I became the Lord of the Eternal World in Tokyo.

"When I was fourteen, I left the temple and took over the position of head of the family."

In the same year, he unified Suruga, Tōtōmi, and Mikawa provinces, and concluded an alliance treaty with the Takeda and Hojō families…

Imagawa Yoshimoto recounted the events in great detail.

Even in simple words, his spiritedness and vigor are palpable.

Uesugi Tetsu listened silently, comparing these events with the records in historical books.

Then he discovered that no matter which version of history it was, it greatly underestimated and belittled the girl sitting next to him.

If we go by what she herself said... it has only been six years since she left the temple and returned to secular life.

In just six short years, the Imagawa family has managed to develop to such an extent.

Just horrible.

If it weren't for the existence of Oda Nobunaga, the "Sixth Heaven Demon King," and that rainy night, she would surely have become the ruler of Kyoto.

The hoverboard was very fast, so it flew away from the border of Suruga Province and arrived in Tōtōmi Province in just one or two hours.

Uesugi Tetsu then realized that since leaving Suruga Province, the road had gradually become rugged and difficult.

It's likely that the roads in Tōtōmi Province weren't in bad condition, but rather in Suruga Province, at least the main roads, which were well-maintained under the direction of Imagawa Yoshimoto.

He recalled the infrastructure and streets of Junfu City, remembering that they were indeed flat and clean, without much odor or garbage accumulation.

Therefore, what Imagawa Yoshimoto said earlier about the castle of the realm was not unfounded.

She wanted to do that.

She will also put in the effort for this.

Uesugi Tetsu stared at Imagawa Yoshimoto, who kept her head down and blinked only once every minute. He guessed that she was trying to cram the passing mountains and landscapes into her mind.

Therefore, he didn't say anything to disturb them.

About half an hour later, they had arrived at the central part of Yuanjiang.

Imagawa Yoshimoto suddenly spoke up.

"Stop."

In just a few seconds, the extremely fast-moving airship suddenly stopped in mid-air in a completely illogical manner.

Imagawa Yoshimoto's pupils contracted slightly as he caught sight of the familiar pattern on the clothing.

"It is the family crest of the Toda clan."

Toda clan?

Uesugi Tetsu pondered for two seconds and remembered that this was a local powerful clan in Mikawa Province, and was considered a subordinate of the Matsudaira family.

But this is the Province of Tōtōmi...

Uesugi Tetsu also lowered his head, looking intently at the rugged road.

After a moment, he raised an eyebrow: "Mountain bandits?"

How did the samurai of the Toda clan end up as bandits?

Even the honor of a samurai wouldn't allow them to do that.

If he had committed a crime and was expelled from the Toda family, how could he still be wearing these clothes in Tōtōmi Province?

Imagawa Yoshimoto tapped his knee lightly with his fingers: "Che-kun, could you go down and observe the situation first, so as not to alert the enemy?"

"it is good."

Uesugi Tetsu responded and silently leaped into the dense forest.

Not long after, suppressing his pounding heart and concealing his aura to the extreme, Uesugi Tetsu quietly pressed himself against the thick tree stump and peered out.

In the middle of the road, a man dressed in plain clothes bearing the Toda family crest stood facing the road.

Instead, two young men in front of him, dressed in coarse linen clothes and with pockmarked waists and hips, were shouting at the man sitting in the rabbit-drawn carriage directly in front of him.

"The boss said that if you hand over half of your money and food, he'll let you pass!"

The young man, whose cheekbones bulged from hunger, brandished his katana a couple of times and chuckled, "We won't touch the goods; that's been the rule for the past few days!"

Does this small merchant family really not even bring any guards when they go on a long trip?

Uesugi Tetsu moved his gaze and spotted two fresh, still steaming headless corpses by the roadside.

There were no other wounds on the body, and the cut on the neck was clean and neat, suggesting that the person who was beheaded must not have felt any pain when he died.

Case solved.

It turned out that the two guards had been beheaded by the samurai with a single blow.

"No, no, no... I can't pay it."

In the rabbit-drawn carriage, also known as a donkey cart, a middle-aged man with a weathered face was frozen in fear, but still stammered,

"If we hand over half here, it won't be enough by the time we get to Mikawa."

He hurriedly jumped out of the car, knelt down, and bowed his head obsequiously in a voice that was almost breaking into tears.

"Gentlemen... please pay one-third! One-third is alright! Please, I beg you..."

“One-third is fine too.” The young man named “Ashi” sneered twice, his gaze shifting to the back of the cargo. “However, you can leave your wife and daughter behind.”

The middle-aged man suddenly raised his head and stared intently at Ashi, startling him so much that he instinctively took a step back.

Then the samurai supported him with his arms, which were as thick as small tree stumps.

