On November 29, Shiba Yoshiatsu, the protector of Owari State, fled in unimaginable disarray from Kiyosu Castle.
Behind him were countless scattered samurai and a castle ablaze with towering flames and thick smoke rising into the sky.
Shiba Yoshiatsu was inexplicably panic-stricken and uncontrollably furious.
The Shiba family were descendants of Mikado Seiwa, successors to "Hachiman Tarou" Minamotoyoshi, and a branch of the Ashikaga Shogunate, one of the three administrators of the current Muromachi Bakuhu.
They also held long-standing positions as tantei of Mutsunokuni and Ushunokuni, as well as the rich subdivisions of Echimae, Wakasa, Ecchu, Yamashiro, Noto, Tohnee, Shinano, Owari, Kaga, Awa, Sado, among others.
In the samurai system, the Shiba family could be considered second only to one, but above tens of thousands.
