I think he became something that differentiates from the demons on the list. He became the embodiement of the Jigoku, who knows if thats in the same category as the demons. There were no boats in (Ba sing se) Hokusei & I dont think we got to snort the funky fundip after we fought him. If that means he’s alive, then I think all that stuff mentioned is what’s going to happen, not what already happened. (I feel like I just confused myself somewhere…)
The noble souls could be referring to our companions who “died” since they all had their moments. Desperate children could be symbolic (like how the “den of snakes” was just a gang)? Or maybe it could (somehow) be referring to the children with the nuns since they are actually in an isolated area? Or some OTHER children that Im not going to name because I forgot how to spoiler…We could also end up going to Genfu & that’s what all that means?
Probably doesnt count because she herself is a woman, but Sakiko said she initially wanted to posses a man, maybe she ends up leaving Momoko & possesses a man & thats what its referring to? I still doubt it.
Not impossible, if demons were THAT easy to kill, we wouldnt need a Sword Who Cuts the Heavens! Just drop a horse on em, Tosh!
But if you use a move on the Baron that would kill an ordinary person, he’s fine after sometime. We’ve only ever killed them with our spirit power ups, so I think that normal attacks, at best, just hurt them a little bit but then they heal. The Baron took 3 tries to finally kill too (if you picked certain choices).
Have we really gotten a lot of references about the pirates? I can only remember the 1st one if so…the Ronin doesnt seem like they would care about running into their actual father & as much as they hate em, seem to have just accepted Gensai as their father. And how would they even know? They never saw him & why would some pirate even put together that one of the possible bastards he had with who knows how many women is his, & not some other pirate or someone else period?
The references to the pirates have been sporadic throughout the books, They could just be worldbuilding, but I tend towards the paranoid. Especially with this author, who has shown they like to introduce characters and factions as bit players and then massively expand upon them later (Ige/Amaterasu/The Oyamas/The Emperor’s hounds/ect.).
why would some pirate even put together that one of the possible bastards he had with who knows how many women is his, & not some other pirate or someone else period?
There’s a point where, when we face off against Sakiko, they scoff at the Ronin. Saying something like “it’s rich of you to call me an intruder to this realm” or something to that effect. There’s also the weird black smoke that occurs when the Ronin kills or is in close contact with a Demon.
I don’t think the Ronin is totally Human.
Tbf the pirates are never given a name, but that could change later.
The demons (with the exception of Kiyoshi & the greed demon maybe) were human before & became demons through different circumstances. The black smoke going to them could just be because they were the one who killed that demon (and possible have something to do with their spirit animal). We could be becoming some sort of vessel for them & either that’s gonna cause problems or something else. Kiyoshi says a little bit about it, but we still dont know of course.
Kiyoshi had signs of being a demon that he had to hide, but the mc didnt, if their father is a demon, its likely he became one after they were concieved.
And the line from Sakiko, maybe its us going to hell & back, she could be talking about her getting “what’s rightfully hers” & some bumpkin standing in her way, or it could be about the whole balance thing they mentioned? If we werent human, we’d either have started out as one and are changing, or still technically being human because demons (usually, probably) start out as one?
Oooh, okay, I’m not going to subscribe to this theory 100%, but the Ronin being on the Emperor’s list is kinda cool, not going to lie. And them being not entirely human, although it might not because of their father but because of the Jigoku. People turn into demons when they die, but maybe the Jigoku has the same effect to some degree?
Damn, the next book can’t come soon enough.
Do you remember us constantly inhaling black smoke after the demon bites it? My theory is that we are becoming one, and just don’t notice - in Book 5 my Ronin had happily trudged several months without food or sleep, barely rested and drank, yet still fought and managed to be quite successful at it. Toshio’s reaction to his boyfriend after meeting him only helped to seal the deal - he noticed something wrong in my ronin, even if he didn’t show it.
Issue in what sense? If there is a twist planned it makes sense to have a red herring or two to divert attention.
I don’t think that we are going to have some absolutely new big players introduced, so no3 has to be someone we have seen already.
Hmmm, but pirates are an interesting lead, tho. Like, they were only a background thing, but Devon does like to expand on briefly mentioned things, hmmmm. But I don’t think a father would appear, there is enough past hunting the Ronin as it is.
That is something I’m almost sure about, it just has to be that.
Ok, so what if the baron does count, and no3 is us, when Sakiko should possess the Emperor, she did want a man after all.
But I still would bet on the baron being a red herring.
Very possible. We can be the Sword because of the Jigoku, because it allows us to consume souls or smth.
Ok, so I’ve checked, and no3 is always a “he”, so can’t be us. We still can end up being no4, since there is no gender specified, but I would say it is unlikely. But I wouldn’t bet on the father theory still - we are from a city, not a village. Hmm…
They couldnt be #4 unless Sakiko’s gonna posses us.
If they do end up becoming a demon, I think they’ll be a different one that’s not on the list, but that’s because I dont think they fit the opportunistic aspect. They checked out the quest twice now & the idea of being anything more respectable than a murdering hobo causes them to short circuit.
Satsuma did say events different that what was expected can happen or completely change.
