Continuing from Musashi – Book 2: Water
1. Sasaki Kojiro
At 22 and after having lived with Oko for five years, Matahachi finds himself a day laborer in Fushimi (located between Kyoto and Osaka), where he is one of the hands working on the new castle Tokugawa Yeyasu had ordered to be built. While resting, Matahachi is approached by a shugyosha, a wondering samurai, who asks Matachachi to let him know if anyone comes his way while he sketches the surrounding area. But Matahachi is too dazed and tired to notice an inspector’s approach. The shugyosha kills the inspector for ripping his sketch book apart but is then overpowered by the labourers who pelt him down with rocks. Matahachi watches all this in shock. Believing that the wondering samurai is dead, Matahachi removes his belongings and runs away before the samurai who have tied the shugyosha’s body to a boulder return. Matahachi hides for the night in an abandoned house where he eats an old priest’s food (Jotaro’s father) and, after inspecting the wondering samurai’s things, finds a pouch full of money and a scroll certifying Sasaki Kojiro’s mastery of the Chujo Style of swordsmanship.
2. Reunion in Osaka
The next morning, Matahachi and the old priest have an altercation over the rice and sake Matahachi has eaten the previous night without the old priest’s permission. During their fight, a few coins from Sasaki Kojiro’s pouch fall on the floor and when Matahachi claims the money is his, the old priest feels ashamed for having started a fight with a man who supposedly was about to pay him for the food he had eaten. The priest leaves and Matahachi goes to Osaka where he tries to locate Kojiro’s sword master. Little by little, Matahachi spends more and more from Kojiro’s money and he even pretends to be Sasaki Kojiro. But Matahachi loses all the money when a crook promises to find him a good position with a local lord. Trying to find the man who stole his money, Matahachi runs into Uncle Gon and Osugi, his mother. He tries to run away from them, but they eventually catch him and tell him how Takezo (now known as Musashi) has, according to Osugi, ran away with his former fiancé Otsu. When asked by his mother how he can afford good clothes, Matahachi lies that he teaches swordsmanship and shows his mother Sasaki Kojiro’s certificate, claiming that he changed his name too.
3. The Handsome Man
Gion Toji, the chief retainer of Yoshioka Seijuro, and Sasaki Kojiro, dressed in bright clothes and petting a monkey, are on the same ferry taking several merchants and other passengers to Osaka. Gion remarks Sasaki’s long sword, the Drying Pole, and strikes up a conversation with the young man. Sasaki starts bragging about his swordsmanship and mentions that he would like to fight Yoshioka Seijuro whom he thinks he can defeat easily as, according to rumors in the provinces, the House of Yoshioka has lost its strength. Gion is offended, reveals his identity and challenges Sasaki Kojiro to cut down a gull in flight as he had earlier bragged he could do. Instead, Sasaki cuts down Gion’s topknot embarrassing him in front of the rest of the passengers. In the meantime, Kojiro’s monkey has stolen some of the merchants’ playing cards and when the captain demands the owner of the monkey to take responsibility for the monkey’s actions, Kojiro has really harsh words for the rich merchants who like to show off their wealth and spent their money recklessly on the game of cards.
4. The Seashell of Forgetfulness
Oko meets Gion Toji at the pier and tells him that Seijuro and a few other students from the Yoshioka School are waiting for him at an inn. Embarrassed about having lost his topknot, he refuses to go but, at Oko’s insistence, he later agrees to accompany her to the inn. Bored with having to wait for Toji, the students started drinking while Seijuro retired in a different room with Akemi, Oko’s daughter. Toji tries to avoid the party but gets physically dragged in and loses the kerchief he covered his head with. The students laugh at him; Toji explains how he had to cut his topknot because of a boil. By morning, everyone knows what had actually happened and the Yoshioka students go in search of Sasaki Kojiro to revenge the honor of their School. In the meantime, Akemi is out on the beach, looking for a special seashell which, according to a poem, will help her become oblivious to love. She hates the fact that she has to spend time with Seijuro when all she can think of is Musashi whom she secretly loves. Seijuro calls her back inside the inn and tries to force himself on her but she rejects him and tells him how much she hates him. Using brute force, Seijuro “satisfied his own lust.”
