Why are they using the “he was only a retainer” argument? These dudes know nothing about samurai. Mitsuhide Akechi, one of Oda’s most loyal men, and the man infamous for betraying and killing him, was one of his retainers. Yet no one would debate Mitsuhide was a samurai. Moreover, even Hideyoshi Toyotomi, the future shogun and one of the three great uniters, was also a retainer of Oda. Essentially, being a retainer is high rank and definitely qualifies under the prerequisites of the definition of samurai. They’re just too ignorant and racist to know otherwise.