Kyoto Arc

The third arc in the series. After defeating the Imagawa army and conquering Mino the Oda forces finally arrive in the capital of Kyoto. Planning to install Imagawa Yoshimoto as the new Shogun after the Miyoshi Three drove out the existing Ashikage Shogunate, they find themselves in need of financial support. Yoshiharu, while attempting to gain the necessary funds, is openly challenged by his junior retainer, Akechi Mitsuhide.

March to Kyoto
Nobuna marches her army out to Kyoto to install Imagawa Yoshimoto as her figurehead shogun. On the way they meet up with Nagamasa, who is in absurdly high spirits after his recent marriage and causes Nobuna to feel somewhat worried for the position she put her brother into.

The reality behind Nagamasa's uplifted spirit occured some nights before when he was in an onsen thinking about the unusual silence of his "wife" Oichi, however, he is interrupted by someone walking in, despite him making it clear that any who enter his private Onsen will be killed. He prepares to kill the assailant, who turns out to be Oichi(In reality, Nobuna's brother Nobukatsu) and both of them realise the true gender of the other. Nagamasa, embarrassed that her secret was found out, fails to kill Nobukatsu and ends up wondering if Nobuna knew she was a girl and sent her a "male" wife as a result. Returning to the situation at hand Nagamasa asks Nobusumi to cover up, to which he notes he appologises since he became "excited" seeing her naked body. Nobukatsu then enters the Onsen and they talk about her past, which leads her to note that she cannot stand men due to the actions of her former captor. Nobukatsu manages to make all of her worries vanish merely by telling her she can return to being a woman in his pressence. Essentially, she falls victim to her own logic that women can't resist a Bishonen, but unlike Nobuna she quickly realises she's fallen in love with him and acts on it.

Returning to the present, the Oda army arrives at the Rokkoku Clan's Castle fortress, which is said to stand on par with Inabayama Castle, and is led by Nagamasa's own former captor Rokkoku Shousei. Nobuna, skillfully employing the use of her generals, especially the new Akechi Mitsuhide, conquers the castle and forces Shousei to flee to Kaga all in the span of a single night, ultimately convincing Nagamasa of her brilliant abilities.

Nobuna's army is then welcomed to Kyoto by the people due to the fact that they are all well diciplined and well dressed catching the public eye. Matsunaga Hisahide is forced to leave the city due to the rapid nature of Nobuna's approach.

The Hinderence
Some time after arriving in Kyoto Nobuna sits down with her subordinates and retainers for a large feast and informs Yoshiharu about the current Empress, Himiko. Saitou Dousan then enters the room begging Nobuna for help as he's being chased by a number of women whom he had once seduced to gain money and become the lord of Mino. Seeing everyone is staring at him like the devil, Dousan tries to get Yoshiharu to help him, but Yoshiharu is too terrified of the women around him and simply appologises to him as Dousan is dragged away by the squad of angry old women.

Later Nobuna's forces head out to cement her rule over Kyoko and expell the Miyoshi Three. Yoshiharu is asked to keep an eye on the Yamato Gosho, the centre where Empress Himiko resides. While there he encounters a young girl who seems to communicate with him telepathically and asks him to retrieve her kite from a tree. He succeeds and ultimately ends up trapped inside of the Gosho, during his attempt to escape, he falls onto the noble Kampaku Konoe Sakihisa. Having offended the violent noble, Yoshiharu receives one brutal kick from him after another and, knowing the man's status and influence will endanger Nobuna's plans, Yoshiharu plainly accepts it. Nobuna herself arrives to put a stop to this, going so far as to threat Sakihisa that those who mess with her "saru" are also messing with her.

