Chapter 112

## Intermission 1336, Part 2

**Chapter 112** is titled "*Intermission 1336, Part 2*".

## Synopsis

Takauji comes to Kyushu with 500 warriors, and is joined by an additional 300 local ones. However, his opponents have tens of thousands, leaving him greatly outnumbered. Nevertheless, he defends his camp with a small group of warriors while his brother Tadayoshi engages in close combat and the Sasaki father-daughter duo conjure a sandstorm. In the end, Takauji uses his power to charm his opponents, causing them to either flee or surrender. He then tells Tadayoshi to return to Kyo now that their army is much larger. It is narrated that historical documents only says he was helped by the god and he did godly deeds in a previous life, but have no convincing explanation about his unbelievable victory against a much larger force, which served as a cornerstone for his later rule.

In Kyo, the court nobles panic at the news of Takauji's return, as his army is ten times larger than than theirs and Nitta Yoshisada has been defeated. Emperor Go-Daigo then summons Kusunoki Masashige, who suggests him to evacuate Kyo again, allowing Takauji to take the city; they can then preventing supplies from reaching the starving army inside and eventually attack when the Ashikaga's morale is low. However, a court noble named Bomon Kiyotada regards this as a weak plan, since it would require the Emperor to flee the capital for a second time in the same year, which could damage his image in the eye of the people. The emperor agrees, stating that an emperor like him should not flee. Kusunoki tries to convince the emperor to reconsider, but he insists that refusing to flee strengthens pride and determination, and that Kusunoki must face Takauji's army outside the city walls.

Kusunoki thinks to himself that the emperor has grown weak – hiding behind the blinds while talking big and refusing to flee. He recalls the first time he met the emperor, who was strong and impressive despite being pursued by the shogunate. As a young Kusunoki bowed in tremble, Go-Daigo casually walked towards him and laid his arms onto the warrior's shoulders. The emperor said he summoned Kusunoki there because he had seen Kusunoki's dream, and he wanted the warrior to see his. Kusunoki at the present sadly thinks that the dream he saw that day has faded; he swears to fight to the death, but offers the emperor a final piece of advice: he suggests that the emperor should follow the footsteps of historical heroes who knew when to retreat, instead of refusing to flee out of pride and stubbornness, which will only cause him to lose everything. As he leaves, he asks the emperor to take the boy who only flees and hide to return later as an example, but Go-Daigo remains silent.

At Sakurai, in Settsu province, Kusunoki says farewell to his two sons, Tamonmaru and Jiro – whom he wishes to become warriors loyal to the emperor – while his soldiers tearfully observe. The boys asks him to do one last thing: give them their coming-of-age names as they want to become powerful warriors who can kill Takauji to avenge him. Seeing the spitting image of his wife in them, Kusunoki thinks of giving them names that express the value of life. He then gives his first son Tamonmaru a piece of paper on which he has written, as neatly as possible with his sloppy handwriting, two *kanji*s which he reads as "Masatsura", and his second son Jiro another that reads "Masatoki". Tamonmaru wonders why the second *kanji* is read as "tsura" rather than its usual "yuki", but Kusunoki avoids the question by faking a cough, saying that would be too obvious. He then smilingly tells his sons that there are no particular meaning in those names while envisioning a word that is made by joining the second *kanji* in each name: Tokiyuki.

## Characters

* Kikuchi Taketoshi
* Ashikaga Takauji
* Ashikaga Tadayoshi
* Kono Moronao
* Kono Moroyasu
* Isshiki Yoriyuki
* Sasaki Mima
* Sasaki Doyo
* Emperor Go-Daigo (full appearance)
* Kusunoki Masashige
* Nitta Yoshisada (mentioned)
* Bomon Kiyotada (debut)
* Hojo Tokiyuki (mentioned)
* Kusunoki Tamonmaru
* Kusunoki Jiro (debut)