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Gate 7 04 translation
For those looking for some historical background, you could do worse than starting with the Wikipedia article on the Sengoku period and following the links as you fancy. W. G. Beasley's one-volume history of Japan, The Japanese Experience, is also a standard undergraduate text. /eta
!!! page 01
Two great flowers
Who protect Hana
Chapter 04: Nobunaga's Oni
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!!! page 03
FX: Roaring
Chikahito: Hana-san!!
Hana: Myôhô:
"Enshrouding flower."
FX: Light
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!!! page 04
FX: Spring!
Chikahito: Augh!!
FX: Slowly
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!!! page 05
Akechi: …You hid Hidetsugu and the rest.
Even without both trees, you can do that much?
Chikahito: Huh,
What?
I can see them, so how--
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!!! page 06
Mikoto: This guy doesn't know anything.
Hidetsugu: Well, well,
He's still only just made his debut here.
Chikahito: I'm not!
Hidetsugu: In "enshrouding flower,"
From here, being hidden, it's transparent and we can see out,
But from the other side of what's been hidden, the existence within has disappeared.
Chikahito: Tha…that's amazing.
Hidetsugu: There are others,
But that's a skill Hana got from someone.
Chikahito: Huh?
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!!! page 07
Akechi: …This is annoying.
Even
Fighting or
Whatever is annoying.
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!!! page 08
Enka: Mitsuhide…
Akechi: The incident at Honnô-ji was the same.
This is just annoyance after annoyance.
If I think back to my earliest incarnation, it was enough even if I didn't take the realm.
Doing the scholarship you like, building the buildings you like--notwithstanding being affected by that,
The best thing was being able to live tranquilly, without making strife.
Chikahito: Akechi Mitsuhide's first incarnation--
Certainly, he was the son of Akechi Mitsutsuno of Mino…
But even so, the first half of his life is pretty opaque,
Which is why there are various theories.
Hidetsugu: Since the only one who really knows is the man himself, why don't you ask him?
FX: Head shaking
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!!! page 09
FX: Sigh
Akechi: Frankly speaking--
Well, generally whatever is fine.
Enka: If…
If you talk like that,
You'll be misunderstood again.
FX: Wibbling
Akechi: Since the cruelty and unpopularity are both true, whatever is fine.
Enka: Mitsuhide--
Chikahito: A--
Was Akechi like this during the Sengoku period?
He's completely different from how he's written, somehow.
Everyone says he was ambitious…
Mikoto: Right now he's that.
Pragma?
Pragmat?
Hidetsugu: A pragmatist.
Mikoto: He's that.
Chikahito: How does she know that?
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!!! page 10
Hidetsugu: I won't know unless I've tried it one or eight times,
But it seems that he was someone I hated.
Chikahito: So, in the incident at Honnô-ji, Nobunaga's side had about a hundred men,
And Akechi's side prepared more than ten thousand.
Huh?
But now, saying that it's enough if he doesn't take the realm in hand,
Then why does he want Nobunaga's…
Akechi: But
As for obtaining Mara, that's a different matter.
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!!! page 11
Akechi: Back then,
FX: Blaze
At Honnô-ji, facing them was beyond my power.
Lord Nobunaga and Mara.
FX: Snapping back
But this time, into my hands--
FX: Snap
FX: Whistling
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!!! page 12
FX: Whoosh
FX: Thump
Akechi: Being constantly in motion
Is depressing.
FX: Gleaming
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!!! page 13
Hana: Myôhô:
FX: Shining
Hana: "Water beheading."
FX: Water snapping
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!!! page 14
Chikahito: Huh?
Something--
Hidetsugu: Hm?
Mikoto: What?
Chikahito: Something like that water discus,
I've seen it…
At Yasui shrine.
Tachibana-san said it was a lion-dog, but those came out of its mouth!
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!!! page 15
FX: Whirling
FX: Boom
FX: Slamming
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!!! page 16
FX: Snapping out
Hana: Myôhô:
"Earth serpent."
