This was a path along the western ridges of Musashi Province, not within the primary surveillance range of any power.
The Hōjō's scouts were focused on the three-thousand-man camp to the north, the Takeda's spies were watching the border between Kai and Suruga, and the Imagawa's attention was on settling the twenty-three small demons they had just received. Traveling this way was safe, unlikely to cause a stir.
But precisely because of this, the path was unsuitable for large-scale military movement. Five hundred men, after all, were only five hundred. They could fight in the field, but for an outright assault, they were absolutely insufficient.
Fortunately, Uesugi Kenshin did not intend to rely on just five hundred.
Along the route she took, there were scattered villages.
However, the Echigo army did not engage in the plundering so common in this war-torn era. Kenshin did not even enter the villages. She merely stood by the roadside Jizō statues and had her scouts deliver a single message:
"Bishamonten is touring Kantō to exorcise demons and drive out evil. Any commoners suffering from the ravages of war may join the march; food will be provided along the way."
That was it. No threats, no coercion.
But the effect was immediate.
In this chaotic Sengoku era, Musashi Province had suffered too much in the past year. Border skirmishes between Imagawa and Hōjō had burned farmland, the Echigo southward sweep had slaughtered demon settlements and also devastated surrounding villages, and the Kyoto demon vanguard had left behind vast resentment and corpses on this land. The common people were suffering unspeakably.
Suddenly, an army appeared that neither burned nor looted, marching under the banner of Bishamonten and promising to provide food along the way
Thus, from the first village, a dozen young laborers emerged, unwilling to simply wait for death, carrying their hoes to the rear of the column.
From the second village, over thirty came.
From the third, even more.
By the fifth village, the column had swollen from five hundred to eight hundred.
Watching this, one of the warrior maidens accompanying the army couldn't help but sneer, "For all the Hōjō's talk of benevolent rule, they've clearly lost the people's hearts."
"The Hōjō claim to rule Musashi, but who doesn't know they've never truly controlled this land?" another warrior maiden responded, equally disdainful.
Throughout this, Uesugi Kenshin remained silent, and the entire column quickly regained its solemn order.
And when they rounded the southern foot of Hakone Mountain and reached the edge of the Hōjō heartland, nearly two thousand people were now following behind.
Though among them, only the original five hundred personal guards could truly fight.
The other fifteen hundred, though only refugees carrying farm tools, were still people.
They were momentum.
They looked like an army.
From a distance, dust billowed, heads bobbed.
It looked like two thousand, or even three thousand.
Enough.
Gathering such a crowd naturally required vast amounts of food… but as for the food supply, Uesugi Kenshin had already planned.
If not from the villages, then from the castles.
If not from the common people, then from the noble lords.
Marching forward.
Kenshin did not look back at her column.
She merely raised her chin slightly, her gaze crossing the ridge line ahead.
On the horizon, the outline of a great castle emerged, nestled against mountains and sea.
Layered stone walls, dense watchtowers.
Odawara Castle.
The strongest fortress in Kantō.
…
Uesugi Army Northern Camp.
Before the main tent.
The sky was completely bright.
The embers of the bonfires still smoked weakly, the cold morning wind blowing through the valley into the camp, making the "Bi" banner flap loudly.
The camp of three thousand had already recovered order from the chaos of last night's undead surprise attack.
Tents were re-erected, the wounded were moved to the rear, and the four divine artifact warrior maidens returned to their posts.
But everyone's gaze remained fixed on the bizarre scene before the main tent.
That pale hand still gripped Naoe Kanetsugu's shoulder armor, purple electric arcs silently jumping between the fingers.
The grey-robed, white-haired demon warrior leaned against the main tent's wooden pillar, his crimson mask glaring in the morning light.
Naoe Kanetsugu, with her shoulder held, stood beside him, her posture composed.
She had been held captive all night.
But her expression, it was nothing like what a captured general should show.
No panic, no anger.
Even a hint of calm assurance.
As if her capture itself was part of the plan.
Shinji noticed this.
From last night until now, he had been locked in this standoff with her.
The four divine artifact warrior maidens surrounded them, not daring to move. The three thousand soldiers stood in formation but dared not loose their arrows.
He was waiting for Uesugi Kenshin to return.
And now, Naoe Kanetsugu told him, Kenshin would not return.
The three thousand were bait.
The true blade was to the south, and its target was Odawara Castle.