A pirate lord isn’t going to be based out of a city. They’ll be out at sea. Likely an island of some sort. A village on an island would be the very picture of isolation.
Well, thinking about it, the Baron is simply not relevant by the time we reach him.
The gunpowder he made had already been manufactured in such quantities that it supplied an army, and the knowledge of its manufacture had also spread. That cat was out of the bag, and eventually gets turned in the Emperor’s favor by Hatch’s impersonation of Shatao.
The Baron’s ideals of democracy spreading are mostly Basho’s doing, and those ideals die quickly, exploited or suppressed by the feuding clans and/or Sakiko’s soldiers.
As for why the Baron tries to kill the party. He DID supply a bunch of gunpowder for a rebellion. The dude was covering his own ass.
Still, by the time the party reaches the Baron, his part in the story is done. Whether he lived or died was irrelevant, so Satsuma had no reason to list him as a target.
I think Satsuma try to protect his power position ,Absolute Monarchy. Democracy System is great threat to Absolute monarchy (ํYou have to look into Democracy in ancient time’s pointview not in modern time’s pointview.),So this is why baron on Sutsuma’s target list.just like two clan in book 4 .If they can reunite.they will become powerful and become to dangerous threat to Sutsuma’s throne. I see every enemy who are elminated by Ronin .eveyone is Sutsuma’s political Rivals (sneck demon is powerful mafia who influence on most important economic city of Hyuka , Tengu is powerful general who control over royal army ,Yuki onna is powerful rightful royal ruler ,Baron is powerful man who drive new political ideal which threat to all Hyuka system ,Kiyoshi is who want reunite two clan ) everyone is powerful people who threaten Sutsuma Throne and Hyuga Monarchy .
I still don’t think the Baron is actually on the hit list. Either he or Sakiko fit the position of #4, and the Baron is already dead. We’re still left with one spirit out of place.
On an unrelated note…
I nodded though the gesture was futile. One feature of Shogi was the ability to put captured pieces back on the board. It kept the battle interesting though very complicated too. I liked to imagine General Hizen was summoning corpses up from the grave. An undead samurai army…now that was a scary thought.
I’ve been rereading the series and it seems the author has been dropping hints about future story beats for years now. I couldn’t help but laugh.
I would be more inclined to believe he was just doing this to protect himself & his position completely, if most of the demons werent also malicious in their goals. Kiyoshi & possibly Roderico are the only 2 so far that at least had noble goals even if they were hurting people.
Also, presuming that he wasnt lying, he only knew one demon by name & he dreamt them, so it wasnt a conscious choice of his. I would also think why would he be so vague even when he doesnt have to be & let everything drag out for months if he really was just worried about his power? Making the Ronin go through all this character development has them ready to give up & quite every 5 seconds & they can barely stand this guy they’ve only seen like twice .
I believe that if the demons went unchecked, they’d be as much a threat to Hyuga itself as much as they’d be a threat to it’s monarchy, & even then only one of them actually wanted a democracy anyway & Sakiko was not gonna let that happen.
If anything, I think Satsu putting a hit on them makes democracy more of a possibility than if he hadnt. If Momoko can be saved, then the power Shatao & Sakiko had still remains, can be used & they would be more likely to support the Ronin than Satsu. They are also much better people, actually care about others, & their changes had positive effects so they will have their people’s support. Then the equalists relentless support of the Ronin, the infectious idea that is equality will only grow their numbers, & if (when ) Jun finishes their sentence in hell, then thats the combination of the clans. And the fact that Tosh even considered the Ronin rivaling Satsuma is something…
I don’t think that Sutsu doesn’t.(Toshio always reflect as Sutsu’s Will ,so i think no way he support Democracy in Hyuka ) .I think that maybe Sutsu is only emperor in name and I don’t think that He haven’t real power as emperor of Hyuka.People have real power in Hyuka is 7 Demons who in his dream . Maybe that why he have to use Ronin eliminate them .Eliminate all powerful political rivals (All people who against Emperor are Demons) to cliam real power as Emperor. and also thay why he choose marry with Masa’s Sister because they are one powerful family in Hyuka and loyal to Emperor
P.SWell… I see in political point view more than noble task as hero and Most of Information is quite vague ,maybe Sutsu have good intention .Well…I don’t know hahha
Oh I know Tosh doesnt support democracy & follows what Satsu says, but at least with the way they said it, it sounded like they would probably be ok with it if it was the Ronin. They know they dont care about that type of stuff & normally sneer at the equalists, but for some reason they seemed almost hopeful of the idea with the Ronin. Unless that was just their body having a reaction to such a blasphemous suggestion!
I can see the political view as well, just from a story perspective (to me) I thought the demons being pretty much selfish & cruel makes me think Satsu at least has more than his title & power on his mind for sending us to kill them. Like if the demons had at least one goal each (or just a few of them) that could be considered “good” or had good intentions, but were just willing to do horrible things to get them, Id be more suspicious of our situation. He could still just want his power & they can still say the same, but that was just my thought.
I think there was something said back in Book 1 that Satsu cant really do anything as emperor because he’s still too young? There were other people handling things until he was old enough.
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