Rōsai Azuki (小豆 蠟斎, Azuki Rōsai) is a member of the Iga Tsubagakure and one of the ten ninja picked by Ogen to participate in the war against the Kouga. He's the second oldest member after Tenzen.
Appearance[]
Rōsai's a short, elderly man with a large, gourd-shaped head with a small tuft of white hair on the top as well as a long beard, a pointed nose and sharp, beady eyes. He is the shortest of the Iga ninja and wears a yellow shirt with a red vest over it, a dull blue hakama and a pair of sandals on his feet.
Personality[]
Rōsai has a very short temper (likely as a result of his short stature) and holds great animosity for the Kouga clan, even claiming his head was once normal sized but became swollen from all the hatred he felt towards them [Kouga] for the part they played in Nobunaga's assault on Iga.
He also dislikes being teased or mocked by others about anything, particularly his age or height, and is the kind of person to hold grudges for entire decades.
Biography[]
Before the War[]
Rōsai appears in an anime only flashback with Nenki when Oboro had hiccups. When Oboro is taking a walk around Iga, worrying about her upcoming meeting with Gennosuke, both Rōsai and Nenki jump out from behind a wall and scream at her. Despite giving Oboro a fright they were unable to cure her hiccups.
In another flashback, he is seen with the rest of the Iga clan huddled in a group talking. They hear a noise from the room next door so they slide it open slightly and peer inside. The group catches sight of Ogen fixing her make-up and is so shocked they fall forward into Ogen's room, breaking the doors in the process.
Battle with Shougen[]
Rōsai is first seen confronting Jousuke Udono, who is trying to read a scroll that was carried by Ogen's hawk. Rōsai orders him to drop it as it is Iga property but Jousuke offers him to play a game of ninja skills to see who can get the scroll. Rōsai attacks Jousuke without any hesitation, kicking Jousuke in the face with his stretched leg while declaring he doesn't care about the peace treaty. Jousuke manages to catapult himself into the air with the scroll but is caught by Oboro, Gennosuke and other Iga ninjas. Rōsai arrives just behind Jousuke and tells Akeginu to take the Iga scroll of Jousuke. He and the other Iga ninjas then read the scroll in private and are initially shocked by what they see, before laughing to themselves about having the upper hand. Rōsai then leaves with Hotarubi, Nenki and Jingorou Amayo to find Tenzen.
When they meet Tenzen the group decides to hunt down Shougen Kazamachi, the ninja Danjou would have given the scroll to. After sending Jingorou back to Iga the group leaves to find Shougen but on the way come across a Kouga carriage. Koshirou kills the carriers and breaks the carriage, exposing Juubei Jimushi. The group leaves Tenzen to finish off Juubei and continues on their search for Shougen. That night they find Shougen and ambush him. Rōsai tries to grab him by stretching his arm but gets caught in Shougen's web with Nenki and Koshirou. Shougen taunts Rōsai but gets distracted by Hotarubi's attack. This allows Nenki to break them free and stab Shougen in the head. As he falls Shougen throws his scroll, which is caught by the awaiting Juubei. Rōsai, along with Koshiro and Nenki, chases after the scroll.
The three keep chasing Juubei but are unable to catch up. Tenzen then appears before Juubei and easily cuts him in half before retrieving the scroll. The group then decides to burn the other scroll after scoring off Shougen and Juubei's names.
Attack on the Kouga[]
The next day, Rōsai and the others decide to head to the Kouga Manjidani village and try to assassinate some Kouga ninjas. They stop by a tree where Rōsai breaks a guard's neck before heading into the village. Rōsai insists they should immediately dispose of the names on the scroll but Tenzen stops him, reminding him of how difficult it was just to kill Shougen. Koshirou then notes he senses someone nearby and Rōsai is suddenly pulled towards the wall and held against it. Rōsai struggles to get free and when he does he smashes the wall with a kick. Rōsai informs the others the wall spoke to him just before it shouts for reinforcements. Tenzen tries to claim they were sent by Gennosuke but the ninjas know they are lying and the group are forced to attack. Rōsai uses his stretchy limbs to knock large groups of opponents over, breaking their necks in the process.
The group then approach Hyouma, Saemon, Kagerou and Gyoubu, who had emerged from the wall. Tenzen warns them not to try and get revenge as they will kill Gennosuke if they do. The group then disappears in the butterflies that Hotarubi summoned.
Return to Iga[]
The group then begins to return to Iga but suddenly Tenzen stops. Rōsai asks if they have been followed but Tenzen only tells them to hide. Okoi then appears and Rōsai decides its time to erase another name from the scroll, but Tenzen tells him they're to take her back to Iga instead. The group surrounds Okoi and ask her to return with them to Iga but Okoi decides she wants to return to Kouga first and leaps into the trees to get away. Nenki chases her and manages to capture her quickly, allowing the group to head back to Iga with Okoi.
When they reach Iga the group meets up with Akeginu and Jingorou to discuss the events that have occurred and decide its best not to tell Oboro anything. Rōsai then goes to the salt store, where Okoi is being held. He begins to interrogate her about the Kouga ninjas' skills and says she may be let go if the answers she gives are satisfactory. He gets angry when she doesn't answer, slicing a salt barrel with his ability while threatening her with violence. He then places his hand on her shoulder to intimidate her, but quickly finds his blood being sucked out of him. Shocked, Rōsai tries to remove his hand from her, but finds that he's unable to do so. Rōsai then, in an attempt to make her to let go, he tries kicking her only for Okoi to blocks it, allowing her to suck even more blood from him. Okoi then stamps on his other foot and pulling him into a bear hug-like position where she proceeds to bite his neck; draining the remainder of his blood. When she finally lets go, he falls over dead, nothing more then a shriveled husk.
Abilities[]
Extendable Limbs: Rōsai possesses the ability to stretch his limbs to unnatural lengths. He prefers to use this ability to sneak attack his opponents from a safe distance or, if he finds himself surrounded by multiple foes, knock them all off balance by using his arms to sweep their feet.
Taijutsu: Although his miniature and antiquated body says otherwise, Rōsai is actually a highly skilled martial artist, one whose punches and kicks are capable of felling trees and smashing rocks with just one blow and who's capable of easily breaking a much younger man's neck with ease.
Relationships[]
Oboro[]
Rōsai, like many of the Iga ninjas, views Oboro as being a failure and not fit to lead the clan after Ogen. He has no problem with deceiving Oboro and secretly plotting with the others to assassinate Gennousuke.
Jousuke Udono[]
Rōsai has an extreme hatred for Jousuke and considers breaking the peace treaty to kill him. Jousuke's cheerful and joking attitude is something Rōsai is unable to put up with, especially since many of the jokes are made at Rōsai's expense.
Etymology[]
- The name Rōsai means "wax/waxy, candle, glazed" (蠟) (rō) and "religious purification/purification, Buddhist food, room, worship, avoid, alike" (斎) (sai).
- Rōsai's surname Azuki means "red beans" (小豆).
Trivia[]
- Rōsai was not included in Shinobi: Heart Under Blade, a 2005 film based upon the same source material as Basilisk.
- In the manga, Rōsai's red shirt has a flower-like pattern printed on it. This was completely omitted in the anime, where it is depicted as being a solid red color.
- Rōsai doesn't kill the guard outside the Kouga village in the manga as, while they did stop by a tree, there was no guard hiding in it.