5. A Hero’s Passing
After having spent quite a few days visiting shrines and temples in Osaka, Matahachi got bored with following Osugi and Uncle Gon, especially that his mother scolded him all the time. The three arrive at the inn by the sea where Uncle Gion and Matahachi drink sake which infuriates Osugi who starts belittling Matahachi. Upset with his mother, Matahachi leaves while Uncle Gon goes in the water to try and save a girl who wanted to drown herself. They both go underwater but their bodies are brought back to shore by some fisherman. Uncle Gon is dead but the girl, Akemi, regains her breath and is taken by Seikuro and the innkeeper back insider. Osugi tries to revive Uncle Gon but there was nothing she could do to save him. Inside the inn, Seijuro feels sorry for what he has earlier done to Akemi but she rejects him once again and tells him of her intention to meet Musashi in Kyoto soon after the New Year. One of Seijuro’s senior students arrives at the inn with a letter from Musashi who challenges the House of Yoshioka to battle.
6. The Drying Pole
The seven Yoshioka students who went looking for Sasaki Kojiro finally tracked him down with the help of an apprentice swordsmith who told them he went to Kyoto to look for a better place to sharpen his sword. The group hurries to the pier but they are too late. Eventually they catch up with the boat before it reaches Kyoto and challenge Sasaki Kojiro to a fight. In the fight that ensues, Kojiro uses his long sword, the Drying Pole, to brutally kill five Yoshioka students and starts chasing the remains three who fled for their life. They bump into Yoshioka Seijuro who was riding back to Kyoto and Kojiro almost kills Seijuro’s senior student who was accompanying him on foot. Recognizing the young fighter, Yoshioka Seijuro jumps off his horse and tells Sasaki that there’s no reason for them to fight as they have a common acquaintance, whom has mentioned how skillful Sasaki Kojiro was. The two of them decide to continue their journey to Kyoto together and Kojiro accepts Seijuro’s offer to stay at his house for a few days.
7. Eagle Mountain
After having stepped on a nail, Musashi travels with his injured foot to Kuwana region in search of Shishido Baiken, a chain-ball-sickle expert, whom he wanted to fight. Arriving at Baiken’s house in Uji, Musashi is disappointed to find out from Baiken’s wife that her husband was not home. Musashi spends the night by the fire in Baiken’s house and, the following morning, he leaves for Yamada, a town near Ise Shrine where Baiken has gone. When Musashi can’t find Baiken, he goes on to Ise Shrine, frustrated that his swollen foot incapacitated him so much. He realizes that he will never be able to become a master in the art of war if just a small injury gets the better of him. So, he leaves his clothes and swords in a room at the Shrine and takes a bath in a nearby freezing river; he then starts climbing Eagle Mountain. When he reaches the top he feels tired and falls asleep but upon waking up, he is invigorated and ready to face any challenge. His injured foot also released pus, and thus started to heal.
8. The Mayfly in Winter
The following morning, Otsu, who for the past two months has been living at the Isu Shrine teaching flute to the House of Virgins, finds Musashi’s swords and dirty travel clothes and decides to take them to the Arakida House. On the way, she meets up with Jotaro who was given the job to swipe the grounds of the Ise Shrine every morning and thus was allowed to sleep at the Arakida’s. The master of the house, Arakida Ujitomi, tells Otsu that she will have to move out of the House of Virgins as people believe she is not pure. Otsu starts crying and, although she was still a pure woman, she agrees to leave Ise Shrine immediately. The staff Arakida House take care of the traveller’s clothes; Arakida Ujitomi asks Otsu to deliver two scrolls he had painted to Kyoto. Before leaving, Jotaro spots a man with a limp in the nearby woods.
9. The Pinwheel
Musashi’s foot is now almost healed so he takes the ferry from Ise to Tsu, where he meets Shishido Baiken, the blacksmith with the chain-ball-sickle. Wanting to learn more about the weapon, Musashi accompanies Baiken to his house. Realizing that Musashi is actually Takezo who fought at the Battle of Sekigahara four years ago, Baiken gets Musashi drunk on sake and lets him sleep in his and his wife’s bed. To keep Musashi drinking, Baiken talks about his signature weapon and shows Musashi all the moves used in fighting with a chain-ball-sickle. Seeing the way Baiken uses both of his hands to wield the weapon, Musashi starts thinking about the advantages of fighting with two swords. During the night, Musashi dreams about his mother and father and wakes up with an unsettled mood. While staring at the ceiling, trying to make sense of his strange dream, he sees the pinwheel Baiken has bought for his child spin. Someone has opened a door. Musashi feels danger and flees the house. Baiken is actually Tsujikaze Kohei, a former freebooter and Tsujikaze Temma’s brother. While healing of his battle wounds in Oko’s house after Sekigahara, Musashi killed Temma and now Baiken wanted to avenge his brother’s death. When Baiken and his acolytes fail to find Musashi, Baiken drinks more sake and goes to bed. Musashi, who has been hiding right there behind a pile of firewood, decides not to take Baiken’s life. Instead, he wraps one of Baiken’s sickles in paper and lets it rest against Baiken’s neck.
