 |
This Article Contains Spoilers -
WARNING: This article contains major spoilers. If you do not wish to know vital information on plot / character elements in a story, you may not wish to read beyond this warning: We hold no responsibility for any negative effects these facts may have on your enjoyment of said media should you continue. That is all. |
| “ | Guess I'm going to hell too | „ |
| ~ Samura after cutting up the Hishaku goons, also foreshadowing his true nature. |
| “ | There is an evil far filthier than the Hishaku that must be punished, even if it takes colluding with the Hishaku. I'm talking about us. The sword bearers… All five sword bearers, including me, will die by my hand. | „ |
| ~ Samura revealing his true nature to Uruha and his intention to kill the Sword Bearers. |
Seiichi Samura is a major antagonist in the manga series Kagurabachi. He is one of the six Sword Bearers entrusted with the Enchanted Blades by Kunishige Rokuhira during the Seitei War, with Samura wielding the Enchanted Blade Tobimune. While initially appearing as one of the forthcoming allies to Chihiro and someone he looked up to, he is eventually revealed to be a mole for the Hishaku, having made a pact with Yura to assassinate the other Sword Bearers out of guilt for the crimes they committed during the Seitei War, in exchange for the whereabouts of the remaining Enchanted Blades and the identities of the Hishaku and the man who sold out Kunishige.
He is one of the two main antagonists (alongside Hiruhiko) of the Swordbearer Assassination Arc.
Personality[]
Samura is a rather complex individual. Samura deeply hates the prospect of taking lives and believes that all life has intrinsic value, in no small part due to his faith as a practicing Buddhist. However, he still found it necessary to wield Tobimune in the Seitei War for the greater good.
At his core, Samura is a man consumed by guilt and self-loathing. Samura views himself and his fellow Sword Bearers as monsters for some unknown crime all of them committed during the Seitei War. Samura believes that all of them, himself included, deserve to die for what they've done. Samura is disgusted at random people being caught in the crossfire of the Hishaku trying to kill the Sword Bearers, believing that he has a moral obligation to kill the Sword Bearers and the Hishaku. For all the Hishaku's crimes, Samura views them as the lesser of two evils and is currently engaged in an extremely tenuous alliance with them.
Biography[]
Past[]
Sometime in the past, Samura blinded himself to avoid falling victim to worldly passions, though he struggled to adapt at first. Shiba was present when Samura made his decision.
Eighteen years ago, Samura fought in the Seitei War using the Enchanted Blade Tobimune. Kunishige retrieved the blade following the Seitei War's conclusion.
Over a decade after the Seitei War, around when Chihiro was 14, Samura encountered Shiba and Chihiro by some food stalls. Samura grabbed Shiba's face and recognised the feeling as Shiba, greeting him warmly, having smelled someone familiar. He quickly detected Kunishige's scent as well, quickly catching on that Shiba must have been involved in his disappearance after the war. Samura then realised Chihiro was the son of Kunishige based on his scent, and told Shiba not to bother trying to hide it, adding he was thankful Kunishige hadn't been alone for the past decade.
Chihiro remarked his father had told him time and time ago the blade wielders who had risked their lives to support his ideals on the battlefield were the true heroes, but Samura denied this, asking Chihiro to tell Kunishige that he was the hero. Samura understood why Chihiro and Kunishige were in hiding given the nature of some members of the Kamunabi before grabbing Chihiro's face to feel its structure, shocking a watching Shiba.
Sometime afterwards, Samura invited Chihiro and Shiba to his house, and observed Chihiro practicing his swordsmanship. After a brief conversation with Shiba (in which Samura reminded Shiba one of the reasons he had blinded himself to avoid succumbing to worldly passions), Samura offered to demonstrate his own swordsmanship to provide some advice, his skill greatly impressing Chihiro. Chihiro then followed Samura's advice and delivered an improved slash of his own. Samura then saw Chihiro gazing at him in admiration and poked his eyes, rebuking him that cutting straw and cutting real people were two very different things, and that the Enchanted Blade wielders all had their fair share of blood on their hands.
Samura continued, revealing the first time he had killed someone he couldn't bear to see the severed flesh, being the other reason he had blinded himself. However, the image had never gone away, and Samura had felt himself becoming a monster at all the lives he had taken. Chihiro then brought up Samura had still ended up wielding Tobimune to save people, and Samura acknowledged it but told Chihiro not to aspire to become like him. Chihiro chose to respect him instead, which Samura was fine with, believing Chihiro to not be aiming to become a swordsman anyway.
Three years before the present and fifteen years after the Seitei War, following Kunishige and Misaka's murders at the hands of the Hishaku, Samura was transferred to Senkutsuji Temple, one of the Sanso, and a squadron of elite Kamunabi sorcerers were assigned there as a guard force. The same year, he was contacted by Yura, the leader of the Hishaku, who made a deal with him promising to give the identities of the Hishaku, the identity of the mole who sold out Kunishige, and the whereabouts of the Enchanted Blades, in exchange for killing the remaining Sword Bearers. Feeling guilty for their crimes in the Seitei War, Samura agreed, while declaring his intent to kill the Hishaku himself after they were done.
