And so they stayed.
They stayed like that until dawn.
The four warrior maidens bearing divine artifact powers surrounded the main tent, their golden light undimmed, their weapons still drawn, their gazes locked on the demon warrior who held their general by the shoulder.
But no one moved.
Naoe Kanetsugu was held in his grip, the lightning's arcs continuously jumping along her shoulder armor. If Shinji's fingers tightened even slightly, that current would course through her body.
Everyone present could see that.
Three thousand soldiers formed ranks further out, spears and arrows trained on this direction, but not one dared to loose.
The air was frozen the entire night.
Bonfires burned down and were replenished.
The eastern sky shifted from black to grey, from grey to white. The first rays of dawn finally crested the mountain ridge.
Golden sunlight spilled onto the Uesugi army's camp, dyeing the "Bi" banner a warm yellow.
Shinji leaned against the main tent's wooden pillar, his crimson demon mask covering his face, his posture almost lazy.
He was waiting.
He had waited all night.
But Uesugi Kenshin did not come.
It couldn't be that something had delayed her on the road, with that woman's strength, nothing in all of Musashi could stop her.
Except Kikyō.
But Kikyō was guarding Kaede Village and wouldn't strike proactively.
That left only one possibility.
She had never intended to return.
This thought grew clearer as the sky lightened.
At the same time,
Naoe Kanetsugu, who had stood all night with his hand on her shoulder, suddenly smiled.
Not a bitter smile, not a mocking one, but a proud smile.
"You won't wait any longer," she spoke.
Her voice was a little hoarse from not drinking all night, but still clear.
"What?"
"Our lord." Naoe Kanetsugu turned her head, within the range of Shinji's grip, slightly tilting her face.
Those steady eyes looked at the gaps in the crimson demon mask from close range, her gaze open, as if she recognized Shinji's identity as well. She spoke:
"I know. You're waiting for my lord to return, to use me as leverage to negotiate with her."
"But she won't come back."
Shinji didn't speak, but his crimson demon eyes beneath the mask slightly contracted.
"My lord went alone to your village last night, from the start never intending to bring back any result." Naoe Kanetsugu's tone was flat, as if stating something planned long ago. "Invitation or probing, that was merely her 'courtesy.'"
"Done, she left."
"And we...." Naoe Kanetsugu raised her chin, indicating the soldiers and warrior maidens in formation around them.
"Are just the rear guard left here."
Shinji looked at her.
"You mean, she never intended to return to this camp from the start?"
"Yes." Naoe Kanetsugu's lips curled slightly upward, a smile carrying the knowledge of her lord's military tactics. "You thought these three thousand were the main force to attack your village?"
She didn't say more.
But it was enough.
Shinji understood.
These three thousand were not the main force.
They were bait.
Uesugi Kenshin's true target...
Had never been Kaede Village, nor him.
He looked up, his gaze passing over the tops of the tents, toward, the south.
Her target…
"Was the Hōjō?"
…
Southern Musashi Province, a path hidden among the mountains.
Uesugi Kenshin walked at the front of the column.
White monk's robes, light armor, a white veil over her head. Her silver-white hair slowly swayed in the morning breeze, the strands of black among it gently shifting with her steps.
Behind her, few followed, only five hundred, but they were the elite of the elite: the direct personal guard of the Echigo Uesugi clan. Lightly equipped, traveling fast, no baggage, no banners, not even horses.
Everyone walked.
Because on this winding path along the mountain ridges, horses were a burden.
This force had not split off from the northern camp.
It had never been in that camp at all.
Before marching south from Echigo, Uesugi Kenshin had divided her forces into two.
Three thousand took the main road, camping in the northern pass of Musashi Province with great fanfare. The "Bi" banner flew high for all to see, including Shinji, including the Hōjō, including the Takeda watching through their spies, that the Echigo army was encamped there.
Five hundred took the mountain paths, keeping their movements hidden.
Kenshin herself moved between the two forces, first going to Kaede Village for the ritual of invitation, then, instead of returning to the northern camp, heading south directly to meet this hidden unit.
The three thousand were a display for all eyes.
The five hundred's march was the true blade.
"Report forward scouts report no unusual alertness in the direction of Odawara Castle." A ninja, hidden as a scout, appeared silently beside Kenshin and knelt.
Uesugi Kenshin didn't pause.
"The Hōjō main force?"
"Still deployed in the north, responding to the pressure from our main camp. Ujiyasu herself is within Odawara Castle."
"The Takeda?"
"No unusual movements in Kai. The Yamagata Masakage unit has not moved east."
Uesugi Kenshin nodded slightly.
Everything was within expectation.
Takeda Shingen was an aggressive and skilled warrior, but also shrewd, shrewd enough not to act rashly when the situation was unclear.
Fūrinkazan, immovable as a mountain.
She would wait.
Only after the dust settled would she decide which side to take.
And Hōjō Ujiyasu needed no mention.
All her attention was fixed on the three thousand encamped to the north.
That demon, Shinji, the disturbance he was causing in the north had actually done her a favor.
Because it made both the Hōjō and the Takeda turn their eyes northward.
No one was looking south.
No one imagined, that the God of War of Echigo would bypass all eyes, leading five hundred elite, and strike directly at the rear of Odawara Castle.
The seeming empty was real.
The real was hidden.
The three-thousand camp was the feint; the five-hundred assault was the real.
The solitary invitation was the feint; abandoning the northward return was the real.
Naoe Kanetsugu's "capture"... this was unexpected, not part of Uesugi Kenshin's plan.
But even knowing it, Kenshin wouldn't worry.
Because Naoe Kanetsugu was her most trusted retainer, the one who understood her best.
And because by the time Shinji truly realized,
It would be too late.
Uesugi Kenshin looked up.
Morning light fell on her face. For the first time, on that delicate but indifferent face, an expression appeared, not excitement for battle.
Interest in "righteousness."
"Bishamonten protects the world, cutting down demons and evil. That is the duty of a god," she murmured, as if to herself, or as if reporting to an invisible presence.
"And the order of the human world, needs a god's hand to arrange it."
"Hōjō Ujiyasu, you cannot hold this land."
"Not because you are weak."
"Because your 'righteousness' is not pure enough."
She who called herself a god was ever extreme, ever proud. Still less so Uesugi Kenshin, who held the power of gods and buddhas, who was their very incarnation?
Wind blew across the ridge.
The footsteps of five hundred were soft and orderly, like a stream whispering in the mountains.
No banners, no trumpets.
Only silent marching.
And a girl who believed she acted on divine will, walking at the front.
South.
Toward Odawara.