Wait, Kill the emperor? Why do you get this feeling?
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I mean im probably wrong lol but in book 4 the emperor is talking to masami about the ronin no longer being in his vision (due to him being stuck in hell which he sends masami to fix) , the vision being the ronin standing infront of the emperor at the wedding, now the way he ends that bit of information came off to me like regret, like a knowing of something that was going to happen, something he has accepted MUST happen as its on the path of the ronin becoming the sword that cuts the heavens, im THINKING that in book 5 we will have the silent lady inside our heads and we will do some bad things under her influence,
But like i said, im probably wrong lol but its fun to theorize 
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Oh, I see where youâre coming from. And the ronin is already shook up over everything that happened in hell and whatnot. Speaking of the Silent Lady, Iâm worried about how weâre gonna kill her without also killing Momoko in the process 
.
The ronin is really gonna have a terrible time in Book 5, huh? lol
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Lol yeah i think he is, even worse if hatch and his army get recruited by her 
Yeah⌠But I donât think it will happen. Hatch has grown. He is probable thĂŠ only one who has really reach the end of his journey. He can see beyond Momokoâs apparence and will never help her in her madness.
But he will probably put himself in danger tonsave her from her corruption.
I wonât be surprised if it happen to be a choice somehow. Kill Momoko or let Hatch sacrifice himself to save her.
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What is dead may never die but Rises again harder and stronger
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Oh nice theory but i choose hatch all day, im not overly keen on momoko anyway lol
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Yeah⌠I donât know. I like both of them and Momoko can still do great things. Hatch sacrifice might be the kick in the ass she really need to wake up to reality and live her life.
During all the four Books, she is running from her past and herself. I want her to grow and become what Hatch really saw in her.
In the end, he was more insighful that we thought.
He is the first one to believe in the roninâs nobility (in action, not in blood), the first one to really know what Masashi is really capable of, the first and only one to see that our ronin wasnât becoming a cold hearted bitch but was really hurting inside and needed Time to healâŚ
I want him to have it right about Momoko too.
If he is willing to save her, even at the cost or his life and is fully aware of it, I will help him. Because thatâs who he is. Dying to protect or save a friend in need is so like Hatch, and stop him from doing it will hurt him.
If course, if he is doing it from nothing, I will stop him.
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Recently was replaying through the books again. My first Ronin was essentially Mugen from Samurai Champloo, but I decided to go for a more honorable yet broken personality this time, choosing the Akita Inu as my spirit animal because I like symbolism and it further indicates them as a foil to Junko.
Your theory made me understand why Toshâs romance during Book 3 felt so off for me. It felt too perfect at times, almost as if there was no way Tosh wouldnât fall for the Ronin. At the very least, I understood why Momoko fell for the Ronin after Book 1, especially if you make certain choices. But Toshâs sudden attraction felt artificial and fake at moments, especially when itâs already been shown that Tosh is incredibly good at controlling and concealing their emotions. So their sudden outbursts of affection and their sudden confession felt⌠out of character in a way that I couldnât really explain until I read this.
Adding onto this point, I think Tosh is the only person who actively confronts the Ronin about their relationship and slight obsession with Jun(ko), during the Shogi Tournament.
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Yeah their âfeelingsâ seem to be a means to an end. If you ask fake tosh how tosh was back when they knew them you get some good insight to the type of person tosh is.
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If the side stories are any indication, Tosh isnât tricking the Ronin. The emperor knew that Tosh would fall in love with somebody & implies that it is the Ronin. And in the same story we see that Tosh has never fallen in love before, so I highly doubt they would be too skilled at controlling such a powerful emotion without any practice.
Tosh has been keeping secrets and lying for the most part since we met, but I donât think they are as bad as you say. You make them out to be some evil mastermind, but they never gave off that vibe to me, and I didnât like them until recently.
And I donât think he is IN love with the emperor, you can care A LOT about somebody and not want to be with them, especially since he is supposed to look after & protect him.
