As soon as Huixing finished speaking, someone echoed:
"Lord Toyotomi, what Kaixing said does make sense."
"Anyone with a little common sense knows what Koyasan is."
"I don't think Ogata Ittosai and Kinoshita Genichi would have the guts to attack Koyasan."
As soon as this person finished speaking, someone else said:
"I'm not familiar with Kinoshita Genichi, let's not talk about him and Miss Toyotomi's companions for now. As for Ogata Ittosai, looking at his previous experience, he has basically only been against the Edo Shogunate. He may not have the courage to attack Buddhism."
"Attacking Buddhism is equivalent to becoming an enemy of all Buddhists in the world. The name of Ogata Ittosai will be discredited not only in the eyes of the government, but also among the people."
There were four people who agreed with Kaixing's statement just now, "Do Ogata, Genichi and others dare to attack Koyasan?"
They spoke one by one, expressing their views.
Toyotomi Nobuhide did not stop them or immediately refute them.
He sat quietly on the main seat, listening to their speeches silently.
After everyone finished speaking, Toyotomi Nobuhide's mouth curled up slightly:
"Why don't Ogata Ittosai and Kinoshita Genichi dare to attack Koyasan?"
"I have never met my great-uncle."
"But I have heard about my great-uncle's deeds from many people."
"It's impossible to understand my great-uncle using common sense."
“He was bold and decisive in what he did for others.”
"He dares to think of things that ordinary people dare not think of."
"He dares to do things that ordinary people dare not do."
"He was a man who had the guts to destroy Iga no Sato single-handedly 41 years ago."
"Do you think something like 'common sense' can restrain him?"
"If the situation required, I think he would even dare to attack Edo Castle, let alone Koyasan."
"As for Ogata Ittosai...there's no need to mention him."
"He killed the emperor, conquered Nijo Castle, destroyed Shiranui, and defeated the shogunate army. These are like the Arabian Nights, and he did them one after another."
"I don't think words like Koyasan and Buddhism can restrain him."
"According to the information we have about Ogata Ittosai, he is a man who will never give up until he has a grudge."
"In order to settle accounts with us, they joined forces with the Lord and his men to attack Mount Koya. I think this possibility is not only possible, but also very high."
"Even if he doesn't want to settle accounts with us, he may choose to fight alongside Bogong and the others out of friendship."
"After all, he has a very good relationship with Bogong and the others."
"The battle in Osaka last night has taught me a profound lesson - never underestimate my great-uncle and Ogata Ittosai."
"In short - don't be careless."
After saying this, Toyotomi Nobuhide turned his gaze to Master Xianyuan next to him.
"Master, the task of strengthening the defenses of Mount Koya is now entrusted to you. Leave now. The Iga clan remaining in Mount Koya will be at your disposal for the time being."
"I understand." Master Xianyuan nodded without any hesitation, then quickly stood up and trotted away from the banquet.
After Master Xianyuan left, Toyotomi Nobuhide glanced at the faces of everyone in the room one by one.
"Although we failed to kill Ogata Ittosai in the Battle of Osaka last night, it was not a complete failure. We were able to execute our plan of 'destroying the treasury and administrative capacity of Osaka' very well."
"After a night of hard work last night, Osaka's treasury and administrative capacity have been completely destroyed and will be difficult to recover in the short term."
"Osaka was not only an important town for the Edo shogunate to monitor the western daimyo who had always been alienated from the shogunate, but also the most important logistics center connecting the eastern and western countries."
"Without Osaka, the Edo Shogunate will only have Kyoto, which has not yet recovered from the 'Tenmei Fire', left. Its control over the western provinces will be greatly weakened, laying the foundation for us to win over the western daimyos in the future."
"At the same time, the port of Osaka was destroyed. Without Osaka, the most important logistics transfer center, the huge manpower and material resources deployed by the Edo Shogunate in the west were difficult to transport back to the east."
"And those few feudal states in the west that were loyal to the Edo Shogunate also found it difficult to go and support the Edo Shogunate."
"So, in other words, the first step of our great cause of 'overthrowing the Edo Shogunate' has been successfully completed."
"We have successfully cut off one arm of the Edo Shogunate, leaving it with only half of Japan under its rule. The only resources left for the Edo Shogunate to freely deploy are those in the East."
After saying this, Toyotomi Nobuhide put on a smile that was somewhat heroic.
"How is it? Did I not lie to you before? I will definitely lead you to defeat the Edo Shogunate."
"Before, some people told me, 'The Edo shogunate owns all of Japan, how can we fight them?'"
