There was no witness to preside over Kaede's duel with Kurokawa—it wasn't that kind of battle. Instead, she waited patiently for her opponent to make the first move, as an acknowledgement that he was at a disadvantage.

The old veteran was cautious, and carefully paced a slow circle around her, testing her as he gradually inched closer. It didn't look like much to the casual observer, but Kaede could see her opponent testing and discarding potential moves one after the other, refusing to commit to a losing attack, but struggling to find any openings.

With Kurokawa unable or unwilling to make the first move, it fell to Kaede to force his hand.

She took an aggressive step forward, entering her opponent's range with a forward guard. Kurokawa didn't rise to the bait. He stepped back to maintain the same distance and held on to a defensive stance.

It was smart. He couldn't defeat her in an extended duel, so he banked on finding one chance to land a decisive blow. With the kamikiri in hand, that was all it would take.

Yoshika wasn't sure how exactly the spirit-slaying enchantment would affect her, but at the very least a solid strike would sunder her connection to Kaede's body. That would effectively banish her from the front lines and leave her badly injured. In the worst case, the weapon could even do lasting damage to her Kaede aspect.

“Yoshika, dear, have you fallen asleep? What happened to not holding back? Just behead the old fart already!”

Jianmo wasn't entirely wrong. Kaede could have struck Kurokawa down any number of times already, but she wasn't using any of her more powerful techniques or divine essence.

“I'm not holding back in the way that matters most. This duel isn't just about power. It's not enough to overwhelm him with sheer strength—I need to demonstrate that I am better. In every sense of the word.”

“Well that's nice, but could you maybe hurry it up? This is the most boring sword fight I've ever participated in.”

“No. Now shut up and let me focus.”

Kurokawa still wasn't making any moves. Kaede suppressed a sigh—she didn't want to underestimate the shrewd old lord, but she wasn't impressed by his passive style. She needed to resort to something more drastic to achieve the result she needed.

With an effort of will, Kaede suppressed her own aura until her domain was restricted to within her body. All that remained was the ki empowering her body, and even that was restricted to only the basic movements imparted to her by Master Ienaga.

“Lord Kurokawa, I think you've realized by now that this duel will end with one exchange.”

The old man kept his composure, but couldn't hide the bead of sweat that ran down the side of his face.

“Aye, girl. Your training does you credit. You really are another Ienaga.”

“As a matter of fact, I have surpassed my master—in her estimation, at least.”

“Hah! Is that so? Why am I still standing, then?”

Kaede took a low stance and held Jianmo back without any guard at all.

“Because you are a Lord of Yamato, and I respect you enough to fight you as an equal, even if that respect is one-sided.”

He raised his guard and took another step back.

“Hmph! That's the sort of mercy that'll get you killed, girl! You can kill me, but with an attitude like that, you'll never be shogun.”

“I used to think the same. But make no mistake, Lord Kurokawa—this is no mercy. You speak of strength without truly understanding what it is. Unlike me, however, you will not live to see that for yourself. This will be the first and last demonstration for you.”

Kurokawa grinned.

“I look forward to it. Come on then, girl—no, Master Hayakawa. Show this old man the real meaning of strength.”

He rushed forward, taking the initiative to attack her unguarded stance. He was fast. With a burst of Air essence, he lunged forward, closing the distance in an instant and cutting toward her neck with the speed and precision of a martial artist at the peak of his craft.

Lord Kurokawa was a true master—as close as anyone to the impossible bottleneck of body cultivation. But to Kaede, he might as well have been moving underwater. Even without her techniques enhancing her, the foundations that Master Ienaga had chiseled into her were enough that she moved almost without even thinking.

Kurokawa was a formidable warrior, and the kamikiri was dangerous in his hands, but it wasn't enough. The moment he stepped within her range, Kaede slipped inside his reach and lashed out with her blade.

He'd been expecting her attack, but by the time he moved to counter, she'd already completed the attack and gracefully stepped beyond his reach.

Kurokawa fell to the ground, his head just a moment behind him.

No last words, no final acknowledgement. The results of the duel spoke for themselves. It was the end Kurokawa would have wanted—a fitting death for a grizzled old warlord.

Kaede sheathed her sword and bowed respectfully to her fallen opponent before recovering his sword and making her way briskly into the castle. A nearby guard gawked at her in awe as she addressed him.

