Narrow Road To The Deep North 27

         ‘Rectitude carried to excess hardens into stiffness; 
          benevolence indulged beyond measure sinks into weakness.’
                                                               Date Masamune

And still we move too fast. The Sengoku was a Samurai Road taken by more than the three unifiers. Other remarkable warrior journeys through the Warring States left a few stories that, in their telling, enrich our appreciation of the period.
If there was an overarching bridge between Hideyoshi and Ieyasu, it would have been Date Masamune. Born in Yonezawa Castle on September 5, 1567, he was the eldest son of Date Terumune, a powerful warlord in the Tōhoku region. At the age of 14, Masamune led his first campaign, and three years later, was expected to succeed his retired father as daimyô. But Masamune was missing his right eye. Some sources said that smallpox robbed his vision as a child; some said he plucked it out himself when a senior clan member pointed out that an enemy could grab it in a fight; others say that he had a trusted retainer, Katakura Kojuro, gouge it out for him... and then he ate it. I received this eye from my parents, so it would be a shame to throw it away.
The details don’t matter. Masamune’s mother, Yoshihime declared him unfit to take over as clan leader, and began favoring his younger brother, Kojiro, as heir. 
One night in 1589 she tried to poison him while serving him dinner. Masamune killed Kojiro to settle the succession, and his mother fled to her brother's home.
Masamune's handicap became an icon for his rising reputation as an outstanding tactician. He was known as dokuganryū, or the ‘one-eyed dragon,’ due to his violent reckless approach in times of war. After suffering several defeats as an inexperienced general, he soon became one of the most feared men in all of Japan. Shortly after succession, he took control of Obama Castle. His ruthlessness struck terror into all of those who crossed his path, and his famous crescent-moon-bearing helmet won him a chilling reputation. Masamune's army was recognized by its black armor and golden headgear.  It was a stampeding wonder.
When he began his campaign to conquer all of his clan’s neighboring provinces, the neighboring Hatakeyama family pleaded with Masamune’s father to reel in his son’s wild aggressive behaviour. When Terumune told them that there was nothing he could do, they kidnapped him. Masamune led his enraged army in pursuit, but his father ordered him to wipe out all of his kidnappers, even if it meant killing him in the process. Masamune did as he was told, and Terumune, along with all of the other kidnappers were killed. A brutal reputation grew from there, as he tortured and murdered his way to conquest.
In 1590, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the virtual ruler of Japan at the time, was infuriated by Masamune’s tardiness in attending the Siege of Odawara against Hōjō Ujimasa. When Masamune was ordered to present himself to the enraged warlord, he did so fearlessly, wearing his finest clothes, with the expectation that he would be executed on the spot for his defiance. Fortunately, Hideyoshi’s temper had cooled and he spared him, because  ‘He could be of some use.’
Masamune served Hideyoshi loyally, and was given Iwadeyama castle as his reward. He stayed for 13 years, turning the town at the base of his fortress, and the surrounding region into a major domain. He served with distinction in the ill-fated Korean invasions and, after Hideyoshi's death, began to support Tokugawa Ieyasu. In return he was awarded the lordship of the huge and profitable Sendai domain, most of which was used to feed the Edo region.