Continued from Musashi – Book 4: Wind
1. Abduction
After their argument at the waterfall, the trio still travel together, but Musashi is well in front, while Otsu and Jotaro trail back and at night they no loger share the same room. Jotaro is upset by this change and shows it by behaving like a spoiled brat, constantly asking for food and other treats. While Otsu and Jotaro were at a shop buying food, Jotaro sees Matahachi spying on them and, soon after, Matahachi abducts Otsu while she was still riding the cow. Jotaro tries to defend her but is overpowered by Matahachi. When the two of them don’t catch up, Musashi becomes worried and runs back to investigate what happened.
2. The Warrior of Kiso
Musashi searches desperately for Otsu and Jotaro but can’t find them. He arrives at a peasant’s house where he sees the cow they rented in Seta. Thinking his friends were there, he accuses Gonnosuke, the man who lives there with his mother, of being a kidnapper. Gonnosuke attacks Musashi with a staff which he wields like an expert but eventually they realize there’s been as misunderstanding. Gonnosuke explains how he has found the cow abandoned by a pond earlier on in the day, but knows nothing about the kidnapping. The two men start inquiring about Otsu and Jotaro at the houses nearby the lake and, late in the night, they learn from a farmer that Jotaro might have gone to Narai. Gonnosuke invites Musashi to spend the night at his house.
3. Poisonous Fangs
Matahachi is by the pond and sees the light from Gonnosuke and Musashi’s boat. He forcefully takes Otsu to a nearby shrine and, after she professes her love for Musashi, Mahatachi bites her arm, thus branding her for life. A farmer hears Otsu’s scream and comes to inspect the shrine but Matahachi quickly gets hold of him. Using the farmer’s horse, the three of them take a back road to Edo. At Otsu’s plea, Matahachi releases the farmer and the horse, but only after Otsu promises she won’t try to run away.
4. A Maternal Warning
Fearing that Gonnosuke is going to challenge him to a match and not wanting to hurt him and his mother, Musashi leaves their house silently. He goes to Narai where he finds out that Jotaro is traveling with Daizo, a wholesaler, in search of Otsu. Musashi believes he can catch up with them at the pass at Inojigahara. Instead of meeting Jotaro, Gonnosuke and his mother catch up with Musashi at the pass and officially challenge him. The two prepare to fight, Musashi using his steel sword and Gonnosuke his wooden staff. Although Musashi wins the bout, he claims that he lost as Gonnosuke’s staff has left a bruise on his abdomen.
5. A One-Night Love Affair
Still hurting after his fight with Gonnosuke, Musashi postpones his search for Otsu and Jotaro to heal his wound at the hot springs at Shimosuwa on the banks of Lake Biwa. Here he meets Ishimoda Geki, a retainer of Date Masamune, the Lord of Aoba Castle in Mutsu. After a night of drinking and talking, Geki offers to introduce Musashi to Lord Date in the hope that Musashi will accept a position as a retainer. Musashi realizes that his scope in life is more than just to became an expert fighter, wishing “to become one with the universe”.
4. A Gift of Money
Musashi is still looking for Otsu and Jotaro; he is persuaded by some day laborers to pay them a fee to help him in his search. Musashi gives most of his money to the workers but only one of them keeps his promise and returns with news about Jotaro who has been seen traveling together with Daizo. Giving the last of his money to the honest labourer, Musashi goes the same way Jotaro is allegedly going. In the evening, he stops at a house in the woods where he gets some food and offers to give in exchange for the meal a small wooden statue he had carved. The proprietor agrees but when Musashi tries to find the statue in his traveling bag, a bag of gold coins falls on the floor. It was put there by Geki. That night, three men who were drinking at the same place where Musahsi had dinner try to ambush him. Musashi kills one while the other two shoot firearms at him from across a stream.
5. A Cleansing Fire
Thinking Musashi is dead, the two bandits come to inspect and rob the body but are surprised when Musashi stands up and attacks them. In a matter of second, one of the bandits is dead while the other is on the run. Musashi follows him to his own house and after a brief fight he incapacitates both the bandit and his wife who also attacked Musashi. Recognizing the woman’s voice as that of Oko, Musashi stops his attack and accepts the couple’s apologies. The man is no other than Gion Toji, a Yoshioka student who ran away with the school’s money. Oko invites Musashi to sleep in the back room and, thinking he is asleep, Toji’s henchmen try to kill Musashi but he outwits them all and sets the house on fire.