"You want to go to Sanhe?"

The samurai lowered his head, met the gaze of the trembling middle-aged man, and suddenly grinned.

He pounded his chest and roared angrily.

"I barely escaped from that hell! And you want to go back there?! Do you think this life is too long?!"

Uesugi Tetsuya, who heard every word of these words, frowned deeply.

This powerful warrior, who had almost completed the cycle of Qi, actually called the Mikawa Kingdom "hell"?

This is not good news.

He remained silent and continued listening.

The samurai waved his hand impatiently: "I'm only telling you this because I took half of your money and food, and because you're a decent man—go back to where you came from!"

"Otherwise, we wouldn't even know when your family's bodies would be left to rot in the wilderness!"

Something's wrong with the Kingdom of Sanhe.

From the words of this samurai from the Toda clan, it is clear that Mikawa Province is not some trivial matter involving only the upper and middle classes, such as "bewitching by a great demon" or "rebellion by powerful clans."

Rather, it involved a much larger and wider range of events, causing a massive upheaval that affected the entire Three Rivers Kingdom!

He needs to ask in detail.

Uesugi Tetsu's eyes flickered slightly as he strode out from behind the tree stump, standing right under the noses of the bandits and the small merchant family.

It just so happened that it stood between the middle-aged man and the bandits.

The man, feeling the shadow cast upon him, looked up, staring at the unfamiliar robe, unsure of what to say.

The bandit Ashi, who had just been helped to his feet by the samurai, clicked his tongue and said in a very heavy local accent.

"Hey?! What are you doing here again...?"

Before he could finish speaking, his gaze had already swept over Uesugi Tetsuya's entire body.

Then, the bandit Ashi's eyes gleamed!

The neat clothes, the eye-catching scabbard, and the style of boots—it's clear at a glance that they're very expensive!

Moreover, this young man is fair-skinned and delicate-looking; you can tell at a glance that he is the son of some noble family!

If it were in a city, or even a remote village, Ashi probably wouldn't dare to have the slightest disrespectful thought.

A powerful figure of that caliber could decide his life or death more than ten times with a single sentence!

But in this deserted mountain road, this young master didn't even bring any warrior guards—was he not allowed to fantasize?

Ashi excitedly turned around and asked, "Boss! Can we do this?"

Sakata remained silent.

—I have a feeling that the boy's outfit looks familiar.

But he had never seen this face before.

This is really strange.

Moreover, he always felt that this composed young master was anything but simple.

But this outfit is really valuable. If we could find a place to pawn it, it would be enough to feed and drink well for several months!

When Ashi saw that Sakata didn't speak, he assumed that the boss had tacitly agreed.

With a powerful backer and support, A-Shi immediately felt much more confident.

He made an ugly sword flourish, accidentally dropped the sword on the ground and picked it up again, then walked up to Uesugi Tetsuya with an arrogant gait, raised his chin and sneered.

"Hey, do you even know where you are?"

Uesugi Tetsu ignored him and didn't even glance at him.

These small fry don't even inspire me to offer a rebuttal.

If you're not so brainless as to attack him directly, just ignore him and that's it.

Moreover, judging from the situation, these bandit henchmen seem unaware of what happened in the Kingdom of Sanhe.

The key point is the boss.

Uesugi Tetsu raised his gaze and calmly looked past Ashi toward Sakata.

In an instant, Sakata felt the slow-circulating internal energy in his body freeze for a moment.

illusion!?

Or something else?

He didn't speak either, but subconsciously placed his hand warily on the hilt of the knife.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen!"

The middle-aged man who had been kneeling on the ground mustered his courage and said, "We can give you everything, whether it's money, food, or goods, but please don't kill this boy!"

The woman who was holding the girl tightly in the rabbit-drawn carriage to keep her from crying out was horrified when she saw this scene, and despair almost overflowed from her eyes.

Faced with a ruthless band of mountain bandits who killed two guards without saying a word, her own man actually said such a thing.

How dare he!

The man, however, saw this as an opportunity!

The boy who emerged from the woods was clearly dressed differently, and he hadn't held out much hope that the bandits would spare his family...

Fight to the death!

At this point, the only bet is that this young man is no ordinary person!

This is the only way to survive!

"Woooooooo..."

From inside the rabbit-drawn carriage, the girl whose mouth was covered by the woman could be heard crying in wisps.

Uesugi Tetsu remained indifferent.

Whether it was small-time bandits or a noisy family of small vendors behind them.

He simply stared at the samurai named Sakata.

Now, to be more precise, we should look behind the samurai whose expression had changed slightly.

He silently raised his finger.

Suddenly.

A sudden, eerie white flash of lightning, synchronized with his calm breathing, emerged from his fingertips.