Later, Nobuna calls a meeting to discus the current state of affairs, namely Konoe's continuing interference with making Yoshimoto into the Shogun. Kyoto is revealed to have fallen under Nobuna's full control, but the Miyoshi Three escaped, and Konoe put up an impossible task for Nobuna to do in exchange for making Yoshimoto the Shogun, namely, donate 120Kan to the Yamato Gosho. To make the matter even more dangerous, Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin have stopped fighting due to Nobuna's pressence in Kyoto and the former has advanced. Nobuna is forced to send most of her retainers, bar herself, Yoshiharu, Mitsuhide and Inuchiyo, home to hinder Shingen while she goes to Sakai to raise the funds necessary to fulfil Konoe's rediculous demand.

Challenge: Akechi Mitsuhide vs Sagara Yoshiharu
In order to raise the money they need Nobuna sneaks into Sakai with Yoshiharu, under the guise of a merchant's daughter named Kichi. Sakai, due to its heavy trade and the wealth of the merchants, is essentially the perfect place to find some way to earn the money needed. Goemon, Hanbei and Inuchiyo are revealed to have remained in Kyoto. While thinking of a method, Nobuna takes interest in takoyaki and also the sight of an indian elephant and a camel, all of which are things she'd never seen until now. Eventually they're interrupted by the arrival of Mitsuhide. Mitsuhide suggests pillaging the city, which Nobuna denies, since Sakai is the city of world trading in Japan(in true history, it was eventually sealed off anyway by the Tokugawa) and she won't allow it. When Nobuna leaves them, Mitsuhide drops her facade and ultimately reveals to Yoshiharu that if not for his existence she would be the one Nobuna trusts, moreso, her plan to take over Kyoto was ruined by him saving Imagawa Yoshimoto and thus she had to force Ashikage Yoshiaki to leave in order to set Yoshimoto up as shogun, essentially causing the current situation. She attempts to drive a wedge between him and Nobuna by falsely accusing him of touching her, but Nobuna, due to Yoshiharu complaining about the lack of proof, decides that it'll need to be settled through contest. They are then interrupted by the merchant Imai Soukyo, who recognises Nobuna from meeting her father ten years prior and reveals himself to be the one who owns the shops she buys her arquebus' from. While talking to Soukyo in his home, Nobuna arranges that the loser out of Mitsuhide or Yoshiharu would have to manage the kitchens back at Gifu Castle. Soukyo's business rival and guest Tsuda Sougyu comes in and the two agree to have the 36 merchants of Sakai pay the money Nobuna needs if Mitsuhide and Yoshiharu can come up with a product worth buying from them: a new form of Takoyaki which can steal away the market from the Nayabashi brand currently owning it. Basically the one who comes up with the best takoyaki will win and either way the Oda clan will receive the money they require so long as the products are worth buying.

As Nobuna and Yoshiharu quarrel like a married couple(according to Imai), Mitsuhide leaves with Tsuda Sougyu who reveals to her that he will let her win(cheat) her match against Yoshiharu in exchange for a small favour being done.

The Jakigan Beast
While thinking about a way to beat Mitsuhide Yoshiharu stumbles upon a Cristian Church in town and decides to venture inside. Upon entering the church Yoshiharu encounters Bontenmaru, a young girl with 8th grader syndrome who seems to believe she is the beast of revelations, and Louise Frois. He introduces himself to them as a man who came from the future and tries to explain it to them. While telling them about the future he comes from he ends up inspiring Bontenmaru to use her Heterochomatic eye to scare her enemies and ultimately dominate Oshu, essentially by explaining the truth of her condition to her he set her on a path of conquest. Upon realising her name is Date Masamune, Yoshiharu is left to contemplate the consequences of what he has just done by unleashing the young, hyperactive, Jakigan Masamune upon the world.

The Church Under Raid
Moments later a group of thugs led by Mitsuhide enter the church and threaten to burn it down, as per Sougyu's earlier arrangement with her. However, due to Yoshiharu managing to talk her down and bluff her, Mitsuhide ends up calling off the attack and even defending Louise from the monks she brought with her, as she never intended to harm a person during her job. Realising she's just been duped Juubei expresses frustration that Yoshiharu is being unfair, to which he states all he did was cheat to stop her from cheating. When they both appear to be having difficulty with the job Nobuna gave them, Louise suggests making a new flavour of Takoyaki instead of something entirely new, though this would affect their benefactor, Imai Soukyo, who invented Takoyaki, they ultimately decide to go along with it.

