Chapter 51: I am giving you a hairpin, make sure to keep it safe.

"The Qilin of Sagami, Hojo Akitoki."
"The Dragon of Echigo, Uesugi Kenshin."
"The Tiger of Kai, Takeda Shingen."

The three factions converged upon an open space at the center, and as if by unspoken accord, all the retainers pulled back their reins.

Merely possessing the titles of Dragon, Tiger, and Qilin, the lords of each house rode forward to converge at the very focal point of countless gazes.

Witnessing a scene that was destined to be inscribed with bold strokes in the scrolls of history, the onlookers involuntarily swallowed their nervous saliva. Their emotions were stirred beyond description!

Yet while the surrounding people held their breath for the three converging figures, wondering what might be said in this formal meeting, or whether it would be characterized by drawn daggers or the mutual appreciation of heroes, Hojo Akitoki merely looked at Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin on either side of him.

For a moment, he actually had no idea what to say.

So, glancing up at the sky, an instinct arose within Akitoki's heart: when one does not know how to begin, why not...

"Have you two eaten yet?"

The traditional greeting of the East tumbled out of Hojo Akitoki's mouth. If he had had a cigarette in his pouch at that moment, Akitoki might even have dismounted and passed them around.

"Hahaha!"

Abruptly amused by such an opening, Takeda Shingen—who likewise had no idea what to say—threw back his head and laughed. Although asking whether one had eaten seemed entirely inappropriate in this context, and such a greeting did not exist in the traditions of Hinomoto, the somewhat solemn atmosphere of the scene was shattered by those very words.

Laughing so exaggeratedly that tear tracks appeared at the corners of his eyes, Takeda Shingen raised his riding crop to point at Hojo Akitoki and said, "Lord Akitoki, do I look like someone who has eaten?"

"If you hadn't played the uninvited guest in my camp last night, I might have actually enjoyed a proper bowl of rice with tea."

"Oh."

Akitoki's eyes lit up. He had not expected Takeda Shingen to be a fellow enthusiast of tea-soaked rice.

"I am quite fond of tea-soaked rice as well. How about the two of us share a bowl?"

At these words, the face of Uesugi Kenshin, who had remained silent all this while, instantly shifted beneath the veil.

"Lord Shingen's tastes are certainly unique, but while tea-soaked rice is pleasant, one should not consume it for long."

"Especially the Hojo family's tea-soaked rice; eat too much of it, and your stomach will burst from indigestion."

Quickly cutting off the conversation between Takeda Shingen and Hojo Akitoki, Uesugi Kenshin admired the composure of the two men before him to the utmost degree.

Just a moment ago they had been fighting to the death, yet the next moment, provided there were sufficient interests involved, they could instantly cast aside their hatred and seek cooperation.

Truly, they were worthy of being his two greatest rivals.

Had he initially charged his armies to swallow these two up whole, these mortal enemies would undoubtedly have united on the spot, only to betray each other while waiting to sit back and reap the fisherman's profit.

"Lord Kenshin speaks with reason."

Following Uesugi Kenshin's remark, Takeda Shingen seamlessly picked up the thread of conversation.

"Lord Kenshin's Echigo must surely have its own specialties as well, no?"

"Are there any that you might let me sample and appreciate?"

Now it was Hojo Akitoki's turn for his eyebrows to twitch. What had originally been a casual, everyday greeting from the East had, through these few rounds of dialogue, transformed into a coded exchange between riddlers seeking an alliance.

Shaking his head, Hojo Akitoki smiled wryly while also taking pleasure in watching Takeda Shingen probe the depths of Uesugi Kenshin.

Moreover, taking advantage of this verbal sparring between the two of them, he could properly examine Uesugi Kenshin himself, attempting to use this opportunity to determine whether he—or she—was truly who he suspected.

Thus, Hojo Akitoki settled his mind to observe closely. The Dragon of Echigo, mounted upon his steed, was truly as the later legends rumored.

He was wrapped up so tightly that not a single inch of skin was exposed except for a pair of eyes. Fortunately, Akitoki was not entirely without clues, judging by the shape of the exposed eyes, the condition and hue of the skin around them, combined with the adversary's physical build and deliberately disguised voice.

*Could it really be a woman? Should I call her Elder Sister Uesugi?*

Recalling the other's history, in this world, wasn't she seemingly only two or three years older than him?

Rubbing his chin, Hojo Akitoki recalled another Eastern proverb: *An elder bride brings a bounty of gold.*

"Ugh."

