In the Japanese community, there was only one faction that could claim they held the Japanese economy in the palms of their hands. They were referred to as the National Guard, headed by their overseer Hideki Tojo. A man of grand ambitions both in war and in politics. He also had an extreme Japanese nationalism to match. Ever since his reincarnation into the Japanese community, there were few who could stand in the way of him and his allies who fought for him in the Second World War.
On the losing side of what semblance remains of Hideki Tojo’s opponents in the power struggle that lasted the past 100 years, was the once-proud faction of the Great Unifiers. This group was led by three individuals: Tokugawa Ieyasu, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Oda Nobunaga. Their forces had been in power for the last 600 years, but everything had its time. What sped up their decline was the betrayal of Tokugawa Ieyasu who joined forces with Hideki Tojo.
Presently, the 3 legendary existences of the past were in a meeting with Hideki Tojo. They had not been informed of the contents of the meeting. Quite frankly, they were wary if it was an attempt to force them to be exiled from the community that they once ruled over. Their state of affairs was a stark difference from what it was at their peak. Hideki Tojo and Tokugawa Ieyasu were sitting directly opposite of Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
“What is this meeting about, Hideki Tojo!” Toyotomi Hideyoshi asked with a scowl on his face at the two people he despised most in the world.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk, Toyotomi Hideyoshi. I expected you to be able to control your temper at least a little bit. Now getting a rise out of you won’t even be enjoyable.” Hideki Tojo replied with a sinister smile on his face.
“... This bastard!” Toyotomi Hideyoshi cursed in his mind.
“Well, might as well get this meeting underway. My time is limited in this busy, busy world. The reason that I have invited you two here today is to get you two to disband and come work for me.”
“Even if this is some sort of joke, that is too far!” Oda Nobunaga started to get a bit agitated as he nearly broke into a shout.
“Oh, I assure you two that this is not a joke. Not in the slightest.”
“Tokugawa Ieyasu, are you seriously going to sit there and not say a word? How could you stand to work for someone like this? Have you no pride in your origins?” Toyotomi Hideyoshi turned his attention to his former ally.
“Well, I do have pride in my origins. That is precisely why I decided to join Hideki Tojo. I follow the strong, nothing more, nothing less.”
“Humph, I should have known you would betray us again. I thought that you might have actually changed your ways. How foolish I was.”
“Look here! I decided to do this because I saw that I was on the wrong side of the power struggle, the losing side. What more reason could I have to not do what is best in my best interest?”
“Shame, a big shame that the three of us have come to squabble over such a matter because of one man.” Oda Nobunaga said as he stared at the man that was responsible for everything going wrong for him.
“Like it or not, that is the current reality of things.” Tokugawa Ieyasu replied as a matter of fact.
“Unbelievable-”
“Enough with your petty pity party. I have many more individuals that I need to have a word with after the two of you. No more distractions, let’s get started on the things that actually matter.”
“Fine, what is it?” Toyotomi Hideyoshi said after giving Tokugawa Ieyasu one last death glare.
“It’s simple really. I need you two to know that I plan on making the Japanese community the strongest. Stronger than even the Jordsand community.”
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“And how would you manage to do such an incredibly impossible task?” Toyotomi Hideyoshi asked, a bit taken aback at the sheer ludicrousness of what he was hearing.
“Well, first I need to unify all of the Japanese into one. And I don’t mean just under my community. I mean under my direct command.”
“You’re crazy! The Japanese people are strong-willed, smart, and-”
“-and that is exactly why I need them on my side, Oda. However, imposing my ideals on them so soon is not wise. I had to learn the hard way. Instead, I will show all of you just how complacent this community has fallen relative to the other communities.”
“What do you mean complacent?”
“From the information network that I have set up, all of you have done next to nothing to advance the Japanese people’s standing among the world stage. It’s almost as if you have put the Japanese community into another period of isolationism. I plan on changing that by sending over 10% of the population of the Japanese strategists over to China to witness the Mock Death Match Tournament.”
“That number is in the tens of thousands! Such an undertaking would drain our resources.”
“Yes, it will, but it will have been worth it to open the eyes of everyone in this community. Now, we will likely be given a spot as soon the Jordsand community declines their invitation. There are 100 spots available.”
