"Hundreds of years ago, there was a people who lived in darkness,"
"who possessed mysterious, superhuman powers,"
" and had no other way of living, except to fight."
"They were called 'Shinobi' . "
"The year is 1614. "
"After a long era of warring had ended, and the world was at peace,"
" a Shinobi man and woman from opposing sides"
"happened to come across each other by accident."
"This is where our story begins. "
I have never regretted that meeting.
Manjidani and Tsubagakure?
Yes, that is correct.
Iga and Kouga.
Within the birthplace of these two clans of Shinobi,
in hidden villages, deep in the mountains, where no man can reach-
the Iga of Tsubagakure,
and the Kouga of Manjidani-
it is said that for 400 years,
Shinobi that use mysterious arts have been trained in secret.
Mysterious arts?
They were so powerful, the late Hattori Hanzo...
...was fearful to employ the members of these villages.
What is more, the Iga of Tsubagakure
and the Kouga of Manjidani are bitter enemies.
If members from one village were to be employed,
the other would be sure to side with the enemy.
It is said that because of this,
in order to keep both villages from fighting,
they were made to enter into a pact with the house of Hattori,
and as a token of this,
a shrine was erected at the boundary of their villages.
Rumor has it that those who remain loyal to Toyotomi
are employing these Shinobi,
and waiting for the opportunity to incite rebellion.
This age of peace has been brought about by you, Your Highness.
Though they be Shinobi from a hidden village, if left alone,
they will surely become the spark that leads to war.
Ogen-sama has been summoned to Sunpu.
By official notice from the Hattori family,
she is to come with one of her most skillful.
Don't tell me the chieftan of Manjidani is also going to Sunpu.
Then Danjo-sama is going, too.
Once Grandfather comes back, I was thinking of telling him about us.
You disagree?
You are the grandson of Manjidani's chieftain.
I am the granddaughter of Tsubagakure's chieftain-
The land has become one.
There's no reason for us to go on hating each other forever.
Even though the land has become one,
I doubt the mutual hating and killing that has gone on for 400 years...
...will be so easily forgiven.
Gennosuke-sama, it is only in dreams that we can be married.
Oboro,
let's hold our own ceremony, just the two of us.
It's a memento of my late mother.
Nobody will be able to separate us now.
Gennosuke-sama...
Do not worry. Someday, everyone will understand.
Hayate! You are our witness!
Gennosuke-sama,
I, Oboro, have always been sad to be a Shinobi.
But now, it is different.
Even if it is only a fleeting dream, I am happy.
Ever since I was little,
the only thing I ever knew was fighting.
But upon meeting you,
for the first time, I knew the joy of living as a man.
Oboro,
the day will surely come when we will be able to live together.
Believe in that day.
The maple leaves in Tsubagakure have started to turn color.
What shade does Manjidani turn in autumn?
Someday, Gennosuke-sama, I would like to see your village
with my own eyes.
I wish I had wings like Hayate...
...so I could come see you at any time.
I feel an ill wind blowing.
I do hope it has nothing to do with Danjo-sama being called to Sunpu.
We will now commence a demonstration of both villages' techniques.
We will begin with Manjidani.
May I kill them?
No, go easy on them.
Next, Tsubagakure.
Get him!
That's enough!
The item.
Here it is.
This will be a relief to His Highness.
Have the arrangements been made?
Without fail.
At this point, it is unlikely you will ever save face, Yagyu.
You too, Hanzo.
You do not have the capacity
to control the Shinobi as the late Hattori-dono did.
You must know what will happen to you
if you allow the members of those villages...
...to go unchecked.
Raise your heads.
Ogen, of Tsubagakure...
Kouga Danjo, of Manjidani...
His Highness has witnessed the demonstration of your techniques,
and is greatly impressed.
As the one who oversees the Shinobi, I am also proud. Very well done.
Consequently, it falls to me to grant unto you an exceptional duty.
In the name of Hattori Hanzo the Third,
the longstanding prohibition of hostilities between the Iga and the Kouga...
...is hereby withdrawn.
Write down the names of your five most skilled upon these.
Iga of Tsubagakure, and Kouga of Manjidani,
beginning the day after tomorrow,
these five from both of your villages will fight each other,
and whichever side is victorious shall come here to Sunpu.
There will not be a draw.