“See to it that Lord Kurokawa's remains are treated with proper dignity. Take down the banners and recall the army. I claim this land in the name of clan Hayakawa.”

He stared in stunned silence for a moment before responding in the only way he knew how.

“Y-yes, my lady!”

----------------------------------------

As much as she might have liked it to be, taking over Kurokawa’s lands wasn’t quite as simple as killing the lord and replacing his flag. Unsurprisingly, his retainers were not pleased with the sudden change in leadership, regardless of whatever tradition might dictate. There was also the matter of his heir—the not-so-young master Kurokawa was out of province, but some of the late Lord’s retainers were already conspiring to seek him out as the rightful new ruler of the province.

Still, the castle was taken with as little blood shed as possible. Not none, of course. As sturdy as martial artists were, not everyone who met Kaede’s brutish charge head-on came out of the exchange intact, and a few of Kurokawa’s older lieutenants elected to follow their leader and go down fighting, rather than surrender.

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In the end, it took Jiaguo’s army longer than Kaede would have liked to finish securing the province and get back on the march.

During that time, Noguchi proved himself to be more competent than anyone gave him credit for, successfully conducting negotiations with Lord Fujiwara who was more than happy to have one of his retainers installed as a ‘temporary’ executor of Kurokawa’s lands.

Kaede knew better than to expect such measures to stay temporary. Either Kurokawa’s scion would return to assert his claim on the land, or Fujiwara would claim de facto ownership. In all likelihood, it would be both and the two would fight a war over who ultimately held the right to rule there.

That was how things were done, and Kaede wasn’t in a position to change that. At least, not yet.

Kurokawa had spoken as if she was trying to overthrow the shogun, and while that was technically true, it had not occurred to her until then that doing so would most likely place her as the new shogun.

It was obvious, in hindsight, but she’d been too focused on managing Jiaguo and worrying about Master Ienaga. Once, she would have jumped at the opportunity—it’s what she was born for, after all. Before she’d joined with Yoshika, she’d even been planning to use Jiaguo as a key ally in order to topple her father’s reign and do precisely that. But once she’d committed herself to Yoshika’s cause and the future of Jiaguo, she’d abandoned the idea.

Now, she found herself considering it once more.

Jiaguo’s status as a province under Hayakawa’s rule was a legal fiction that gave her war an air of legitimacy, but did it have to remain fiction? Could the smaller nation of Jiaguo annex Yamato in its entirety? That would lead to horribly unbalanced demographics, and most likely require a true unification of the feudal states that made up the country, but the benefits couldn’t be overstated.

All at once, it would rocket Jiaguo beyond its position as a tiny city-state dependent on the delicate balance of usefulness and harmlessness that allowed it to avoid the ire of its neighbors. It would become a world power in and of itself, holding nearly a quarter of the continent. With that kind of power, Jiaguo would be able to deal with the great nations—or rather, the other great nations—as equals.

It was something to consider another time. While the rest of their march toward Ienaga’s lands would be across mostly friendly territory, Kaede had her work cut out for her actually convincing the intervening lords to her side. It wasn’t enough to gain passage—she needed aid.

That too would have to wait—back in Jiaguo, Yoshika focused her attention on Jia’s upcoming meeting. Now that they’d established a way to contact Rika, Yoshika insisted on regular check-ins. Since it wasn’t possible for Rika to establish contact herself, the meetings had to be planned in advance, so that Rika could make sure she was in a location that was safe to speak in.

If she wasn’t, then Rika would suppress the speaking stone and prevent Yoshika’s call from causing any trouble for her. Thankfully, that didn’t happen this time, as Rika’s voice created tiny ripples across the otherwise placid surface of Jiaguo’s reflecting pool.

“Hey there, boss!”

Jia pouted, though Rika couldn’t see her.

“You know I don’t like it when you call me that, Rika.”

“Oof, right—sorry about that. Not a whole lot to report on my end—we’ve been heading south at a steady pace, but aside from having to sneak past the blockade around Ienaga’s territory we haven’t seen anything out of place.”

“That’s good to hear. How serious is the blockade, anyway?”

There was a pause as Rika collected her thoughts before answering.

“Worse than I thought, but not as bad as it could be.”

“Which means?”

