Nobunaga and Ieyasu

 Here is a video by Owada Tetsuo on the relationship between Nobunaga and Ieyasu.  Equals?  In some ways, but the reality was Nobunaga was the dominant and senior part of the twenty year alliance between the two.  Lamers Japonius Tyrannus (p.49) does a good job describing the relationship between the two.  Ieyasu was not a direct vassal of Nobunaga.  He was independently ranked on par with Nobunaga's retainers. That being said he did take orders from Nobunaga directly.  The only time Ieyasu was in command of Oda forces was in late 1572 at the Battle of Mikatagahara.  It ended up as a disaster as Ieyasu barely escaped.  The video goes into details about Nobunaga giving two huge bags of gold in 1574 after failing to help Ieyasu at Takatenjin. In the end, it was Nobunaga who was senior partner in the relationship.

Tenka no tame!