“How will you decide who to put into these spots? Even if you hold the most power right now, you still only control 40% of this community. If the rest of us band together, even you won’t be able to stop us from participating in this tournament.” Toyotomi Ieyasu said in a gotcha moment.
“Why would I need to stop you from participating? I intend to open your eyes to the error of your ways. I plan on only taking up 7 spots out of the 100 with my own men. The rest of you can divide it up amongst yourselves. I’ll have 2 groups compete in the group section while I myself will compete in the solo competition.”
“Who will be in your 2 groups?”
“Togo Heihachiro, Tomoyuki Yamashita, Minoru Genda, Isoroku Yamamoto, and you’ve already met Tokugawa Ieyasu.” Hideki Tojo said as he open-palmed pointed towards the person sitting directly beside him. To which Ieyasu gave a quick smirk.
“Is this some plot to make sure that we will be too busy to fight each other to band up to fight you?” Oda Nobunaga asked in a confused tone.
“No, no, no. Oda, you are supposed to be brilliant, but you have disappointed me so, so much. The reason I am doing this is simple beyond reason. The Japanese people have gotten too complacent. They think they are on top of the world. We are nowhere close to that. And this tournament will accomplish that for me way better and more effectively than anything I could ever do.”
“After that, those of you who were so prideful of your power will understand just how much you have fallen,” Tokugawa Ieyasu finally spoke up. “This...this inactivity that I was against from the start, that you two put in place has single-handedly set our community back a few centuries of progress! This is why I was so quick to join Hideki Tojo. He promised change, and judging by his record, he is willing to go as far as it takes to make Japan the greatest. Am I wrong, Hideki Tojo?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Alright then, Hideki Tojo. If you are so confident in your conclusion. Then what do you predict will be the outcome of the tournament for Japan?”
“What do I think? I think that the vast majority of groups that are not part of mine will have lost at least lost by the first or second round. Whereas my team will be able to make it all the way to the end. That is my prediction.”
“Surely you’re joking. Do you take all of us for fools? Hmm? We have commanded many armies in our days, not to mention the hundreds of years that we have been here practicing on this planet. Do you honestly think so little of our skill?” Toyotomi Hideyoshi broke into a shout, clearly seething.
“You misunderstand me. I’m saying that this is a good thing. To have one nation understand their position and wanting to improve it is a price that I would pay anything for. One vision, one realization, one understanding can be all it takes for us as proud Japanese to move forward into the next generation.”
“You are a mad man, Hideki Tojo.” Oda Nobunaga calmly said.
“In this world, it is almost a requirement for the position that I am in. Any questions?”
“Admittedly, we have been lacking in drive for the past little while. However, our skill is still as great as ever. Since you think you are so much better than us, how about a little simulation to back it up?” Toyotomi Hideyoshi reasoned while Oda nodded in agreement.
“Unfortunately, now is not the time to teach you where you stand against me. Instead, how about you all go take a look at the hall of recordings? I don’t think it’s been touched in ages. This will hopefully help you understand just how large the gap between us is.”
“Very well. Then we will take our leave.”
Just as the two got up and were about to head out the door, Hideki Tojo muttered out one more line.
“If you come begging me for help to get you up to speed on my vast warfare knowledge and blueprints, I will gladly help.”
The last line stuck to Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Oda Nobunaga’s mind for a long time after their encounter.
“Tokugawa!”
“What do you need me to do?”
“Invite Takeda Shingen, Hojo Ujimasa, Taira no Masakado, Minamoto no Yoshitomo, and Empress Jingu. We will need to talk to them about the same thing we just talked about.”
“Right away. Are these the only people you need?”
“Yes, there are others, but they will no longer hold any power after I am done with them.”
Tokugawa Ieyasu acknowledged his order and went out to do as he was told.
“Looks like everything is coming together, but I still need to speed up my plans. I need complete totalitarian control of this community before the actual Death Match Tournament. It’s a good thing that so many of these useless old coots will be participating in this mock competition. Come the actual thing, we will swoop in and prove just how mighty the Japanese are when it comes to all things military.” Hideki Tojo thought to himself before going and meeting his next guests.