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When the drill commander emphasized the oneness of mind and body in battles, Ryunosuke listened intently. Although he had great skill in attacking vital points and dodging, it seemed that there was something still lacking in his fighting style. And so he listened as the drill commander issued his speech on the importance of the mind, and when the drill commander drew up a training session based on his lecture, he eagerly joined in. The training session consisted on three steps: a waterfall meditation followed by an icy mountain trek, and a temple meditation for the finale. After they had been briefed on what they should do, they proceeded to the nearest waterfall within Totomi to start the training.

The icy waters of the waterfall trickled down on Ryunosuke, but still he maintained his composure as he sat down within the great current of water pouring down on him, for any other easier spots were taken by other soldiers. As he sat down there half-naked for a couple of hours, he felt some fish or aquatic plant falling down on him, but such minor disturbances hitting his body did not budge him as he was sitting on a rock with his eyes closed, his mind trying to shut off from his surroundings even when fins of some fish wounded his body. But when he was at the close of his two hours of meditation, he felt something hot on his left shoulder. It seemed as if beneath the icy cold waters of the waterfall there seemed to be a zone of warmth... wait. The water trickling down on his left shoulder was yellowish, and its smell reminded Ryunosuke of something familiar. But he still tried to contain his rage as he continued meditating beneath the waterfall. When the close of the two hours was announced and the other soldiers started to get away from the waterfall, Ryunosuke remained there for an hour, but not to meditate. He needed to rinse out that pee that one soldier passed while they were meditating. That person will pay when he had finished their training.

After removing the final vestiges of urine from his body, Ryunosuke dried himself up, changed his clothes, and donned on a thick robe in preparation for the next activity. The temple which was his third destination was on the top of an icy mountain, and to reach it he had to travel through the mountain that might harbor a lot of danger. Although this might be the case, he still pushed through, hoping that this would boost his willpower. The icy winds, as well as the thick amount of snow that covered his legs, hindered Ryunosuke's progress towards the temple, and one time or another wild beasts showed themselves randomly across the trail. But Ryunosuke was determined to reach the temple as soon as possible, and steeled himself s he moved towards the temple, slicing wild animals and monsters along the way with his howitzer. But by the time he reached the temple, he was covered with cuts and scratches, the blood from those wounds frozen by the harsh weather. But even with those wounds, Ryunosuke managed to pay respects to the monks within the area, smiling all the way, before removing his thick robe and boots. He then set himself within the temple to meditate notwithstanding the number of wound on his body.

As he sat down meditating he felt a great warmth enveloping ll of his body. The coldness that he carried while he was on that mountain trek vanished completely, but as the cold disappeared, he felt a sharp cone of pain from his body. Notwithstanding the intense pin that he had, he continued to meditate. Soon after, the pain subsided as soon as his mind was disconnected from the plane of the human world. He felt the power surging from the depths of his soul, and it was a burning feeling, but it seemed that it was not unbearable. His soul was burning, but it seemed that it was a very comfortable feeling. He felt that with this released power, he could continue on fighting even when his body is very battered.

After some hours of meditation, he found himself back in the temple, and it was already the morning of the day after he sat down on this place and meditated. He was still covered in wounds, and blood flowed through the scathed skin of his body. But it almost did not matter for him right then. It was as if his soul was becoming tough enough for this amount of wounds.

Ryunosuke, who was sleeping inside the camp and near the gate when Nanami announced intentions to speak with the Daimyo, woke up following the clear voice of the woman. He had expected the guards to heed her intentions to speak with the Daimyo, but it was five minutes and the gate does not seem to open. He then peeked through the wall near the gate, and it seemed that the soldiers were not responding beneath their heavy helmets. It had seemed that they were sleeping while standing on duty. Shocked at the ineptitude of the guards, he opened the gate from the inside, and met Nanami by himself.

"I'm sorry for the wait, Lady Chosokabe," Ryunosuke said while bowing low. "It had seemed that even with the strict discipline that we have enforced on our soldiers, some still resorted to their bad habits. I am Ichimura Ryunosuke, the head of the Totomi militia. I will escort you towards the quarters of the Daimyo."

