Chapter 108

## Elusive 1335

**Chapter 108** is titled "*Elusive 1335*".

## Synopsis

Upon seeing Tokiyuki, Moronao angrily orders his brother Moroyasu to kill the boy. Moroyasu, who is too close to Tokiyuki to use a sword, tries to grab the boy's arm, but it slips out of his hold due to being oiled. Tokiyuki jumps towards a group of soldiers while singing and ringing the bells. Moroyasu commands all the troops to attack him; however, he swiftly glides between them, drawing their attention to himself so as to create an opening for Yorishige. Tokiyuki then approaches Moronao and asks if he knows where Fubuki is. Moronao briefly replies "no" before attempting to kill the boy with a double slash; Tokiyuki dodges by jumping over him and continues running. A soldier swings his sword at Tokiyuki, but accidentally hits another soldier instead. Not being good at attacking, Tokiyuki makes use of all his strengths in fleeing to save others; he gleefully runs among the thousands of Ashikaga warriors while ringing the bells, surprising both Kojiro and Takauji.

While running, Tokiyuki notices that Yorishige has fallen from his horse. Ayako and Shizuku come near him and try to help him up. Shizuku sorrowfully observes Yorishige, who is on his last leg with severe wounds and all his divine power spent; she thinks that he might survive if there is a little more divine energy. Tokiyuki then joins them, asking Yorishige to hold on to his sword. He apologizes to Yorishige for the earlier scene and cuts his long hair using the blade, symbolically binding Yorishige and him as father and son. He wraps his auspicious hair around Yorishige's neck and wishes for the gods to be with his new father. As he runs off into the Ashikaga army, he asks Shizuku and Ayako to take care of Yorishige and help rescue Tokitsugu while he carries out Shizuku's plan. Yorishige then watches Tokiyuki's smile as the boy flees from the warriors; he tearfully grips the hair-scarf, enjoying the happiness of being seen as a father by his lord, which is the greatest reward to him.

As Tokiyuki flees, he gradually stops singing and only rings the bells twice at regular intervals while continuously fleeing. Since the soldiers block each other' views, they have to rely on the sound of the bells to find him. They listen silently between intervals, reacting to the first ring and attacking on the second. However, when the first ring appears, they turn their heads to the source of the sound but are all frozen by the exploding sound and flash of Genba's *tetsuhau* – a small metallic ball containing explosives used by the Yuan dynasty army to confuse the Japanese, which eventually reached the market as spoil of war.

Genba, surprised by the scene, recalls what Fubuki said to him: skills need to show immense power to create an impression of being extraordinary. Hachiro then orders his troops to break through the Ashikaga and rescue Yorishige while Tokiyuki runs straight to where Takauji is. Astonished by the boy's act, Takauji pulls out his sword, but he stands still when the boy effortlessly jumps over his head while singing and ringing the bells. Tokiyuki then lands on a horse prepared by Kojiro and runs away, triumphantly claiming Takauji has lost.

## Characters

* Kono Moronao
* Kono Moroyasu
* Hojo Tokiyuki
* Ashikaga Takauji
* Fubuki (mentioned, flashback)
* Kojiro
* Suwa Yorishige
* Mochizuki Ayako
* Shizuku
* Suwa Tokitsugu (mentioned)
* Kazama Genba
* Miura Hachiro