The atmosphere inside Bansho-ji Temple was suffocating. The scent of heavy, bitter incense hung in the air like a thick fog. Dozens of high-ranking samurai, councilors, and relatives of the Oda clan sat in perfect, rigid rows on the tatami mats. Everyone was dressed in pristine, white mourning robes, their faces solemn masks of traditional grief.
At the front of the hall sat the altar, holding the ashes of Oda Nobuhide.
To the right of the altar sat Hayashi Hidesada and the young Oda Nobuyuki. Nobuyuki looked immaculate, his eyes cast downward in a flawless display of filial piety. Hidesada kept his hand close to his formal robes, his eyes scanning the room. Above his head, his status box flickered with intense anticipation:
Hayashi Hidesada
Current Mood: Tense, Ready, Triumphant.
Status: Hidden troops mobilized outside the temple gates.
Behind a decorative screen near the back of the hall, Subaru Ryu stood silently. His modern mind was hyper-focused on the digital countdown floating in his vision:
[MAIN EVENT EVENT ALERT: THE FUNERAL AT BANSHO-JI]
[TIME REMAINING: 00:03:12]
[CURRENT CLAN TENSION: 98% (Boiling Point)]
Subaru looked at Nobunaga, who was currently walking down the center aisle toward the altar. The entire room gasped in a low, collective wave of horror.
Nobunaga had not changed into mourning clothes. He was wearing his rough, everyday garb. His hair was a wild, uncombed mess held by a piece of cheap hemp. Slung casually over his shoulder was his favorite matchlock musket, and a pouch of gunpowder rattled loudly against his hip as he walked. He looked less like a grieving son and more like a bandit who had wandered into a holy sanctuary.
Hidesada's lips twitched into a hidden, victorious smirk. He fell for it, Hidesada thought. The fool is destroying his own birthright.
Nobunaga stopped in front of the altar. He didn't kneel. He didn't bow. Instead, he stepped forward, grabbed a handful of coarse, unburned ceremonial incense from the bronze bowl, and with a violent, sweeping motion, slung it directly at his father's funeral tablet.
The incense sprayed across the altar, clattering against the sacred wooden tablets and scattering across the floor.
"Insolence!" an elder screamed. "The madman has lost his mind!" another shouted, hands flying to the hilts of their ceremonial swords.
Nobuyuki looked up, a mixture of genuine shock and manufactured horror on his face. Hidesada began to slowly slide his hand inward, preparing to signal his hidden men outside to enter and arrest the "mad heir" for absolute sacrilege.
But before Hidesada could stand, a sharp, commanding voice cut through the rising chaos of the temple.
"Look at the ash!" Subaru stepped out from behind the screen, his voice laced with an unshakeable authority that paralyzed the room. He used his 88 INT and 75 POL stats to command the space. "Look at the altar, councilors! Before you scream of sacrilege, look at what the Young Master has actually done!"
Hidesada narrowed his eyes, his gaze snapping to the altar.
The incense Nobunaga had thrown wasn't randomly scattered. Because of the heavy, sweeping angle at which it was flung, the grains had fallen into three distinct, sharp lines across the black lacquer table—forming a crude but undeniable defensive formation pointing directly south.
"The Young Master does not mourn with tears; he mourns with steel," Subaru announced, his voice echoing off the temple beams. "He has just laid his father's soul to rest by pledging the defense of Owari. Those three lines point toward the borders of Suruga—the exact paths the Imagawa clan will take when they invade. The gunpowder at his waist is a promise that he will burn his father's enemies to ash."
Nobunaga didn't look back. He merely let out a low, rough snort, turned around, and walked out of the temple hall, his straw sandals clicking loudly against the wood. His actions were perfectly timed with Subaru's explanation.
The elders froze. The righteous fury that Hidesada had spent days cultivating inside the council suddenly evaporated into profound confusion. Was it an act of madness, or was it a display of terrifying, hyper-focused strategic brilliance?
Hirate Masahide immediately capitalized on the confusion, slamming his hands flat against the tatami. "The Young Master's grief is too grand for simple tears! He sees only the war to protect his father's legacy! Long live Lord Nobunaga!"
"Long live Lord Nobunaga!" a few loyalist samurai echoed, completely shifting the momentum of the room.
Hidesada's hand froze on his fan. His 70 INT was scrambling. The absolute certainty he had that the clan would support a coup right now vanished. If he ordered his troops to strike now, it wouldn't look like an arrest of a madman; it would look like a traitorous ambush on a grieving, war-focused heir.
Hidesada glared at Subaru, his teeth grinding. That vagrant... he turned a disaster into a strategic declaration in a single breath!
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: HISTORICAL EVENT ALTERED]
[COUP ATTEMPT: DELAYED (Hidesada's faction has lost momentum)]
[NOBUNAGA'S TRUST: +20]
[CLAN STABILITY: Bounded at 45% (Temporary Safety Secured)]
Outside the temple, under the shade of a massive cedar tree, Subaru caught up to Nobunaga. The young warlord was staring at the distant mountains, his expression unreadable.
"You have a very loud voice, Ryu," Nobunaga said, not turning around.
"A translator must speak clearly, My Lord," Subaru replied, leaning against the tree, his heart finally slowing down from the massive gamble.
"Hidesada wanted to kill me today," Nobunaga murmured, a dangerous smile touching his lips. "He had men outside. I could smell the oil on their armor."
"I know," Subaru said calmly. "By making you look like a strategic fanatic rather than a madman, we didn't just stop his coup today. We did something much better. We bought you six months of peace. Hidesada is now terrified that you are playing a deeper game, and he will waste time analyzing your every move instead of attacking."
Nobunaga turned around, his sharp eyes locking onto Subaru. The golden interface above his head gleamed with raw power.
Oda Nobunaga
Status toward you: Unshakeable Reliance.
"Six months," Nobunaga repeated, walking past Subaru and clapping a heavy hand onto the gamer's shoulder. "That is enough time to buy five hundred more muskets. Let's go, Ryu. The vipers missed their chance, and now... the board belongs to us."