Samurai Warriors (戦国無双)

It was a season in which the war banners

blossomed across the land.

They were planted by men who thirsted for power.

Men who wanted dominion over this divided country.

Shingen Takeda, also known as

the "Tiger of Kai."

At his command, the largest cavalry of the age.

He rode them hard.

To the very edge of victory.

However...

Before he could claim absolute rule,

he crossed the Sanzu river, into death.

As his sun set, we reached the dawn of a new era,

led by Oda and Tokugawa.

Though leaderless, the Takeda cavalry

pressed on.

They put all they had into a single battle:

Nagashino.

They were met on the field

by row upon row of soldiers,

Each loyal to the Oda and Tokugawa.

Three thousand of them carrying matchlocks,

their swords and spears, things of the past.

Fire!

To think that an army of that size

could be taken down so easily.

This will change everything.

Yes.

Who's that?

Cut off Nobunaga's head and this is over!

We have but one life.

One march from birth to rot.

So it goes.

Who might you be?

Takeda's retainer!

Nobuyuki Sanada.

I'm his brother.

Yukimura Sanada!

Oh. Brothers, are you?

They put forth a valiant effort,

but the Takeda forces were defeated

on the bloody fields of Nagashino.

And with the death of Katsuyori Takeda

at Mt. Tenmoku, the clan was effectively wiped out.

Though they once raced towards death,

the Sanada brothers were now forced to flee from it.

We gave everything we had.

But still, Takeda fell.

Yukimura.

How could the house not survive the master?

I feel like our failure means we've betrayed his legacy!

Takeda is no more, but still, we must walk on.

Yes, but what path do we follow now, brother?

We have lost our way!

Without Takeda to lead us, where will the Sanada go?

We will find our way.

We'll have to forge--

The Oda forces are beginning to close in on us.

We have to run, quickly!

We must flee!

Where are you going?

-- --

-- --

Yukimura!

How could you have been so foolish?

You charged in blindly,

with no regard for our wounded,

nor consideration for how many enemies

may have been waiting!

Are you trying to get yourself killed?

Listen, brother.

I don't know if I can carry the shame with me.

We failed our master,

and living without honor goes against

the code of the Sanada!

Have you forgotten why

we always have these six coins at the ready?

It's so we are prepared to give

the boatman of the Sanzu his toll,

and cross into the underworld.

You're a fool!

They represent living without fear of death,

not a desire for it!

They signify our strong heart, our will to face challenges!

They are a pittance!

The true cost of crossing that river is the Soul of the Sanada!

Takeda's dreams must go on living with us.

That means our struggles cannot end here.

For now, we must live on shouldering the burdens

of those we've lost.

But, brother, how?

Side by side.

You and I will weather the storm.

We'll never stop fighting

to keep the soul of the Sanada alive.

I was reckless. You're right.

Forgive me.

"Where will the Sanada go," you ask?

I say we go back to our homeland.

But what's there for us?

We must go and ensure that there is a place for us.

We'll build our castle there.

For the Sanada. Our home.

Not long after, at the Honnoji Temple

in Kyoto, Nobunaga fell victim to betrayal.

A coup led by Mitsuhide Akechi, one of his inner circle,

who held many grievances against him.

In power for a mere 13 days,

Mitsuhide was defeated at Yamazaki

by Hideyoshi Hashiba,

a man that had his own dreams of ruling the land.

I'm starting to feel at rest here.

You as well?

That's why we built it.

And for the people.

Their smiles are a balm to our wounds.

Our worries.

I know. It's true.

He still has worries.

Is that all the training for today?

Perhaps.

You seem a wee bit distracted, my lord.

We've finally completed building

our family castle, but I can't seem to get

the image of Nobuyuki's worried face out of my mind.

Since Nobunaga went up in flames like that,

everybody I've talked to has been acting suspicious

and on edge.

It's because we're surrounded by

the Tokugawa, the Hojo, and the Uesugi.

It seems it would be easy to choke us out.

My brother works so hard for our survival,

but sees there's more to be done.

It's his nature.

You've grown strong. I'm impressed.

Thanks, brother. I'm trying.

My dream is to become

such a good warrior that I can teach the Uesugi a lesson.

The Uesugi are pretty strong, too, ya know.

Yeah, I know they are,

but they're not stronger than Lord Takeda!

Maybe not.

But do you remember when the Imagawa and Hojo

cut off our supplies of salt?

The Uesugi made sure that

people of Takeda still had access to it.

But they are our enemy, aren't they?

They are,

but they treat their enemies with respect and humanity.

They don't take their grievances out on the regular folk.

That kind of strength is rare in the world.

Do you see, Yukimura?

Yeah! Definitely!

I know. That's it.

Lord Yukimura, where are you going?

Always running off!

Brother.

What is it? Something wrong?

Hear me out.

I have made up my mind to go to the Uesugi.

What do you mean?

I love our home, but as it is now,

we're surrounded on all sides by our enemies.

We can never truly be at ease here.

So what I'm proposing is a defensive strategy

that would make the Uesugi our allies instead.

If I offer myself up to them as a hostage,

we should have some protection on that front, at least.

A hostage?

You know what you're saying, don't you?

I do.

But you'll be putting your life

in our enemy's hands!

I'm aware of that.

I'll do it to protect the Sanada.

Right now it's the best option that we have.

We have our disputes,

but they're not monsters.

Even when we fought, they made sure

some of our needs were met.

Yukimura...

I may be gone for a long time.

But my heart will remain here with you, brother.

This is it. I shall take my leave.

Best of luck. Farewell, brother.

Farewell.

Yukimura!