“On the northern side, they were trying to pretend that there was no blockade at all—mostly just taking note of whoever was coming and going without any disruptions. The south side is different—they’re still pretending that things are normal, but they’re way more aggressive about vetting people going in and out of the province. Safe to say that anyone going in is a spy and anyone leaving won’t be allowed back in—assuming they aren’t arrested.”

Jia pursed her lips.

“And that’s not as bad as it could be?”

“Well, it could be a total military envelopment. That would have been much harder to break through.”

“Fair enough.”

It was a grim reminder that meeting up with Ienaga’s forces was only the opening act of the war. Kurokawa’s armies, as swiftly as Kaede had managed to overcome them, were nothing more than appetizers for what was to come once they started facing the core of Hayakawa’s forces. That led Jia to something important that she needed to tell Rika.

“Things have been going pretty well on our end. We won our first major engagement and took control of Kurokawa.”

Rika whistled appreciatively.

“That old codger? That’s pretty bold isn’t it? I’m kinda surprised—I figured he’d fight to the death rather than capitulate.”

“He did.”

“...ah.”

“Anyway, he had some pretty disturbing revelations. First, he was armed with a kamikiri.”

There was a rustling sound, accompanied by a chorus of ripples across the pool.

“I’m sorry, I must have misheard you—did you just say Lord Kurokawa had one of the kamikiri? And he used it against you?”

“Yes, he did. He also claimed that Shogun Hayakawa had gifted it to him in anticipation of our attack. The message was pretty clear—Hayakawa is a step ahead of us, he knows what we’re capable of, and he’s not afraid.”

“That’s...concerning. Why would he risk letting a weapon like that fall into your hands? Kurokawa’s no slouch, but I doubt he lasted a second against Kaede.”

Jia chewed on her lip. That had been bothering her as well, but there was only one answer she could think of.

“I think it’s got two meanings. First is a demonstration that he’s got more than one—he wouldn’t give up his only artifact.”

“Makes sense. Sort of a threat, then?”

“Right. But it’s the second that worries me. I don’t think it’s us he’s threatening with the god slaying blades.”

A long silence stretched between them, then Rika cursed.

“That worthless piece of garbage! That’s how he’s keeping Master Ienaga imprisoned, isn’t it?”

“I can’t say for certain, but at this point it seems like the most likely answer.”

Rika sighed.

“I guess we’ll find out soon enough. Thanks for the warning, Jia—we’ll be sure to keep our heads down if they’re expecting us.”

Jia blinked.

“You’re still heading south? I was going to suggest that it’s too dangerous if Hayakawa is already taking measures against us.”

“If the Shogun knows we’re coming, then we’re further behind on information than we thought. My job is even more important now, dangerous or not. I’ll run it by the boys, but I think we’re going to keep going.”

“I’m not going to stop you, but stay safe Rika. Your lives come first, understood?”

Rika chuckled.

“Of course! Don’t worry, Jia, I know what I’m doing. Besides, I’ve got a secret weapon, right? Worst comes to worst, I can call you in as a trump card.”

“I can’t promise I’ll be able to respond right away, and that’s a last resort! Don’t rely on it!”

“I know, I’m just joking. Anyway, if there’s nothing else I’d better get back on the road—we can’t stay in one place for too long now that we know Hayakawa’s on the lookout.”

Jia nodded, then blushed when she remembered Rika couldn’t see her.

“Okay. Good luck, Rika—I’ll contact you again at the same time next week.”

“You got it! Maybe bring Ja Yun and Eunae along next time? I kinda miss my girls.”

“Rika, these are extremely sensitive military meetings.”

“Please?”

She rubbed the bridge of her nose, shaking her head in exasperation.

“I’ll think about it.”

“Yay! Thanks, Yoshi—you’re the best!”

“Don’t call me—”

The waters of the reflecting pool stirred, no longer the perfect placid surface that they’d been just a moment ago. Rika had disrupted the connection from her end. Jia chewed on her lip as she turned to leave.

She knew Rika, and while that kind of irreverent confidence was practically a trademark, it was also a shield for her insecurities. Rika was nervous, and trying to hide it behind a mask of bravado.

Jia was tempted to call her back on the spot and order her to abandon the mission, but she respected Rika’s resolve, and she had faith in her friend’s abilities.

Besides, Rika was right—they needed information more than ever. Jia couldn’t shake the idea that there was something more sinister going on behind Hayakawa Takeo’s strange behavior leading up to the war, and she wouldn’t be satisfied until she knew what it was.