If whoever survives is from Iga,
Prince Tokugawa Hidetata's eldest son, Lord Takechiyo, will be his successor.
If whoever survives is from Kouga,
his second son, Lord Kunichiyo, will be successor to the Tokugawa family.
In other words,
the successor to the Shogun will be determined by the outcome of your battle.
Now, both of you,
go and fight for the prestige of your respective villages!
Gather everyone together.
Welcome back.
Starting tomorrow morning, five of us from Tsubagakure...
...and five of us from Manjidani will fight each other.
By order of His Highness.
It's war! It's war with Manjidani!
War with Manjidani!
So, who will those five be?
These will be the five from our village: first,
Muroga Hyoma
Yakushiji Tenzen
Chikuma Koshiro
Yashamaru
Kagero
Mino Nenki
Kisaragi Saemon
Hotarubi
...and,
Gennosuke.
"Oboro"
" Kouga Gennosuke"
...and the leader will be, Oboro-chan.
The fate of Tsubagakure has been entrusted to you.
Oboro, it is in your hands now.
Oboro-sama,
we offer you our lives, and now exist only to follow you.
Gennosuke...
Why must we risk our lives for His Highness' entertainment?
We are weapons.
If there is no one to use us,
then we serve no purpose.
Without a foe, there is no course to our lives.
Thus are the Shinobi.
Your eyes.
You neither excel with the sword, nor are you nimble of body.
However, you do have those eyes.
As long as you possess that technique, you shall not be beaten.
Your heart is too tender. Have a heart of steel.
And you must not hesitate to use your Piercing Eyes technique.
From now on, you must carry the burden of leading Tsubagakure.
I would have sworn that this moment would never come.
How could we not fight each other?
The times may change, but the stars that divide us remain the same.
Why does this have to happen?
I don't know.
I don't know,
but whatever it takes, we must put a stop to this ridiculous fighting.
It was our destiny to end up like this.
Our stars have been crossed from the beginning.
There's no such thing as destiny.
Ogen-sama has entrusted the future of our village to me.
As I feared,
Gennosuke-sama , our marriage can only abide in dreams.
Do not give up.
Destiny is something we make for ourselves.
Gennosuke-sama...
We cannot change our destiny...
It's Gennosuke-sama!
Gennosuke-sama,
where have you been?
He met his end in battle with Ogen, the former chieftain of Tsubagakure.
What foolishness.
Why must we throw away our lives for His Highness' entertainment like this?
Gennosuke-sama...
Make ready to depart at once!
I am heading to Sunpu.
I am going to inquire about the true reason for this war.
What?
Come with me.
This is the perfect opportunity to fight the Iga of Tsubagakure!
I have no intention of fighting them.
Gennosuke-sama,
ever since we were children, we have spent our days perfecting our art.
If you take fighting away from us, what is left?
From now on will be a time of peace.
The age of war has ended.
The thing I fear most
is that an age of peace will indeed befall us!
I am heading to Sunpu. Come with me.
I am the leader! Obey me!
We are weapons.
If there is no one to use us,
then we serve no purpose.
Thus are the Shinobi.
From Kouga Gennosuke.
I have my own ideas concerning this battle.
Thus, I will bring with me the four whose names are written on this scroll
and proceed to Sunpu,
to inquire of Hattori Hanzo-dono about his true intentions.
This battle is between those whose names are written on this scroll,
and not between our two villages.
If you wish to cross swords with us, come after us.
From now on,
you are the chieftain of Tsubagakure.
What will you do?
We will go after them.
Make ready to depart.
Did you all hear that!?
Make ready to depart!
From now on, you must carry the burden of leading Tsubagakure.
Do not give up.
Destiny is something we make for ourseIves.
The group of Iga from Tsubagakure are pursuing us.
Are they?
Their leader...
...is a beautiful woman.
Where are they pursuing us from now?
It appears the enemy has divided into two groups.
Two of them are coming this way...
...and the other three are trying to circle around ahead of us.
So, where are the two who are coming this way?
I am Chikuma Koshiro, of Manjidani, Kouga.
Yashamaru, of Tsubagakure, Iga.
Gennosuke-sama,
I am now going to strike at the other three.
Hyoma...
If you take fighting away from us, you leave us with nothing.
That is our destiny.
Hyoma!