Competition Day
at night Yoshiharu confronts Imai Soukyo and tells him he and Juubei intend to make new flavors of his product as part of the competition, knowing this could ruin him, Soukyo only agrees when he hears the full scope of Nobuna's plans and considers it a dangerous but nonetheless rewarding investment if it works. He cautions Yoshiharu that he might have to backstab him in the end however, speaking as a merchant, not a friend. Yoshiharu promises he can make him the best merchant in the entire world, not just Japan, a thing Soukyo praises.

The next day Tsuda Sougyu and Imai Soukyo decide to represent Mitsuhide and Yoshiharu respectively, with the winner becomming the new representative of the merchants in Sakai. Yoshiharu is aided by Hanbei and Goemon while Mitsuhide, who has bought a large number of expensive ingredients, is aided by Inuchiyo. Yoshiharu, due to Goemon's extreme methods and their inexperience in cooking as a whole, self destructs and is forced to completely revise his plan and instead make Fried Takoyaki, based on experience from his time. Juubei however completes her's using expensive ingredience and methods the Viper became famous for. However, Yoshiharu's method, though the food comes off as ugly, more than satisfies the merchants while Juubei's looks delicious but ends up tasting completely incompatible with its ingrediants. Despite this, due to Tsuda's influence, Juubei "wins" the competition, which allows Sougyu to become the reprisentative of Kaigo as agreed, but allows Imai to buy from Yoshiharu his form of Takoyaki, essentially getting off with the better product. Though this does mean that Imai betrayed Yoshiharu, since he knew of Tsuda's underhanded plot and used it to his advantage.

Nobuna's rage
Mitsuhide, despite becoming aware of how she was used and the dishonest manner in which she had won, rubs it in Yoshiharu's face regardless. Realising that Yoshiharu lost unfairly, but that she had to send him to Gifu as per her own terms, Nobuna struggles to find the right action despite Juubei's constant insistance she banish him. Finally, they notice Yoshiharu has already taken matters into his own hands and left for the castle before she could deliver her verdict. With Mitsuhide still unable to read the atmosphere, Nobuna explodes towards her and leaves to chase Yoshiharu back. Imai ultimately tells Mitsuhide outright that she has managed to alienate herself within the Oda Faction, essentially, as Dousan himself warned her long ago, she lost sight of everything for her objective's sake. Soukyo reveals to her that the key difference between her and Nobuna is that nobuna values her subordinates like family, due in part to her own family being a rather rotten thing, especially in the case of her mother, contrary to Juubei's, who very much loved her. Realising the scope of what she has just done, Mitsuhide decides to return to Kyoto rather than follow Nobuna.

Nobuna, while riding back to Kyoto, contemplates her goal to allow Yoshiharu, a common man, to rise to the highest ranks in the country and become an example of change for it, if that doesn't work she contemplates leaving with him to see the world beyond the sea and abandoning the country. When she almost realises she's only doing it all so that Yoshiharu will have a rank where it's socially acceptible for them to be together she enters a state of denial. The arguments between Juubei and Yoshiharu, two potential oposites who she hoped would work together, throw a wrench into her plans.

Yoshiharu is then revealed to have been captured by the leader of the monks who tried to attack Louise Frois' church, Sugitani Zanjuurou, who is using him as bait to snipe Nobuna as someone paid him to. Yoshiharu attempts to reason with him, even offering to buy him off, but Sugitani notes that he's more interested in fame and also that having Nobuna unite the country and bring piece would only inconvinience a man like him. Ultimately when Yoshiharu calls out to Nobuna to try and get her to stay away he only causes her to approach and Sugitani takes his shot.