Uesugi Kenshin, who had been conversing with Takeda Shingen, suddenly felt a chill wash over him.

Instantly dropping the Tiger of Kai from the conversation, he turned his head to look at the temporarily silent Hojo Akitoki.

Swearing by his own sixth sense, Kenshin was certain that the man before him seemed to have developed some rather improper thoughts concerning him.

"Lord Akitoki, let us end this battle here."

"The war between you two is unjust. For the sake of the common people of Kanto, I hope the flames of war will not be rekindled."

Aside from flying the banner bearing the character for Bishamonten, Uesugi Kenshin's other banner was righteousness. Claiming never to wage an unjust war, he happened to coincide with Hojo Akitoki in this regard.

"Very well."

Showing considerable deference, and based upon realistic considerations, the moment Uesugi Kenshin appeared with his army, this battle could no longer be fought.

Besides, having merely lost a bit of face while securing more than enough substantive gains, Hojo Akitoki agreed without hesitation.

"Lord Akitoki is truly a man of benevolence and righteousness."

Seeing Akitoki agree so readily, Uesugi Kenshin could not help but offer a verbal compliment.

A person who could assess the shifting tides and understand when to advance or retreat—that was his first impression of Hojo Akitoki upon their initial meeting.

However, the crisp dialogue between these two left the biggest loser of the entire conflict, Takeda Shingen, deeply displeased.

*Before you, Uesugi Kenshin, arrived, I was losing my shirt.*
*After you, Uesugi Kenshin, arrived, I am still losing my shirt.*
*Then didn't your coming here amount to nothing?*

No! You cannot have come for nothing.

Though he held little hope—after all, everyone present was an old hand at schemes—Shingen still wished to try his luck, ideally inciting these two fellows, whose foundations remained completely intact, to start fighting right then and there.

Yet Shingen also understood that ordinary instigations would not only fail to work, but would be seen through by the others, leaving him embarrassed, looked down upon, and mocked far and wide.

So what should he do?

Rolling his eyes around, Takeda Shingen had never experienced a moment when his brain worked as fast as it did now.

"Lord Kenshin."

While Shingen was brewing malice, Akitoki suddenly made a move that nearly gave the Tiger of Kai the shock of pleasant surprise.

Slowly urging his horse forward, amidst the tense gazes of the surrounding men, Hojo Akitoki approached Uesugi Kenshin.

Waving a hand to signal the few mounted guards of the Uesugi army not to act rashly, Kenshin—who in the original history frequently led troops from the front and entered the thick of battle—was simply curious.

Confident in his own martial prowess, he felt not the slightest panic at Akitoki's approach.

"*Mulan weaves, facing the door. No sound of the shuttle is heard, only the sighs of a girl.*"

To the deep disappointment of Takeda Shingen, who was practically shouting in his heart for them to start fighting, once he reached a certain distance from Uesugi Kenshin, Akitoki advanced no further. He merely recited the Eastern ballad of Mulan in a calm voice.

*What is the meaning of this?*

Large question marks appeared in Takeda Shingen's eyes; he could not fathom Akitoki's intent.

*Did he want to show off his culture?*
*There was hardly any need to recite such a poem, surely?*

"Hmm?"

Kenshin's brows twitched slightly, his gaze shifting subtly.

As one well-read in prose and poetry, he naturally knew the implication of the poem Hojo Akitoki had recited.

Subconsciously tightening his grip on the reins, his heart fell into momentary chaos. He wondered if something had gone awry, accidentally allowing Akitoki to discover the truth.

*Oh no!*

Takeda Shingen, whose cleverness was such that if hair sprouted on him he could pass for a monkey, acutely sensed the anomaly in the air.

He looked at Hojo Akitoki, who had finished the poem and was now staring intently at Uesugi Kenshin, and then at Uesugi Kenshin, who had fallen into silence.

Though he could not understand why the atmosphere had suddenly turned somewhat ambiguous, Shingen could swear upon his life that these two were hiding something from him!

If, due to some unknown matter, these two were to join forces in secret behind his back, it would truly threaten his precious little life.

Anxious at heart yet showing no change on the surface, Shingen racked his brains to devise a way to break the deadlock—at the very least, to figure out what riddles these two were speaking.

However, Hojo Akitoki did not give him the time. Smiling toward Uesugi Kenshin, Akitoki—who still wore his hair in the traditional Eastern topknot—reached up, pulled out his hairpin, and tossed it toward the silent Kenshin.

Seeing that the other had indeed caught the hairpin, Hojo Akitoki turned his horse around and rode away without a single trace of reluctance.