"Zenshouji Fortress"
Everyone listen carefully! Luck is for Heaven to decide!
If they charge, retreat.
If they retreat, press forward. "Shibata Katsuie" "Sassa Narimasa" "Sakuma Nobumori"
If we win this battle, "Shibata Katsuie" "Sassa Narimasa" "Sakuma Nobumori"
If we win this battle, "Maeda Toshiie"
the names of those who fought in this place "Maeda Toshiie"
the names of those who fought in this place "Ikeda Tsuneoki"
will be remembered down through future ages!
"Oda Kazusa no Suke Nobunaga"
Ride! "Oda Kazusa no Suke Nobunaga"
Yes, sir!! "Oda Kazusa no Suke Nobunaga"
I have heard that in the spring of 1560, at Okehazama Gorge,
Lord Nobunaga, with only 2,000 elite fighters,
"Furuwatari Castle" "Zenshouji Temple" "Kutsukake Castle" "Atsuta Shrine" "Narimi Castle" "Oodaka Castle" "Yoshimoto's Main Force" Lord Nobunaga, with only 2,000 elite fighters,
defeated Imagawa Yoshimoto's force of 45,000,
to set forth toward unifying all of Japan.
Don't be distracted by the little fish.
The one and only target is Imagawa Yoshimoto's head!
His battlefield methods, like a raging fire, evoke terror.
A demon god he's called, a Hell-fiend,
but the Nobunaga I knew was rather different.
This evening, let me tell you just a bit about that Nobunaga--who he really was.
"Nagoya Castle" "1545"
Master Kippoushi! Master Kippoushi!
"Coming of Age"
"Kippoushi (later called Oda Nobunaga)"
Good morning, Katsusaburou!
It's noon already.
The sunlight doesn't come in here...
Wow... What a mess you've made again...
Look!
It's a musket. I got a drawing from Takugen, so I tried making one.
You load gunpowder into it,
and it shoots a metal ball out with a bang! to take down an enemy.
That stick does? Impossible.
"Katsusaburou (later called Ikeda Tsuneoki)"
Oh?
Forget that, please, and get changed.
I'm told a foreign barbarians' ship has arrived at Tsushima.
You should've said that sooner!
Right! Off we go, Katsusaburou!
"Hayashi Hidesada" "(senior retainer)" "Dota Gozen" "(Kippoushi's mother)"
Brother, where are you going?
To Tsushima--breaking some horses!
"Kanjuurou (later called Oda Nobukatsu)"
I want to go too!
"Kanjuurou (later called Oda Nobukatsu)" You may not!
What would we do if you were thrown?!
Another time... Well, Mother, I'm off.
Farewell, my lady.
Another long ride, eh? Master Kippoushi gives too much time to leisure...
I haven't the faintest idea what that boy is thinking.
You're late.
I overslept.
Keep a close eye on him, Katsusaburou!
I am!
"Rokurou-saburou"
So what do we do?
"Takichi"
The neatly packed goods have mostly been hauled out.
Don't get flustered.
Let's go with that one.
"Okou"
And... go!
Little pieces of filth...
Are you guys all right? Hm.
These need to be repacked.
I'll help you with that.
Eh?
In return...
Don't get greedy; after you've picked it all up.
How did it go?
They went off without a second glance.
And after leaving this gigantic load all to us!
Whoa!
Beautiful!
Oh, wow! This is all foreign barbarian treasure!
Carry all of it to Takugen Oshou's temple.
They're affiliated with Minou, so it won't be traced to us.
That's a big help.
But to get out of the harbor, it'll have to go past the guardhouse.
That won't work.
Can't easily conceal it... without arousing suspicion.
Katsusaburou.
Will this do?
Aha, a coffin?
This way, nobody will be inclined to inspect what's inside.
Impressive, my lord. Your brain's made differently than the rest of ours.
Come on...
Master Kippoushi, it's time we go.
Right. Well, do a good job with this.
Kippoushi!
Huh?
The only reason we're getting by is thanks to you!
You like that kind of thing, right?
Take it!
You've become a veritable chief of pilferers, Master Kippoushi.
Not a pilferer, a gentleman thief!
I'm just sharing the treasure my father is amassing in Tsushima with all of them.
I see. I shall convey it to the Lord Protector of Mikawa in just that way.
Hey, now!
There's no other way, right?
You're at fault, Kippoushi, for befriending that sort of crowd.
Are you jealous?
I am not!
I, Katsusaburou, am only concerned with the Oda clan's direction for the future!
Race you to the castle.
Hey!
If you win, I'll give you a prize.
You've never once won!
Are you all right?!
"Ikoma Kitsuno"
I only fell down.
No... it was my fault.