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BUT⌠do you nearly crush a Roninâs 
when you hear that the emporer is getting married?
Thatâs what made me wonder, if Tosh is actually in love with Satsuma. It was a rather⌠strong reaction, if I remember correctly.
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Didnât they react that way because they had less time than what they thought though? I swear it was mentioned in both book 3 & 4 that because the wedding came sooner, that meant that they had only/less than a few months to kill the demons when previously they thought they had a year. Iâd be pretty shocked if I had less time than I thought to finish an essay, let alone finding & killing 4 demons and stopping a rebellion on the side, meanwhile the best fighter canât fight!
And Tosh definitely knew about the wedding. They were next to Satsuma when he talked about his marriage in Book 1 & they didnât react at all then, not even a twitch. And do you think the emperorâs right hand man wouldnât know about such an important event? I mean if they know about the emperorâs predictions, they should know about the wedding too.
And like I said, Tosh had never BEEN in love before & didnât see themselves as anything other than a servant/companion for Satsuma. And faking being in love with the Ronin seems useless, what would even be the point? Trying to woo a Ronin who doesnât trust you at all & has had horrible relationships beforehand so they damn sure ainât jumping into this one. Doesnât really make sense to me. Theyâd be better off befriending Masa to use them to keep the Ronin in line if they needed.
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Itâs possible. As I mentioned, this is based on my memory and itâs been a while.
But I do remember that this scene stuck with me and I believe our Ronin even mentioned that they were curious about the reaction about the marriage.
Could be incorrect though and maybe it was indeed the fact that they lost valuable time.
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You are missing the part where Tosh has admitted to taking advantage of Momoko in order to manipulate you, that means there is a point in doing so. Tosh is a mastermind, that is Toshâs primary role. Only times Tosh initiated affection were times they were afraid the Ronin would abandon the mission. Every other time were reactionary and awkward, like during the time they visit when you are training for Shima, if you donât make any amorous move it doesnât happen. In fact it was the same when they left you there in the first place.
I think Tosh not only sees the Ronin as an asset to the Emperor, but I believe they were also afraid the Ronin might be a threat. I think the most honest we have ever seen them is at the time when we first met Satsuma, or when you shown them the markings on your masterâs sword. I donât think all those cautionary thoughts they had just melted away like that. So I believe that is why they used Momoko to try to keep the Ronin in check, and when that failed they tried to do it themself.
When the Ronin lost their memory, they knew it was to the Roninâs detriment yet they continued to keep the truth from them CONTRARY TO THE VERY STATEMENT made in the previous game about false harmony. Meaning they were the only one who knew what would happen to the ronin if they kept up that lie yet continued to do so.
After that Tosh avoided the Ronin until the Ronin started questioning their scars, that is the only reason the massage came about.
Tosh is a conniving Rook (the piece that is associated with them)
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I got bothered by this too when I first Book 3. Makes me really question about Toshâs motive. And then Book 4 and the side stories came out and it really got me very confused where Tosh really stands. Like any other characters, Toshâs character arc will need to be concluded and it will probably tie to their loyalty. I am looking forward to it and I am very excited for the future books if our speculations are true or not.
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Iâm still hoping that weâll get a somewhat happy ending, no matter the LI and not just doom and gloom.
Thereâs too much of that out there already 
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Oh I completely forgot about the Momoko thing! Guess Iâll have to read everything again.
I wasnât trying to make Tosh seem like they were free of any faults, they are a liar and too secretive for their own good and for the good others, amongst other things. But I donât think they are going to be The Real Evil⢠or whatever rubbing his hands like fly in the corner just waiting to strike. But I can be wrong, I did forget about all those other things. But I hope Iâm not gonna get swindled again!
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I believe Tosh thinks they are doing the right thing, but does so at the Roninâs expense. I also donât think the Emperor is completely virtuous either.
Yeah it was only after reading everything multiple times I was able to scrutinize Toshâs actions. How they behaved initially to now. Also pay attention to what the demons have to say about Satsuma. I think he is upsetting some sort of balance.
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