FX: Whoosh
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!!! page 17
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!!! page 18
Chikahito: And that too!
When I first came to Kyoto,
Those weird things that came out at Kitano Tenman-gû!
Mikoto: Hana can take the techniques opponents have let loose
And adopt them.
Hidetsugu: Having adopted them,
Hana can use them as offense or defense just as Hana likes.
No matter the opponent, no matter the technique.
Chikahito: Are there
Many people who can do that?
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!!! page 19
Hidetsugu: No,
I don't know of any besides Hana.
Mikoto: Nor I.
Akechi: How long are you going to play around,
Enka?
Enka: I'm not playing around,
I'm doing my best on two fronts.
Akechi: …Enka.
Let's go home quickly and drink tea.
With sweets.
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!!! page 20
FX: Roaring
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!!! page 21
FX: Boom
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!!! page 22
FX: Roaring
FX: Howling
Chikahito: Hana-san!!!
Mikoto: Without arms, Hana's part is too poor
To fight with that fire-eating bird!
Chikahito: By "arms," you mean…
Mikoto: A thing that can make Hana's myôhô expand even further.
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!!! page 23
Mikoto: The only people who can make them
Are Tachibana
And Sakura.
If they're not here, Hana's true power can't come out.
Chikahito: That's--!!
Enka: It finally seems like it's over…
FX: Hah!
Akechi: !
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!!! page 24
Akechi: …It did, but--
FX: Wind howling
Enka: The sweets--
FX: Rustling
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!!! page 25
Hana: Do you want Nobunaga's corpse?
Or do you want Mara?
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!!! page 26
Akechi: Even further behind the hanamachi,
The people who live in the hanamachi and are used by the Toyotomi.
What will become of the clan of darkness, who couldn't even become entertainers,
If I answer that question?
Hana: Answer me.
FX: Shiver
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!!! page 27
Akechi: Both of them.
Hana: Why do you want them?
Akechi: Lord Nobunaga
Never revealed what the strongest oni was,
Not even at the end.
But,
My lord was certainly on the verge of obtaining the summit of the land of the rising sun, thanks to that oni's power.
Among those who know about oni, it's only natural to want to know what power it has, and what that oni is.
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!!! page 28
Hana: Is that why you burned Honnô-ji?
Akechi: I've
Always just wanted to know.
FX: Twisting
Akechi: For that cause, I will spare myself no annoyance.
The strongest oni,
And the remains of Lord Nobunaga, who was able to make a contract with it--
This time, I will dispel all doubt about them.
Hana: Unfitting.
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!!! page 29
Chikahito: Huh? !!! page 29
Chikahito: Huh?
Akechi: Besides,
FX: Blazing
Akechi: First is to have the Urashichiken get out of my way.
FX: Wham!
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!!! page 30-31
FX: Slam!
FX: Sucking
Date: Ah ha ha ha!
That's a tepid blaze,
Akechi!
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!!! page 32
Chikahito: Who is that?
Hidetsugu: Ah--
Akechi: You really do always get in the way at times like this,
Lord Date Masamune.
Chikahito: WHAAATT!?
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!!! page 33
Chikahito: By "Date" you mean the One-Eyed Dragon!?
FX: Aaagh!
Chikahito: …But, he looks like a kid…
FX: Even in height!
Date: Don't lay a finger on my kitten,
Bellflower crest! [See TN]
Date: *smooch*
Chikahito: !!!
Mikoto: If he keeps that up every time, his blood vessels
Are going to burst.
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!!! page 34
Hidetsugu: Maa-kun has always
Been like that.
Date: You're not hurt anywhere,
Hana?
FX: Raising a hand
Hana: No.
Date: That's good for you,
Akechi.
If you try giving Hana an injury that'll scar,
I'll cut you right in two, right here.
Akechi: Even if the other Urashichiken aren't here,
Lord Masamune being here is annoying.
Enka.
Enka: Sweets~~
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!!! page 35
FX: Sigh
Akechi: Let's get home and eat them already.
