Tetsu stretched his muscles and bones, producing a series of sticky popping sounds, forcibly squeezing the medicinal liquid from the gaps in his bones out of his pores.

He stepped onto the wooden floor, used his inner energy to remove the residual medicine from his body, and silently thought to himself,

"Perhaps it's because the higher the attribute level, the greater the increase represented by each point."

After getting dressed in the room, Uesugi Tetsu opened the sliding door, which was locked with his protective aura, only to find an unexpected figure.

—Okabe Motonobu, clad in black armor, expressionless, eyes wide open.

Motonobu Okabe opened his eyes even wider than during the previous misunderstanding.

Almost, they're now on par with normal people!

Uesugi Tetsu breathed in and out the thick, cold air, looking at the little rascal huddled on her shoulder.

"Another breakthrough?"

Okabe Motonobu first muttered something to herself with a hint of surprise, then grinned exaggeratedly, to an almost grotesque degree, thanks to her exceptional control over her body.

"That's great news, Mr. Che!"

She reached out and patted Uesugi Tetsu's shoulder hard, then burst into laughter after feeling that incredibly solid support.

"The army is ready. Today, my lord appoints me as the commander-in-chief and you, Mr. Che, as the deputy commander, to lead an expedition to the Three Rivers Kingdom to suppress the rebellion!"

"and this."

Before Uesugi Tetsuya could reply, he felt Okabe Motonobu stuff a large pile of folded papers into his arms.

He peeked through the gap and saw what appeared to be a portrait of a human face.

The artist's skills seem excellent, capturing the details with remarkable realism.

Just as Uesugi Tetsu was about to say something, Okabe Motonobu pressed his index finger, covered by rough leather armor, to his mouth.

The military commander, absolutely loyal to Imagawa Yoshimoto, spoke with an iron-fisted indifference.

"Read and then burn."

Then she spoke, and from between her raised lips seemed to flow a suffocating, stench of blood.

"Leave no one behind."

Uesugi Tetsu nodded silently.

“What about time?” he asked.

"We'll talk about that later. First, come with me to see the lord."

Okabe Motonobu turned around, and in the blink of an eye, he had already resumed his smiling demeanor.

"After all, I am only here on the orders of my lord to inform you, Mr. Che."

Uesugi Tetsu lifted his foot and stepped out of the front door, beckoning the two adults, who were happily munching on seaweed rice balls, to follow him.

It's time to set off.

Uesugi Tetsu looked at the portraits one by one and thought calmly.

At the same time, it was time for those old fogies who held positions without doing any work to die.

I wonder how much inheritance and gold coins these old fogies, who have been sucking the blood off the Imagawa family for who knows how long, will be able to unearth?

Indeed, I'm somewhat looking forward to it.

Chapter 176 The warlord in Okehazama was actually her! The final deadline, goodbye, Ina, goodbye.

It was midday, the sun was shining brightly but the temperature was cool.

Following behind Okabe Motonobu, Uesugi Tetsuya, accompanied by the two little ones, soon arrived at Mihiroma after a long absence.

The last time I came here was when I was holding the coming-of-age ceremony for Matsudaira Motoyasu.

"Please come in, Mr. Che. The lord is here."

Okabe Motonobu turned to the side at the entrance, revealing the quiet Mihiro-maru, just like the rest of the Imagawa-kan, to Uesugi Tetsuya.

Uesugi Tetsu subconsciously looked up toward the head of the table, and his steps, which were about to cross the threshold, froze.

He froze in place.

Because, at this moment, sitting in the main seat, was a black-haired girl, also dressed in black, with a cold and indifferent expression—

It was exactly the same black-haired warrior he had seen and killed with his own hands during the "Okehazama Trial" in the Imagawa clan's main camp!

In the rain of memory, the two figures, one blurry then and one clear now, gradually overlapped, eventually merging into one, indistinguishable from one another.

It was only then that Uesugi Tetsu realized what was happening.

No wonder he didn't see that "very conspicuous, slow-moving, short-legged fat man" Imagawa Yoshimoto back then.

So it turns out I did see it.

Instead, they had already met, but hadn't recognized each other.

As it turns out, Imagawa Yoshimoto did not flee in a panic as recorded in history, and was unfortunately caught and killed by the two Oda clan members.

On the contrary, he fought alongside his retainers until the very last moment, fearlessly battling to the death until the very end...

backbone.

Imagawa Yoshimoto has never lacked such things.

In the main seat, Imagawa Yoshimoto, with an icy expression, blinked with considerable confusion.

