I became the Lord of the Eternal World in Tokyo.

His opponent, also an Onmyoji, wasn't particularly strong; he was able to defeat most of them on their first meeting.

Not to mention mastering your opponent's skills, card-drawing logic, and having complete information overlay in the second playthrough.

Uesugi Tetsu, who won by a large margin, raised his chin: "Bring out all the memory orbs, let me see them."

The Onmyoji on the other side wasn't very skilled, but they didn't say they wanted to renege on their debt.

He showed a pained expression and lined up a dozen or so blue-green memory orbs, presenting them to Uesugi Tetsuya.

Judging from the labels, most of these memory orbs are useless and unimportant memories.

Only the Onmyoji specifically took out a blue orb containing the Yin-Yang magic of the metal element, which was barely acceptable.

Otherwise, Uesugi Tetsu wouldn't have agreed to exchange a mere three blue-green orbs for this orb in his hand, which could have dealt a heavy blow to the Tokugawa clan.

"Hmm... how about I just pick one at random?"

Just as Uesugi Tetsuya's gaze swept over the scene and he was thinking about it, a light blue memory orb placed in the corner caught his eye.

A label popped up from above the sphere of light—

[The Memory Orb of Ii Naomori (Imagawa Clan)]!

Ii...Naomori?

Isn't this the same younger brother I met during the Okehazama Trial, the same one Imagawa Yoshimoto initially disguised as a man?

Chapter 269 The Lord of the Fallen East Sea Road: If only "Che" were here, the Lin Word Technique, 10!

Ii Naomori.

This name was not unfamiliar to Uesugi Tetsuya. Although he was not one of the most core retainers of the Imagawa family, his status was not low.

—Even though all the incompetent elders of the Imagawa family were purged by Imagawa Yoshimoto, and he also knew in advance about the revival of heaven and earth and took countermeasures.

However, in history, the Imagawa clan still suffered a defeat at Okehazama, losing once again to the Sixth Heaven Demon King, Oda Nobunaga.

Perhaps after reading this memory orb, we can glimpse the real reason why this history has not changed after we left.

Uesugi Tetsu used his lightning palm to take the ball of light in front of him and said, "I'll use these balls of light now."

"Please."

The Onmyoji opposite looked at the hand that Uesugi Tetsu had conjured with the Five Thunder Technique with considerable apprehension, and with a flick of his sleeve, he took back all the remaining memory orbs.

The fox-faced woman smiled silently and knelt on the wooden floor, waiting quietly.

[Read the memory sphere of Ii Naomori (Imagawa clan)?]

"Yes."

[Loading...]

The noisy and bustling scene and sounds of the Hanafuda shop gradually faded away.

What immediately welled up in Uesugi Tetsuya's heart was a series of emotions: astonishment, calm, and mourning.

Three progressively deeper, increasingly negative emotions form the dominant theme of the memories within this sphere of light.

— This is probably because the quality of the memory orb is not very high, and the timeline it contains is very long.

Therefore, the fragments that Uesugi Tetsu saw were both disjointed and fragmented, and somewhat blurry in some places.

"Shangluo!"

This was the first thing Uesugi Tetsu heard when "Ii Naomori" opened his eyes.

His tone was strong and authoritative.

Shangluo?

Going straight to Luoyang right from the start?

If we consider Shangluo, the earliest possible date would be after 1559.

It has been more than three years since I mysteriously disappeared in their eyes.

Uesugi Tetsu felt his gaze lift up.

And so he came to see the head of the Imagawa family, who was sitting in the familiar main seat, dressed in the same familiar contemporary attire.

She raised her hand and continued speaking in an impassioned tone.

Through some unique patterns on the armor, Uesugi Tetsu could even recognize that it was the set that Zashiki had forged by hand.

However, unlike before, Imagawa Yoshimoto now wore a cold, black iron mask that covered his entire face.

It's strange. He's spent so much time with Imagawa Yoshimoto, but he's never seen her like masks.

"That's all! I hope you will all perform your duties and make preparations promptly!"

Imagawa Yoshimoto waved his arm again, announcing the end of this first meeting in Kyoto.

At this moment, Uesugi Tetsu could sense Ii Naomori's immense excitement. He even wished he could ride to Kyoto the next day and hang the Imagawa clan's banner on the city walls.

Looking around, he found that the other military officers and civil servants were also in high spirits, and the entire Imagawa family was enveloped in a vibrant and uplifting atmosphere.

It looks like a thriving scene.

This is only natural.

—From the few words Imagawa Yoshimoto just revealed, it can be inferred that the Imagawa family is far ahead of other daimyo due to their preparations before the revival of heaven and earth.

By now, the Imagawa clan has completely devoured its former allies, the Hojo clan, the Takeda clan, and the Satomi clan to the south.

Even most of the territory of the Uesugi clan in the north has been allocated to the Imagawa family.

