Nobita's Time Heist

If there is such a blood relationship, it becomes much easier to explain.

……

Regardless of whose son it was, Hideyori was completely disoriented at this moment. With his limited abilities, he couldn't even predict the consequences of his current move. He only felt like he was in the eye of the storm and desperately wanted to find a safe haven.

"The elixir of immortality... it was obtained so easily..."

"Don't misunderstand, Hideyoshi, this medicine won't make you 'immortal.' In fact, it will greatly shorten your lifespan." The Shadow Warrior didn't try to brainwash him like a pyramid scheme operator. Instead, he told him the truth: "In essence, the Dragon Pill's function is to give you the various characteristics of a 'dragon' in a short period of time."

"Strength, speed, sharp claws, hard scales, and superhuman healing abilities. But..."

He waved his hand, and a group of soldiers ran into the field carrying an iron cage, slamming it heavily onto the ground with a loud bang.

"What did he bring up here?" Fat Tiger squinted, examining it closely, but couldn't quite make it out. "It looks like a four-legged animal?"

“No, Gian…” Suneo could see it much better, and his voice trembled involuntarily, “It’s a person.”

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"ah----!!!"

The creature in the cage suddenly roared and charged forward, slamming into the edge of the cage, making its four corners shake violently. Chains pierced its limbs, but it seemed oblivious to the pain, frantically tearing at the cage. Upon closer inspection, its body was twisted beyond recognition, with protruding keel bones along its spine, scales covering its skin, and its pupils transformed into vertical, lizard-like pupils.

Crimson and purplish-red blood gushed from his body, splattering around the iron cage and sizzling as it corroded the ground.

……

Hideyori was so frightened that he turned pale and nearly tripped. The soldiers around him, however, seemed completely oblivious; in fact, their faces were deathly pale.

“I’ve already said,” the Shadow Warrior repeated calmly, “this is not some kind of elixir of immortality.”

Chapter Thirty-Nine: You Play the Empty City Tactic, I'll Seize the Opportunity

"This...this is..."

Hideyori tried his best to suppress his shock and panic; as a mortal, he had done quite well.

The half-human, half-dragon monster before them perfectly fit the definition of "somewhat human but not human," enough to trigger the uncanny valley effect in most normal humans. Add to that its hands gripping the edge of the iron cage, its wide-open, eyelidless eyes, and blood gushing from its entire body—this torture-like posture was truly chilling.

This guy used to be a person.

"What did you do to my soldiers?!" Hideyori suddenly waved his hand, the movement exaggerated, as if to conceal his inner guilt. "In this time of crisis, they chose to stay and live and die with the Toyotomi clan. They are all my trusted men! If I had known that taking the Dragon Elixir would have such consequences, I..."

The figure beneath the armor remained silent, offering no response.

Hideyori seemed to have been silently choked, unable to utter the rest of his words, which he swallowed back in frustration.

"Stop with such a clumsy performance, Hideki. I'm just telling you that the Dragon Pill isn't meant for you."

The shadow warrior's voice was incredibly calm, as if he were stating a universally applicable axiom: "To maintain the Toyotomi family's rule, you should put everything and everyone out of your mind. This is a required course for every ruler who sits on the throne."

“Dang——!”

He casually tossed in a gold coin, and the poor creature pounced on it like a dog smelling a bone, licking and bowing to the coin while emitting incomprehensible whimpers. As it licked, its body slowly shrank, and the dragon features on its body gradually faded away.

"If you are prepared for the corresponding consequences, then..."

"This is the one we've carefully prepared for you."

The soldiers presented a samurai sword with reverence, but for some reason, Hideyori felt that ninety-nine percent of that respect was for the sword. He didn't even glance at his nominal lord, and after presenting the precious sword, he withdrew on his own.

The candlelight flickered, and the light and shadow shifted. Hideyori was surprised to find that he was enveloped in the shadow cast by the barn, while the shadow warrior stood in the light.