6. Playing with Fire
A group of prostitutes traveling form Kyoto to Edo, Tokugawa’s new capital, stop at an inn in Hachioji. One of the women is Akemi who has just recently joined the group but hasn’t yet signed a contract with the brothel keeper. Earlier on, she was able to hide when Sasaki Kojiro approached the group of women; some of the prostitutes know Kojiro from Kyoto. Daizo and Jotaro stop at the same inn and Jotaro meets Akemi who seems very interested in finding out what Otsu is like. Hearing Jotaro praise Otsu and her love for Musashi, Akemi gets drunk and then is raped by a ronin.
7. A Cricket in the Grass
On his way back home, Jotaro see Dazio burry a big sack of gold under a tree. The next morning, Akemi and the group of prostitutes set for Edo once again while Daizo and Jotaro stay at the inn for a late breakfast. Later on, Daizo tells Jotaro that he knows the boy had spied on him the previous night and that if he doesn’t agree to become his adopted son, he would kill him.
8. The Pioneers
Osugi arrives in Edo where she is ridiculed by some workers and a thief steals her purse. Fighting for her purse, she manages to injure the thief but she is also hurt. Hanagawara Yajibei of Bakurocho, a local boss in charge of a group of workers, helps Osugi by punishing the thief and taking her back to his house.
9. Slaughter by the Riverside
Osugi has been living as a guest in Yajibei’s house for a year and a half. One day they decide to visit Sensoji Temple where, upon arrival, Yajibei makes a small donation and hears about Daizo’s donation to several temples in the Edo area. Just then, they hear about a fight on the banks of Sumida Rivers: one samurai against four men. Together with the abbot of the temple, they go to the river to investigate and Osugi is surprised to see that the victorious samurai is no other than Sasaki Kojiro.
10. Shavings
At Yajibei’s insistence, Kojiro agrees to give his men sword lessons; during the lessons, Kojiro only maims and even kills some of students. After the lesson, Kojiro demands to be taken to Yoshiwara, Edo’s pleasure quarter, where Akemi also works in a whore house. Seeing Kojiro, Akemi runs away.
11. The Owl
As Kojiro is returning from a night of drinking, he is attached by ten samurai from the Obata School who wanted revenge for Kojiro’s earlier behavior at their school where he had insulted Obata Kagenori, or “Old Man Owl.” Kojiro kills half of them and then follows those who managed to escape all the way to their school where he eavesdrops on their plans to challenge him again. Then Kojiro makes his presence known and challenges all the students to a fight but none accept it. Kojiro leaves, happy that he has disgraced, one again, the Obata House; the school studied the military sciences and not swordsmanship and, as such, the students were no match for Kojiro.
12. A Plate of Loaches
Musashi finds himself wondering on Hotengahara, a plain in Shimosa Province, east of Edo, craving for a hot meal and a roof on his head. He hasn’t seen or heard of Otsu and Jotaro in one year and a half, ever since they got separated. After a few months in Edo, Musashi continued his training as a wondering shugyosha. At Hotengahara he meets Sannosuke, an orphaned 12 years old boy whom he accepts as his student.
13. Like Teacher, Like Pupil
The following morning, Musashi gives Sannosuke a new name: Iori. Thinking they were leaving on a trip to train, Iori prepares to leave. Musashi burns down Iroi’s former house and announces that they’re going to build another one. They build a cabin and Musashi decides that he’s going to try his hand as farming. They work hard at clearing a field of weeds but are mocked by farmers from a nearby village who say it’s a useless task as nothing can grow in that area. During the first storm, the entire field becomes a murky swamp. But Musashi doesn’t give up and, eventually, he is able to farm the land.
14. Mountain Devils
When bandits attack and pillage the village near Musashi’s cabin, the ronin the villagers thought was an idiot for trying to plant crops without any results, kills some of the bandits and then organizes the villagers into a strong fighting unit. Together they defeat the remaining bandits but Musashi reminds them that they should not be vain for their deeds as their sword is the plow.
15. First Planting
Nagoka Sado, a samurai in the House of Hosokawa, returns to Hotengahara about a year and a half after Musashi drove the bandits out of the village. To his dismay, he finds out that Musashi has recently left, leaving the villagers in charge of the fields he has managed to grow crops on.
