Spirited Away (神隠し, Kamikakushi) is the 2nd chapter of the Sekiro Side Story: Hanbei the Undying manga series.
Summary[]
Hanbei stands up even thought he was cut down. The brigand is surprised, wondering what is he. Hanbei states he is "undying" or as some other say "infested". Hanbei then attacks, the brigand deflects it, but feels the strength of his blow. As Hanbei goes on he offence, he manages to injure the brigand on the right leg. However as he prepares to deliver a finishing blow, the other brigand stabs Hanbei from the back. Seeing that, Shoukichi rushes to attack the brigand. Forgetting that Hanbei is undying, the brigand pulls out his sword and prepares to fight Shoukichi, but Hanbei grabs by the head, plucking out his eye and slamming him to he ground. However, again before he can deliver a finishing blow, the other brigand stabs Hanbei in the heart from behind. As his leg is injured and they can't kill Hanbei, he tells his friend that they should leave before Hanbei stands up again.
Shoukichi brings Hanbei to their house. Seeing its just the two of them, Suzu wonders what is going on, and Shoukichi states that he and the rest are dead. Shoukichi then tells Suzu to take care of Hanbei, while he goes to notify the village chiefs of what happened. However Suzu wonders what he means, as Hanbei seems dead. Shoukichi explains that last time he was supposed to be dead too, but stood up too. Suzu still doesn't believe, but as she looks at Hanbei, he wakes up, scaring her. Hanbei thanks her for their hospitality, but stands up and leaves. Suzu explains that he can stay for longer and its also getting dark soon, so he if he heads to the mountains, he could get spirited away. However as Hanbei has no reason to stay, he still leaves.
On his way, he encounters Suzu's son, Choukichi, who is trying to capture some dragonflies, but breaks his trap. Hanbei then stops and helps him fix it. Shoukichi then shows up and tells Hanbei that he is still alive thanks to Hanbei. Hanbei states that there is no need to thank him as he was just killing time. Shoukichi then tells him he has a favor to ask, and Hanbei guesses its about the mountains. Shoukichi confirms and explains that lately whoever enters the mountains, doesn't return, with nine people going missing this year. The villagers that encountered the brigands, were looking for the missing people. Shoukichi told the village chiefs that the brigands may be responsible for the missing people and they need to ask Takamine for help. They agreed to tell Takamine, however with the internal minister likely to attack soon, Takamine has his soldiers in the castle and is unlikely to help them now. Shoukichi explains that they are not organizing a party to go into the mountains, but they are short on people and asks if Hanbei will join them. Hanbei agrees and returns to Shoukichi's house, where they eat.
The next day, they head to the mountains. The other villages thank Hanbei for saving the village from the brigands. However, while it was smart to split in two groups, they wonder if that is okay, since the brigands managed to kill their most skilled man, Yatomaru. Looking at the village from the mountains, Hanbei stats that it looks quite big, which would mean there are a lot of villagers to fend off an attack, yet the brigands came at daylight. If their goal was the village, they would have attacked at night. As they also seemed in a hurry, it also feels like they were fleeting from something. Elsewhere the other group had found nothing. One of them then hears something. The group then finds a dead brigand and decide to report it back. In the bushes, a monkey observes them.
Characters[]
- Shoukichi
- Hanbei the Undying
- Suzu
- Choukichi
- Kodou Takamine