Matsunaga Danjou's Attack on Kyoto
Mitsuhide is warned that Tsuda Sougyu has told Matsunaga Hisehide, who overthrew the Ashikage Shogunate, that Kyoto is currently undefended. To prepare for Danjou's attack Mitsuhide returns to Kyoto with her men, who number but 800, and finds that Nobuna, Hanbei, Inuchiyo and Goemon aren't there, she assumes they all went after Yoshiharu. Recognising that the enemy number more than ten thousand to her measily 800 Mitsuhide decides to hold out until Nobuna can return from Mino with reinforcements.

Matsunaga Danjou then confronts Mitsuhide, her army having surrounded the shrine. Recognising the situation Mitsuhide drops her tanegashima and wields a sword instead. As they clash, Danjou uses a drug to influence Mitsuhide and tells her of Sugitani Zenjuurou being sent to kill Nobuna and how it's possible she has already died. This sends Mitsuhide into a state of shock. Just before Danjou inflicts a fatal wound Juubei is rescued by the sudden arrival of Yoshiharu, who blocks Danjou's spear. enraged, Danjou then has her men attack. Mitsuhide, shocked by Yoshiharu's arrival, asks what happened to Nobuna. Nobuna then reveals herself to be alive, but refused to go to Gifu for reinforcements when Yoshiharu chose to come to Kyoto and back Juubei up. Juubei, unwilling to believe her master would help her after what she did in Sakai, succombs again to Danjou's manipulation, but Yoshiharu breaks her out of it by telling her what happened. Inuchiyo, who tracked them down by scent, saved them alongside Hanbei and Goemon, but Zanjuurou escaped during the commotion. Juubei is still unconvinced so he chooses to tell her flat out that only she and himself can truly understand and carry on Nobuna's dream, but since he lacks status, she is the only one Nobuna can trust that task to. Having resolved himself to prevent Mitsuhide's eventual betrayal as recorded in his history, Yoshiharu pleads with her, finally his words break through.

Realising she can no longer control Mitsuhide, Danjou has her men light the temple on fire, but Hanbei uses her shikigami to summon pillars of water and effectively extinguishes the flames and stop their fire arrows. Danjou confronts Hanbei, revealing herself to be a spellcaster who uses spells not native to Japan and outside of Hanbei's experience. After asking Hanbei why she, an Onmyouji, would serve Nobuna, Hanbei replies by noting that when the dragon vain vanishes, so will Onmyouji who abuse their power and all the evil spirits they sealed, in essence, Danjou realises that Hanbei has made a great sacrifice, one only she as a fellow spellcaster can understand. However, despite being resolved to serve under Nobuna now, Danjou summons thirty strange puppets to serve her and reveals that her spells are of Persian origin, and that the Persian God Angra Mainyu, the source of her power, is stronger than the Buddha or Asura which give Hanbei her powers. Hanbei, who has already lost half of her Shikigami fending off the enemy so far, is forced to face Danjou's puppets, however her final spell doesn't come out, instead Hanbei ends up coughing blood and collapses, surprising even Danjou herself, who decides simply to have her puppets slaughter everyone else instead.

Yoshiharu, Nobuna, Inuchiyo, Goemon and Mitsuhide are pressed by Danjou's puppets, the battle is seemingly lost. Yoshiharu is eventually knocked down by the puppets who attempt to beat him to death, Mitsuhide, who had saved him from a few before, can no longer reach him. Suddenly, at the very last minutes, she sees someone in the distance and finds herself yelling out that reinforcements have arrived. Louise Frois, aided by a number of Christian friends of her's, some of whom had armies of their own, came to their aid. Takaya Dom Justo declares he will follow Frois and join the Oda Army. The merchant, Onishi Jaochin, reveals himself to have brought supplies. The doctor, Manase Belchior, is also amongst them. Upon seeing so many people from a completely different culture uniting under the same leader, a thing she did not even believe possible due to her Persian blood, Danjou surrenders to Nobuna.