Ryunosuke did not expect what happened after his planned moves.The ponderous sword of Brandt, instead of connecting onto the advisor's body, instead ended up plunging towards him. He ducked the slash, only to see the advisor's foot coming towards him, coming right towards his head instead of what the advisor intended to target, due to his ducking motion. Using his remaining momentum on his charge last time, he again descended towards the ground, slipping towards Toshi and evading the kick almost completely, only that because of the force of the kick a wound was formed on his middle forehead, droplets of blood generated in the air as he skidded towards the advisor, quickly closing the gap that he might have produced when he strode backwards to evade Brandt's slash.

While Brandt was busy parrying the weapon of the advisor, he would plunge his scythes towards the flank of the advisor unprotected by his spear. He was sure that the advisor could not evade this dastardly tactic due to the burst of speed that he would give on those slashes. But if for some reason it would not connect, he would take notice of whatever the advisor would do against him, and when he would attack, he would dodge it and then issue a counter-attack towards that part of the enemy laid bare by that attack.

As a part of training, groups of 20 soldiers were pitted against each other for them to be trained on teamwork. The drill commander letting the soldiers group themselves into groups of 20, Ryunosuke found himself grouped with other members of the militia. They took up their weapons, and, as their opponents were drew up, they started to spar.

But, as the battle progressed, it seemed that the team of Ryunosuke was the only one suffering losses while the other team was almost unscathed as they fired away their bows. The one-sided assault continued on until only half of Ryunosuke's team remained standing; the others unable to stand due to injuries. The others seemed to lose hope due to their dwindling number and the still unchanging number of their opponents, and they were asking the others on what they were going to do. Many times Ryunosuke was asked, but was unable to answer since he also did not know what to do. He then surveyed the area around him, and as he saw their current terrain, an idea sprouted off his head. He then said his idea as discreetly as possible to his other teammates, and although at first they didn't know if that would work, they were desperate on a victory, and so they agreed.

Once again the arrows were fired at them. Then suddenly cries of anguish were heard from Ryunosuke's party, and then they scampered to run away from the other team, dodging the arrows as much as possible, shouting and running as if they saw death staring at them. Some of them even stumbled on the ground, while crawling away from the opponents. Ryunosuke just stared blankly at his running teammates and shouted, "Why are you running away? We could still win this!" To which one soldier shouted back, "I don't want to get hurt! I'm outta here!" as he ran to the bushes without ay particular direction. Ryunosuke just stared back at the opponents and drew his two bokken.

"Your teammates ran away and you still think that you'll win against us?" one of his team's opponents sneered as they continued to fire their arrows at Ryunosuke. Ryunosuke just charged forward, his twin bokken hitting every aarrow that were about to hit him, most of the arrows dropping to the ground harmlessly. But still some of the arrows penetrated his wooden whirlwind of defense, and the arrows hit some parts of his body, and fortunately they were not that painful as they only connected to non-vital parts of Ryunosuke's body. But as Ryunosuke thought, he could not keep up with the pace of 20 archers, and his body ought to give up sooner or later. He would wait for that moment to happen for him to break through their opponents and defeat them. Suddenly, from the bushes, a lot of arrows rained down on all sides of the opponent team, rendering them shocked. But by the trajectories of the arrows, Ryunosuke, as he charged towards the opponents, pondered that these were unloaded many at a time. And so he knew that it should be his teammates that were unloading the strafes of shots, as he had instructed them to do so. Knowing that the diversion worked, Ryunosuke was confident that the opponent team would not notice him charging on them, as they were still in the state of shock. Taking advantage of the situation, Ryunosuke unleashed all of his agility in taking out as many opponents as he could, whipping his bokken on their vital parts, and due to this and Ryunosuke's teammates' continual rain of arrows, the number of their opponents dwindled steadily, until they had finished all of their opponents. As Ryunosuke saw the opposition unable to continue further, Ryunosuke unleashed a shout of victory, but since he bore the brunt of the enemy arrows and bokken, the hits took a toll on his body, and as the drill commander announced their victory, he stumbled on the ground, unconscious. It would take 2 days for him to wake up again after that training.

The sight of a person evading each and every bullet that they fired made Ryunosuke's jaw drop. He had trusted that the bullets were too fast that one would have a difficulty dodging them, and it was impossible for a person to evade a lot of bullets in succession. With the enemy commanders closing in on their location and no voice guiding him on what they should do, Ryunosuke had to decide for himself what action must be done.