Sword Bearer Assassination Arc[]
When Uruha and Hakuri got off the train at a station near Senkutsuji, two sorcerers from Masumi greeted them and used a Mandala to teleport the four of them to Senkutsuji Temple. As the four walked through the temple, Samura rushed up and grabbed Hakuri's face, having caught the scent of Chihiro, but quickly realised it wasn't him by his face feeling different. He greeted Uruha as one of the Masumi sorcerers informed him that Hakuri would be teleporting the blades. Uruha asked how Samura knew Chihiro and Samura commented he hadn't known for over a decade, and Kunishige's whereabouts had been kept top secret.
Samura briefly recalled their meeting before Hakuri explained Chihiro had told him about Samura, the man himself admitting he'd like to see Chihiro again. Samura began to ask where Chihiro was before suddenly hearing a nearby priest bang a hammer on a drum as a signal, informing Samura the enemy, several sorcerers with Datenseki, were approaching. Samura immediately shouted for the forces to mobilise and one of the Masumi sorcerers ushered Hakuri to a room to begin treatment for his sorcery to recover more quickly. Samura told Uruha to get some rest, given how much he had been through.
Hakuri was worried as he lied on the treatment bed, but Uruha assured him Senkutsji's defences were vastly superior to Kokugoku's, not just because of a difference in the Kamunabi guards' skill, but Uruha also noted Samura's skill would've been enough to prevent a single life from being lost at Kokugoku; hence Senkutsuji would be invincible with Samura's presence. Uruha shouted to Samura that Chihiro would be there soon with information on the Hishaku, and Samura looked forward to seeing him again. The Masumi sorcerer informed him they would need 30 minutes to recover Hakuri's sorcery, and Samura drew his sword, stating it wouldn't be a problem.
In the central temple area where the Buddha statue was located, Samura muttered an apology to the Buddha for fighting in the sacred space as several Hishaku-employed sorcerers busted down the wall. Samura briefly lit and inhaled a cigarette in a single drag before tossing it at one of the speaking sorcerers, moments before slashing at him, two slashes in a cross-like pattern cleanly defeating the enemy. The sorcerers stopped making noise and moved to attack from range, but Samura unsheathed a sliver of his blade before resheathing it, focusing his echolocation and locating the enemies around him, cutting through two in one swift motion.
As Samura diced through more enemies, two of the sorcerers still alive used Datenseki to amplify their physical prowess, but Samura noticed them and unleashed a flurry of slashes at them as they neared him, easily defeating them and idly noting they would go to hell for their murderous attitudes. Samura added with displeasure that he'd likely be going to hell as well.
During the battle, the fedora-wearing Hishaku sorcerer also joined the attack on Senkutsuji, creating a litany of giant tree branches that devastated the building Samura was in. The sorcerer nonchalantly noted his desecration of the sacred space from his vantage point above Samura, and Samura replied he would be delivering retribution soon enough.
The Hishaku sorcerer remained on a tree branch to survey the battle. While Samura attempted to goad him down, the Hishaku sorcerer replied specific tactics were necessary to oppose a warrior of Samura's calibre, remotely deploying explosions and smoke in the area to disrupt Samura's smell and hearing. More sorcerers attacked but Samura cut them down, the Hishaku sorcerer recognising Samura had recognised the sorcerers' killing intent. Sending forth tree branches, the Hishaku sorcerer watched with satisfaction as one managed to graze Samura, knowing Samura couldn't react to inanimate objects. The Hishaku sorcerer ordered more sorcerers to attack while sending forth tree branches at the same time.
The Makizumi sorcerers then arrived, using their unique ability to nullify their sound, smell and presence to avoid interfering with Samura's senses, the four fighting together to combat the enemy forces. Hakuri and Uruha soon arrived in the area, their escape route having been obstructed by Datenseki-wielding sorcerers. Seeing Samura's situation, Uruha wasted no time and dashed in to assist, despite the risk that Samura would attack him. Recognising Samura's stance from the sheer number of times he had watched his technique, Uruha neatly dodged Samura's slash (only his topknot and part of his cloak being cut off) and slashed through an enemy behind him.
Samura was incredibly annoyed with Uruha risking his life by entering Samura's battlefield, but Uruha responded for Samura to just fight as normal, as he could adapt on the fly. Begrudgingly, Samura acquiesced.
The enemy forces continued to attack, and Samura redoubled his determination to eliminate them. To the side, Uruha and the Makizumi sorcerers recognised how Samura would oppose the notion of being evacuated from the area, and they quickly devised a plan to get Samura out of the area. As the building began crumbling from the Hishaku sorcerer's inflicted damage, Samura reacted to another sense of bloodlust, slicing forward. His blade was parried by Uruha, who had lured him onto a transport mandala one of the Makizumi sorcerers had set up. The Makizumi sorcerer immediately sent Samura, Uruha and Hakuri to the outskirts of the temple, thanking Uruha.