Aftermath of Danjou's Invasion
To consolidate her loyalty Danjou gives Nobuna an expensive item she took from the Ashikage. Nobuna, ignoring Mitsuhide's advice, recruits Danjou and spares Yamato, the province she is in charge of, from retaliation. Nobuna asks Danjou about the rumours of her killing her former master. Danjou reveals to the contrary that when her master's father was killed by the Miyoshi clan she fled with him, then later took back what they lost and pushed him to become the leader of the clan. She continued to destroy any threat to her master, who she'd become so attached too he was like her own child, and eventually revolted against the Ashikage themselves. However, it was all meaningless as her master passed away of illness, this led Danjou to a rampage once more, this time both aimless and without end in sight until Nobuna appeared before her. Nobuna accepts it and becomes Danjou's new master on the grounds that she not hurt any of her underlings as she did with her former master, Danjou agrees to these terms.

Later, while rebuilding Kiyomizu Temple into Nijou Castle in the aftermath of the battle, Nobuna is visited by Katsuie and Nagahide, who call her out on her wrecklessness during the last battle. Nobuna notes that Yoshiharu also told her off for it, but as a result she seems unusually happy, much to Katsuie's continued frustration. Tsuda Sougyu, realising Danjou has betrayed him, returns the post of reppresentative of Sakai to Imai Soukyo, and the rumours that Takeda Shingen intended to attack the capital have proven false, but theone who spread them is not yet clear. Now, with the 120000kan they needed as tribute, Kampaku Konoe will not be able to deny Yoshimoto's rise to shogun. Katsuie asks when Yoshiharu, who lost his duel with Mitsuhide, would be sent to the kitchens, but due to the fact that Yoshiharu was the one who recruited Louise Frois and the missionaries who saved them from Danjou Nobuna retracts his punishment. Katsuie becomes further enraged, since now Yoshiharu is targetting both Nobuna and the missionaries, seeing this Nagamasa teases her, noting that the reason she seems unusually concerned for Yoshiharu might mean she's fallen for him, since this is coming from a "frivolous gentleman" like Nagamasa, even Katsuie begins to doubt.

Empress Himiko
Mitsuhide and Yoshiharu then arrive with Frois on horsback, with even Nobuna noting how strangely well Yoshiharu and Juubei are now getting along. Louise then talks with Nobuna, and after the pleasantries she reveals that Portugal and Spain are both preparing the option to invade Japan through military force(Effectively colonising it as they did the american continent), Nobuna takes this warning to heart and welcomes the missionaries.

In Yamato Gose, it's revealed that Kampaku Konoe Sakihisa was the one behind the attempt to assassinate Nobuna and the one who had Danjou attack when she was gone, all to stop her ambition even after she gained the 120,000kan he told her to donate, finally out of tricks and unable to interfere without revealing his trechery, Konoe can only watch as Nobuna arrives alongside Yoshiharu and Mitsuhide. To allow the two to meet the emperor, Nobuna gave Mitsuhide the new surname and position of "Kuretou Hyuga no Kami" and gave Yoshiharu the position of "Chikuzen No Kami". Nobuna herself as their master carries the self proclaimed position of Kazusanosuke, but officially before coming here had no titles to boast. Konoe, unwilling to let someone without status meet Himiko, gave Nobuna the title of "Danjo Daihitsu" and was quite offended when she noted she didn't like it. Before he could then note Nobuna's accomplishments, Himiko herself greets them from behind her veil. Himiko notes she will entrust the country to Nobuna and tries to give her the Shogun seat, but Nobuna declines and Konoe objects that her common blood doesn't permit that status, Himiko then offers Nobuna to become Kampaku, but Konoe objects given that it is his position and again Nobuna's blood is impure. Himiko finally notes she'll give Nobuna the seat of Daijou Daijin, essentially allowing her to run the country while not taking issue of her bloodline. Konoe again objects, noting that now that the Ashikage are gone they should attempt to restore the Heian Era and usher in a golden age. Himiko notes that she intends to handle religious matters and leave state affairs, as has been tradition, to her "brother" Susanoo, referring to Nobuna, Konoe is insulted again that a common warrior could have been given that rank. However, Nobuna notes that the nobles who abused their power and had these warriors fight for them have no right to their current seats as it was the warriors themselves who managed to fight for the people by dirtying their hands. Nobuna proceeds to thank Himiko, but insists that she make Yoshimoto the Shogun. Konoe tries to call Nobuna a traitor, which causes Nobuna to insult him openly and accuse him of trying to have her assassinated, Konoe, realising he's been found out, again pleads with Himiko. Himiko notes that though she does not understand Nobuna, she has touched Yoshiharu and thanks to the abilities she inherited from the first Himiko(who could understand others thoughts by gazing into their eyes) she has managed to read his mind. Finally, Himiko notes to Nobuna that Yoshiharu's mind is quite litterally full of thoughts of girls, which Nobuna takes to heart. Nobune declines to gain status, as she would prefer to prove that status and blood are meaningless and that one's own effort should justify their standing, Konoe again calls her a traitor for this, but Himiko does not care and asks her why she wants to prove this true. Looking at Yoshiharu, Nobuna declares that it is for her dream.

