The Dagger of Kamui (カムイの剣)

A Kadokawa Haruki Office Presentation

Distributed by Toei

It is not known whether Kamui is godly or demonic, but again tonight, a harsh wind blows over the cold earth. People call it "Kamui Mau ", and they know life in the sound of it striking the land, and prostrate themselves, quivering.

Ji-Jiro!

"Sai Inn"

The Village of Sai, Shimokita Peninsula

Sister!

Mother!

Mother!

Mother...!

Ginga-subs

Kamui no Ken

Murder!

Come here!

Jiro killed Tsuyu and Sayuri!

Did he really?!

How horrible!

N-No, I didn't do it!

What do you mean, you didn't do it?!

How could you kill the people who found and raised you, a foundling?!

You ungrateful beast! You're a devil!

It's not true! It wasn't me!

Then what's with that dagger? That's blood dripping from it, isn't it?!

This is...

Parent-killers get crucified!

It wasn't me!

Hey! Anything over there?

No! Not a sign! Keep looking!

Boy...

You need not fear me.

It was not you who killed your mother and sister.

I know very well, you see.

The culprit is a shinobi.

By now, he should be cornered at Hotokegaura.

Prepare for your death, Tarouza!

There's no escape for you now!

Hanzou! Show yourself!

Was it you who killed my innocent wife and daughter?

Or was it Tenkai?

I killed them, on orders from my master.

From the beginning, it was a trap, to draw out and punish the traitor

who ceased communication with us!

It's been twelve years since you could last enter here

without breaking the Matsumae Clan's shinobi sphere of control.

I'm sure you didn't know that the murdered wife of yours, Tsuyu,

had previously found and nurtured a foundling.

He was a boy.

The half-breed offspring of a Japanese and an Ainu!

Surely you've guessed.

When you infiltrated Shinopirika-Kotan long ago,

you wedded an Ainu girl, it's the child she gave birth to!

See it with your own eyes!

You understand what to do, Boy?

Jiro!

Ji...

Ji-Jiro...

We must not let even a single villager who knows of this incident live.

Burn the village down!

A traitorous shinobi meeting his fate in front of a temple, he is fortunate.

We all become Buddha when we die.

May your soul rest in peace.

Do not worry. It seems that the crabs will take care of burying the body.

Boy, I hear that you're a foundling, is that right?

Were you ever told about your true father?

My boy, your father might also be a shinobi.

How about it, Boy? Do you wish to solve the mystery of your birth?

These two things may be keepsakes of your real father and mother.

There will come a day when that can be verified, I feel certain.

Matsumae, Ezo

Take him away.

Yes, sir.

"To Tengen Temple"

You must not be impolite to the Master.

Master?

He is the head monk of Tengen Temple, and in this part of the country

he is revered as a living Buddha. He is Bishop Tenkai.

Young Lord, I have brought him.

Young Lord!

Sanpei, over here.

I shall train you in the way of the shinobi.

I will not take it easy on you. Understand that?

Very well done.

You've become strong, Jiro.

As I have promised you, I looked into your father's past.

Your father was indeed a shinobi.

Tarouza was his name.

Deep in the Ezo Region, there is a river that the Ainu people call "Shishirimuka".

At its headwaters, there is a rather mysterious mountain.

They apparently call it, "Kamui Nupuri".

It is said to stand high in the untrodden

and the Ainu people worship it like a god, and fear it like a devil.

It is a sacred mountain, the existence or lack of which no one knows for certain.

Tarouza, it is said, stole into Shinopirika-Kotan, near the foot of that mountain

then deliberately cut contact with his clan.

For what purpose did he head there, and why did he disappear?

That is the matter which concerns you. Find out for yourself.

Until it is settled, you need not return.

Shingo!

Here.

The prey flies off.

Chase him like a beast, and make him fall into the trap.

We are gambling that Jiro, when made to balance between life and death

will act in the same manner as Tarouza!

Do not fail!

Understood.

I hear that you're off on a long trip.

Mr. Sanpei, do you have ties to any shinobi?

Do you know someone named Tarouza?

No, I don't.

Your arrival is most unexpected, Your Excellency.

I stopped by here on my way to the Hakodate administration office

for the deliberation on foreign ships.

So you say, but you're really here to hasten our search, are you not?

The fate of the Shogunate depends on it. There had better not be any failures.

It is said that, "Gold is shaped by fire, people by words."

"Even though it is not the flower,"

"the nightingale crying inside the flower is beautiful."

"If you want the flower, first tame the nightingale."

Do not let it worry you. The arrow has already been loosed.

Mother!

Mother! Mother! Hurry! Hurry, I tell you!

"This child is Jiro. Please take care of him."

Are you going to raise this child?

I feel as if he was given to me in place of my husband,

who disappeared while out fishing.

I'll see what I can do.

Hey! Look! Wait!

Jiro, over here!

Stop! Stop!

My father is ill! I beg you, please!

Shut up! You stay out of this!

Please help him! My father's gonna be killed!

Who the hell are you?!

Father! Father!

Don't let them get away!

All is going according to plan. Well done.

Sir.

All that's left now is for that Ainu kid to lead Jiro to Shinopirika-Kotan.

I'm Uraka.

I'm Jiro.

What'll you do now?

I'm going back to Kotan.

I see.

Are you remembering your lost father?

Yeah.

Any other relatives?

My mother's in Kotan.

What about you, Jiro?

I'm a...

Foundling!

Jiro, the Foundling!

Foundling!

These two things may be keepsakes of your real father and mother.

There will come a day when that can be verified, I feel certain.

Ji-Jiro!

Why, this is the Dagger of Kamui!

I see.

So, you are the one who carries this dagger.

Just now, you called it "the Dagger of Kamui".

Is there some special significance to it?

Nobody knows for certain at what time, or under what circumstances

that the dagger came to be in this village.

Yet,

it is said to be a gift from the Gods of forest, water, and earth.

For generations, it was safeguarded as the village chief's family treasure.

But about twenty years ago, the dagger was handed

to a man who was to be married to the village chief's only daughter, Oyaruru.

However, taking Oyaruru, their newborn baby,

and carrying the dagger, the man fled Kotan, and was gone.

W-Was his name, "Tarouza"?

I have not heard.

Then, what about that person, "Oyaruru"?

One day, she came back alone.

Then she left Kotan...

and began a quiet life along the upper reaches of this river.

Jiro...

Jiro...

You're alive...

Jiro! My son!

Here's a change of clothes, all right?

Yes, Mother.

You look just like him.

Is this my father's?

Good thing I saved it,

since I buried what few keepsakes there were in the cemetery.

Did my father pass away?

It's never been confirmed, but chances are, he is no longer alive.

I even believed that you, too, were no longer alive.

"This child is Jiro. Please take care of him."

I will draw our enemies' attention.

I will entrust your life and Jiro's to Shishirimuka's care.

Listen to me.

As soon as you see me go over the cliffs

take the boat and leave here at once.

Understand?

Was my father a shinobi?

How did you know that?

A man named Tenkai...

Tenkai?!

The devil who brought misfortune on our family!