Samura immediately turned to re-enter the temple, furious at the idea of leaving his comrades to sacrifice themselves. Uruha responded that they needed to take Hakuri and flee under the cover of darkness, emphasising that the Makizumi were not throwing away their lives as tools but fighting to prevent the Hishaku from reaching them, because their lives were gravely important. Samura's brow creased as he replied that he didn't need to be lectured at the moment, but the two were interrupted as Hakuri grabbed onto Samura's hand, rapidly registering him and transporting Tobimune to Samura. Samura activated the blade, calling its name, before calling Crow and shredding back into the temple in a flock of feathers, rapidly defeating the Datenseki-wielding sorcerers and shouting to the Makizumi that they were fired.
As the fedora-wearing Hishaku sorcerer teleported away, the Makizumi trio apologised for Samura needing to save them, and Samura told them to thank Hakuri instead. Uruha and Hakuri arrived, and with the Makizumi they planned to head to another Sanso to finalise Hakuri's treatment and resume the plan to retrieve the Enchanted Blades.
Samura then voiced his concerns whether everyone was alright, and the group moved around the temple, eventually seeing Fuura's condition, impaled by a wooden beam. While a Makizumi sorcerer told Uruha about Fuura, Samura grit his teeth at the 'sight'. The Makizumi sorcerer noted his death was not in vain, and that his protection of the wielders would lead to a major turning point in the conflict against the Hishaku going forward. Samura disagreed, noting unfortunately that it was just the beginning.
As Hakuri fell asleep, Samura knocked the entire group as well as every monk in the area unconscious, with the sole exception of Uruha. As Hakuri woke up to the side, Samura explained to Uruha that even if they did recover the Enchanted Blades, the problem wouldn't be solved, as in that case Kunishige wouldn't have needed to lock away the blades.
Uruha listened grimly as Samura reminisced on holding Tobimune, remarking that he had to defeat evil and protect the weak with the blade. Uruha brought up that the Hishaku were the evil ones for killing Kunishige, but Samura noted there was a greater evil; the wielders themselves. Samura reminds Uruha that they had covered up their heinous actions in the Seitei War and were praised as 'heroes', and now young individuals had died to protect people they thought to be 'heroes'.
Samura declared that to prevent any further deaths, he would kill all five remaining blade wielders from the Seitei War, including himself. He commented to Uruha that unlike the Hishaku, he would not cause any collateral damage in the process. Uruha interrupted him, stating that the Hishaku would be able to use Kumeyuri with his death, and angrily shouted that Samura was allying with the organisation that killed Kunishige. Samura retorted he would only ally with them until the Master Swordsman was dead, and then kill them, preventing from doing harm with the blades while also tracking the blades down in the process. Samura maintained that only evil would be destroyed.
Despite his vehement opposition to Samura's plan, Uruha internally admitted it would be nigh-impossible for Samura to be defeated with Tobimune. Samura concluded that they would settle the Enchanted Blade matter away from the new generation, and while Uruha understood Samura's motives, he refused to simply throw away his life, spiting his comrades' deaths in service of himself. The two walked to a nearby bridge and Samura set Tobimune down, readying his normal katana instead as Uruha did the same.
The two dashed past each other and Samura landed a devastating slash on Uruha, the latter falling to the ground. Accepting his defeat and death, Uruha weakly questioned if Samura would shoulder his burden alone. Samura set down his katana, retrieved Tobimune, and answered Uruha that only he would have to endure his hell. As Hakuri managed to transport Chihiro to the bridge, one last slash from Tobimune finished Uruha off. Samura grimaced as he stated Chihiro was drenched in the smell of blood, the younger man horrified at the sight of Samura standing over Uruha's corpse.
Horrified by his actions, Chihiro tries to challenge Samura to a fight, despite Samura gently trying to offer Chihiro a chance to back down. However, Samura quickly cut Chihiro down, seemingly killing him. He tries to take Enten, only for Shiba to turn up and save Chihiro. Samura reveals to Shiba that the Hishaku know about the "sin" they committed during the Seitei War, and that their actions will forever curse the people around them as long as they are continued to be called heroes. Quickly retreating, Samura uses Owl to locate the Yura and Hiruhiko. Meeting up with him, he angrily declares that none of the innocent life that died was necessary if Yura had just given him Tobimune in the first place. Brushing his concerns aside, Yura assures Samura that they will retrieve information on the hiding places of the remaining Sword Bearers in a week. Begrudgingly, Samura concedes, but reminds Yura that once their deal is over, he's going to kill the whole of the Hishaku, before disappearing.
Trivia[]
- It was heavily implied that Samura is the one who sold out Kunishige's location to the Hishaku, thus making him the catalyst for the series events. Ironically, his actions would result in Chihiro, whom Samura did not want to become a killer, setting on the path of revenge against the Hishaku for his father's death. This was jossed, as chapter 59 confirmed that as part of his deal with Yura, he would be given the identity of the traitor.
[]
 Villains
| ||
|
Sazanami Clan Sojo's Organization Other | ||