Invasion of Echizen
A month after the rise of the Imagawa Shogunate all of the local lords sent letters with the exception of those of Echizen and Wakasa. Echizen being ruled by Asakura Yoshikage. Due to this, Nobuna summons 30,000 troops to attack Wakasa bringing Juubei, Katsuie, Nagahide, Danjou, Motoyasu and Inuchiyo with her.

Yoshiharu remains in Kyoto, soon visited by Nene, looking after a still bedridden Hanbei. The doctor, Manase Belchior Dousan, arrives on Hanbei's request to take a look at her, but Yoshiharu quickly dissaproves since the man comes off as a lolicon. Hanbei talks Yoshiharu into letting the man help her, but asks him to look away, which he finally does. Manase tends to Hanbei's fevour, but starts acting strange again and ends up with her throwing a knife into his head. After hearing that Yoshiharu is from the future, Manase asks him about medicine from his time, but Yoshiharu, being untrained in the art, cannot answer. Manase then advises him to not tell too many things about the future to anyone, Hanbei agrees, since that knowledge is Yoshiharu's trump card and the more he changes the less effective it will be. Realising he's already changed a lot by saving Imagawa Yoshimoto and Saitous Dousan, Yoshiharu mentions how the current battle, when Nobunaga attacked Echizen, caused Azai Nagamasa, who was allied to Echizen, to betray him and cut off his retreat to Kyoto. Since Nobuna is attacking Wakasa and not Echizen, Yoshiharu feels they're safe, until a panicked Hanbei talls him otherwise. Hanbei explains that the attack on Wakasa was a bluff, as Nobuna didn't want Nagamasa to know she intended to attack Echizen, realising this, Yoshiharu is forced to set out and try to prevent Nobuna from being encircled, as history recorded. Hanbei sends Zenki, as she is too incapacitated to go herself, and Yoshiharu and Goemon set out.

Azai Hisemasa's Decree
In Odani Castle, Nagamasa is confronted by her father, Hisemasa, interrupting her time alone with "Oichi". Hisemasa reveals that Nobuna has broken their pact and attacked their allies in Echizen. Hisemasa takes back the position of clan leader and has Nagamasa locked up. Unable to betray her father a second time, Nagamasa sends Nobukatsu to warn Nobuna. Nobukatsu is chased out of the town by the soldiers until Goemon arrives and saves him from them. Nobukatsu gives Yoshiharu a bean sack, as a warning to his sister, he and Goemon then set about saving Nagamasa while Yoshiharu and Zenki proceed to the battlefield.