When she said this, her tone was calm.
So calm that Shinji almost admired her.
Island-hopping tactics.
Shinji assigned a term from his past life's memories to this move by Uesugi Kenshin.
Don't capture every strongpoint in sequence; skip the intermediate nodes and strike directly at the strategic key.
Kaede Village, even all of Musashi Province, was the middle island.
The northern camp was the previous island already taken.
Odawara Castle was the next island she was jumping to.
She didn't even need to capture Odawara Castle. She just needed to cause Hōjō Ujiyasu inside to misjudge, to not dare to strike out easily, then she would create a situation of north-south pincer attack, isolating central Musashi as an isolated island.
Then slowly consume it.
Very clever.
In the historical records he had learned before crossing over, Uesugi Kenshin was indeed recognized as the strongest tactician of the later generations.
But
Shinji's gaze fell on Naoe Kanetsugu's face.
She tilted her head slightly, her profile sharply outlined in the morning light. Those steady eyes were looking at him.
Watching for his reaction.
Watching to see if he was already anxious.
There was no urgency in her eyes only waiting.
Waiting for him to make the "right" choice.
Waiting for him to realize
That within the coverage of the three thousand's faith force field, surrounded by four divine artifact warrior maidens, in the heart of Musashi Province about to be cut apart by the Uesugi's north-south army,
He seemed to have only one path forward.
Surrender.
Or rather, accept Uesugi Kenshin's "invitation" and become her divine artifact.
Shinji's crimson demon eyes narrowed.
Then
He smiled.
The smile beneath his mask was subtle, but the amusement was deep.
Because he had suddenly figured it all out.
Why did Uesugi Kenshin come alone to Kaede Village?
Not a probe, not an invitation, not courtesy before force.
It was a lure.
That so-called act of bestowing a name had been deliberately performed for his benefit from start to finish.
It was a calculated provocation.
Because Uesugi Kenshin understood the psychology of people on a battlefield far too well. She knew that an existence like Shinji, after being condescendingly bestowed a name like that, would never swallow his pride.
He would strike back. After she retreated with Kikyō, he would press the advantage, or take the initiative.
So she had deliberately revealed the location of these three thousand.
And he had indeed done exactly that.
He had led two hundred undead straight into this camp of three thousand.
Everything had gone according to her plan.
He came.
Once he arrived, he found Naoe Kanetsugu here, the three thousand here, the four divine artifacts here.
"Island-hopping" wasn't just the five hundred elite to the south.
The other side of "island-hopping" was drawing him, the greatest wildcard, out of Kaede Village and locking him in this camp.
Then, using the faith-momentum of three thousand, to completely, trap him.
Trap him, or subdue him.
And Naoe Kanetsugu was the one assigned to do the subduing.
Yes.
During this night's stalemate, the camp had changed slowly, but perceptibly.
The lingering fear receded inch by inch from the soldiers' bodies, like an ebbing tide. Heartbeats steadied, breathing evened, the hands gripping spears no longer trembled.
The shaken faith from the undead night attack re-condensed, like cracked ice slowly refreezing in the cold.
Shinji could feel it.
That invisible momentum had gradually returned to its original clarity.
Until now.
It had fully recovered.
Returned to the state where it could dispel small demons just by proximity.
Returned to the state where even high-tier demons would give it a wide berth.
Returned to the state where even Shinji might be constrained.
"So you were here waiting for me, not because you were left behind." Shinji spoke.
Naoe Kanetsugu's expression didn't change.
But her eyes betrayed her.
"Your lord placed you here, tasked you with persuading me to surrender."
Shinji released his grip on her shoulder.
The electric arcs dissipated.
Naoe Kanetsugu's shoulder armor still bore purple scorch marks, but she didn't rub them or step back.
Shinji stepped back, his crimson demon mask sweeping over the three-thousand-man formation around him, over the four golden-glowing divine artifact warriors at the four cardinal points.
"You are too calm. Calm to the point of irrationality. A general held hostage by an enemy all night should be angry, should struggle, should try to escape."
"But you did nothing."
Naoe Kanetsugu was silent for a moment. Then she smiled.
An open, unguarded smile.
"My lord was right." Her voice brightened a bit. "She said you were smart, smart enough not to do anything foolish in a desperate situation."
"The faith-momentum of three thousand, four divine artifacts in support, this camp is a cage."
"You can break in, but you cannot break out."