"Zheng————"

The blade slowly emerged from its sheath, a faint resonance emanating from it, instantly severing the shadows of everyone inside the room.

It was about a foot long, slightly longer than a typical samurai sword. It lacked any fancy tsuba (handguard) or pendants, possessing only a vibrant crimson hue, somewhere between red and pink, like a crystal standing alone in the world. It simultaneously possessed the magnificence of a ceremonial object and the coldness of a weapon, like a beam of crimson light descending to earth, solidified into metal and forged into a blade, without a single flaw visible.

Although the Toyotomi family gradually declined, even a weakened camel is bigger than a horse, and all the swordsmiths in Japan once considered it an honor to offer tribute to the Toyotomi family.

Having seen countless swords since childhood, Hideyori's eye for them naturally developed a keen eye. Without even handling them, he could tell at a glance that this was a fine sword capable of cutting through iron like mud and severing hair like snow. Even simply placing his palm lightly on the blade, without applying any force, would cause his skin to be injured by the sword's aura, drawing blood.

"A fine knife, a truly fine knife..."

Hideyori was also a warrior. The moment he took the sword, he briefly forgot the fear and unease that had been lingering in his heart and began to examine it carefully.

From the side of the blade, which gleamed with a cold, crimson light, he could vaguely see a giant dragon slowly swimming by.

"May I ask, which family's craftsman made this? I want to reward him handsomely! To be able to create such a peerless and rare item, even if he asked for a mountain of gold and silver, I should grant it."

"I'll accept this as a compliment," the Shadow Warrior chuckled. "However, I'm sorry to say that at your level, you're far from being able to pay homage to the creator of this sword."

"It's complicated to explain, but just assume that the creator of this sword was a 'god'. Your country already has eight million gods (Japanese Shintoism believes that gods exist in all things, even a speck of dust, which harbors a primordial god), so one more wouldn't hurt."

"This is a familiar weapon forged by the [Crimson God]. Accepting it means that you are willing to become the familiar of the Crimson God."

"The...familiar of the Crimson God..." Hideyori swallowed hard. He half-raised his katana, then lowered it to examine it under the candlelight. His thoughts, like the flickering shadows on the wall, were uncertain. "You mean, I must submit to this god?"

“I told you, you’re not qualified yet. This is just a one-time cooperation. The Crimson God is lending you his familiar weapon temporarily, and what you have to do is make good use of it and rewrite the established history as a way of repaying him,” the Shadow Warrior said calmly. “Of course, if you discover its true power during its use… well, that’s another story.”

Toyotomi Hideyori, the lord of Osaka Castle and the son of the people of the land, was told that he was not even qualified to be a member of another being's family, which hurt him somewhat.

Scarlet Blade sensed his wavering, and that ambiguous light also appeared and disappeared.

"In short, this is all the sponsorship we can offer... Even with external help, whether you live or die, survive or perish, ultimately depends on yourself."

“However, Mr. Hideyori, since we’ve come all this way to the barn, why don’t we take this opportunity to clean up the rats again…”

"Boom————!!!"

Without warning, the Shadow Warrior pushed off the ground with both feet, and two faint pink, cone-shaped flames could be seen shooting out from his ankles. His body instantly rose, smashed through the roof, and emerged between Gian and Suneo, causing them both to stagger.

Amidst the swirling thatch and broken tiles, the azure armor appeared even more chilling under the moonlight. Beneath the black, horned demon mask, no emotion could be discerned, only two crimson lights, like taillights in a thick fog, leaving two terrifying trails in the air.

"It would be terrible if the rats stole something important!"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"hiss……"

The moment the match was struck, light and shadow illuminated the empty room, and inexplicably, a figure appeared in the corner!

She wore a bright red furisode kimono, with long, jet-black hair that almost reached the ground. The embroidery on her clothes was exquisitely beautiful, and her waist was slender and delicate. It was difficult to tell her age from her face. Her figure was as light as a young girl's, but her expression had the dignified composure of a married woman. Her eyebrows were slightly furrowed, and her face was fair. She stood quietly in the corner, watching Shizuka without saying a word.