"And now, thanks to our strategies and efforts, the Edo Shogunate only has half of Japan left."
"How is it? Do you still think the Edo Shogunate is invincible?"
Toyotomi Nobuhide's remarks just now immediately changed the atmosphere around him.
When they learned that their own army was unable to encircle and wipe out Ogata, many people were so shocked that they looked sad.
And now, after hearing what Toyotomi Nobuhide just said, many people's faces gradually looked better.
"The situation in Osaka was beyond my expectations."
The crowd, whose faces had not yet been looking good for long, heard Toyotomi Nobuhide continue.
"We failed to successfully eliminate Ogata Ittosai, and now Ogata Ittosai has joined forces with the uncle and his men."
"It's no longer safe to stay in Koyasan."
"So, although it may be a little hasty, I have decided to start the second stage of 'overthrowing the Edo Shogunate' ahead of schedule."
"From now on, move all important supplies stored in Koyasan."
"By the morning of the day after tomorrow at the latest, we must move all the important supplies onto the Hikari Maru and the Calabash Maru. Then, all members currently staying in Koyasan will board two ships and head north to Edo to launch the 'Edo Battle'!"
If Toyotomi Nobuhide's previous words made everyone's surprised faces look better, then Toyotomi Nobuhide's new words just now made everyone's faces change from good-looking to full of surprise.
"'Edo Battle'?" Someone's eyes widened. "Lord Toyotomi, then... what should we do with Ogata Ittosai and Kinoshita Genichi in Osaka?"
"The intelligence we currently have about them is wrong." Toyotomi Nobuhide said calmly, "We greatly underestimated them...especially the strength of Ogata Ittosai."
"With our currently severely damaged military strength, even if we want to defeat Ogata Ittosai, we will have to pay a heavy price and end up with a miserable victory."
"I am quite tired of the word 'pity victory'."
Toyotomi Nobuhide grinned.
"I just want a crushing victory! Just like the attack on the Osaka government yesterday!"
"Therefore, although I am very reluctant, I can only abandon Ogata Ittosai for now, and then slowly find a way to deal with him."
As soon as Toyotomi Nobuhide finished speaking, another person asked quickly:
"But... Lord Toyotomi, aren't the musket troops that participated in the Battle of Osaka last night basically on their way back to Koyasan? What should they do? Hikari Maru and Hulu Maru can't hold so many people."
"I will make detailed arrangements for the musket troops later." Toyotomi Nobuhide replied, "The musket troops will not be needed in the Edo War. They will only need to temporarily hide in other bases we have in mainland Japan."
"No need for musket troops to participate in the battle?" The person who asked the question just now opened his eyes a little wider, "Without musket troops...how can we capture Edo?"
It wasn't just this person who was looking at Toyotomi Nobuhide with confusion.
Almost everyone at the scene cast puzzled glances at Toyotomi Nobuhide at this moment.
Edo Battle - this word has always been a word full of secrets in the Toyotomi army.
Toyotomi Nobuhide often mentioned this word in public.
But no one knows what the battle plan for the Edo Battle was.
No one has ever heard Toyotomi Nobuhide explain the detailed battle plan of the "Edo Battle". They only heard Toyotomi Nobuhide say that the goal of the "Edo Battle" was to completely destroy Edo, the ruling center of the Tokugawa clan, and to deal the greatest blow to the morale of the Edo shogunate.
All along, the officers of the Toyotomi army believed that the Battle of Edo would be like the Battle of Osaka, where elite musket troops would be deployed to launch surprise attacks on key points in Edo.
The officers of the Toyotomi army have always believed this.
But who would have thought... Toyotomi Nobuhide actually said in public: "The Edo Battle does not require the participation of the musket troops"...
This undoubtedly shocked everyone so much that their jaws almost dropped to the ground.
"Who said that we can't conquer Edo without musket troops?" Everyone saw the smile on Toyotomi Nobuhide's face, which was full of intrigue. "As long as my sister is here, even without a single soldier, we can easily complete Battle of Edo and conquer Edo."
The look of astonishment on everyone's faces became even more intense.
They looked at each other, communicating silently with their eyes.
Finally——someone gritted his teeth and asked courageously:
"Lord Toyotomi, I wonder if Miss Toyotomi alone is all that is needed to capture Edo... What exactly does that mean?"
Toyotomi Nobuhide smiled.
"I will tell you the details of the Battle of Edo later."
"For now, let's focus on evacuating Koyasan."
"Takaharu, Yamamoto, Yutaro..."
Toyotomi Nobuhide named five people in one breath.
