Reborn in a Daimyo's court in Naruto

Part 16

Chapter 16

IEYATSU GIN

"This is disastrous," Ieyatsu Gin gasped as he stood opposite the young lord, with a detailed map of the land of fire opened in front of him, as they planned their eventual response to the incursion by Lord Mahiro's forces.

A response that seemed more and more complicated and unlikely as he noticed their precarious situation.

"With the constant skirmishes between our forces and those of Lord Saegusa and Lord Hattori to the East and West, the attack from the Northern border is devastating, and from my intel, is being led by the heir to Lord Mahiro, Sakazuki, who has at his back six of their nine samurai.

"Six!" Nakiri-san gasped from the side at those words, at the sheer number, for this also showed the intentions of the invading force.

They wished to end the Akihito family.

Though he cursed himself for not seeing this development, the skirmishes initiated by Lord Saeagusa and Hattori over the lasty few days should have been hints enough yet they had overlooked the intensity of Lord Mahiro's attack.

"Our four samurai are right now defending our Eastern and Western borders, we will have to pull them back," and as he was about to move the four general pieces towards the Norther front, the young Lord's voice cut in.

"No, we cannot do that," he cut in, surprising him.

"If we do so, we will be pincered by a three-pronged attack. Lord Saegusa and Hattori wield a considerably less force than Lord Mahiro, but it is a formidable force nonetheless. As soon as we pull back our samurai from there, we will be overrun," he added, and he could understand his fears.

"But what else can we do? We cannot let Lord Sakazuki approach the capital of our lands like this; we need to have someone combat his substantial force," he asked, and the answer to his worry took him by surprise.

"I will lead that force," Akihito cut in, startling all the three residents of the room with his words.

"Have you lost your mind! You alone will face six samurai, Six!" he nearly shouted at the absurdity of the notion and Akihito shook his head.

"I won't have to face them all at once, and I will lead a small and mobile force and try taking on them one at a time; with the best of my men, I could turn this whole thing around," he offered, and he shook his head.

"That's a massive risk! You are the lord of these lands, if anything were to happen to you, everything becomes meaningless, I cannot let you put yourself in danger like this," he said resolutely, yet Akihito appeared to have made up his mind.

"I could write to father," Lady Miyuki cut in from the side in a worried tone. Her face was pale, and her demeanor anxious as she looked towards the young lord.

"Maybe he could intervene and have Lord Mahiro pull bac..."

"It won't happen," he cut in, knowing that such a thing would be futile.

"The daimyo-sama will not be able to intervene in time, let alone the political situation in the capital makes it very difficult for him to make any such intervention. The pace at which Lord Mahiro's forces are moving, we would be overrun before any such directive makes its way to this part of the land, and even then, Lord Mahiro could simply claim that he didn't receive it or manufacture any legitimate cause for this overture," he replied and saw her nod nervously, as the young lord added.

"We must face this ordeal ourselves, with an expectation of no intervention from the capital."

"I see, then what will we do?" she questioned in a worried tone, and he grit his teeth as he scanned the map once more.