Ohashi Inn
Shinsenkyo...
You're the only one to return from that island.
Tell us exactly what happened,
Yamada Asaemon Jikka.
Fine, fine. What happened, right?
I doubt it'll make much difference.
Mind if I relax a bit?
No? Fine, fine.
Let's see. Where should I begin?
To get the immortality-granting Elixir of Life,
the shogun ordered condemned criminals and members
of the Yamada Asaemon Clan to Shinsenkyo two days ago.
I was responsible for Horubo, the Killer Prayer.
Aza Chobe killed him on the boat, so I returned earl—
while quivering with the disappointment of being
unable to fulfill my mission, I turned back,
but the currents washed me ashore.
Wait. You landed on the island?
Well, yes.
More than 60 people have gone missing there...
I considered continuing with my mission,
but needed to tell the criminal's family of his death
and somehow made it back here.
Hold on. What exactly does somehow mean?
There's no point in explaining it.
I'd stay away from that island if I were you.
That island is not of this world.
Only idiots and children poke bee hives.
A-Are you indirectly calling the shogunate fools?!
I wouldn't say indirect—
Forgive me.
Even we struggle with this ill-mannered man.
Responsibility lies with the Yamada family and myself.
Please accept my apologies.
You think a single apology is enough?
Hey.
What? We needn't show deference to the Asaemons.
Don't you know?
He's the one who...
W-Well, you must be exhausted from your return journey.
We'll overlook your disrespectful attitude.
I will now read the missive given to me by the shogun.
Listen closely.
The Yamadas must return to Shinsenkyo and observe.
The most suitable members are to be selected for the job,
Yamada Asaemon Shugen.
Dawn and Confusion
Aw, man.
In the end, we samurai are just pawns.
Our lives are expendable.
Jikka-dono!
You went too far before the shogunate earlier.
I figured things would work out since you were there.
And they did, didn't they?
I'm saying not even I can overlook your behavior.
I wish you'd observe proper samurai etiquette.
Oh, yeah? Sorry about that.
I'm currently acting in Eizen-dono's place.
I cannot let things fall into disarray in his absence.
Well, color me impressed.
Do they have more useful condemned criminals?
Apparently they'll be sending Iwagakure shinobi next.
Oh?
When selecting new members to send to the island,
all the criminals were killed by the Iwagakure.
The shogun chose the four shinobi present.
As chief of the Iwagakure, I will assist the shogun.
I've actually forgotten something on that island, too.
Trusting criminals was nonsense in the first place.
Jikka-dono, you'll be joining them.
You'll travel to the island in a few days.
What? No way!
I don't want anything to do with that place.
Jikka-dono...
Eizen-dono said he'd report on the second day.
Today is the third.
It's not just Eizen-dono either.
Are Tenza, Kisho, Sagiri, and the others all right?
I find it unbearable to simply wait.
Yeah, that's true. It's concerning.
That being the case...
We'll head to the island and complete our mission quickly.
Um, excuse me.
Lord samurai...
What shall we do with this?
Oh, this thing?
They would know the island is dangerous if they saw this,
but I never got the opportunity to show them.
Dragging it up with an anchor was wasted effort,
sorry.
I'll take you to the red-light district sometime.
What?
Or would you rather come to my bedchambers?
Either's fine with me.
Actually, um...
Don't touch that, lord samurai!
The tentacles might still be alive!
Nah, they're already dead.
I don't sense any waves of life.
Let's go, Jikka-dono.
Waves of life?
Sorry to keep you waiting.
We finished making our report to the shogunate.
As planned, the four of us will go to the island.
We've been chosen solely for our strength this time.
Tameshi-itto-ryu Rank 3 Yamada Asaemon Jikka
Jikka-dono will be coming with us.
What? I don't remember agreeing to that.
Tameshi-itto-ryu Rank 2 Yamada Asaemon Shugen
We'll depart right away for Shinsenkyo.
Tao is life itself.
To use tao is to consume life itself.
Using large quantities affects the body and soul.
Are the body and soul not two different things?
No, both are merely a form of tao.
You're discussing complicated topics again.
We agreed not to talk about that stuff here.
Forgive me.
Just kidding.
Don't bow your head.
In fact, hold it high.
Hold your head high!
Well, Rien?
Isn't the new training ground great?
It's impressive, Tao Fa.
By exercising under and above water and studying breathing,
one can train in doin and taisoku.
Music encourages meditation,
allowing for training of both shuitsu and shuten.
That room is good as well.
One can focus on bochu jutsu there.
Right?
It's ridiculous.
I mean bochu jutsu itself.
Remaining in the middle of yin and yang as I do is best.
I disagree.
The properties of tao differ depending on the life.
Joining with others draws out new strength.
Too much, Ju Fa. That was incredible.
You two are certainly focused on your training.
Need some tan?
Yes, please.
Mu Dan made this.
It's fresh-squeezed.
Here you go.
I forgot to add the glowing stuff.
The stuff that makes the drinks glow.
Where is it, Zhu Jin?
I don't know.
We're inside the Tensen's castle.
It's dangerous to stay in one place.
We should exit the gates.
Okay.
Those outfits...
You can hardly tell what kind of group you are.
What's the problem? They're cute.
We'd stand out in our bloody clothes.
I hope you can "overlook" it.
I'm just copying my master.
In any case,
our goal for now is to find Gabimaru and Mei-san.
Gabimaru's target is the Elixir of Life.
He should be trying to reach this castle.
It will be more convenient for us to meet outside the gates.
Hold on. Do we need to meet up with them?
Should we worry about our mission and the Elixir?
Not only is the island teeming with monsters,
but those super-dangerous Tensen are lurking around.