To be precise, her eyes were very empty... If you bumped into her from a distance, you might think she was looking at you. But when you got closer and were about to greet her, you realized she wasn't looking at you at all, but rather staring straight through you, gazing into the emptiness behind you.

If you changed the filter, this scene would definitely look like a horror movie. Luckily, Shizuka is a knowledgeable person who wasn't scared at first. Instead, she accurately deduced the other person's identity from her attire.

"Lady Chacha?" (Toyotomi Hideyoshi's concubine and Toyotomi Hideyori's mother)

"...You like to play the empty city strategy, then I'll take advantage of your weakness."

Cha Cha curled the corners of her lips into a beautiful yet eerie smile.

"Where's Genjiro?"

Chapter 40: Damn it, I've really been looked down upon.

“Lord Nobushige is certainly not here.” Shizuka was not frightened at all by her strange demeanor. She continued to light two lamps with a match as usual, saying, “Right now, he should be resting in the military camp at the temporary position, preparing for tomorrow’s battle. And… please don’t misunderstand.”

She said righteously, "General Nobushige and I do not have the kind of relationship you imagine."

"Oh~~ Is that so?" Chacha touched her pink lips and looked at Shizuka with great interest, as if she were looking at an interesting little animal. "What a pity, priestess of the Genji, you missed out on a once-in-a-lifetime good man."

"That's not necessarily true..." Shizuka thought to herself, without saying it aloud.

Or perhaps it was the fleeting disdain in her eyes that caught her eye, for Cha Cha's lips curved into a faint smile again as she adjusted her sleeves. "Do you already have a boy you like?"

"This is none of your business." Shizuka began to display her verbal skills, which were no less than Nobita's, leaving no possible openings for her opponent and even turning the tables on her. "With the Tokugawa army pressing in, you, as the mistress of Lord Hideyori, come to my room in the middle of the night just to discuss such trivial matters?"

"What can I do? I'm a girl, and I can't be like you, with magical powers that allow you to summon wind and rain with a flick of your finger. I heard there's a 'Inahime' from the Tokugawa clan who can wield a Miao sword with incredible skill. I tried it myself, but I almost cut my finger. I'm just not cut out for this, and no matter how hard I try, I can't do it."

Chacha shook her head, complained, and quickly abandoned the Japanese ladylike "kneeling" posture, lazily slumping onto the table. Her movements, expression, and eyes all resembled a spoiled little girl; it was hard to imagine that her child was already so grown up.

Time has not left many marks on her, but is this a blessing or a curse?

Perhaps, only she herself knows the answer.

“Even so, there are still some things that Lady Chacha can do.” Shizuka took a deep breath, steer the conversation toward the area she wanted to focus on. “I heard that in the last few days, the Toyotomi family has started distributing a special drug to the government troops. These drugs haven’t been tested, and their effects on the soldiers’ health, whether they will cause illness, are all unknown. To use them so rashly…”

"You're from the future, aren't you?"

Chacha abruptly interrupted Shizuka, her question shattering all of Shizuka's prepared defenses. Shizuka's lips trembled; she tried several times to speak in her defense, but found herself at a loss for words.

"It's okay. Even if you don't say it, I know how it will end..." Cha Cha smiled with relief, as if a journey she had believed in was about to reach its end, and she could finally rest and unload the burden on her shoulders. "We're going to die soon, aren't we?"

"..."

To tell her the truth herself would be too cruel for her.

However, Shizuka's slightly pale lips were almost a tacit agreement in Chacha's eyes.

Then her smile grew even brighter. "When I was a little girl, I witnessed the deaths of those around me. My father committed suicide, and his head was cut off by Oda Nobunaga and made into a sake cup. My brothers were also killed by Hideyoshi... My childhood memories are nothing but blood, fire, and the glint of swords."