Master Kippoushi, I--
Please take my hand.
Thank you.
I'd like to take her home.
Sure... please do.
I'm off, then.
What is that?
Yikes! Kanjuurou!
That's a beautiful stone; where did you get it?
Hmm, where was it... if you'll wait outside I'll tell you.
Brother, what are you doing all the time in this room?
You know, reading books, writing--
I want to read books with you too.
Another time!
No!
You have to obey me!
Oh, right there is--
Wow!
Brother! Brother, brother! Amazing! This is amazing!
I know, I get it...
I'll give you this musket.
Musket?
It's a new armament introduced by the foreign barbarians.
What?? A new armament?!
So, absolutely do not tell anyone what you saw here.
It's a secret for just the two of us. Can you promise me?
Yes.
Great. You're a good kid.
Kanjuurou, what are you doing over there?
Nothing at all. Right, Kanjuurou?
Right! It's a secret between us brothers!
A secret?
No, no, Mother--
Kippoushi. You are not to infect Kanjuurou with strange ideas.
Kanjuurou. Come here.
Yes, mother!
Lord Ikoma's daughter?
Yes. They live at Koori and she said they operate a horse-lending business.
Her name is Kitsuno.
Kitsuno...
Apparently she was on the way home from some errand yesterday.
Fortunately she only seems to have twisted her leg;
she was even saying she was sorry she'd inconvenienced you.
Was that all?
What more do you expect?
Nothing, really...
Master Kippoushi, is that the type of girl you like?
Don't talk nonsense!
Nonsense is right.
You're the heir apparent to Oda, Lord Protector of Mikawa,
so that sort of girl is no kind of match for you.
You don't have to put it like that.
If you're bent on marrying, I'd say a daughter of the Ashikaga would be best.
We're done talking about this!
Certainly, stuck between the powerful provinces of Minou and Mikawa,
Owari's future is bleak.
What's more, there's a tempest of scheming and plotting within the clan,
leaving barely time to breathe.
I understand why you don't want to think about it!
But if you refuse to fight, Master Kippoushi,
who do you think is going to defend the Oda clan?
You sound more and more like Old Man Hirate all the time.
Oh! Takugen Oshou...
"Takugen Oshou"
Well, you're really making waves in the world.
Don't say it. Katsusaburou was scolding me over this yesterday too.
I don't particularly mean to scold you.
My diverting the foreigners' rare goods through the black market
has much improved the mood of Minou's Saitou clan.
Children left dispossessed by the war have benefitted as well;
it's a good thing all around, don't you think?
However.... It is said that human desire has no limits.
If the equilibrium is shaken even a little,
it will likely vanish in an instant... like the bubbles that form inside that teacup.
I'm home!
I wonder what's going on.
What's up... with everyone gathered in here?
Young master!
Where did you get your hands on this?
"Hirate Masahide (senior retainer)"
How...?
Kanjuurou said he saw that object you're holding, so I had them search your rooms.
That's an import from the foreign barbarians.
And just after a report that the numbers don't add up for some recently unloaded cargo.
Where did you acquire it?
I picked it up by the river.
What?! That seems unlikely.
Must be that the thieves weren't able to fence it, so they tossed it into the river.
Are you saying you picked up all the objects in your hidden room by the river?
Young master. Will you give us an explanation?
Please speak the truth. I, Hirate, will believe what you say.
Pardon my intrusion.
Elder brother!
Well! Just wanted to pop in after some falconing, to see my little brothers' faces.
"Oda Nobuhiro (Nobunaga's older half-brother)" Well! Just wanted to pop in after some falconing, to see my little brothers' faces.
but it sounds like you're having a rough time,
being battered by the winds in here as always...
...Kippoushi.
Don't insert your unwanted comments into this, Nobuhiro.
This is a problem for Nagoya.
Oh no, I'll insert them.
Since my adorable little brother is being branded a thief.
But the evidence--
But aren't all you worrywarts forgetting something?
This castle was one my father and I took from the Imagawa.
No great surprise if there are one or two concealed rooms still hidden away somewhere.
That was before Kanjuurou was born.
How could it have gone unnoticed all the way until now--
I'm telling you, we hadn't noticed it.
Thanks to the incompetence of our senior retainers.
So, should we have a bite to eat?
I'm so hungry I may keel over.
You say we're hanging it up?!
All these things you're doing have leaked out.
What??
If you keep this up, it's certain you'll be caught.
It's regrettable, but the time has come.
So from tomorrow on, how are we supposed to fill our bellies?
Cut it out. It's not Kippoushi's fault.
I understand, but even if we want to get out,
we've divided all our earnings out to orphaned children.
So will you lend us a hand just one more time?
When?
A foreign ship is coming into Tsushima tonight.