The Imagawa family is now practically the rulers of the Tokaido!

The only clan capable of challenging the Imagawa clan was the Oda clan, which launched a massive westward offensive and won almost every battle.

—It's just that Imagawa Yoshimoto's voice sounds a bit strange, not like his real voice.

Judging from his complete physical attributes and his unique height when seated, Uesugi Tetsuya could easily tell that the person in the main seat was indeed himself, and definitely not a stand-in.

The very first scene within this memory sphere was fraught with mystery.

After that came a long period of preparation for the attack on Kyoto, and the possibility of the Oda clan appearing along the way.

Uesugi Tetsu felt that in the blink of an eye, the originally green leaves had changed color several times.

Autumn and winter passed in the blink of an eye, and spring arrived in the following year.

This trip to Luoyang took more than half a year of preparation.

Uesugi Tetsuya was quite pleased, because Imagawa Yoshimoto had not underestimated the former fool from Owari.

However, at the same time, Uesugi Tetsu also discovered something strange—

Ii Naomori saw Imagawa Yoshimoto less and less frequently.

Even in the spring, when hunting was in full swing, he did not see this ambitious and talented ruler, who was in the prime of his life, for a whole month.

Uesugi Tetsu could sense a hint of unease rising in Ii Naomori's heart.

Until we started going to Luoyang.

Naomori Ii believed that the move to Kyoto would most likely succeed.

Because the Imagawa clan's overall combat strength and koku count were indeed much stronger than the Oda clan's, and Imagawa Yoshimoto also regarded the Oda clan as a formidable enemy, he made many specific preparations.

There's no reason for us to fail this time in Luoyang.

Until they arrived at Okehazama.

Tens of thousands of troops passed through Okehazama and naturally encountered Oda's army lying in ambush there.

Ii Naomori remained calm, knowing that his side had a very high chance of winning and that his main camp was very safe.

Oda's army?

It's just a small pebble blocking the way; just kick it away.

So they wanted to break through.

But just as he was thinking this, Okabe Motonobu suddenly appeared behind him and pressed him down.

"My lord has passed away."

"Ugh?"

Not only was Ii Naomori stunned, but Uesugi Tetsuya, who was watching this memory, was also stunned.

Stunned, bewildered, and puzzled.

The sudden news caused Ii Naomori's mind to freeze for a moment.

After a long while, a strained sound finally emerged from the torrential rain.

"why?"

Just a few days ago, Yi Yuan Gong was standing in front of everyone, shouting "Go to Luoyang!"

Motonobu Okabe did not answer.

But Ii Naomori could vaguely hear Okabe Motonobu's cold, knife-like whispers, squeezed out from between his teeth.

"If only that guy were here... He deceived me, and then he deceived our lord, dashing our lord's hopes..."

At the end of her words, a hint of hatred crept in.

Snapped.

My memory was interrupted on that rainy night.

What happened next was probably the same as the history I had witnessed.

After losing the Battle of Okehazama and failing to advance on Kyoto, the Imagawa clan was divided up, and Matsudaira Motoyasu, who had endured this for so long, got the biggest piece of the spoils.

Then history went back to normal.

Uesugi Tetsu opened his eyes and remained silent for a long time.

—Imagawa Yoshimoto died of illness without any apparent reason.

Even Ii Naomori was baffled.

On Wikipedia, there's even information that the "truth" Ririko knew wasn't actually made up.

There was no possibility of assassination, because Hattori Hanzo was by Imagawa Yoshimoto's side—and with the Imagawa family at the height of their power and about to march on Kyoto, Matsudaira Motoyasu had no need or reason to betray them.

Because the timing was terrible.

Otherwise, how did the nickname "Old Turtle" come about?

Moreover, Okabe Motonobu's expression and tone didn't seem fake...

Therefore, "Imagawa Yoshimoto's sudden death" is a fact.

However, there are still many strange things inside the memory orb.

Uesugi Tetsuya sighed deeply as he recalled Okabe Motonobu's last words.

If I had been there back then, would things have been different?

Unfortunately, he won't have a chance to find out until the seeding battle is over.

After casually reading the remaining memory orbs, Uesugi Tetsuya, still immersed in the first memory orb, faced his opponent in the third round.

The opponent was a powerful demon whose identity was unknown, and whose skills were both high and strong, so Uesugi Tetsu naturally lost.

Then, Uesugi Tetsu used up his second life and, as he had predicted, appeared at the point where he had passed the second round of the competition.

This single life wasn't enough to defeat the opponent; he only won twelve cards, roughly half the total.

"If we want to get through this, it will probably take another two or three days."

After jumping out of bed and stretching, Uesugi Tetsu heard Ririko returning from downstairs.

……

late at night.

"This is Matsudaira's Edo Castle... oh wait, it should be called Tokyo now?"

The tall woman, who had walked along the railway tracks, looked up and saw the neon lights in the distance illuminating the night.