But
Soon, Lord Masamune, I'll have Lord Hidetsugu's oni
Along with yours.
FX: Whirling
Date: Before that I'll separate your head from your body.
I'm looking forward to it.
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!!! page 36
Hana: Thanks, Masamune.
FX: Blushing
Masamune: Hana!
FX: Clutch
Date: This is the second-best day of my life!
I was able to come running to Hana in a tight spot!
FX: Uncontrolled
Mikoto: What was the first best?
FX: A sharp glance
Date: My first night with Hana.
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!!! page 37
HIdetsugu: Ah ha ha ha!
You're the same as ever, Maa-kun.
Date: Yo, Hidetsugu.
Hidetsugu: How's school?
Date: I have off today.
Mikoto: Elementary schools have off on weekdays?
Date: I've independently cancelled my studies,
Since this is a state of emergency.
Hidetsugu: You're in your sixth year, right?
Is that okay?
Date: It's not okay!
My kitten nearly--!!
FX: Brandishing
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!!! page 38
Date: Hidetsugu!!
What's this about a newcomer entering the Urashichiken!?
Mikoto: His emotions and his voice truly are too loud.
Hidetsugu: You have good ears.
Chikahito: !!
Date: If someone like that were an oni-holder or a related person, he'd pass right through!
Hey, did Tachibana really allow this!
No, beyond that,
Is it true he's living there!?
Hana: Yes.
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!!! page 39
Date: I'll live there too! I'll move right away!
What kind of person is that newcomer, anyway!!
Hidetsugu: Chikahito.
FX: Glare
FX: Terror
Chikahito: Scary!!
FX: Running footsteps
Date: …Should I do it?
Chikahito: Aaauugh!!!
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!!! page 40
Date: That hurts!
FX: Thud
FX: Augh, augh!
Katakura: *squeeze*
FX: Smack
Katakura: Though I've told you that you shouldn't face the point of a sword toward someone how many times--
Shall I make an end of it again?
Date: You!
I was about to bite my tongue, Kojûrô!
Chikahito: By K…"Kojûrô," you mean--
A relationship with Date Masamune means that this is Masamune's strategist, Katakura Kojûrô…
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!!! page 41
Katakura: You're very knowledgable.
You don't seem to be an oni-holder, but you must have some kind of ability.
Hidetsugu: No, it seems he just likes Kyoto and history.
Katakura: Oh really.
Date: What are you doing referring to me without honorifics?
Call me Masamune-sama!
FX: Harsh attitude
Katakura: The battle is over now, isn't it?
I'll tidy up.
Date: Wa--!
Wait!
FX: Slowly
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!!! page 42
Chikahito: !?
Katakura: That's a fresh response.
Hidetsugu: He's just made his debut.
Chikahito: I told you I'm not!
Um,
Kojûrô-san, are you an oni too?
Katakura: No,
I'm human.
The oni is the sword within me.
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!!! page 43
Hidetsugu: The oni Masamune made a blood contract with, Kurikara--
This is an extravagance.
Masamune giving over one eye wasn't enough.
It desired spirit, in a large quantity.
Since Kurikara is stored in that body, it's supplied with spirit.
Generation after generation, only the person who can do that
Can truly call themselves "Kojûrô" in the Katakura clan.
Mikoto: Since, if Date has the sword, Katakura has the scabbard.
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!!! page 44
Katakura: Other than that, the rest of the job
Is to scold
And scold
Masamune-sama.
Chikahito: Anyway, you scold him.
Date: You haven't been telling people from other clans about my oni, have you,
Hidetsugu?
FX: Ah ha ha ha
Hidetsugu: But what's happened?
You're both present, and you've come all the way from Tokyo to Kyoto.
That's close to your home in Sendai, but…
Date: I told you,
Oni holders will be passing through directly, didn't I?
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!!! page 45
Date: About Nobunaga and Mara--
The Tokugawa are on the move.
TN p. 33, Bellflower crest: The Chinese bellflower was evidently Akechi's clan crest, but a brief Wiki perusal doesn't appear to confirm that.