10. The Flying Horse
Otsu and Jotaro are on their way to Kyoto when Jotaro convinces Otsu to hire a horse for him. As soon as Jotaro starts riding with Otsu leading the way, Baiken shows up and tells them to hand over the horse as he has to catch up with Musashi. Hearing this, Otsu and Jotaro refuse and in the altercation that follows the horse is injured and starts running wildly with Jotaro on its back; Baiken and his men kidnap Otsu. A few miles down the road, Jotaro manages to get off the running horse and meets Tsuge Sannojo, the nephew of Watanabe Hanzo, a master of ninjutsu who agrees to help Jotaro rescue Otsu. Sannojo tricks Baiken’s men and Otsu is freed by Jotaro. The two of them arrive in Kyoto safely where Otsu hopes to find Musashi after the New Year at The Great Bridge at Gojo Avenue; before that, she has to deliver the scrolls from Master Arakida to Lord Karasumaru Mitsuhiro’s mansion.
11. The Butterfly in Winter
Akemi runs away from her mother’s home in Sumiyoshi but, on her way to Kyoto, she is assaulted by a ruffian. Luckily, Aoki Tanzaemon saves her and brings her to his house in the rundown temple. Here, he takes care of her and comforts her when a monkey scares her. The next day, the mendicant priest goes to Kyoto to play his shakuhachi so that he can buy some food and medicine for Akemi. As he leaves the temple, he sees two samurais and a dog hunting with a falcon. The falconer is Yoshioka Seijuro. Sasaki Kojiro, who know lives in Seijuro’s house in Kyoto where they train together for Seijuro’s pcoming bout with Musashi, is accompanying him. When Seijuro’s dog runs away and starts to bark, Kojiro find “the ancient ramshackle temple” where Akemi is caught between the mad dog and the monkey. When the dog bites Akemi’s hand, Kojiro kills it with a kicks and starts sucking blood from Akemi’s wound. When Tanzaemon returns in the evening, he finds the house empty and learns from a crippled beggar who lives under the floor of the temple that a young and handsome samurai has left with the woman on one shoulder and the monkey on the other.
12. The Announcement
Back at his dojo, Seijuro waits for Kojiro’s return, but his sparing partner never comes back. In the meantime, being the last day of the year, many creditors come to the Yoshioka House and ask for payment for the services they have provided over the last year. They are kicked out by Ueda Ryohei who then writes a reply to Musashi’s challenge. Seijuro approves the message and feels more relaxed now that his bout with Musashi is finally confirmed but he can’t help feel apprehensive about the fight. Ryohei displays the letter at the Great Bridge. As the evening approaches, Musashi finds his aunt and she reluctantly takes him to his uncle’s house where he learns that Osugi has been trying to locate him there too. Musashi is then asked to stay in the house until is dark so that no one can see him leaving the house and disgrace the family’s name; he is not invited to dinner. Musashi takes a nap and when he wakes up he feels refreshed; Osugi is also in the house and demands to see Musashi. He leaves his aunt’s house and starts a fire by the Kamo River, eats some rice cakes his aunt has given him, and then takes a bath in the freezing waters of the river. Returing form his uncles’ house, Osugi sees the fire by the river and follows Musashi into Kyoto. They have a heated exchange of words and Musashi uses force to restrain the old woman after she scratches his forearm with her sword and blows needles at him. Musashi is expecting to see Matahaci at the Great Bridge on the first day of the New Year so he ties Osugi up in a boat under the bridge, hoping that Matahachi will be able to clear their misunderstanding.
13. The Great Bridge at Gojo Avenue
At the bridge, Musashi is surprised to meet Akemi whom he barely recognizes. She confesses her love for him and that she had never given the letter to Matahachi, so his old friend won’t be coming. In the meantime, Jotaro arrives at the bridge too but he is shocked to she that the woman who’s talking to Musashi is not Otsu. While half-listening to Akemi’s pleading, Musashi spots a man looking at him. Akemi identifies him as Sasaki Kojio, the man who’s been taking care of her after the dog had bitten her. Musashi tells her to return with Kojiro to their inn and promises to visit her there, obviously more interested in the man staring at him, whom he senses to be a dangerous fighter. Jotaro finds Otsu hiding nearby but, by the time he convinces her to go to Musashi, Musashi walks off to free Osugi from the boat under the bridge. Jotaro and Otsu try to catch up with him, but Musashi quickly skips to the other side of the river. Osugi sees Otsu and tries to catch her, but Jotaro stops her. Eventually, Osugi tricks Otsu into coming to her inn.
Continued with Musashi – Book 4: Wind
