Uesugi Kenshin.
The Dragon of Echigo.
The God of War.
In this chaotic Sengoku era, these three names referred to the same person.
Shinji had known many legends about her before crossing over.
In later historical records, Uesugi Kenshin was described as a lifelong unmarried general. Her original name was Nagao Kagetora, later Uesugi Masakatsu; "Kenshin" was the Buddhist name she took after devoting herself to Bishamonten. She fought under the banner of "righteousness," famed as the strongest tactician of the Warring States period.
And now
Shinji knew this was her.
The girl standing outside the torii gate of Kaede Village.
She stood just outside the gate. Moonlight stretched her shadow long, reaching across the stone slabs of the village path.
No army. No banners.
Not even attendants.
Alone.
Just walking here.
That was what truly surprised Shinji.
Not that she had come, he had expected Uesugi to arrive.
Not even that she came personally, given the "God of War's" legendary habit of appearing at the front.
But that she came alone.
Without a single guard.
Shinji descended from the roof ridge, his grey robes and white hair snapping in the night wind, his crimson demon mask covering his face.
He stood on this side of the torii gate, less than ten paces from the girl.
Blood mist spread thinly on the ground between them, like a transparent red veil.
"Uesugi Kenshin," Shinji spoke, addressing her directly, not as a question.
He could be certain of her identity without doubt. The reason was simple.
The power emanating from her body, he knew it too well.
What Kakizaki Kageie had was a fragment.
What Yamagata Masakage had was also a fragment.
But this woman before him, she carried the source.
Leaving aside Yamagata Masakage, who served Takeda Shingen and had nothing to do with Uesugi Kenshin, the divine artifact power Kakizaki Kageie carried definitely flowed from this woman.
If Kakizaki Kageie was a tributary, then Uesugi Kenshin was the headwater.
Or rather, she herself was the river.
The power within her was pure to the extreme.
Clean, elevated, not of this world.
Purer even than Kikyō's ultimate spiritual power, but in a completely different direction, spiritual power was the condensation of pure energy, while what this woman carried seemed more like the physical embodiment of "faith" in gods and buddhas.
And its nature, as Shinji had sensed before, was:
Heavy.
So heavy it could suppress everything.
Hearing Shinji's words,
The girl looked at the crimson eyes beneath the demon mask.
"You recognize me," she spoke.
Her voice was clear and calm, without inflection, indifferent. Yet somehow, it felt natural for her to speak this way.
So elevated, so vast.
A detachment from the mortal world.
Shinji smiled.
"That power is too obvious."
"Your subordinates only have fragments. You have the whole thing. And in the direction you came from, only one person could possibly emit that aura."
The girl tilted her head slightly.
That gesture carried a hint of curiosity, but was quickly suppressed by her almost inorganic indifference.
"You killed Kageie."
She said.
Not an accusation, not a demand for satisfaction.
Just a confirmation.
Shinji would not deny it.
He merely narrowed his crimson demon eyes and nodded slightly. Though he was somewhat puzzled by the lack of anger in her tone, he was not at all afraid of her coming.
However.
"That's fine." She nodded, as if accepting this.
"Kageie was the reincarnation of a divine artifact, the incarnation of a tool bearing divine power. Her death is merely a return to Takamagahara."
"Still, she was my divine artifact. You cut her down. You defeated her."
"So I came. I had to come."
She looked at Shinji.
Finally, a ripple appeared in her ancient well-like eyes.
Still not a trace of anger.
Only intense interest.
"In this era, to cut down a 'divine artifact' without absolute power is rare."
"At least, among the demons on this land, almost none have done it."
That divine, buddha-like power, which suppressed all that was extraordinary and supernatural, was itself almost "invincible within its tier."
Those who could achieve such a feat were indeed very few.
Compared to the female general Kakizaki Kageie, Shinji actually had no power disparity.
Ordinary Sixth Transformation humanoid demons could be caught by purely mortal means!
But Shinji was not an ordinary demon.
He did not immediately respond.
He was waiting.
Waiting for her to state her true purpose.
She had come alone, and it seemed she was not simply here to oppose him, though even if she was, he wasn't afraid.
Uesugi Kenshin did not beat around the bush.
"I came to recruit you," she said simply.
So simply that Shinji felt it was almost unreal, almost surreal.
Imagawa Yoshimoto wanted him as a "guardian deity." Hōjō Ujiyasu wanted to repay a "debt."
And Uesugi Kenshin, she wanted the same?
This time, Shinji was genuinely surprised.
The expression beneath his crimson demon mask tightened, though his terrifying figure remained calm. He simply said:
"Imagawa Yoshimoto said much the same thing."
"She doesn't have what I can give you."
"What can you give me?"
Uesugi Kenshin didn't answer that question.
She just looked at him quietly.
In her ancient well-like eyes reflected the moonlight, the shape of the torii gate, and the patterns on his crimson demon mask.
"You are strong," she said. "But I can feel that on the path of demons, you haven't actually progressed very far. You are not a particularly powerful demon. Your demonic aura is insufficient, your demonic power even more so."
"You are one step away from the threshold of transformation and sublimation into a stronger demon. But that one step, you cannot take on your own."
Shinji's pupils contracted.
She saw through him?
Just by observing from ten paces away, she could see that he was at the critical point of materialization?
"If you become mine, become my 'Shinki' (divine artifact), then," Uesugi Kenshin's voice remained calm, even confident. "I can help you take that step. Help you become stronger."
Shinji did not answer.
He just looked through the gaps in his demon mask, under the moonlight, at this girl who had come alone.
The God of War of Echigo.
The incarnation of Bishamonten.
Alone, in the dead of night, walking into the territory of a demon.
No army, no generals, not even carrying a weapon.
Just walking here.
Either supremely confident.
Or truly not intending to fight.
From the look of it, the latter seemed more likely.
And, "become a divine artifact"…
"What does that mean?"
Wasn't that "reincarnation"?
Could he himself become something that could be claimed?
Shinji was genuinely bewildered and asked directly.