"Continue firing at those soldiers who were charging. Only when they are five paces away from you would you use your rifles as spears and charge at them." Ryunosuke said those words as he moved forward towards the enemy soldiers. "But I'll make sure that you will not have to engage them in melee. I'll move forward to meet them in close range. Don't worry about me." He then turned around and gave a smile. "If you want me to survive, do your best in covering me from behind!" He then turned around, acknowledging the roar of the soldiers of his units first before he charged forward to meet the commanders and the extraordinary person who had dodged the bullets.

Ryunosuke would charge forward, firing his howitzer at the people charging on his unit, except when they were five paces away from him, in which he would use his howitzer as a large sword and cut through them. He would make sure that the enemy would be hit by his ranged attacks, as the light-blue crosses on his irises glowed brightly as he fired his shots at the enemy. He would never let them get through him and kill the rifle units behind him.

((Using the mask's effect.))

Ryunosuke found himself going to a shoreline village in Totomi with haste. This village was ravaged by the raging sea, the water bearing down on the homes of the villagers, leaving them broken and devastated. When he saw the sight of the village already in ruins, he can't help but lament over the situation. While some other soldiers started to walk away from the village, he and some other soldiers remained in the village to rebuild the houses destroyed by the flood.

As the team of Ryunosuke searched around for anything that could be used for the rebuilding of the houses of the poor villagers, they say some trees uprooted by the flood. Hewing them into planks and bars, they brought the wood back to the village, and, gathering the remains of the homes destroyed by the flood, they started to rebuild the houses back to their original form. But Ryunosuke could not be found anywhere after they had hauled the wood to the village. The reason is that he went out of the village to search for the resource that should be lacking when floods came: water.

Ryunosuke, pulling his cart loaded with very large earthenware vessels, started to search through the forest for springs or rivulets that should have fresh water near the village. The wells that the villagers used which was near the village were rendered undrinkable by the flood of seawater, and so he had to walk 10 miles with the pots to reach the spring that some of the villagers had talked about while addressing their concerns about their water supply. Ryunosuke then wasted no time to fill up the vessels with water, for he knew that the contents of those vessels would not be enough for the whole village. He then returned back to the village, where some of the villagers boiled the water so that it would be suitable for drinking. Ryunosuke then returned to the spring, his cart loaded with the vessels that were emptied after only 5 minutes.

The day was almost ending, but Ryunosuke didn't stop yet on getting water for the entire village, as he always did for them for 16 hours non-stop, eating his meals while on the move. Fortunately he had no need to do it for day, since by that time, the villagers who had recovered from the flood was helping him, although they did not supply as much water as Ryunosuke did. But after he had delivered the ninth ration of water to the villagers, the villagers were recovered enough for them to get their water themselves, and so Ryunosuke was back with the soldiers of his unit rebuilding the wrecked homes.

A fortnight after the flood, the houses were all restored to their former conditions, and the water problems also ended with that, since the wells were filled again with freshwater. As Ryunosuke's unit finally said goodbye to the villagers, the smiles of the villagers almost nullified their tiredness from rebuilding the village. The smiles were the greatest moments that the soldiers of Ryunosuke's company would cherish in their hearts.

Ryunosuke yawned as he was called for a general fitness training for all members of the military of the Amakusa. It had seemed that the Daimyo was concerned about the fighting prowess of his men, and so he organized this sort of training. But what bothered him was the prize for those who would finish the training. Those who overcame the training will have a free drink with their captain, but who will give him a treat when he was already a leader of a large body in the Amakusa military? If he should make his direct superior notice him, he should perform really well. Gearing up for the training with that thought, he proceeded heartily to the starting point of the run.

As he looked at the sky above him when he was at the starting point, he saw a dark cloud nearing the camp, and it might rain sooner or later. Knowing that he might be slowed by the rain, he sprinted once the taskmaster gave the signal. The first three laps showed Ryunosuke's speed; being able to cover the whole circumference of the camp multiplied by three within fifteen minutes. But at that point Ryunosuke became tired due to the rain bearing down on his clothes, and just barely reached the fourth lap when the ground became too muddy for him to sprint with his sandals on. He slowed himself to a march, to recuperate himself from the sprinting that he done, and to move steadily on the muddy ground. The weight of the mud made his muscles ache as if he was carrying a ball and chain on both of his legs, and the rain kept on pouring on him. But still he persevered as he continued to march on for another four laps within three hours, until the muscles in his legs got better. He then proceeded to jog in the remainder of the laps, being used to the mud stuck on his sandals, until he covered the remaining laps in 1 hour. When he arrived at the next station, his legs are aching, but it does not matter, as he would not need the power of his legs much in the next exercise: push-ups.