16. The Flies
After spending two years in Hotengahara farming the land, Musashi returns to Edo where he is immediately recognized by one of Lord Yagyu Munenori’s retainers. Musashi and Iori end up checking in at a cheap hotel where a group of horse traders make so much noise that Musashi can’t sleep. When told not to be so loud, the horse traders ask Musashi to apologize. Instead of answering their challenge, Musashi starts to pick up flies with his chopsticks. This immediately makes the horse traders back off.
17. The Soul Polisher
Musashi goes to Zushino Kosuke’s house and asked him to polish his sword. Kosuke, who considers himself a soul polisher and not a sword polisher, refuses Musashi as he knew the sword was meant to kill people. Upon hearing that Musashi is a friend of Koetsu, Kosuke’s master, he apologizes for having refused him and accepts his sword. While he works on the sword, Kosuke gives Musashi another sword to carry. It’s such a beautiful sword that Musashi wants to buy it. Koetsu is willing to trade it for a small statue which Musashi will carve for him.
18. The Fox
Iori spends the night at one of Yagyu’s storehouses and in the morning he sets off for the Yagyu residence. On his way he meets a disguised Akemi who has become a low-class prostitute. While in the mountains, he sees a fox and, thinking it will put a spell on him, he chases it. Soon after he sees Otsu and Hyogo from the Yagyu family coming up the mountain. Otsu was rescued from Matahachi’s hands by one of Yagu’s retainers and has been living with the Yaguy family for some years now.
19. An Urgent Letter
Otsu leaves together with Hyogo to Kyoto to look after Lord Sekishusai, who was severely ill. On their way they meet once again Iori who still thinks they are foxes so he attacks Hyogo. When Iori is convinced they are not foxes, Hyogo tells him how to reach Yagyu Munenori’s house so that he can deliver his letter. Seeing Iori, Otsu thinks of Jotaro and Musashi whom she hasn’t seen in years.
20. Filial Piety
Hearing that Musashi is at an inn in Edo, Osugi wants to go to him immediately and challenge him one more time. Eventually, she decides to go to the house where Sasaki Kojiro is living and ask him to accompany her. Kojiro arrives at Yajibei’s house and find his men crying over the text of “The Sutra on the Great Love of Parents.”
21. Spring Shower in Red
Osugi, Kojiro and two of Yajibei’s men plan to ambush Musashi at Zushino Kosuke’s house. But they are being followed by another man who, once Kojiro is inside the sword polisher’s house, attacks Yajibei’s men, pushes Osugi into a ditch, and later on challenges Kojiro. He is Hojo Shinzo, one of Obata’s students, who wants to revenge the name of their master. Kojiro swiftly takes out his sword and kills him.
22. A Block of Wood
Kosuke brings a wounded Hojo Shinzo to his home where he administers first aids. Musashi in the meantime is trying to finish Kosuke’s statue, but fails in doing so, ruining Kosuke’s special piece of wood in the process. Iori also returns with a reply to his letter: as Lord Yagyu Munenori is a tutor to the shogun, he can’t fight Musashi, but the letter suggests that Musashi fight Yaguy Hyogo – who is also unavailable as he left for Edo to take care of the ailing Lord Yagyu Sekishusai. At Kosuke’s request, Musashi goes to the Obata School to inform them about Hojo Shinzo encounter with Sasaki Kojiro.
23. The Deserted Prophet
Musashi goes to Obata Kanegori’s house where he tells Yogoro, Kanegori’s only son, about Hojo Shinzo’s defeat and advises Yogoro to stay away from Sasaki Kojiro as no ordinary fighter is a match for him. Yogoro feels offended but doesn’t say anything and when he returns to his father’s sickbed, Kanegori asks him to call Musashi back as he saw in him an exceptional man. Yogoro tries to find Musashi, but he can’t. In the meantime, Shinzo’s defeat has already reached everyone’s ears.
24. The Talk of the Town
Hangawara Yajibei’s men stalk out Kosuke’s house in the hope of getting a chance at striking at Hojo Shinzo. Seeing all the trouble he is causing, Shinzo decides to return home and Musashi offers to accompany him. On their way, Hangawara’s men want to attack Shinzo but Musashi prefers not to fight them and runs away. After this incident, Musashi’s name is belittled all over Edo.
(To be continued: Musashi – Book 6: Sun and Moon)
