Naoki, here are your notes and my opinions. Keep in mind since this is the battle task just before the finals, I was a lot more picky and very critical. Sorry!

-0.1 for grammar. "I would have preferred Kyou-kun, but since he will not have my help." The "But since he will not have my help" needs more to it. Alone like that, it doesn't make any sense. Later, you also switched from third person to first person by including the word "we."

-0.1 for flow. Your comment in brackets wasn't in character and it took me out of the story.

Initially, I thought that Oda would never have accepted an alliance with Naoki. He has asked Naoki to ally with him very frequently in the past, and Naoki denied him over and over again. But Oda's idea for Naoki to win a battle of his choosing makes sense and it fit in with his character, which fixed the problem.

Going to Michi's perspective was good, however, the rules of author games mean that you're supposed to stay with the perspective of your main character, not side characters. It wasn't viable information, either and could easily have been taken out of the entry to help focus more on the task at hand.

Nice description of the dust... very clear and realistic. The metaphor with how Naoki felt like it was also really good... great character development and insight into his feelings.

-0.1 for punctuation. You had a comma instead of a period. You also had a period instead of a question mark at a different point. Later, you had a comma instead of a period just before dialogue.

I loved Hirotei's pep talk to Naoki. It was really true and definitely realistic as well as encouraging to Naoki. I still didn't like the shift to a different character's perspective other than Naoki's.

-0.1 for punctuation. You had a comma instead of a period in front of dialogue again. You did this again a few sentences later.

Again, I didn't like jumping to Hirotei's perspective, but here I think it was necessary. The description of the boulders falling down the mountain was beautiful and concise. I could see that whole scene in my head like a movie. It's a good strategy, same with poisoning the water supply, but since they have both been used before, it sort of takes away from the surprise of using it, almost like it was expected. But it's still a good one though.

I loved the description of the battle. Especially including Naoki's lack of emotion behind it... FEELS FOR HIM.

The fight was well written, even though some parts of it felt like a bit of a summery rather than actual direct action, but with the word count, I completely understand. At first, the fight between Kyou and Naoki was really intense. But I did think Naoki seemed to pin Kyou too easily and Kyou agreed to listen too easily... But. I also think it does fit with Kyou's character and how close a friendship they've had, so since it fits with story line more than realism, to me the story line reasons are far more important.

If this was scored, you would have gotten a 12.6

Overall, this was a great entry. Combing his strategies feel like a perfect climax as the story is coming to a close. I'm still not sure why he would ally with Oda, unless he's planning to betray him, but that's predictable so I'm still really curious.

I also loved how you brought in everything Naoki's been through and done thus far. It really shows his character development and how far he's come in samurai.

Good luck!

Kyou,

"I have become a twisted shadow of those I hate most." WOW. What an epic line! Holy cow!

The description of the action scene... how bloody the battlefield is, the gruesome wounds, including Kyou's lack of emotion and detachment, how he wasn't truly into the fight really, really worked. It just... SO MANY FEELS RIGHT NOW. I also truly love how at this point, he just wants to see his enemies all die, even if they all kill each other. It shows just how much he's given up which really adds to his character development.

I loved the dialogue between Kyou and Naoki. It fit in really well with the action and the fact that there was still a battle going on all around them.

The mention of just how long they had been fighting, combined with the beautiful, vivid description of the muddy grass really SHOWED me Japanese warfare—true Japanese warfare. It SHOWED how long they had been fighting there, all without directly stating it. Beautiful!

Kyou's lethargic and distracted attitude and demeanor also really showed just how exhausted he was from how long he'd been fighting. Well written!

When Oda first comes into the battle... just WOW. You nailed him! I know that comes from all your research on the REAL Nobunaga Oda.

WHAT A FIGHT. Wow. The fight between Oda and Kyou was just... INTENSE. A true samurai battle. They fought, but it was also combined with really intense dialogue... typical for an epic fight with samurai. The conversation itself was also deep... all about their ideals and beliefs, which really just helped to make this completely feel like the climax to an epic samurai story.

I didn't see any mistakes and honestly I wouldn't have changed a thing. You ended on a really good, really epic cliff hanger, even leaving ME wondering what's going to happen next. You've written a very addicting story and now I can't wait to finish it. If this was scored, you would have gotten a 13.

Here are your guys' stats (according to my information so I hope it's correct).

Kyou has 5,200 soldiers, 600 riflemen, 1 main and 1 outlying castle, both level 2, 8 ronin, 5 months of supplies and 1300 gold.

Naoki has 3,366 soldiers, 1 level 2 castle, 5 highly trained ronin, 1 highly trained ninja, 2 months of supplies and 1 gold.

Naoki is outnumbered, but his strategies with the avalanche and poisoning the water would even that out really quick. However, Kyou is richer and has more month's supplies whereas Naoki only has 2 months of supplies and no money to get more. So a long-drawn out siege while the castle is being built would hinder Naoki. Kyou also has an extra 600 riflemen that Naoki doesn't have, but Naoki has one highly trained Ninja who could easily relay information about the riflemen and their whereabouts. 8 trained ronin against 5 highly trained ronin would be pretty even as well.

As far as stats go, you're pretty evenly matched. In terms of character development you both have made strong, solid characters who have come a long way. In terms of who I like personally, I love both of your writing styles. They're very different but I enjoy reading both of your entries. This round isn't scored, but Kyou would have gotten a 13 whereas Naoki would have gotten a 12.6.

In terms of syntax, Kyou didn't have any mistakes and Naoki did.

This is a really close call and you BOTH deserve to be in the finals. However, I can only choose one winner, based off of all this information that I have.

The winner of Battle Task 5, and the person going on into the finals is...

Kyou Asai!

Naoki,you have come so far. This was your first time writing samurai-like stories andlook how amazing you are at it! Your descriptions are always very clear andyour strategies always surprise me. You keep me engaged every entry and everyentry comes as a surprise. Naoki had a very long and very meaningful journey.He came so far, just like you did. He was a ronin who ended up ruling a clanand fighting for what's right. He was a loyal man who did what was best for hispeople even if that led him in wrong directions sometimes. I'm going to missyou and you truly deserve to be in the finals. I wish you could be there. Ihope to read Naoki's ending from you! I still have to read a little more of hisstory, one final time!