BAKI-DOU: THE INVINCIBLE SAMURAI
The legendary sword, Mumei Kaneshige.
I had it urgently retrieved from the Higo province.
It's your beloved weapon.
You have my gratitude, Master Tokugawa.
You are most welcome.
A sword deserves its rightful owner, after all. Hm?
Uh...
Wha... What is this?
The cord unraveled by itself!
My sword has a mind of its own.
Do you wish to return to my side?
What are these?
The uniforms of the modern warrior.
They've been placed on these clay figures.
First, this is a Western suit.
A policeman's bulletproof vest.
Armored riot police with a shield.
An SDF member's combat gear.
And finally, a makiwara.
Makiwara?
You can't cut people up without consequences,
so this is how we preserve our traditions.
A stem of green bamboo wrapped in a tatami mat,
then tightly bound with rope,
but it is said to have the same durability as the cervical spine of the neck.
Does it really?
You may find it somewhat unsatisfactory, considering all the men you've cut down.
But I imagine the urge is stirring... No?
Both in the depths of your soul
and the blade at your waist.
Cut from the hips.
Draw from the hips. Hmm...
Oh...
How sharp is that thing? It cut through it like tofu.
Stand clear, Tokugawa.
Ah!
What?! Shield and all?
Both arms in one swing!
A vertical slash from front to back!
He changed the direction of his blade, cutting both up and down!
Yes! Absolutely amazing!
Ah! Uh...
Let's refrain from that sort of thing.
Against Pickle?
Weapons are permitted. For both combatants.
Bad idea?
Hmm?
- Damn right it is! - Huh?
You still don't seem to understand...
...what it means for Musashi Miyamoto to hold a sword.
You aren't appreciating that facet.
Whether or not it's Pickle is immaterial.
No one must come forward.
Anybody standing before that swordsman will lose.
Anybody except for you, Izo?
Are you suggesting that even I would have a chance at winning?
This shouldn't be taken lightly, Mr. Tokugawa.
Hmm.
I cannot run from this fight.
As one who studies that era,
as one who is bound to that era,
and as one who pursues that era's ways,
confronting Musashi Miyamoto has now become my unavoidable duty.
Yes. Brilliantly said, Motobe.
What a massive building. Massive.
But its center of gravity is directly vertical.
If the supports for the four corners of the head were severed,
the head could fall upon the shoulders.
The shoulders would never withstand the impact and would fall to the chest.
The chest, falling to the stomach.
The stomach, to the waist. And the waist, to the legs.
Collapsing under its excessive weight,
and unable to hold itself up,
it would crash to the ground.
Even my beloved blade, Mumei Kaneshige,
wouldn't come away unchipped.
Hmm?
So this is what?
The strongest warrior of all time, the famed Musashi?
Hypothetically, if I were really trying to end your life,
I've had more than one chance to do so.
Huh...
You're rather fresh-faced, yet it appears that you've come of age.
You've been following me for an hour now. What do you want?
He has to be bluffing...
So you noticed me?
Noticed you?
I hadn't realized you were trying to stay hidden.
Your back was guarded the entire time?
That's just good instinct.
You don't pose much of a threat, do you?
You bear many things on your person. These are not a threat.
My tendon's been cut?!
We used to use these short matchlocks. What's next, whelp?
We'll draw too much attention here.
Do you reckon you'll remain standing long enough to draw attention?
What is this aura?
Demonic! Like the haze of heat!
When I was in the forces,
we'd welcome foreign soldiers countless times.
Men with real experience.
True veterans of war.
Sir!
Not even worth the comparison.
This is the look of someone who lives by combat.
He's from a different dimension!
That upright face,
glaring straight ahead, pinning you in place.
Both of his arms dangling so carelessly.
Relaxed and clear, despite his strength.
He's positioned himself in front of the light.
Was it like this?
Is this how everyone felt?
There's no mistaking it!
Right now, I am face to face with the real Musashi Miyamoto!
That said, Master Swordsman Musashi,
modern warriors shouldn't be underestimated!
That seems large for a boot knife, but it's also too small to be a dagger.
Hmm...
I don't understand.
Uh...
You don't intend to stab.
Nor do you mean to cut or even throw the weapon.
He... he's seen right through it?
It's a gun disguised as a small knife.
He may have noticed it, but
it's too late!
That was a bit close.
Huh. An interesting tool.
Impossible... At point-blank range?
Catching a knife barehanded at 60 kilometers per hour?!
He's a monster!
- Now then... - Huh?
- May I look at that? - No, I...
Is it forged from steel?
What... What is his plan?
It's bizarre, in the middle of battle...
Here.
Come closer to me, young whelp.
An absolute wonder.
One man becomes four. Incredible, isn't it?
I bisected you from the front,
and then I came at you from the side and split you vertically.
So, whelp, did you see it?
Hmm?
I saw it.
The sight of my... my body being split into four pieces.
I saw it clear as day.
So, shall we keep going?
Well, surely if I agreed, you'd laugh in my face.
Well, it is a laughing matter.
I used a firearm.
And a projectile weapon.
And yet, Musashi, even though you were completely unarmed,
you gave me the vivid certainty that I'd been cut.
The sword comes from within my body.
I've been holding it the whole time.
See?
I can't compare to you.
Your stature as a great warrior... it's just too high.
So high that I can't even see the peak.
And yet, you...
Hmm?
You want to pick up the sword again, against Pickle.
Hmm...
Is it really necessary?
You were speaking to Tokugawa?
Is any of this really necessary?
Hmm...
Good, whelp. It seems you understand what it is to be cut.
