Vagabond Deluxe 27 - Reprint 2

It is October 21, 1600, and the Battle of Sekigahara has ended. On the ground, survivors among corpses and weapons, are Takezo Shinmen and Matahachi Honiden, two friends who enlisted in the Toyotomi ranks in the hope of obtaining glory in the battle. Thus begins Vagabond. The two boys find themselves having to face many dangers to return to the Miyamoto village, where they came from; in fact, those belonging to the defeated troops were sought out both by the inhabitants of the areas surrounding the battlefield, out of revenge, and by the victorious soldiers, who were looking for the enemies to eliminate them. On the way back, wounded and sick, they are picked up and saved by two women, Oko and her daughter Akemi. Hosted by them, the boys save them from Tenma Tsujikaze, the leader of a gang of nobushi (bandits who strip the corpses of soldiers of weapons and armor) as well as the man who killed Oko's husband; following the dispute, Matahachi and Takezo separate: the former goes away with Oko, thus abandoning both Otsu, the girlfriend who was waiting for him in his village, and Takezo, left to fight alone against numerous bandits who have come to avenge their leader; the second, goes to the Miyamoto village, to warn Otsu that her betrothed is alive, but that he will not return. Having arrived at the Miyamoto village, Takezo will have to defend himself from the plots of Matahachi's mother, who does not believe the story told to her by Takezo, from the villagers, who must capture him as he is wanted by the authorities, and from the Kohei Tsujikaze, Tenma's brother. After having claimed numerous victims, Takezo is captured by Otsu, thanks to the suggestions of the monk Takuan. Takezo will remain hanging from a tree for several months, exposed to the elements and derision, until, following Tsujikaze's attempt to kill him, Takuan decides to free him, renaming him Musashi Miyamoto.