Staying Behind
Nobuna's forces, using a grandfather clock to confuse the enemy(since they've never seen it before the Asakua clansmen assume it to be a deadly weapon) and make them surrender, are revealed to have reached deep into Echizen before Yoshiharu arrives and explains to her that, like the bean sack, her army is now caught between Echizen and Oumi. Nobuna refuses to believe Nagamasa would betray her, but Yoshiharu reveals that it was Hisemasa, not Nagamasa, who betrayed them. realising that surrendering would mean death for her and her men, Nobuna's men offer up their lives to cover the retreat, when her own retainers push her to order one of them to do it and die for her, Yoshiharu volunteers, noting that he shouldn't even be in their world to begin with. Yoshiharu gives Nobuna his phone, calling it a clock from the future more advanced even than the grandfather clock Nobuna brought to the battlefield. After convincing Nobuna that he will not die, since he is the replacement of Hideyoshi and the one who promised to fulfil her dreams, she is comforted by Danjou and agrees to retreat.

Katsuie gives Yoshiharu a number of voluntary troops to aid him and pleads with him to come back alive, when he responds that he will be happy to come back if only to see her chest again she promises to let him touch it instead if he actually comes back alive. Nagahide then notes that if she knew this would be the end she'd have helped him and Nobuna be together at least once, but he encourages her to return as without her Nobuna only has the dumb but strong Katsuie. Inuchiyo then hugs him, even refusing to let go until he reminded her that Nobuna needed her more.

After everyone else says their goodbys and leaves Yoshiharu moves to the camp and sits in the comander's seat. He turns his head to realise that Mitsuhide and Motoyasu have not left yet and pushes them to do so. Motoyasu asks why he didn't just take Nobuna away when he had the chance and begins a speach about how one day she would rename herself Tokugawa Iyasu, only for Yoshiharu to reject that name and deject her. Juubei then reveals she also wanted to change her name later, but gives her new name as something neither Yoshiharu or Motoyasu can percieve as human. They then reveal that their intentions are to help him, Mitsuhide doesn't specify why but Motoyasu states it is to thank him for helping Mikawa become independant. Yoshiharu tells Motoyasu that she is the one who Nobuna will leave the country too once she takes it over, and then tells Juubei that since only she and himself can understand Nobuna's dream they will leave with her when she goes out to see the world, as a result neither of them are allowed to die meaninglessly with him. Juubei lends him fifty of her best rifles and Motoyasu gives him Hanzo in place of Goemon before they leave, effectively trying to ensure he does not die.

Kanegasaki Retreat
Yoshiharu, with ten Kouga Ninja, one Shikigami, 500 voluntary soldiers and 50 rifles, then prepares to face the dangers of the retreat.