—Chejun, why are you standing at the door without moving?

Imagawa Yoshimoto could tell that Uesugi Tetsuya only froze after seeing her.

But apart from wearing a "worldly" outfit, is she any different from before?

—The name of this armor is actually “complete equipment of the present era”, which is a protective gear that has been further developed from “Ō-yō” and “Dōmaru”.

Compared to the large armor that could only protect the upper body, and the domaru that mainly focused on the front of the torso, the contemporary gakuzukuri can be considered the culmination of armor in the Sengoku period.

It is armor that is both flexible and provides the best protection.

The head of the Imagawa family lowered his eyes, his long, narrow eyelashes trembling slightly.

—Perhaps, Che-jun also wants a set of contemporary clothes similar to what she is wearing?

Although Che-jun's physical body is so strong that it doesn't need much protection, it's not just for protection...

Being handsome is another aspect.

Imagawa Yoshimoto secretly made a note of this matter, planning to take some gold to the blacksmith to have a set of tunics made for Uesugi Tetsuya after the affairs of Mikawa Province were settled.

A few seconds later, Uesugi Tetsuya finally snapped out of his reverie.

He lifted his foot and stepped over the threshold, subtly sweeping his gaze across the main hall—

Standing beside Imagawa Yoshimoto was Taiyuan Xuezhai, whose spirits had improved considerably; the solemn-faced Asahina Taiyuki and his son Taichi; and Matsudaira Motoyasu, a young man whose facial features were quite similar to those of Okabe Motonobu.

In addition, there were four or five retainers I didn't recognize.

These people are probably the core retainers of the Imagawa family... no, it should be said that most of Imagawa Yoshimoto's group of retainers.

Finally...

Feeling the intense gaze, Uesugi Tetsuya had to pause again.

Ii Naomori?

He glanced twice at the young man sitting near the end of the table, comparing him to the ferocious and ruthless face hidden in the rain.

Oops.

Uesugi Tetsu exclaimed inwardly.

I ran into someone I knew again.

He looked at Ii Naomori, who was staring at him with an intense gaze for some reason, and nodded to him.

Uesugi Tetsu walked into the main hall and bowed slightly to Imagawa Yoshimoto.

"Greetings, Lord Yiyuan."

The two-foot-tall man and Bai Shi behind him bowed deeply.

Imagawa Yoshimoto gestured for them to stand up, and after all three raised their heads, he spoke calmly: "Gentlemen, this is the Onmyoji Che, who has recently become famous in the Tokaido. He will serve as the vice commander in this battle of Mikawa."

No one spoke.

No one disagrees.

Because whether it was the exorcism by heavenly lightning in front of everyone during the coming-of-age ceremony, or the outrageous 30,000 kan of a single strike when testing the earth, it was more than enough for Uesugi Tetsu to serve as "vice-general".

Not to mention combining the two.

"Come, Mr. Che, please stand here."

Imagawa Yoshimoto extended her right hand, slowly opening it to indicate that Uesugi Tetsu should stand to her right.

Upon hearing this, Uesugi Tetsu roughly understood why Imagawa Yoshimoto had summoned him here even though everything had been discussed and agreed upon.

Imagawa Yoshimoto wanted to use the pretext of being summoned to make his retainers more familiar with him.

This will make things easier for him, whether he needs to work for the Imagawa family or ask someone for a favor.

"Yes."

Uesugi Tetsu nodded slightly, first stirring his heartstrings so that the two-footed man would take Shiraishi to the last seat and kneel down with Ii Naomori.

Then, under everyone's watchful eyes, he walked step by step behind the head of the Imagawa family.

He stood side by side with the aged-looking Taiyuan Xuezhai.

He let out a soft breath and looked down again.

Okabe Motonobu smiled and gave him a thumbs up. Although Asahina Yasutomo showed a reluctant expression, his eyes clearly said "I'm convinced".

Matsudaira Motoyasu lowered his head, seemingly lost in thought.

Only Ii Naomori continued to stare intently at him, his entire being radiating an aura of "desire for battle."

At a glance, Uesugi Tetsu roughly understood the attitudes of these retainers towards him, who held this position.

Da da.

After waiting deliberately for two seconds, Imagawa Yoshimoto tapped the armrest with his finger and spoke calmly and unhurriedly.

"Today is the final deadline before the start of the battle in Sanhe."

Starting tomorrow, I will personally lead the army into battle—and appoint Yuan Xin as commander-in-chief and Che as deputy commander.

She propped her face up with Jia's arm, raising her eyes slightly: "If you have any objections, raise them now."