he entered the gates, Yoshitsugu was appalled to find armed soldiers awaiting him and developed a silent grudge toward Mitsunari. Undeterred, Mitsunari introduced him to his vassal, Shima Kiyooki. Kiyooki flipped Yoshitsugu's perceptions of the Western army, but he wanted to remain within Ieyasu's ranks as he believed Mitsunari could not win. However, for one reason or another, Mitsunari was able to convince Yoshitsugu to defect and join the Western army. A legend states that Ieyasu was aware of Yoshitsugu's talents and was prepared to offer 12,000 koku to have his services. Hearing Yoshitsugu's sudden change of allegiance genuinely surprised him. As for why Yoshitsugu changed his mind, the reasons remain an enigma to this day. No one really knows why Yoshitsugu did it since little is recorded for it. There are many tales made for why he could have, but they lack any real backing due to the absence of historical evidence. The popular scenario was developed during the Edo Period, stating he joined out of friendship. In this interpretation, Yoshitsugu was only thinking of joining Ieyasu and was asked three times by Mitsunari to join him. Although Yoshitsugu knew it was a failing cause, he couldn't abandon his ties for his friend and merged his forces into the Western army with his sons. Yet another story states Sanada Masayuki's wife was being held hostage by the Western army. Tied to the Sanada family due to his daughter's marriage, he was forced into the hands of the opposition for her safety. Another fable depicts that he conflicted with Ukita Hideie and was joining Ieyasu just to avoid him. Mitsunari heard of this and played mediator between the two parties, eventually convincing Yoshitsugu to stay. Whatever the reason, Yoshitsugu fought for the Toyotomi family thenceforth. He was rumored to have misinformed Maeda Toshinaga of the dangers of Asainawate, leading to the battle with the defending Niwa Nagashige (this has been speculated to also be another falsehood tied with him however). His other activities before the Battle of Sekigahara are not clearly known, but he was said to have suggested Mitsunari to relocate his main base the night before the conflict. Yoshitsugu led an army of 5,000 for the battle, he was command 600 troops and had three subordinates: Hitatsuka Tamehiro with 900 troops, his son, Ōtani Yoshikatsu, with approximately 2,500, and Kinoshita Yoritsugu with 1,000. Other daimyo under command of