Naomitsu Momoji

Not to be confused with the similarly spelled Momiji.

Naomitsu Momoji (百地 尚光, Momoji Naomitsu) is a secondary antagonist in Geten no Hana. He can be unlocked as a romanceable character by the player's second playthrough of the main story.

His image song is called Wasureenu Omokage.

Background Story
Momoji is the lone successor of his clan's craft, one of the three influential branches of the Iga ninja. He had lost his parents and siblings when he was barely old enough to comprehend his surroundings. Despite his personal hardship, he braved his ninja training when he was six years old and, after several years of training and missions, matured to be the finest ninja of his home.

When he was twenty-one years old, the village had to lay two of their own to rest. Their lone daughter, Hotaru, wept uncontrollably by their grave. Momoji stood over her and patronized her to cease her crying as the dead won't come back to life. He left her when she insisted on wailing her sorrows until an order from the village elder brought him back. The elder gave him the responsibility of looking after the orphan and teaching her in her parents' absence. Momoji bluntly offered her the choice to either stay there or live as a shinobi. Hotaru stood and chose the latter. As he trained her rigorously through her protests, the pair soon bonded as they lived together. He would be called away for an occasional mission, but Hotaru would always anticipate his return to their home.

Six years later, on his way back home from a completed mission, Momoji experienced déjà vu when he happened to spot a young man crying at a grave. The young man was a samurai noble yet strangely alone and unattended. When Momoji subconsciously came to chide the man to stop his tears, the youth broke down and confessed his every worry to him. As he listened, it didn't take long for Momoji to learn the youth was Nobuyuki, well aware of the Oda's meanderings near their village. The shinobi was compelled to stay near the lad and silently observed his supposed followers turn against him. When Shibata threatened to kill Nobuyuki, Momoji was prepared and had secured measures for Nobuyuki's immediate escape.

Upon seeing Nobuyuki dumbstruck by the sudden betrayal, Momoji was frank and thoroughly explained Shibata's change in judgement for him. The truth struck harder than the shinobi had expected when Nobuyuki became obsessed with dispatching Nobunaga. The youth recognized the shinobi's usefulness to him and offered to pay for his services. Momoji accepted the proposal and returned to his village once to report his new mission to the elder. He chose to go without telling Hotaru, not noticing that the girl had tried in vain to chase him when he left. The shinobi serves as Nobuyuki's secret confidant and has lived in a hidden hut near Azuchi Castle. He wears a mask when he is on active duty.

Story Events
Momoji is vaguely aware of Hotaru's presence when she first arrives to the castle, reporting the news of a rival spy to his master. Choosing to act quickly against the new threat, Nobuyuki orders him to assassinate Nobunaga within the week. Momoji observes the lord's mannerisms and finds his chance to strike after Ieyasu's tea tasting meeting. As he readies to kill the lord with a blow dart, Hotaru discovers him and ruins his cover by throwing a warning kunai near Nobunaga. While the Oda lord and his page are alarmed by the projectile, Momoji sneaks behind the enemy spy and readies to decapitate her. The shinobi immediately stays his hand once he leans closer and recognizes his pupil. Nobunaga hurries towards their location before she can react, forcing them to flee and avoid capture. Momoji uses a smoke bomb to mask his escape.

Players will not see him in their first playthrough until Hotaru receives the mission to assassinate Nobunaga. Since their masters are now allies, Momoji removes his mask and reveals his identity to her. He sees her hesitating to accept her duty the night she receives her final mission, patronizing her to remember their ninja teachings. Nobuyuki has ordered him to be on stand-by, meaning that Nobunaga's fate lies solely in her hands. If Hotaru refuses to throw the fatal kunai in the default route, Momoji will again scold her sympathy and throws his own in her place. He is disgusted when she panics at Nobunaga's injury and disowns her as his apprentice.

Subsequent playthroughs will include supplementary scenes with him and Nobuyuki reacting to the main story events. After he escapes, he reports his failed assassination attempt to Nobuyuki. Rekka boasts the elder is overrated and swears to do a better job. Over the following weeks, Momoji allows the other ninja to do as they please and acts as reconnaissance for the castle patrol. He keeps his past and knowledge about Hotaru a secret from his master and business partners.

After Nobunaga leaves from the castle, Momoji is the one who infiltrates the gaols to free Nobuyuki, Rekka, and Shigure in most scenarios. He and the other ninja help their master's attack at Honnōji and is present when the temple is set ablaze. When Hotaru finds him at the temple grounds, Momoji insists he is only following his contract when she protests the repercussions of toppling Nobunaga. He comes clean about his lord's inability to rule to her, sharing that Nobuyuki's life is over even if he should happen to kill his brother. The shinobi remarks Nobunaga may live if he has heaven's favor before disappearing.

During the "Shield of Azuchi" route, however, the sullen Nobuyuki discourages Momoji from freeing him from his cell. He silently leaves his master alone to brood.

Yumeakari takes place after Nobunaga's survival from Honnōji. Momoji had returned to Iga, but another mission he accepts calls him back to Azuchi Castle.

Character Symbolism
Momoji's symbolic item is maple leaves, a famous tourist attraction for Iga or modern day Ueno city, Mie Prefecture. The rows of maple trees have stood for generations within the area, admired by spectators since at least the Heian period. Within the same vicinity stands Iga Ueno Castle, one of the castles rebuilt by Tōdō Takatora after the Takigawa clan was dismissed from it. The castle is most famous for housing Iga ninja (in popular folklore) or rioters (plausible historical truth) when it became one of the stations used by Momochi Sandayu to oppose Nobunaga in 1579. Sandayu's alleged fight to the death in Iga –like most other last stands– has been romanticized since the Edo period, and the castle continues to be a recommended spot for ninja enthusiasts to this day. The prominent maple trees standing within the vicinity of his supposed demise led to maple leaves being commonly associated with ninja in various fictional mediums.

The maple leaf has been endeared as a seasonal beauty for centuries in Japanese culture. Traditional aesthetics particularly praise the changing shades of the leaves and how the leaves scatter when falling, tying into the Buddhist philosophies for cherry blossoms except in autumn. The trees were thought to have been named based on the shape of the leaves, which apparently was thought to resemble a frog's foot (kaede). Residents particularly adored the stark crimson of the leaves (momiji) over time and preferred to name the maple after them. Both terms continue to be used today, although momiji is reserved for when the leaves are a vibrant red. Many Japanese locals are so familiar with the leaf's distinct shape in Japan that they call maple found elsewhere "Western maple".

Within the Japanese flower language, the leaves symbolize restraint or self-control, especially if they are still green. Red maple leaves tend to represent nostalgia or cherished memories.