Yamahito, He Who Feeds on Beasts (山人は獣など食らう, Yamahito wa kemono nado kurau) is the 3rd chapter of the Sekiro Side Story: Hanbei the Undying manga series.
Summary[]
Hanbei starts to believe that the brigands aren't the ones kidnap the people. Shoukichi then wonders who could it be and Hanbei asks about how it all started. Shoukichi explains that the first missing one was Yamahito, who lived upstream. A strange man, who people didn't even want to visit, because he feeds on beasts. Shoukichi recalls one day that he visited Yamahito, and he offers him some food, guessing they are all starving. Shoukichi tells him that they don't eat four legged creatures, but Yamahito assures him its fine since this meat is from a creature that is more like a bird.
Hanbei finds Yamahito name to be odd, since evil spirits in the mountains have gone with similar names. One of the villagers then explain that they named him Yamahito after they found him alone in the mountains as a child. He isn't sure, but heard that he was raised by monkeys and because of that he probably could never fit well into a human village. After the ones who took care of him died, Yamahito moved back to the mountains to live alone. As the other group is late, they decide to go look for them. They eventually find them all killed near the dead brigand they found. Magojirou is still barely alive and barely mutters "monkey". Shoukichi recalls that the meat Yamahito offered him back then was from a monkey, and that he told him that only monkeys live in the mountain. Shoukichi then wonders if the monkeys had killed the people for revenge. Hanbei suggest that they get off the mountain quickly, as the ones who done this are skilled in battle and as its getting dark, they will be at disadvantage.
They head towards the river, which is a more open area. On the way, Hanbei hears something, but as he turns, a monkey jumps on him and stabs and kills him with two swords. Shoukichi is surprised to see a red eyed monkey, but then realizes its no monkey. The villager quickly stabs the monkey man from the back, but unaffected, the monkey man turns and cuts the villagers in half. The monkey man then states that Shoukichi came back and wonders if he should let him go or eat him now. Shoukichi then realizes that's Yamahito and wonders what happened to him and why he kill everyone. Yamahito explains that there was no place for him in the village and he decided to become a monkey, but couldn't. Abandoned as a human, and shunned as a monkey, he is neither human or monkey.
Hanbei recalls a time when he was lying starving on the ground as a child, unable to remember if he lost his family to a war or they abandoned him since they couldn't feed him. A passing monk the found him and put a centipede in him. As Hanbei couldn't die, he decided to live. One day he faced a man who wondered if he know Yamauchi Kazutsuna of the Ashina Clan. Hanbei denies and explains he just picked this sword and he is the first person he saw today. The man easily defeats Hanbei, however being undying, Hanbei stands up again. As he had some talent with the sword, and nothing else to do, Hanbei decides to master the sword. Years later on a battlefield, Hanbei is with a man, who suggest they retreat as things don't look good. He notes that the way this is going either they enemy Tamura or Isshin will end up controlling the Ashina clan. However, instead of retreating, Hanbei walks towards the enemy main force. Hanbei faces Tamura and gets cut down several times, however as he isn't dying, Tamura realizes that the stories of immortality are true and tells Hanbei that he has use of him and to come and serve him. Serving Tamura, he tells Hanbei that he is neither a human or a wandering spirit, and that they goal is to first dominate Ashina and then the entire nation. But even with skilled sword hand and immortal body, he was no match for Isshin Ashina, who kills Tamura and then defeats Hanbei. As Hanbei stands up, he tells Yamahito that he understands his grief all to well.