This face is beautiful.
I shall have this face.
Oboro-sama, Hotarubi made these. They are silverberry candies.
Thank you.
Delicious!
Still, they are no match for the flavor of yours, Oboro-sama.
It took me a long time to learn how to make them.
Grandmother patiently kept an eye on the flame for me,
until I finally learned how.
This spring,
when the silverberries grow,
please teach Hotarubi how to do so as well.
Come.
Hotarubi never had parents, or brothers and sisters.
Ever since I was little, the only one who has been nice to me...
...has been you, Oboro-sama.
I do not have parents or siblings, either.
You are the last one I wanted to bring along on this battle.
Oboro-sama,
why must the Iga and the Kouga fight?
Hotarubi does not understand.
Neither do I.
Neither do I, Oboro, understand.
Gennosuke!
Why don't you fight!?
Because there is no point.
No point, you say?
As someone who lives only to kill others, what am I supposed to do?
You can still live without killing others!
I am going to fight!
I am also not going to Sunpu!
I cannot live any other way.
I am heading to Sunpu, even if I must go alone.
You go ahead.
I, Hotarubi, finally understand.
The reason why we fight.
We are struck, and so we strike back, do we not?
Art for art, death for death, we strike back, do we not?
To me, what is more important than anything else is you, Oboro-sama.
A battle between Shinobi brings with it the carnage of hell.
The carnage of hell, indeed.
What are you...
...immortal?
Not immortal.
Just not very good at dying.
So you are Kouga Gennosuke, are you?
I have always wanted to meet you.
A poison mist, huh?
Gennosuke-sama,
I know the reason why you wish to avoid fighting.
Why the enemy girl?
Why does our chieftain consort with our enemy, Oboro?
Why?
You would kill me?
I am a woman who,
ever since she was a child, was raised by being fed poisons,
and as such, every time I have shared a bed with a man,
it was in the line of duty as a Shinobi.
Now,
I wish to die together with one.
I cannot!
I cannot kill you, Gennosuke-sama!
Kagero...
Dying will gain you nothing.
Do not forget,
you are the chieftain of Manjidani.
From Matsuzaka, on Ise Bay, they are traveling by boat
to Atsumi, on Mikawa Bay.
What shall we do?
Hanzo...
...you know what to do.
There will be no mistakes,
on the honor of the Hattori family name.
Hotarubi!
It is only a scratch.
Hotarubi!
Oboro-sama...
Hotarubi...
Hotarubi!
Now...
...for the first time in my life, I resent Ogen-sama...
...my grandmother.
Why this girl?
--Why Hotarubi? --No doubt,
she knew that Hotarubi would protect you,
even at the cost of her own life.
We are all born beneath our own star of destiny.
Hotarubi was following her destiny to die while protecting you.
Is that not all there is to it?
Don't say that!
You must not let their deaths be in vain.
Do not say that.
Do not say anything further.
Gennosuke...
I fought...
...and I do not regret this death.
Kill me.
Kill me!
"Come alone, in the watch of the Boar, to the abandoned temple to the west. "
The man named Yakushiji Tenzen of Tsubagakure,
appears to have something special he wishes to discuss.
Tenzen...
The immortal Shinobi, said to have lived for 300 years.
It is undoubtedly a trap.
It's all right.
Wait here.
As anticipated, the chieftain of Manjidani.
Have you come alone?
What do you want to discuss?
There are now only two of us remaining on either side of this battle.
My actual intent was not to fight.
Kouga Gennosuke...
You did say you were going to Sunpu to inquire
about the true reason for this battle.
In that case...
I will tell you the true reason for it.
I have witnessed the history of Shinobi for an exceedingly long time.
As such, I know that we are not required of this age.
We Shinobi were always there in the shadows of the warring age.
From shadow to shadow,
at times even establishing those who sat in power.
However, now is a time of peace.
The villages hidden deep in the mountains...
...producing powerful Shinobi are now useless.
Would you roam about in disgrace, having lost anyplace to go?
Or instead,
would you pass your time deep in the mountains,
until you die of hunger?
If so...
...it would be more desirable
if our two villages died out in one final, grand battle.
Right, Gennosuke?
Killing each other is not the only way for us to live.
Then, what is your way of life?
For enemies to love each other?
