'Exactly… yes, indeed.'
'I'm asking you about your age…How old are you?'
'Yes, it's just as you say.'
'What?'
Katsuie felt as though he were being made a fool of. Thrusting his angry face next to Kumohachi's ear, he yelled out in a voice loud enough to crack a mirror.
'How old are you this year?'
Thereupon Kumohachi nodded vigorously and answered with exceeding calm.
'Ah, I see. You're asking me my age. I'm ashamed to say that I've done nothing o merit that the world might have heard of, but this year I'll be seventy-five.'
Katsuie was dumbfounded.
How ridiculous it was for him to be losing his temper with this old man, with today's pressure of work in front of him and the probability that he would be unable to relax all day. Along with an awareness of self-scorn, Katsuie felt his hostility toward Hideyoshi moving him to make a pledge that the two of them would shortly not exist under the same sky.
'Go on home. That's enough.'
Gesturing with his chin, he ordered the old man to leave, but Kumohachi's buttocks seemed to be stuck to the floor with rice paste.
'What? What if there's a reply?' he asked, gazing sedately at Katsuie.
'There is none! No reply at all! Just tell Hideyoshi that we'll meet wherever we chance to meet.'
With this parting remark, Katsuie turned and walked away down the narrow corridor toward the inner citadel. Kumohachi also ambled down the corridor. With one hand on his hip, he turned toward Katsuie's retreating image. Chuckling to himself, he finally walked on toward the castle gate.
The celebration for Samboshi's accession was completed that day, and a feast was given that surpassed the one of the evening before. Three halls were opened up inside the castle for the announcement of the new lord's installation, and people attended in far greater numbers than the day before. The main topic of conversation among the guests was Hideyoshi's insulting behavior. To feign illness and be absent on the day of
This important event was outrageous, and there were some who said that Hideyoshi's disloyalty and insincerity could clearly be seen.
Katsuie knew quite well that the criticism of Hideyoshi was being artificially generated by the followers of Takigawa Kazumasu and Sakuma Genba, but he indulged in the comfort of gloating secretly over the knowledge that the advantage was going to him.
After the conference, the observance of the anniversary of Nobunaga’s death, and the day of celebration, Kiyosu was inundated by heavy rains every day.
Some of the lords left for their provinces the day after the celebration. A number of others, however, were held back by the rising waters of the Kiso River. Those who remained behind waited for the weather to clear, thinking it might happen the next day or day after that, but they could really do nothing more than pass the days in inactivity in their lodgings.
To Katsuie, however, the time was not necessarily wasted.
The comings and goings of Katsuie and Nobutaka between their respective lodgings were quite noticeable. It must be remembered that Oichi, Katsuie's wife, was Nobunaga's younger sister and therefore Nobutaka's aunt. Moreover, it was Nobutaka who had persuaded Oichi to remarry and become Katsuie's wife. It was really from the time of the marriage that the relationship between Nobutaka and Katsuie had become intimate. Certainly they were more than simple in-laws.
Takigawa Kazumasu was at those meetings as well, and his presence seemed to have some significance.
On the tenth day of the month Takigawa sent out an invitation for a morning tea cer-ny to all the remaining lords.
The gist of the invitation was as follows:
The recent rains are clearing, and each of you is thinking of returning to his home province. It is a maxim among warriors, however, that uncertainty governs the time of their next meeting. As we remember our former lord, I would like to offer you a bowl of plain tea in the morning dew. I know you must be in a hurry to leave for home after this long stay, but I do anticipate your presence.
That was all it said, and it was nothing more than what might be expected. But the people of Kiyosu gaped at the men going in and out that morning. What was it? A secret council of war? Men like Hachiya, Tsutsui, Kanamori, and Kawajiri attended the tea ceremony that morning, while Nobutaka and Katsuie were probably the guests of honor. But whether the meeting was the tea ceremony it purported , or some secret affair, could not have been known by anyone other than the host and his guests that day.
Later that afternoon the generals finally returned to their home provinces. On the night of the fourteenth Katsuie announced that he would leave for Echizen, and on the fifteenth he left Kiyosu.
As soon as he had crossed the Kiso River and entered Mino, however, Katsuie was troubled by rumors that Hideyoshi's army had closed all the passes in the mountains between Tarui and Fuwa and was barring his way home.
Katsuie had only just decided that he would attack Hideyoshi, but now the situatior had been reversed, and he found the path home as dangerous as thin ice. To get to Echizen Katsuie had to pass Nagahama, and his antagonist had already returned there. Would Hideyoshi let him pass through without challenging him?
When Katsuie had left Kiyosu, his generals had advised him to take a more round-about route, through Takigawa Kazumasu's province in Ise. But if he had done so, the world would certainly have believed he was afraid of Hideyoshi—a loss of face that Katsuie would have been unable to bear. As they entered Mino, however, the central question persisted with every step.
Reports of troop movements in the mountains ahead forced Katsuie to halt his army's advance and arrange its units into battle formation until the reports could be verified.
A rumor was then reported that units under Hideyoshi's command had been sighted in the area of Fuwa, and as Katsuie and his field staff sat on their horses, their hair stood on end. Trying to imagine the numbers and strategy of the enemy waiting in their path they were overcome by feelings as black as ink.
The troops were brought to a sudden halt in front of the Ibi River, while Katsuie and his staff quickly discussed the matter in the wood of the local village shrine. Should they strike on ahead, or retreat? One possible strategy would be to retreat for the present and take possession of Kiyosu and Samboshi. They could then denounce Hideyoshi's crimes, unite the other lords, and set out in a more imposing manner. On the other hand, they had a large force, and it would give them joy as a samurai to fight their way through, routing the enemy with a quick victory.
As they thought over the possible results of each alternative, they realized that the former plan would mean a protracted war, while the latter would bring a prompt decision As for that, however, instead of crushing Hideyoshi with one quick blow, their own defeat was not entirely out of the question.
Certainly the mountainous terrain north of Sekigahara was very advantageous for men lying in ambush. In addition, the troops that Hideyoshi had withdrawn to Nagahama would no longer be the small force of the recent past. From southern Omi to the areas of Fuwa and Yoro, a large number of men from small castles, powerful provincial families, and scattered samurai residences had connections with Hideyoshi. Those with connections to the Shibata were few.
'No matter how I think this through, there just doesn't seem to be a good strategy for confronting Hideyoshi here. His quick return home must have been planned exactly to take this kind of advantage. I think we should not risk the battle he wants under these conditions,' Katsuie said, echoing the advice of his generals.
Genba, however, laughed scornfully. 'That's probably the right course of action if you're resolved to become a laughingstock for being so afraid of Hideyoshi.' In any war council, the suggestion to retreat is the weak one, while the counsel to advance is considered more forceful. Genba's opinion in particular exerted a strong influence on the members of the field staff. His matchless courage, his rank within the clan, and the affection with which he was regarded by Katsuie were all factors to be taken into consideration.
'To flee at the sight of the enemy, without exchanging a single arrow, would ruin the reputation of the Shibata clan,' one general said.