Continuity and Conclusions

 * Azai Nagamasa is revealed to be a woman, and an ideal match for Nobukatsu, ultimately allowing her to have a complete change of heart after the events of the last arc already influenced her resolve.
 * It's revealed that Hanbei was the only one aware of Nagamasa's gender, and is the only one who knew that this would be the ultimate result.
 * In this arc, nobuna lists her retainers who can be considered capable generals, excluding herself there are Inuchiyo, Katsuie, Yoshiharu, Nagahide, Mitsuhide and also Kazumasu Takigawa, Takigawa does not actually appear until much later, during the Tiger of Kai Arc, and is noted by Nobuna as being openly rebellious towards her.
 * Azai Hisemasa takes control of the Azai clan back from Nagamasa and locks her up. Goemon and Nobukatsu set about rescuing her while Yoshiharu tries to help the Oda forces escape from the allied armies of Echizen and Oumi.
 * Mitsuhide reveals that she's the one who forced Ashikage Yoshiaki to leave Kyoto so that Yoshimoto could become Shogun, in effect the historical divergence here was indeed caused by Yoshimoto's existence and Mitsuhide's knowledge of it.
 * It is revealed that the princess Daimyo have existed since just after the existence of the first Himiko, in other words the Point of Divergence actually originates from that time, at least 12-1300 years before the story is set.
 * Speaking practically, this means that Yoshiharu is in an alternate universe altogether, so no matter how he changes the history there it will not affect the world from whence he originates.
 * Hanbei is revealed to be dying, the reason being that she sealed away the source of an Onmyouji's power in order to make way for the world of science.
 * Danjou reveals that her spellcasting more or less originates from Persia, and that it's a more ancient form from those used in Japan, which are in fact descended from her form.
 * Yoshimoto becomes the new Shogun, thus forming the Imagawa Shogunate.
 * This is the first time Yoshiharu's skills with the spear have been shown to have improved from when he started training, he can now hold off, but not really defeat, Danjou's puppets and soldiers, while still weaker than most of his allies this is a marked improvement since in the past he could only manage to survive by running away. A month later, by the end of the arc, he can finally ride a horse.
 * Date Masamune appears and starts becoming a conqueror, also, rather than a missing eye, she has Heterochromia in her eyes.
 * The Christians of Sakai swear loyalty to Nobuna, as does Danjou, as a result of this, and Yoshimoto's rise to Shogun and Empress Himiko's own personal acceptence, she is now officially recognised as having a justified reason to take control of Kyoto and Sakai. Together with Owari and Mino, her army is now considerably larger than it started out as.
 * Nobuna wants Yoshiharu to rise up to the highest ranks of society in order to change the country's system(Being a commoner without blood relations rising up that high would ultimately achieve this.) However she's really doing this for her own feelings, as if Yoshiharu is of rank it will be socially acceptible for them to be in a relationship.
 * The current Kampaku, Konoe, is more or less depicted as the oposite of everything Nobuna hopes to achieve and symbollically a complete oposite of Yoshiharu himself, as he purely believes his blood gives him the right to do whatever he wants without the nead to thank or even consider others.
 * Yoshiharu takes over the retreat as Echizen and Oumi's armies bare down on the retreating Oda army. he gives his phone to Nobuna as a gift before the battle, calling it a clock from the future.

Anime Differences

 * The Miyoshi Three, who were major antagonists in the Anime, consists of Miyoshi Masayasu and his generals, one of which is his brother Miyoshi Nagayasu, however they are only figureheads and the one's pulling their strings from behind the scenes are Konoe Sakihisa and Tsuda Sougyu. In the Light Novel, while most of this is not changed, Sougyu and Sakihisa keep their overall connection to the group secret throughout, so when the group crumbles they're still active and scheming.

Characters
{| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="article-table article-table-selected" style="width: 700px;" ! scope="col" style="text-align: center;"|Oda Faction ! scope="col" style="text-align: center;"|City of Kyoto ! scope="col" style="text-align: center;"|City of Sakai
 * style="text-align: center;"|
 * style="text-align: center;"|

Oda Army

 * Oda Nobuna
 * Katsuie Shibata
 * Niwa Nagahide
 * Inuchiyo Maeda
 * Saitou Dousan
 * Akechi Mitsuhide
 * style="text-align: center;"|

Yamato Gose

 * Empress Himiko
 * Kampaku Konoe Sakihisa
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Merchants

 * Imai Soukyo
 * Tsuda Sougyu
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Sagara Corps

 * Sagara Yoshiharu
 * Goemon Hachisuka
 * Kawanami group
 * Maeda
 * Hanbei Takenaka
 * Zenki
 * Gouki
 * Twelve Heavenly Guards
 * Nene
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Azai Clan

 * Azai Nagamasa
 * Azai Hisamasa
 * "Oichi"
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Christians

 * Louise Frois
 * Date Masamune
 * Don Justo Takayama
 * Joaquim Konishi
 * Manase Belchior Dousan
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Allies
Mikawa
 * Motoyasu Matsudaira

Imagawa Clan
 * Imagawa Yoshimoto
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Trivia

 * It really is a wonder why Date Masamune(Bontenmaru) appears in this Arc at all since the events are historically supposed to occur when he...she? is just one year old. In fact, given that the events of the series carry over several months when in the real world they took place over a period of years, Date Masamune should not even have been born yet.
 * That said, this is a series where Oichi is a cross dressing Nobukatsu.