He then started the 150 push-ups; breaking the activity up into 5 sessions of 30 push-ups each, and took his time in each push-up, taking 5 minutes for each session, and resting for another 5 minutes. That way, he would not use much of his arm power while doing the exercises, since the shortness of his arms might mean that his muscles would be flexed twice faster than the other men of his age. After 45 minutes of arm-flexing, he finished the needed quota for push-ups, and then he proceeded into the next training session.

The sit-ups were not great for those who had made a very long run and a large number of push-ups, but the exercise was even worse for a person who had the same stature as Ryunosuke. And so, maintaining the same pace that he did before in the push-ups, he broke the 200 sit-ups into 8 sessions of 25 sit-ups each, and took 5 minutes for each session, and 5 minutes of rest in between. After 75 minutes, he finished the needed amount of sit-ups, but as he exclaimed the last number, he fell backwards, just looking at the sky above him. It took him 7 hours total, but it was all right, noticing every other people in the Amakusa army still struggling with their running. He hoped that this feat would be enough for his direct superior to notice him.

"Hey, did you see that, my Lord?" Ryunosuke said, panting, but evidently happy at his result. "Am I worth your wine? I hope you have prepared something special for me!"

As Ryunosuke monitored the enemy's movements, he saw that the cannons prepared by the enemy were about to be fired. He was about to aim his howitzer at the cannons, but a voice in his head seemed to halt him from doing so. It seemed as if the Daimyo was communicating with him in his mind, but Ryunosuke didn't believe that it was true. Nevertheless, he saw the point of the voice within his head as he saw  the Daimyo prepared his various traps. He then ordered his units to stand by until he gives the signal to attack.

Ryunosuke was surprised as he was dragged across the shop back to the cabinet that he was examining. While the man was explaining about the origins of the cabinet, including its materials, he examined the cabinet itself, checking if the man said was true. He then touched the cabinet, and placed a little pressure on his fingers as he slid it across the cabinet. He then examined its glasses, and then the whole cabinet itself. As the man finished speaking, he was thinking about the merits of the cabinet and its aesthetic feel, and then, as he was finished thinking, he said, "Though I could not confirm if what you have said is true, I could see that the characteristics of the wood and glass fitted what you have said. The wood was a good hardwood, and the glass seemed to withstand a large blow before cracking. I also give that every cabinet here was blessed by priests before they entered this shop. So, as I calculate, mon is not a good price unit for this one." He then took a coin pouch from the inner folds of his kimono, and checked its amount. "How about I give you 25 ryo for this cabinet here?"

Hello there, welcome to Sengoku Musou. I go by the name of Mercurian (though it's not my real name), and, including this character, I also control the characters Constantine Lawrence, Katsurayama Haruyuki, and Murai Ryuusei. I hope you'll have a good time here!

Ryunosuke did not say a word to the man who answered his response. He just bowed as he positioned his militia units within the firing range of the army of the Kitabatake, but still hidden and would just act when the Daimyo issued his orders.

But, as he looked at the other side of the battlefield, he saw a large amount of cannons being prepared by the Kitabatake army. He became wary of those cannons as he told his soldiers to keep themselves from being hit by those, as he still waited for the signal of the Daimyo to strike. He would not need to be hasty in this, since the battle was crucial for the army of the Amakusa.

Ryunosuke returned from the forge very tired from the numerous orders he received from his costumers for the past couple of days. He laid his body down to sleep as soon as he flopped down on his bed. Little did he know that the world around him would change very drastically as he slept.

He woke up in high spirits, thinking about finishing his orders as early as possible. But as he woke up he noticed that he was lying on a ground as hard as stone. Tall structures of stone were also seen by his eyes protruding above the ground on which he stood on and it seemed as if they were piercing the sky. He did not know where he was, but one thing was certain: he was not in Japan as he knew it to be.