Shibata Katsuie

In the turbulent Sengoku era, where warlords rose and fell like autumn leaves in a storm, one man clawed his way from the mud of a peasant farm to the pinnacle of power—only to shatter against the ambitions of greater demons. This book unveils the epic saga of Shibata Katsuie, the fierce "Demon Shibata" whose unyielding loyalty and brutal genius forged the Oda clan's destiny, yet sealed his own tragic fate. From the shadowed bamboo groves of Owari, where a lowly farmer's son first gripped a spear, to the blood-soaked fields of Nagashino and the conquest of the frozen north, this book chronicles a life of relentless warfare, treacherous betrayals, and unbreakable oaths. Witness Katsuie's early trials in sieges that tested his mettle, his rise as the Oda's iron-fisted enforcer, and the cataclysmic battles that reshaped Japan—from the inferno of Mount Hiei to the annihilation of ancient foes. But beneath the thunder of armies lies a deeper storm: a warrior torn between duty and doubt, whose victories masked the fractures of a fractured house. In an age of shifting alliances and divine pretenders, Katsuie's story is one of raw ambition, heartbreaking sacrifice, and the inexorable pull of honor in a world that devoured the honorable.