"You five will be responsible for the evacuation of Koyasan. You five will stay here, and the rest of you will leave for now."
"If anyone is not full, they can take these foods from the banquet away to eat."
Those whose names were not called, you looked at me, I looked at you, and then we stood up and prepared to leave.
But at this moment——
"Lord Toyotomi! I have an unwelcome request!"
An extremely loud voice suddenly sounded.
Everyone looked in the direction of the voice - it turned out to be the leader of the remnants of Shiranui: Kikutaro.
Kikutaro took two steps at a time and stepped out of the line, facing Toyotomi Nobuhide, and knelt on the ground in the very standard dogeza posture.
"Please allow us to join in the defense of Koyasan!"
Looking at Kikutaro kneeling on the ground in front of him, Toyotomi Nobuhide raised his eyebrows slightly.
"'We'? Do you mean: let Shiranui also join the defense of Koyasan?"
"That's right!" Kikutaro said loudly, "Being alert and monitoring - this is what we, as ninjas, are best at!"
"At present, there are 50 Iga clan members remaining in Koyasan."
"Although there are a lot of people, 50 is still not enough to monitor and guard the important areas of Koyasan."
"But if we, the Shiranui, can get involved, the pressure on manpower will be greatly reduced!"
"Lord Toyotomi, please allow us, the Shiranui people, to join in the defense of Mount Koya!"
After shouting like this, Kikutaro said to himself with pride:
——This is a great opportunity to show off in front of Lord Toyotomi, I can’t miss it...
The reason why Kikutaro was so active in volunteering and asking Toyotomi Nobuhide to let the remnants of the Shiranui join the current work of "strengthening the vigilance of Koyasan" was not because he loved the mission so much.
It was simply because Kikutaro felt that this mission would allow them, the remnants of the Shiranui faction, to show off in front of Toyotomi Nobuhide, and it was not dangerous, so they could have a great time while slacking off.
Toyotomi Nobuhide has just said: by the morning of the day after tomorrow at the latest, all the people currently remaining on Mount Koya will board the two battleships, the Hikari Maru and the Kuramaru, to leave Mount Koya and head north to Edo.
In other words, they will only stay in Koyasan for a day and a half at most.
Kikutaro didn't know what exactly Ogata and the others would do next.
But Kikutaro knew that if Ogata and his men decided to attack Koyasan, they would definitely need a few days of preparation.
They just had a big battle in Osaka last night, so they need at least one or two days of rest, right?
In addition to this, it will surely take some time to carefully formulate a specific offensive strategy, right?
By the time Ogata and his men had made all the preparations and headed straight for Mount Koya, they should have already boarded the warships and were heading straight for Edo in a swaggering manner.
Therefore, Kikutaro felt that it was quite safe to join the security work at Koyasan now, and that Ogata and the others would not be seen until they left Koyasan.
Showing your face in front of your boss more often and letting your boss remember your face will bring you many benefits, and even the most insignificant task is better than no task at all - these are two valuable life experiences that Kikutaro learned when he was struggling in Shiranui.
Now they took the initiative to volunteer and ask Toyotomi Nobuhide to let their Shiranui people join the mission. This would allow them to show off in front of Toyotomi Nobuhide and they wouldn't have to worry about encountering any danger in the mission - this was what Kikutaro had in mind.
Kikutaro pressed his forehead tightly against the ground, expecting Toyotomi Nobuhide's response.
Kikutaro did not wait for Toyotomi Nobuhide's response.
All he got was a loud shout that froze Kikutaro's expression.
"Ah! Lord Toyotomi! I'm just sitting there doing nothing anyway, so why not let me join in the security work at Koyasan!" A strong man knelt beside Kikutaro and shouted.
After shouting like that, the sturdy man quietly cast a provocative look at Kikutaro beside him.
It's funny - the reason why this strong man volunteered was exactly the same as Kikutaro's.
He was also tempted by the favorable conditions of "being able to show off in front of Toyotomi Nobuhide and the mission being safe."
He had just been thinking about stepping out and asking Toyotomi Nobuhide for the opportunity, but he was half a step slower than Kikutaro.
——This guy...! He wants to snatch this kind of skill from me?!
After cursing loudly in his heart, Kikutaro raised his head.
"Lord Toyotomi, it would be more appropriate for us ninjas to handle the task of strengthening the vigilance!"
"No, Lord Toyotomi!" The strong man followed closely behind him, "When I was serving the Edo Shogunate, I was responsible for the security work in Nagasaki. I have quite a lot of experience in this kind of task!"
Kikutaro and the strong man were fighting for the ball.