There's no way the mission matters anymore.
Our best option is to leave as soon as possible.
No, we'll meet up with them.
What? I'm saying this for your sake, dear Sagirin.
You don't mean that.
You've acted that way since you learned there's no Elixir.
You want more Asaemons who'll take your side against the shogunate
when you leave the island empty-handed.
Aren't you acting that way out of self-interest?
You noticed?
Regardless, I do want to leave the island together.
I even consider your logical mind reassuring.
If we leave, we'll leave together.
That includes you and Gabimaru.
There's no guarantee Gabimaru will make it here.
He probably arrived already.
There was a burnt area and a destroyed wall near the gates.
Only he could've done that.
For meeting up, outside the gates is the logical choice.
Thank you.
Once you make a decision, you can be stubborn.
If we do meet up, what will you do about Gabimaru's wife?
Will climbing this slope take us to the Tensen's castle?
I haven't seen a trace of it.
I ain't lying.
You don't have to copy the way I talk, miss.
What should I do now?
My memory still hasn't returned.
From what they told me, my mission is absurd.
Why am I on this mission, anyway?
Am I just following orders?
Or is there some other reason?
It's no use. I can't remember.
Are you all right?
You seem unwell.
It's nothing.
Humans, huh?
Then you're in the same boat as us.
He's not bad.
We should be fighting together.
We're not going to, are we?
Fight together? That'd be pointless.
That was disappointing.
Gabimaru!
His tao big!
Really, really big!
Fight together? I'm not interested.
His neck just broke, didn't it?
Yes, but it healed.
"Immortal monsters who rule the island."
Was last night's discussion about this guy?
I'll tie him up and extract information from him.
One more.
Did you just laugh?
Pretty confident, aren't you, pipsqueak?
I just have to break you like I always do.
This'll be easy.
I don't have to think about anything else.
Ninpo: Blooming Needle!
I'll aim for the brain.
And the eyes.
Robbing the enemy's senses should even work on the dead.
You bit through tendon.
That's not something humans do.
Arteries, nerves, shakutaku, hicchu.
Carotid artery.
It's logical to focus his attacks on weak points, but...
The way he fights is brutal.
It's like watching beasts fight.
It's the same no matter who I'm fighting.
Break them until they stop moving is the Iwagakure way.
Is that all you've got?
This is nothing.
Our footing...!
You seemed strong before, so I took a few hits.
But you're weak.
You're brutal, but that's all.
Not that vulgarity bothers me.
It's logical but lackluster.
He was clearly stronger before.
What's going on, miss?
Did getting knocked out make him weaker?
Gabimaru's tao wrong.
Even when I focus, it won't go away.
I can't escape the feeling that something's wrong.
No strong and strong.
Strong and weak. Both important.
Weak is seed of strong.
Gabimaru has no seed of strong.
Missing something important.
That strange sense of loss...
Enough, Toma!
Kill the others, too!
Yes, Brother.
Brother?
First, the one-armed man.
His thick muscles will be difficult to slice through.
I'll stab instead.
Hey, why'd you start with me?
It is because I only have one arm?
Because I looked easiest to kill?
Don't underestimate me, boy.
Pick it up.
I can take you on without drawing my sword.
Wait, Blade Dragon.
Something's going on, but he's still a Yamada.
Shut up.
Anyone who underestimates me loses a limb.
His eyes are good, but that's not all.
So are his instincts. He's experienced, too.
Then I'll use his reflexes against him.
You're athletic and quick with a blade. You've got talent.
But that's all. Your abilities are lacking.
Your movements and kata aren't there yet.
Your technique is superficial and sloppy.
Don't neglect your kata!
Optimized movements remain as kata!
Did you get complacent because of your talent?
I bet you let your brother do all the real fighting.
I can tell by looking at your pretty face.
If only you'd asked to fight together like a good boy.
If my brother doesn't want to, then I'll follow him.
Besides...
I hate people who form large groups.
All the bandits we led were just pawns.
I never thought of them as allies.
We only need each other.
Don't pretend to be so independent.
The two of you work together. You're not so different.
I am a part of my brother.
His grip and center of gravity changed.
He's improving in such a short amount of time.
That's a dumb way of looking at it, half-a-man.
My brother decides what's dumb or not, old fart.
Get to work, doshi!
Kill the shrimp and the girl!
Yes, sir!
Stand back about two ken. For your safety.
He's tough, but I can kill him.
Thanks to tao, I can read the ninja's movements,
and even if I'm injured, I can regenerate.
Your tao is especially powerful.
Normally, you'd be swallowed up,
since you didn't train to acquire it.
He's strong.
I can't win unless I focus.
I'll forget about this odd feeling for now...
and make myself hollow.
A ninja must not simply die.
If you're on the brink of death,
damage the enemy as much as possible before you die.
That's your last resort?
But that can't be comfortable.
You're sacrificing yourself. I'll grant your wish then...
and kill you!
Ninpo: Pyro Bridge.
Ninpo: Stone Storm.
I can't regenerate fast enough.
This is bad.
Are you going to die with me?
I don't care.
I never remembered the specifics of this mission,
but if I die, someone else from the village takes over.
Shinobi operate as a group.
The life of the individual is worthless.
I have nothing to lose either.
But you do, don't you?
Those who want to live cannot defeat the dead.
Yeah, you're right.
Thanks.
Normally, you'd be swallowed up.
I've made up my mind.
I'll release it all.
I do have something to lose.
I don't mind losing everything else.
He's all I need.
I don't need anything but him!
There we go.
What's that?
B-Brother!
...ing...
Break...ing...
I'm... breaking...