Although Kinoshita Tōkichirō only did small tasks like fetching shoes for his lord, Oda Nobunaga, due to his serious yet witty nature, gradually discovered his talent and promoted him to the samurai rank.
Achieving his wish to become a samurai, Kinoshita Tōkichirō did not stop there. He had ambitious plans; he wanted to make a name for himself, make his colleagues who looked down on his background regret it, marry the admired Miss Sonnomaru(Kōdai-in), and even become the lord of a country or a city.
Umino in his corner, who was fully immersed in this story, sincerely hoped for Kinoshita Tōkichirō's success.
However, the road to success is never smooth. Kinoshita Tōkichirō encountered the biggest crisis of his life in his first mission as a samurai.
Sent to procure military provisions with a considerable amount of funds, he was intercepted by a group of bandits on the way!
Although Umino wanted to criticise why he went alone to buy military provisions, the tense situation left him no time to dwell on it.
The bandits were burly, formidable and fierce-looking, reminiscent of the Akimichi clan, and they wielded two large axes each.
Umino felt strangely worried for the small and slender samurai Kinoshita Tōkichirō.
However, the usually slick Kinoshita Tōkichirō did not choose to surrender his money for his life. Instead, he nervously drew his samurai sword...
In this tense situation, Umino's Umino's heart also raced.
Seeing Kinoshita Tōkichirō not complying, the bandit leader brandished his axe and stepped forward with a sinister smile, saying, "It seems we can't come to an agreement. There's only one way to resolve this..."
Trembling, Kinoshita Tōkichirō nodded and tightly gripped his samurai sword.
In the next moment, both of them suddenly shouted in unison:
"Duel!!!"
Umino: "???"
Before he could comprehend what was happening, the projection enlarged, and soon, the shadow of Kinoshita Tōkichirō merged with his own, while the bandit leader appeared directly in front of him!
Then, a stack of Jutsu cards appeared on the table to his right, and five cards flew out from the top, floating in front of him.
The bandit leader on the opposite side had the same situation, but he still didn't put down his axe.
"Why... Why are we suddenly playing cards?" Umino was puzzled.
Because Kinoshita Tōkichirō's story was so engaging, he was completely immersed and forgot that he was playing the tutorial mode of a Jutsu card game.
He was caught off guard.
But even so, this twist was too abrupt!
Why were they so hostile just a moment ago, but now they were playing cards so amiably?
"Sensei? The game has started." Natsuhiko reminded his teacher when he saw no reaction from him.
"Oh..." Umino only reacted then, following the tutorial's prompts and playing a ninja card.
"Uzumaki Naruto, reporting for duty!"(That is so random…..smh)
A small ninja projection appeared on the table, albeit much smaller than before.
Although lacking in intensity, it added a sense of fun to playing the game.
But instead of paying attention to the game, Umino turned to Natsuhiko with a bewildered expression and complained, "Why did you play the card so suddenly?"
Natsuhiko shrugged, "Sensei, you can think of playing cards as their way of commanding their subordinates or ninjas in battle."
"Well... that's barely plausible."
Umino knew it was just a tutorial and couldn't expect too much, so he focused on the game in front of him.
Natsuhiko's tutorial was very detailed, with explanations for every step, guiding players on how to play the game.
It made Umino feel like a three-year-old.
However, despite the bandit leader's imposing appearance, he was the opponent of the first level of the tutorial, so his strength was naturally not that great.
Umino easily defeated him after a few rounds.
Then there was a clang.
The axe fell.
"How could I possibly lose!?"
The bandit leader looked incredulous, then suddenly coughed up blood and collapsed on the table, dead, before disintegrating into dust.
Umino stared in disbelief.
After a while, he reacted.
"Why... why would someone cough up blood and die just from losing a card game?"
Was the Jutsu card game such a terrifying thing?
What kind of world was this?
Natsuhiko explained on the side, "You defeated the bandits, so naturally, the projections from cards won't let the bandit leader live."
Umino had nothing to say.
Just as he won the game, the plot began to progress.
When the plot projection reappeared, the bandits were lying on the ground, and Kinoshita Tōkichirō resumed his journey.
