Just as the path to unifying the land was about to be completed, the noose of fate often tightened abruptly amidst the most triumphant music.
In the early summer of the tenth year of Tensho (1551), Azuchi Castle was bathed in the radiant glow of Oda Nobunaga's power. He was brimming with confidence, his gaze already extending beyond the Kinai region to the more distant western provinces. When Hashiba Hideyoshi was locked in a fierce battle with the Mori army at Bitchu-Takamatsu Castle and sent an urgent plea for reinforcements, Nobunaga saw not a crisis, but a golden opportunity—he would personally lead an expedition to annihilate the Mori, then conquer Kyushu, completing the final piece of the puzzle for unifying the country.
He calmly appointed his generals, appointing Akechi Mitsuhide, Hosokawa Tadaoki, and Ikeda Nobuteru as vanguard commanders. At this very moment, Tokugawa Ieyasu and Anayama Nobuhiro, to express their gratitude for the rewards bestowed upon them, came to Azuchi for a visit. Nobunaga readily agreed, entrusting the important task of receiving them to Mitsuhide.
Mitsuhide spared no effort, gathering rare treasures and antiques from Kyoto and Nara to host a lavish banquet for his distinguished guests. However, before the afterglow of the grand feast had even faded, Nobunaga, citing the need for war preparations, issued a strict order to Mitsuhide to immediately return to his territory of Tanba to regroup his army and prepare for battle. In this sudden shift from order to command, no one noticed the cold, resolute glint in the eyes of the seemingly submissive general.
Nobunaga personally accompanied Ieyasu on a tour of Kyoto, staying at Honno-ji Temple within the castle. Immersed in the excitement of the impending battle, he reminisced with his eldest son, Oda Nobutada, about their youthful folly, completely unaware that a vast net of rebellion was quietly tightening.
Meanwhile, at Kameyama Castle in Tanba, Akechi Mitsuhide drank with his confidants. In the midst of the revelry, he seemingly casually uttered a question that would shake the world: "Just how deep is the moat around Honno-ji Temple?"
The next day, Mitsuhide's 13,000-strong army did not advance westward; instead, it turned eastward, heading straight for Kyoto. Faced with his soldiers' doubts, he calmly declared, "This is to receive the lord's inspection."
At dawn on June 2nd, Kyoto was still asleep. Inside Honno-ji Temple, Oda Nobunaga was awakened by a sudden shout of battle. He opened the window and saw Akechi Mitsuhide's "water-colored bellflower" crest dancing menacingly in the morning light, illuminated by firelight.
"Mitsuhide... betrayed us!" A moment of shock was followed by boundless rage. Nobunaga personally drew his bow and shot at the enemy, killing several, but the bowstring snapped, seemingly symbolizing the abrupt end of his empire. Guards fell one after another, and the enemy surged in like a tide. Seeing that all was lost, Nobunaga resolutely retreated into his inner chamber, set himself on fire, and died at the age of forty-nine.
Almost simultaneously, Oda Nobutada, stationed at Myokaku-ji Temple, received the devastating news. He could have broken through the siege but chose to defend the last vestige of samurai dignity. After a bloody battle at Nijō Palace, he resolutely committed suicide at the young age of twenty-six.
Just ten years after replacing the Ashikaga clan as the ruler of the realm, the mighty Oda Nobunaga fell in such a tragic manner at the hands of his most trusted retainer. The glorious splendor of Azuchi Castle was completely engulfed in the raging flames of Honnoji Temple that very night.
And the spotlight of history was about to turn to the general who, upon hearing the news of the Battle of Bitchu, was stunned and then rushed eastward at full speed—Hideyoshi Hashiba. Another great star was rising from the ashes of blood and fire.