Plurk paste

so chapter 38 starts right where 37 left off, with tanba telling the ninjas they're gonna have to follow baren into battle and everyone going BZUH???

they're like WTF, YOU'RE MAKING US FOLLOW HIS ORDERS??? EVEN THOUGH HE'S AN OUTSIDER????? and tanba's like "I didn't ask for your opinion" which shuts them up

he tells them they all have individual strength but that for this battle, that won't be enough to win, one of the ninjas (I think kaishin) is like "okay but it'd take time to deal with having an outsider as our commander" and another ninja (I think shishimaru?) says "I'm fine with it" lmao

ako is like ARE YOU INSANE but he just says that he thinks having a commander is a good idea since there's so many of them

tanba's like IT'S FINE IF YOU TEST HIM, IF HE'S USELESS OR WHATEVER THEN JUST KILL HIM IT'S FINE

baren's like "oi, oi" internally lmao and tanba says "but until then, think of baren (furigana reads "this") as the head of the momochi clan"

then he says they don't have much time left so they gotta get goin' with defenses and shit and "also, everyone, introduce yourselves. PLAY NICE KIDS" (ok he doesn't say that but essentially)

shishimaru immediately approaches baren and introduces himself, says he mostly deals with gathering intelligence and that if baren needs anything he can get it, baren takes his card thinking "wtf is this, a business meeting"

rintarou's next, I'm not quite sure what he says he's good at... something about close range padlocks/chains/?? raises hands... anyway he also says that he will never forget that baren's the one who did that to shishimaru's face (and the one who blew up the water?? or something) for as long as he lives, but WELL LET'S GET ALONG lmfao baren's like THANKS FOR BEING SO FRANK ABOUT IT

ouka and ichiha are next, ichiha says that they're (I guess?? or just himself idk) direct descendants (grandchildren) of tanba-san... and it looks like baren dumps some horse poop or something in his hand???? like YEAH YOROSHIKU and points and laughs as they run off like EWWWWWWW smdh

ako slips by like YOU LAUGH NOW BUT I'MMA KILL YOU DEDA WATCH YOSELF and baren's like "what a pain in the ass"

cut to tanba who's already long gone, he says "is there something you want to say, kaishin?" and kaishin's like "you sure are forcing this on us right before the battle", tanba points out that it's not like this is something that's just now started and I think kaishin basically asks him to think about the people who're gonna have to deal with the damage if it comes to that (i.e. the ninjas, not tanba personally)... tanba's like yes yes y'all always support me... and they talk about how up above is getting pretty turbulent but the council probably already knows that

...and I guess this is a flashback? it cuts to the council, everybody's bickering about surrendering to oda, fighting back, etc. etc. some old guy gets mad and yells about how oda's gonna attack them until they're totally eradicated and they don't have the strength to fight him off now

then I guess tanba just abruptly decapitates him?? while he's saying that the only chance of maintaining iga's existence is to surrender to oda... and everyone's like KISAMAAAAA

then I can't tell who's talking, I think it's tanba?? who asks if they all know why oda hasn't attacked iga thus far, and says it's because he's afraid and being very cautious... and then basically says DO Y'ALL KNOW HOW FEARED WE'D BE IF WE DESTROYED A HUGE ARMY LIKE THAT and points out that they used to have enough power to take over the country (I think)... so basically they gotta get down to business to defeat the huns

tanba tells kaishin not to worry about the council... since it's a big battle preparations are hella rough and they even needed to go get some of the people from The Pit to help out

they watch for a bit and then tanba asks kaishin why he became strong, kaishin says IUNNO I JUST BLINKED AND THEN I WAS TOP NINJA lmfao and when tanba asks if he has any desires he's like nah, I just do what I'm told

and then I think tanba tells him to make baren lead their group... or to pass on "BECOME THEIR LEADER" as his order to baren or sth like that

kaishin says "you really have a high opinion of him, huh" and then I'm not quite sure who tanba is talking about... idk if he's saying kaishin's sharp for noticing or if he's saying baren does (since baren noticed him back when they were fighting)... anyway he says "I stepped in to stop that earlier, didn't I?" and then he corrects himself and says he was *forced* to step in

kaishin's like "heeeh, so you were used?" and then I think tanba's saying baren knows full well that he doesn't want to lose any of their fighting power, and says baren moved him well

kaishin acknowledges that he keeps careful watch of his surroundings and says that with some experience, he could see baren at the head of a group, and then is like "so the problem is the others then huh" aka whether or not they'll actually follow orders... and tanba's like THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE THERE FOR, if you're the one saying it they'll listen and "don't make that face" lmao

kaishin's like IF HE SUCKS I AIN'T GONNA STOP 'EM FROM KILLING HIM and tanba's like "if he gets killed then that's all the man he was" but that he's a vessel candidate so they need to treat him as such...

and he mentions "ishida sakichi is at nobunaga's side" and says that right about now he should be getting a letter, and that sakichi's also aiming for nobunaga's scroll and that he's basically a catalyst (though he specifically says "triggering explosive")

he says that if something happens, he'll use baren to destroy him and make fireworks big enough to send nobunaga flying

cut to okuni and sakichi freaking out like WHAT??? NOBUNAGA'S PAGE????? BUT THIS LETTER IS FROM HIDEYOSHI??????? ISN'T THAT JUST AN INVITATION TO GO AND DIE BUT IT'S NOT LIKE I CAN'T GO BC IT'S A FORMAL LETTER AHHHHH WHAT DO

okuni asks gen if she's gotten in touch w/ baren and she says she's tried but there are barriers in place so she can't get through... sakichi's like 'is it somebody like you?' (aka a magic user/somebody who can do the same stuff she can) and she's like mmm it's the third time he's gotten in my way, his goal is the vessel candidates, he's a magic(/technique, whatever) user whose true self has become rotten to the core... and they gotta watch out

sakichi's like well more importantly we gotta make sure we can join up with baren, and starts writing a letter back to hideyoshi... and it's fuckin ancient keigo so I'm not even gonna bother deciphering it bc it looks like it's mostly just a formal YEAH WE'RE COMIN but the important part is that he signs it ishida mitsunari

basically he's agreed to join the attack on iga and hideyoshi and whoever's with him are like wow he sure attracted nobunaga's attention PLEASE DON'T BE IMPOLITE THIS TIME SAKICHI lmao

hideyoshi asks for a status report and the guy says it seems like oda's gonna win in an instant bc he's got 289375298357893267293867238 soldiers led by XYZ (I'm guessing you know these people so I'm not gonna bother going through all their names) and they're gonna attack from 6 different spots

then they talk about who's defending on the iga side, and basically they say that they mostly need to worry about fujibayashi (or w/e his name is) and momochi, if they get negligent the battle conditions could change in an instant

then they're like well... we don't wanna put sakichi on the battlefield unless we absolutely have to, but he's definitely a guy we can use somehow, and hideyoshi's like "he might come back with one glorious accomplishment" AND THAT'S THE END