But then, Oboro-sama is now the Iga of Tsubagakure's true chieftain.
The sorrow over her friends' deaths has turned her heart to steel.
She is no longer the Oboro you once knew!
You should not have left your village.
What are you trying to say?
Right about now, the armies of Yagyu
are heading toward Manjidani and Tsubagakure.
They should arrive at the villages tomorrow.
By the time you reach Sunpu,
there will no longer be a village for you to return to!
You gave them a map to the villages?
Right now, His Highness is endeavoring to shine his light upon this whole land.
What is the point
of having hidden villages deep in the mountains in a time such as this?
We Shinobi are destined to live in darkness,
and die in darkness.
Then let us disappear unobserved into the shadows of the age!
Are you with me, Gennosuke?
I still am not dead, then?
I should have known that the mightiest of the Kouga
would have such a technique.
Even so, I am not dead.
You monster!
To be called a monster by a woman who breathes poison...
I have already seen through all of your techniques.
Our era has come to an end.
Kagero, wasn't it?
Can you kill me?
When you are reborn...
...do not return as a Shinobi.
Make an end of me.
Kagero!
So,
it seems we must fight each other after all.
It had to be this way from the start.
We could only be married in our dreams.
Our stars have been crossed from the outset.
Many of my friends have died.
I cannot turn back now.
Come at me.
Come at me!
I'm glad to have met you.
I have a request.
It is about our villages.
Fire!
Your Highness,
Oboro of Iga from Tsubagakure has come to see you.
I will see her.
Your Highness!
You must not.
She may be a woman, but even so...
Run!
Hurry!
His Imperial Highness has arrived!
You are the granddaughter of Tsubagakure's chieftain, Oboro?
That is correct.
You have indeed performed well during this battle.
You must have made your way through fierce fighting to arrive here.
On the Iga side, Yashamaru fell in the mountains of Ise;
Mino Nenki also fell in the mountains of Ise;
Hotarubi fell at the port of Atsumi, on Mikawa Bay;
Yakushuji Tenzen fell in the mountains of Totomi.
On the Kouga side, Muroga Hyoma fell at Matsuzaka, in Ise;
Kisaragi Saemon fell at the port of Atsumi, on Mikawa Bay;
Chikuma Koshiro fell in the mountains of Atsumi;
Kagero fell in the mountains of Totomi;
and the grandson of the chieftain of Manjidani of Kouga, Kouga Gennosuke...
...fell on the shores of Suruga.
These nine are now deceased.
And now, I have a request for Your Highness.
What?
Impudence! Remember your place!
Very well.
Speak it.
Please leave the villages of Manjidani and Tsubagakure as they are!
Both villages have come to be feared over the last 400 years as hidden villages.
However, we are still your people.
We are parents, and children, who love our mountains and rivers.
Your Highness, as the leader of this new realm, I am sure you understand this.
Oboro!
Please!
I cannot do that.
You are unlike other people.
You are Shinobi, who work fearsome arts.
You are human, and yet not human.
You, for example,
possess the fearsome Piercing Eyes technique.
Peace will never come to such people for as long as they live.
Oboro, what are you doing!?
Please,
I beg of you!
Raise the screen.
Oboro,
lift up your head.
" By strict order: You are to cease your attack on the villages of Tsubagakure and Manjidani immediately. "
"Withdraw all of your forces and return at once. -Tokugawa Ieyasu"
" By order of Ieyasu, the two villages escaped destruction,"
" and lived through the next 260 years under Tokugawa rule. "
" It is said there are still those who have inherited their blood living today. "
What you held out right to me,
smiling, there at the end,
was just so utterly beyond beautiful,
I could not hold back my tears.
I'm sure that on that day, we felt the touch of love.
We've been searching for each other,
at times, losing sight of ourselves,
knowing that when we finally found each other,
whatever outcome was waiting for us,
we couldn't call it anything other than destiny.
Up in the sky, into which you have departed,
there is a star that gently shines down on me.
Stay by my side, my beloved,
for there is still a future here,
transcending time, changing form, that neither of us can yet see.
Stay by my side, my beloved,
for there is still a future here,
transcending time, changing form, that neither of us can yet see.
Believe me, my beloved,
you are alive within me,
and so, from now on and forever,
I will never say goodbye.
I'm sure that on that day,
we felt the touch of love.