Soon, he safely arrived at the place to buy provisions, thinking he could finally complete the task.
However, the shopkeeper took advantage of his young appearance and temporarily raised the prices.
With the money Kinoshita Tōkichirō had, he couldn't afford enough military provisions.
The two argued.
Just as Umino waited to see how Kinoshita Tōkichirō would solve this problem with his intelligence, the shopkeeper suddenly waved a giant abacus and grinned:
"It seems we can't come to an agreement. There's only one way to resolve this..."
"Duel!!!" x2
Umino's gaze went blank, and another intense Jutsu battle began.
"I understand the game we just played, but why would they suddenly start playing cards in the middle of a business negotiation?"
Natsuhiko shrugged, "You can think of playing cards as verbal sparring between them."
"That's quite a stretch!"
Umino sighed helplessly and continued the game.
After a few rounds.
There was another clang.
The abacus fell.
"How could I possibly lose!?"
The shopkeeper looked incredulous, then suddenly coughed up blood and collapsed on the table, dead, before disintegrating into dust.
Umino stood up in frustration:
"Hey! What happened to the verbal sparring? Why did this shopkeeper die too? What about buying provisions?"
Natsuhiko began to ponder once again over how to explain to his teacher the deadly consequences of verbal sparring in a world without "Autumn's Fragrance."
Before Umino could wait for Natsuhiko's answer, he saw the plot progressing again, so he reluctantly sat back down and continued watching.
Kinoshita Tōkichirō, who bought a large amount of military provisions without spending a penny, quickly gained Nobunaga's appreciation...
Then, a battle called the Battle of Okehazama soon took place.
When Umino saw Kinoshita Tōkichirō and the enemy samurai playing cards in front of the formation, he was already numb.
Fortunately, the exciting plot and the charismatic Oda Nobunaga left a deep impression on Umino.
Umino's attitude changed from playing the tutorial with accompanying plots to watching the plots with accompanying tutorials.
To insert more opportunities for playing cards, Natsuhiko became even more aggressive.
In the conquest of Mino, to build a castle overnight, Kinoshita Tōkichirō sought help from a childhood friend, but the friend took out a deck of cards...
To recruit the military genius, Kinoshita Tōkichirō visited him three times, but as expected, the other party also took out a deck of cards...
After the war, due to Kinoshita Tōkichirō's achievements, Nobunaga betrothed his adopted daughter, Sonnomaru, to him.
But on the night of their wedding, when the shy Sonnomaru lifted the blanket, she also took out a deck of cards...
At this moment, Umino turned his head and found that Natsuhiko had disappeared without a trace...
With Kinoshita Tōkichirō's rapid progress in his career, Umino gradually got into the game, no longer fixated on the reasons for playing cards but transforming into an emotionless card-playing machine.
It's as if in a world where everything can be solved by playing cards, Umino became somewhat envious.
At the same time, every time he passed a level, the game would reward him with a card pack.
Inside were many useful cards that could replace the impractical cards in the basic deck.
Feeling like he was getting stronger like Kinoshita Tōkichirō, Umino became more engrossed in the game.
Unfortunately, the good times didn't last. With the rapid advancement of the plot, an event called the Honnō-ji Incident occurred.
Previously emphasised and greatly appreciated by Umino, Nobunaga died in this rebellion.
This left him confused again: why would someone be killed just for playing a tutorial?
What left him speechless was that after Kinoshita Tōkichirō avenged his lord, at the memorial site of Honnō-ji.
It was discovered that Nobunaga's lingering resentment remained in the world, intending to incarnate as the true Sixth Demon King to destroy the world!
Why did the plot suddenly become fantastical?
Kinoshita Tōkichirō tried to persuade him as he did not want to even raise his voice at his lord but the demon king was unstoppable, so he, filled with grief and resentment, drew his samurai sword.
"Nobunaga-sama….., it seems… we can't come to an agreement…... There's only one way to resolve this..."
(End of this chapter)
Chapters 85 and 86 are up on my patreon. You guys should rather support me on Patreon. I have like 30 advanced chapters of this story there! -_-
patreon.com/ReidAstrea