The harbor folks were saying so, so it's for certain.
This is the last time, Roku.
Why did you make such a promise?
This is the last.
Are they the sort who keep promises?
Friendship means trusting one another!
Master Kippoushi...
Nobody in that castle can be trusted...
Not even Mother.
Who are you scoundrels?!
Master Kippoushi, get out of here!
Master Kippoushi!
Where's Kippoushi?
Not here yet, looks like.
If we're lax about this, all the goods will make it into storehouses!
Wait a little longer. He won't break an agreement with me.
Where'd he go, that little punk?!
Dammit!
All right, we're good.
Who were those guys?
This is no place for a sheltered kid like yourself.
You may as well be shouting, "Kidnap me!"
Master Kippoushi!
See, your escort is here.
Thanks.
It's nothing; now get going.
It's not nothing; you saved me. What's your name?
I'm Rokurou-saburou.
Master Kippoushi! Master Kippoushi!
What is it, Katsusaburou? Is it morning?
Are we--
Yes... but for some reason we're on the grounds of an estate.
Hey! Somebody!
So you're awake, Master Kippoushi?
Takugen! It was you who abducted us?!
Please choose your words carefully.
Words, once spoken, may sometimes wound those to whom they're said.
Like I care! Katsusaburou, get the horses!
Yes, sir.
If it's the barbarian ship, it's already sailed.
What?
Those nine chimes are the noon bell.
What happened to my companions, Roku and the others?!
Apparently they were arrested by the efforts of Tsushima's "Faction of 15,"
and transferred to the custody of Oda, Lord Protector of Mikawa.
Father... dammit!
Let it go!
You must think on why you weren't allowed to get to Tsushima last night.
"Furuwatari Castle"
Father! Father!
Kippoushi!
What did you come here for?
Don't say that, Nobuhiro.
Kippoushi came all the way here to visit.
"Oda Nobuhide"
Right--come over here. "Oda Nobuhide"
I knew we shouldn't have come...
If it gets out that the heir to Lord Protector Oda was behaving like a thief,
the condemnations in the castle will get all the worse.
Most likely Master Nobuhiro got concerned about that
and had Master Kippoushi confined, to prevent his going to Roku.
You came at just the right time. I was just about to execute some rats.
These are wicked, dung-heap rats who were pilfering goods I'd been saving up in Tsushima.
What's that face? You know them? Unthinkable...
Not that I believe it, but someone has claimed
you were pilfering these goods for the warehouses alongside these vermin.
If that were true, I'd become the laughingstock of the realm.
You! Bring that.
A musket!
You know what this is? That's my boy!
Watch. You take aim with it, like this...
Oh, it went off! One more time!
Eh, Kippoushi? You see how it works, right?
You're my heir. You can't have ties to vermin like these.
If you do, the only way to put all this to rest would be your committing suicide by seppuku...
It seems you don't know them...
You grand lords... Complete fools, every last one of you.
Just what is funny?!
You seriously think he is one of our crew?! That's idiotic!
Is that so?
Yeah. I've never seen that doltish face in my life.
If so, then you die.
Young Master, what are you--?!
They say if you plug the barrel, a musket will burst.
If you pull the trigger, Father, you'll be blown away.
Is that true?
Yes.
Still, you won't come away unscathed either.
It's better than companions I care about being killed before my eyes.
Huh?!
Hmm. Since you call them companions, you must also take responsibility.
You're saying you'd slice open your belly to take their place?!
Don't say such pitiful things, Father.
They say the rats are the first to abandon a ship that looks like it's about to sink.
The rats sticking around...
Is that not evidence that Owari Province is still in good shape?
These persons may indeed have nibbled away at your storehouses, Father.
But even so...
If Lord Protector Oda himself sallies forth to exterminate rats,
that will make him the butt of jokes across all of Japan.
Would that be acceptable?
You got me there. Take this.
Since apparently you know these better than I do.
Use it well. And also, I'll leave that crew in your care.
Train them not to nibble at my storehouses.
Yes, Father!
Master Kippoushi! What's wrong?
Terrifying...
Eh?
That's the first time I'd seen Father's face like that.
I thought he'd kill me...
And you stood firm, Master Kippoushi.
"1546."
New Year's, 1546.
Master Kippoushi came of age and changed his name to Oda Saburou Nobunaga.
It is an auspicious name, signifying one who will govern the realm for a long time.
Nobunaga. I'm counting on you.
Yes, sir!
The following year,
Lord Nobunaga, together with his guardian Hirate Masahide and others,
attacked Oohama, where an Imagawa army was deployed.
He was lauded for a remarkable first battle.
This was the spring after Nobunaga's 14th birthday.
"Next Episode"
"Festivities"