Nobunaga returned from his conquest of the Takeda clan in time for news of another Mōri crisis in the west. Hideyoshi had laid siege to Takamatsu castle, but was faced with the arrival of Terumoto’s main army. Nobunaga responded by speeding a large contingent of his personal troops westward. Hideyoshi had no need for reinforcements but, envied and hated by fellow generals for his swift rise from a lowly sandal bearer to a top general, asked Nobunaga anyway, wanting to give him credit for taking Takamatsu, to humble himself in front of other Oda vassals. Nobunaga stayed at Honnōji temple in Kyoto on June 20th, entertaining court nobles. Nobunaga would never have expected an attack in the middle of his firmly controlled territories, and was guarded by only a few dozen personal servants and bodyguards. His son Nobutada stayed nearby at Myōkakuji, a temple on the grounds of Nijō Palace. Mitsuhide was ordered to march west and assist Hideyoshi.
Instead, Akechi assembled 13,000 soldiers, detoured into Kyôto, and surrounded Nobunaga's position at Honnō-ji, sending another unit of troops to assault Myōkakuji, in the initiation of a full coup d'état.
“The enemy is at Honnō-ji!” Mitsuhide said, and called for Nobunaga's head.
Nobunaga awoke the following to find the temple surrounded, and on fire. Trapped within his own shrine set aflame, he retreated from the fighting of his small entourage, soon overwhelmed and slaughtered. The outcome was a forgone conclusion, and he died, either in the blaze, or by committing seppuku, in one of the inner rooms. Only his teenage page, Mori Ranmaru, remained at his side, in ritualized shudō homosexual patronage. He attended to Nobunaga as he sought a moment of peace to carry out his last act, and then killed himself in the same way. Nobunaga's son, Oda Hidetada, fled the scene soon afterwards, but was surrounded at Nijo and executed.
Yasuke was also there. Immediately after Nobunaga's death, Yasuke went to Nijō Castle. When attacked by Akechi, Yasuke fought for a long time. Finally he surrendered his sword to Mitsuhide's men. Asked what to do with him, Akechi said that the black man was a beast and did not know anything, and furthermore, he was not Japanese, so they should not kill him but take him to the church of the visitor from India, so they did, much to the relief of the Jesuits, who had worried about him.
If Mitsuhide thought that the demons he had unleashed were controllable, he was dead wrong. About thirteen days worth dead wrong. He claimed lineage from the Minamoto clan, declared himself Shogun, looted Azuchi castle to reward his men in an effort to maintain their loyalty, made gestures of friendship to a panicked Imperial Court, as well as many attempts to win over other clans. The ground came out from under his feet.
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