Disclaimer: I do not own anything in SW3, etc. etc.

A/N: I have been a fan of both the Samurai Warriors and Dynasty Warriors series for a while now, though this is my first time writing for one of them. As might be expected, this contains spoilers for Kanbei's story (two of the cutscenes in particular). Read on, and I hope you enjoy!

Means to an End

The land was weak. Divided, it invited nothing but destruction. Produced a cloud of misery and frustration that loomed above all, precipitating paltry fools to clash against one another in the advancement of their own petty interests. Any just ideals were but delusions in their worthless hands, far above their limited imaginations and capabilities. War raged like a fire across the whole country, crippling like a disease. The blood of thousands soaked the rotting earth, further watering the inadequacy and misery that had caused all this discord in the first place.

What was needed was unity. Unity brought strength, bound together dissonance and created harmony. Peace. Such a reality was impossible, however, without an even stronger leader to unite it. One mighty enough to overcome all obstacles and conquer the land. One possessing equal integrity in dealing with the people. One encapsulating an inner fire that did not needlessly scorch those around him but instead towered over all, burning brightly like a beacon. A pillar for the solidified community, guiding and ensuring that the hard-obtained peace and harmony lasted for as many generations as possible.

They had needed a 'hero'. And they had received one, a man with the strength to flatten all who opposed him, and the ambition and drive needed to push the land into a new age. With the winds of fate at his back, he had been unstoppable. A colossal momentum, and they called him the Demon King.

The Demon King. Perhaps a fitting name. But that 'Demon King' was nevertheless a man, and men, alas... Men were fallible. They carried points of frailty, and whether by their own actions, time's or a mixture of the two, men did not last.

Even 'heroes'.

Therefore Oda Nobunaga, the one they called Demon King, did not last either. That man was now gone, engulfed by the flames of rebellion ignited by one of the many sparks at his side.

Kuroda Kanbei was not going to mourn him. Aside from it being a completely pointless exercise – any tears shed would not extinguish the flames aggravated by this latest explosion, for instance – he had to fully focus on the job it was required of him to do. He was dedicated to actualising his dream of peace (simplistic as it was to describe it as a mere 'dream' – no, with him behind it it was a reality in the making).

The flames were already growing. The balance of power was shifting and he would make sure that it would give weight to his lord, Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi... the man currently sitting in front of him, about to be torn in two by the inner conflict already bubbling within him.

That would not do.

"The fates have favoured you."

The position for unifier was up in the air, and there was none more qualified than this man before him. No longer but a spark, he could be the guiding light of this land, as he possessed the strength, the power, the charisma...

He was the leader this land needed, and he could right this land to its proper course. No, he could do more than that: he could bring unity, and the peace that would follow.

"..Congratulations, my lord."

Oh, and here it was. The conflict. The emotion. Kanbei could surmise exactly what was going through his lord's mind – the thoughts gnarling and twisting and completely relating to one particular, recently deceased Demon King.

But he did not care. You should not let the living impede your progress, never mind the dead. His lord would need to purge such feelings, and Kanbei could certainly assist him with that.

"It would be a grave crime to allow your emotions to overcome you and to miss this opportunity."

Yes, for what an opportunity this was. It was truly golden, like the helmet of lord Toyotomi, gleaming in the light of the fallen torches as he stared at him. It would not be long, Kanbei thought as he looked back. It would not take much longer to remove all doubt from his lord's mind.

Everything would go according to plan.

Time passes. Toyotomi Hideyoshi is consigned to history, dooming his house as well. The focus of power has once again shifted, and Kanbei adjusts accordingly. It is now Tokugawa Ieyasu's turn to move the land forward, and he has nearly done it. So many battles, heartache and bloodshed and here they were.. On peace's doorstep.

This would be the final battle – it was practically guaranteed. The deciding round. It had all lead up to this.. The final quelling of a few persistent flames, by and in a castle over there in front of the horizon. Kanbei had only afforded it one considered glance – more than it deserved, is it was the symbol of a dilapidated house unwilling to do them all a favour and just give up and die. ..But no matter. It will be razed to the ground by sunrise.

Despite this being the end of a long and sometimes arduous road, Kanbei could not allow himself to be affected. No relief.. No exhaustion.. No anticipation.. Nothing. If he so desired, there would be time to splurge on such feelings later, when they were a luxury and not an impairment on performance. A little confidence was always healthy though, and there was one thing he had no doubt about.

The Toyotomi were finished.

"They're just delaying the inevitable."

They had fairly much died at the time of lord Hideyoshi's demise, and so Kanbei felt no remorse about the upcoming elimination of the incapable scraps that were left.

"What would you know?"

But there were always fools like his current 'company', Katou Kiyomasa, fools which never ceased to cling to such refuse. It was a pathetic float to rely on and you'd still sink deeper and deeper.. drowning before you hit the bottom of that red, bloody sea.

Kanbei would spell it out for him, pointless though it was. This man was made of emotion; he was nothing but bluster and passion. Stubborn, too, with a tendency to dig in and move at exactly the wrong times. To ooze sentimentality was to be ruled by your feelings, and when you were ruled by such emotions you were wishy-washy, made mistakes and only made things harder for yourself and the people around you.

Katou Kiyomasa had demonstrated this nicely time and time again.. In fact, his break away from the Toyotomi house and refusal to return to it (all in the name of his house, bizarrely enough) was the moment when the Toyotomi might as well have been buried forever. ..It had all worked out nicely for himself, of course, but nonetheless.. The fact remained that the Western Army would have had more of a chance if Kiyomasa had discarded his stubbornness and listened to logic rather than emotion a little more. ..Perhaps.

"That is still my house. I will give my life to see that it is rebuilt."

That is your folly, then. A mistake that would become the death of him, but that suited Kanbei just fine. The pining general was nothing more than a walking spark, and by the end of this battle he would be extinguished along with the rest of them.

This road to peace that he had striven for was almost complete, and Kanbei would see it through to the end. The entropy that had afflicted this land would soon be over, and they would have a leader to see them through the harmony that would follow. Everything necessary for this moment had worked out, and the rest was but a foregone conclusion.

The stage was set. All that was left was nothing to fret about, because for the precious peace they were converging upon, everything was worth it. Fate, or Kanbei himself, would see it done. One way or another, the remaining sparks threatening this land would be stamped out.

That, after all, would be the only logical outcome of this long, harsh war.