Out with it. What manner of creature is Pickle?
I... Well, he's...
Impossible.
It's not something that can be explained at all!
I suppose you're unaware of our reputation, boy.
That of both my sword and the man himself.
Of course. That explains it...
Being cut down like that... I felt it to the bone.
The sword
and the man, Musashi Miyamoto.
For how long now?
The entire time.
I mean, ever since he returned, he hasn't eaten a thing.
Well, what a damned waste.
It's real dinosaur meat, after all.
It's already been four days since he got here.
He hasn't taken a bite of the T. rex meat,
and that's practically a world heritage treasure.
Huh?
Hey!
Oh, uh...
It's been a minute.
Oh...
All right, hurry up and tell me. What did you two have to talk about?
Well, we weren't talking.
As you know, he's not much of a talker.
- Even so... - Hmm.
I understood him. Pickle.
Huh?!
- Yeah, seems like he's ready enough. - For what?
To eat.
He sees Musashi Miyamoto as his next main course.
Musashi as food?!
- Boy, this'll be a sight to see. - What do you mean?
I mean to watch Musashi
become a feast for Pickle.
Musashi as food...
Do you seriously think that he could do such a thing?
Not to mention that he's so weak right now.
Pickle can't even eat.
No, not can't. Won't. There's a difference.
You think he wants to be fed? He wants to hunt.
He wants to devour it with flair.
It's like Doppo said, even though I really didn't understand it until now.
In the wild, there's nothing more powerful than raw hunger.
I suppose I see.
Musashi's beloved sword has returned to his hand.
However,
I can't help but wonder about one thing.
The strongest predator of the Cretaceous, the Tyrannosaurus.
Is Musashi's sword really deadlier than a mouthful of fangs?
This wine is pretty tasty stuff.
A well-aged Shaoxing wine, huh?
Doesn't it hit the spot?
It's a 30-year-old vintage, one of my finest.
Mm. Mm. Mm.
That taste...
Are these gyoza dumplings?
Hmm.
They're good dumplings.
There's something sweet about them that's a bit different.
Ah, I think I'm beginning to understand.
They have vegetables in them.
These have more cabbage and sweet onions than meat.
Vegetables? Hmm.
Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm.
Oh, I see, it's delicious.
More of a juicy sweetness.
It's often misunderstood
because of how we overemphasize meat consumption these days,
but gyoza is actually classified as a vegetable dish.
Ah! That's unexpected. So the meat's not the most important?
Not all of the Western influences have a positive effect on society.
About Baki.
I'm surprised to hear that he said something like that.
Ah. He said that he heard it from you.
That hunger isn't necessarily a disadvantage in battle.
It's a little awkward to say this while eating such a feast,
but yes, those were my words.
Raw hunger is the best condition in the wild.
And I'll stand by that.
So, Doppo.
Which of the two are you betting on?
Hm.
Musashi's blade
or the fangs of the Tyrannosaurus.
Which is the superior weapon?
Hmm...
You pose an interesting question.
Mm... hmm...
There's a story about this.
From that novelist who made hunting his life's work.
Mr. Haruhiko Oyabu had this to say,
"If a man and a beast confront each other...
...only when the man has a rifle are they made equals."
Hmm.
The gun as an equalizer, you say?
Well, it's hard to say that the match will be
truly one between equal combatants.
However, man himself has faced many an untamed beast in the wild,
whose tenacity was so unparalleled
that even with a high-performance rifle,
man still finds the wild to be a formidable enemy.
Hmph. How very interesting.
If Musashi Miyamoto were to face off
against a three-meter, one-ton brown bear,
it wouldn't be a fight.
Even at that size,
I suspect it wouldn't be much of a struggle for Musashi.
Well, I suppose so.
That being said,
in the Cretaceous period,
the wild creatures that Pickle faced would have been 13 meters long,
weighing six tons.
Massive, carnivorous lizards.
The sharpness of the fangs they bared and the sheer power of their jaws...
On the other hand, in the Warring States period,
there was a conflict between Musashi
and the prestigious Yoshioka Clan of the time.
The entire clan mobilized, dozens of men deployed.
Of course, they carried spears and swords.
They even incorporated bows and early firearms.
But Musashi's demonic fighting strength cut them all down and he was victorious.
Hmm...
- Hmm. - Who is the superior warrior?
It's nice to get out once in a while.
Having some lunch and gazing at the pond's not bad.
Hmm... Nom.
These flies, on the other hand...
Hmm?
Did... did you...?
The wings...
Gods...
So that's what that move looks like.
That story about him catching flies with chopsticks
as they buzzed around during a meal...
I had always dismissed it as some absurd fiction,
but it seems there's even more to it than that.
What he catches isn't just the flies themselves.
He catches their wings while they're mid-flight!
He'll eat?
Indeed. He'll eat.
You mean, eat... like this eat?
Why, yes. That eat.
Hmm...
Wait.
You think that he'll eat me?
He plans to make a meal of Musashi Miyamoto,
and he's gonna start with your head!
Although,
would you consider me edible?
Well, in Pickle's eyes,
the indomitable Musashi Miyamoto will make for a fine feast.
So the whole reason he's fighting isn't even to win but devour.
Do you think I'd taste good?
Sir, um,
smoking out here is a bit, uh...
"A bit"?
Well, you see, there's a city ordinance.
The smoking area's just there.
Ah, of course. Uh... I apologize.
Hmm.
Tomorrow...
Six days...
No food, no water, and no sleep.
Preparing a wild condition.
By tomorrow, he'll be primed!