"You have only one choice."
She looked at him.
Her gaze was sincere, carrying a seemingly well-intentioned invitation: "Become our comrade."
The air froze.
Three thousand pairs of eyes watched the two figures before the main tent. Four golden lights silently burned at the four directions.
The fully restored military momentum surged.
Everyone was waiting for that demon's answer.
Waiting for him to bow his head.
Waiting for him to submit.
Naoe Kanetsugu's words were all true.
The power of three thousand gathered in high faith was no small matter. Ordinary demons, even materialization-level high-tier demon leaders, would probably be crushed under it.
Even if Shinji was special, could break in, could break out
But then what?
He would still face a surrounded situation.
A whole Musashi Province, surrounded and cut apart.
Unless he could rout all three thousand at once, withstand the military momentum and shatter them instantly.
But that was theoretically impossible… Even if Shinji's combat power was sufficient, his demonic aura, suppressed by the military momentum, would not support such an action.
Theoretically…
Yet even so, even at this moment, Shinji could truly feel the suppression of his demonic aura. A state where it was almost impossible to release outward, and consumption was multiplied.
Every move required several times the usual effort to achieve the same effect.
As seen earlier.
All power not belonging to the mundane would be suppressed.
Outward release impossible, ranged attacks ineffective, prolonged skirmishing unsustainable.
Facing Naoe Kanetsugu's seemingly well-intentioned invitation, he still smiled.
He only said one thing.
Very softly, so softly that only Naoe Kanetsugu could hear it clearly.
"How do you know—"
He murmured, then suddenly crouched.
Spread his fingers.
Pressed them to the soil beneath his feet.
"—that I truly cannot rout you all?"
Theory, after all, was just theory.
As he spoke, the words rising and falling,
Naoe Kanetsugu's smile froze.
Not because of the arrogance of the words, but because, the earth was trembling.
From the center of Shinji's palm, concentric rings of vibration spread outward.
Not an earthquake. Not a release of demonic aura.
Something deeper.
A… response.
[Kantō Land Affection: 2]
The land of Kantō still remembered him.
Remembered the night when, at Kaede Village, he had slain the four directional demons and purified the impurity.
Remembered how he had repelled Kidōmaru, the demon from Kyoto.
Remembered the morning on the ruins of the Tahōtō, when he had destroyed the centuries-old demon and cleansed its resentment.
As said before, the earth had no consciousness, no soul.
But it had memory.
And now, that memory had awakened again, and more deeply.
Demonic aura surged from the earth.
Not Shinji's own reserves, that had already been depleted considerably during the night's standoff.
But the earth's response to him.
Inexhaustible, like a spring, like a tide.
Like a river that rose from his feet, spreading through his whole body, never running dry.
Shinji stood.
Demonic aura exploded, even the momentum of three thousand soldiers could no longer suppress it.
But this demonic aura was completely different from before.
No longer his alone.
It was released together with the land beneath his feet, mixed with the weight of soil, the hardness of rock, and the lingering thoughts of all the dead beneath this Kantō land.
Blood mist seeped from the ground.
Bone spurs grew from the earth.
Continuous, endless.
Not an attack.
A reminder.
Reminding those standing on this Kantō land
This land is not yours.
It is his.
The faith-momentum of three thousand gathered could suppress demonic aura, could restrain the extraordinary.
But it could not suppress the soil.
Could not suppress the stones.
Could not suppress a single white bone spur growing from the earth.
Yes.
This was the true reason Shinji had dared to storm the camp alone.
This world might not be one where individual martial prowess was absolutely supreme. Organized groups, established formations, also had collective power that could suppress individuals to some extent.
But Shinji had never been just an individual.
The land beneath him could also respond to him… a true power far beyond ordinary formations.
Finally, Naoe Kanetsugu's expression changed.
Truly changed.
She looked at the grey-robed, white-haired demon warrior before her, his demon mask appearing and disappearing in the blood mist, his crimson demon eyes gleaming through the gaps, brimming with amusement.
He didn't draw his blade, didn't release lightning.
Didn't even point a finger at anyone.
He just stood there. Standing on this land.
And this land did all the work for him.
Thus.
Considering the resentment that killing would bring…
"To those who lay down their arms—"
"I will only wound, not kill."
Between the spreading blood mist, the demon king's fierce power appeared again in the light of day.
With one power, breaking three armies.