Battle of Yamazaki The was fought in 1582 in Yamazaki , Japan , located in current day Kyoto Prefecture . This battle is sometimes referred to as the Battle of Mt . Tennō ( 天王山の戦い " Tennō - zan no tatakai " ) . In the Honnō - ji Incident Akechi Mitsuhide , a retainer of Oda Nobunaga , attacked Nobunaga as he rested in Honnō - ji , and forced him to commit " seppuku " . Mitsuhide then took over Nobunaga ' s power and authority around the Kyoto area . Thirteen days later , Toyotomi Hideyoshi met Mitsuhide at Yamazaki and defeated him , avenging his lord ( Nobunaga ) and taking Nobunaga ' s authority and power for himself . Preparations for Battle . When Nobunaga died , Hideyoshi was busy fighting the Mōri clan . After betraying and defeating Nobunaga at Honnō - ji , Mitsuhide sent a letter to the Mōri . The letter contained a request for an alliance to crush Hideyoshi , but the letter ' s messenger was captured by Hideyoshi ' s forces and the plot was revealed . Upon hearing news that Nobunaga had been killed , and that Akechi Mitsuhide had taken command of his possessions , Toyotomi Hideyoshi immediately negotiated a peace treaty with the Mōri , remaining careful to keep Nobunaga ' s death a secret . Once the treaty was secured , he then led his troops on a forced march towards Kyoto , averaging 30 to 40 km a day . Akechi Mitsuhide controlled two castles ( Shōryūji and Yodo ) in the Yamazaki region . Due to his lack of men for the impending battle with Hideyoshi , he attempted to win the hearts of the people in that region in order to gain more troops . However , his appeals to Hosokawa Fujitaka were fruitless , and so he was unable to add significant strength to his forces . Less than two weeks after Mitsuhide ' s betrayal , Hideyoshi ' s army finally arrived and attacked Mitsuhide ' s inferior forces at Yamazaki . Learning of the size of Hideyoshi ' s army and not wanting to be caught inside a castle with his force divided , Mitsuhide resolved to prepare for battle somewhere to the south . Due to its position between a river and a mountain , Yamazaki provided Mitsuhide with choke points that could ease the number of enemies his forces would have to face at any one time . Meanwhile , Hideyoshi decided that a wooded area called Tennōzan , just outside the town of Yamazaki , was key to strategic control of the road to Kyoto . He sent a detachment under Nakagawa Kiyohide to secure this area , while he led the majority of the army to Yamazaki himself . His forces took over the mountain and gained a significant advantage . Mitsuhide arranged his army behind a small river ( the Enmyōji - gawa ) , which provided an excellent defensive position . That night , Hideyoshi ' s men sent a number of " ninja " into the Mitsuhide camp , setting fire to buildings and generally causing fear and confusion . The battle . On the following morning , the main fighting began as Hideyoshi ' s men began to form up along the opposite shore of the Enmyōji - gawa from the enemy , and a portion of Mitsuhide ' s men crossed the river , seeking to make their way up the wooded Tennōzan hill . They were driven back by arquebus fire , and so Hideyoshi felt confident enough to launch the right wing of his forces across the river , and into Mitsuhide ' s front lines . They made some progress , and were soon joined by the left wing , with support from atop Tennōzan . The majority of Mitsuhide ' s men fled , with the exception of the 200 men under Mimaki Kaneaki , who charged and were destroyed by Hideyoshi ' s larger force . Soon , panic set in among the Mitsuhide army , and Hideyoshi ' s army chased them back to Shōryūji . Mitsuhide himself fled much further , to the town of Ogurusu , where he was captured by bandits and killed . Mitsuhide is rumored to have been killed by a peasant warrior with a bamboo spear by the name of Nakamura ; however , there were also rumors that he was not killed , but rather started a new life as a priest called Tenkai . Hideyoshi used this victory as a stepping - stone to gain control over Nobunaga ' s former territories and eventually all of Japan . In popular culture . The Battle of Yamazaki is the final stage of Akechi Mitsuhide and the first stage of Toyotomi Hideyoshi in Samurai Warriors 2 . The battle is also the basis for the Sonny Chiba martial arts film Shogun Ninja .