“Every day after that, I lived with the footsteps of death in my heart. I always felt that there were times when he was about to catch up with me, but then he deliberately let me go. It was as if he wanted to see how I could survive in this chaotic world.”

At first, I was afraid of him; later, I got used to him; and then... I even hoped he would come sooner and take me away. Whatever the afterlife is like, it must be better than here.

She recounted her numb and sorrowful confession, yet a faint smile lingered on her lips. To her, death seemed merely a belated appointment.

"Wherever I go, death follows. Even the powerful Toyotomi clan seems unable to escape it... Heh... Hahaha..."

"Did you see that, Genji's priestess? The shadow of death has already lurked above Osaka Castle, waiting to reap his sacrifices!"

"So, don't worry, priestess from the future. Everyone will die, me, Hideyori, Genjiro, and many, many others... This time, the reckoning will be settled, and no one will escape."

Shizuka had never seen such a look in her eyes before; numbness mixed with a terrifying madness.

"Isn't this exactly why you appeared at Osaka Castle?"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"History has its predetermined causes and effects. The downfall of the Toyotomi family, in the end, was also caused by a series of previous causes." Shizuka still didn't say it outright, but in her words, she accepted the ending Chacha mentioned. "We have no enmity with the Toyotomi or Tokugawa families. We just hope that history can return to its original state for some reason. That's all."

"..." Cha Cha stared at her with a gaze that seemed to fall into emptiness. After a long while, she smiled again.

"In that case, the person you're looking for is probably the shadow warrior who suddenly appeared at the castle tower a few days ago, right? He was wearing a blue armor and kept saying things we couldn't understand. Hideyori was completely intimidated by him and did whatever he said, but I could understand what he was saying..."

"At this moment, the outcome of the battle between Toyotomi and Tokugawa has become a bargaining chip for both of you, hasn't it?"

Chacha's tone was somewhat detached. For a few seconds, Shizuka couldn't help but wonder if this woman was really from the Warring States period. With such scarce information, how could she piece together a deduction that was so close to the truth?

Seeing that Shizuka remained silent for a long time, Chacha let out a smug hum.

"Actually, I don't care at all. Now or in the future, my fate has already been decided."

She extended her right hand towards the night outside the window, as if inviting her male dance partner to take her hand; her coquettish smile held a hint of intoxication.

"After Osaka Castle falls, I will be with Genjiro..."

"To die on the same day."

……

If a person can face death with equanimity, then there is truly nothing in the world that can make her care.

Shizuka suddenly realized something: for Chacha, Toyotomi Hideyoshi was a formidable enemy, a blood feud at that. At that time, Hideyoshi was still a lackey of Nobunaga, and the tragic deaths of his brother and father were inextricably linked to him. What was her intention in offering herself to Hideyoshi? Was it merely a desperate gamble by a weak woman in a chaotic world, or...?

She herself was happy to see everything of the Toyotomi family reduced to ashes.

"You need to be careful, he has other little toys on him besides the dragon pill."

After offering a kind word of advice, Cha Cha immediately got up, stretched, and her tone was filled with a strange sense of anticipation.

"Osaka Castle... what will it be like tomorrow?"

Let us look forward with hope.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Thump—!!"

A punch landed, the shockwave ripping off the roof tiles. After rolling several times, Suneo was suddenly grabbed by the neck by a large hand and slowly lifted off the ground. Opposite him were the two red dots behind the demon mask; he clearly saw some kind of mechanical structure. More like optical lenses unique to robots than human pupils.

"Woo..."

He pounded on it desperately, but the five fingers of the large hand remained as still as if cast in iron.

"Two little devils with toys dare to get involved in this level of gambling..."

His gaze fell on the scroll, and he sneered disdainfully, "You've really been underestimated."

Chapter 41: He is no longer your partner.

"Let him go."

Fat Tiger inserted one hand into the layers of roof tiles, interlocking his fingers to stabilize his descent.