The cave became noisy due to the shouts of the two people.
Toyotomi Nobuhide did not immediately respond to either of them.
No one stopped the two from snatching the task.
He silently placed his left elbow on his crossed left leg, supported his head with his left hand, and had a faint smile on his face.
With an expression as if he was watching some wonderful drama, he quietly watched Kikutaro and the strong man who were still arguing.
…
…
Koyasan, Sengenji Temple——
Master Xianyuan walked quickly towards the outside of Xianyuan Temple.
The heavy burden of "strengthening the security of Koyasan" fell on the shoulders of Master Xianyuan, making it difficult for Master Xianyuan to slow down his pace from the beginning.
At this time, there were four bald monks following Master Xianyuan.
These four monks were all ninjas from Iga.
In Xianyuan Temple, there are many Iga clan members disguised as monks.
Their daily task is to assist Master Xianyuan in completing various tasks.
——In short… we need to place enough surveillance personnel at each of the main roads leading into Koyasan…
Master Xianyuan silently sorted out the task steps in his mind while silently speeding up his pace.
Just as he was about to reach the main gate of Xianyuan Temple, he suddenly heard voices of conversation coming from the main gate.
"This donor, if you are here to burn incense and worship Buddha, please go this way."
Master Xianyuan looked towards the main gate - two young monks who were sweeping the floor at the main gate were talking to someone.
Because of the perspective, Master Xianyuan couldn't see clearly who the two monks were talking to.
Master Xianyuan thought that they were new pilgrims coming to the temple to worship Buddha, so he continued to lead the four Iga ninjas behind him out of the temple without paying any attention.
"No. I'm not here to burn incense and worship Buddha. I'm here to look for Master Xianyuan."
When he heard this, Master Xianyuan had just walked out of the main gate of the temple.
Hearing his own name suddenly made Xianyuan Shangren startled, and then he looked at the owner of the voice, who was the "pilgrim" who had just talked to the two sweeping monks.
The "pilgrim" was seen wearing a conical hat with a very deep brim that made it difficult to see his features, with a blue and gold katana and wakizashi on his waist and a light green haori on his body.
The haori is embroidered with a beautiful bellflower family crest. When the haori flutters in the wind, the bellflowers dance along with it.
At this time, the two monks who were sweeping the floor noticed Master Xianyuan passing by them.
"Ah! Master! Good afternoon!"
"Good afternoon, Master!"
The two young monks subconsciously bowed and greeted Master Xianyuan.
And this action of the two of them... made the "pilgrim" immediately turn his head to look at Master Xianyuan, like a poisonous snake seeing its prey.
"You are the Master Xianyuan...You are indeed very much like a master."
"Since you showed up on your own initiative, it saves us a lot of trouble."
After saying that, the "pilgrim" raised his hand and took off the bamboo hat on his head...
Master Xianyuan felt as if all the blood in his body had frozen at this moment.
Goosebumps popped up all over my body.
Almost no thinking was done.
There was hardly any hesitation.
Master Xianyuan turned around and fled!
As he turned and ran away, Master Xianyuan shouted sharply to the four Iga ninjas beside him:
"Stop this man!!"
These Iga ninjas who were chosen to assist Master Xianyuan are all elites picked from ten miles away.
After Master Xianyuan's shout, the four of them rushed towards the "pilgrim" without any hesitation.
Master Xianyuan fled desperately in the direction away from the "pilgrim".
Bang!
He suddenly heard a loud noise behind him.
Before he could turn around, he saw something flying past him. He looked closely—it was a ninja flying backwards...
…
…
The dispute over credit between Kikutaro and the sturdy man continues.
Toyotomi Nobuhide was still watching the argument between the two men with great interest.
The rest of the people looked at each other, not knowing whether to say or do anything.
Amidst the noise and bustle, a panic-stricken Iga ninja suddenly rushed into the cave along the tunnel.
Because of his extreme anxiety, the ninja lost his composure. After seeing Toyotomi Nobuhide, he immediately shouted a very simple sentence to Toyotomi Nobuhide and everyone in the cave without hesitation.
The words shouted by this ninja were really very simple, but they seemed to have some strange magic.
Toyotomi Nobuhide, who had been watching the argument between Kikutaro and the strong man with a smile on his face, immediately changed his expression.
The rest of the people were shocked.
Kikutaro and the sturdy man, who had been competing for the task, saw the blood drain from their faces quickly. What was interesting was Kikutaro, whose eyes were now filled with horror.
The banquet scene, which was originally quite noisy, now became so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
All these changes happened because the ninja just now shouted:
"Ogata is here!"