Vagabond Vol. 12

Vagabond is a seinen manga by Takehiko Inoue, structured around Eiji Yoshikawa's novel Musashi. It follows the swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, a youth who barely survives a battlefield during the late Warring States period and the early Edo period, as he embarks on a long journey toward a swordsmanship of unmatched supremacy. The work is renowned for its striking brushwork and ink-wash atmosphere, and is regarded as one of Inoue's signature achievements, surpassing even Slam Dunk.

This volume is the twelfth in the series, collecting chapters 108 through 117 (The Summit, Sea of Clouds, Uncle Gon, Called a Lowlife, Mother, The Old Woman's Ordeal, Self and Other, Ghosts, Baiken, and Kusarigama, among others). In this volume, Musashi continues his advance toward ever greater heights, single-mindedly pursuing the pinnacle of swordsmanship, while Hon'iden Matahachi remains mired in self-struggle and vacillation; the two life paths unfold in counterpoint around the question of where the summit truly lies. Meanwhile, rumors of a strange swordsman named Baiken gradually surface on the outskirts of Edo: a grotesque master of the kusarigama—sickle and chain—is about to appear, and Musashi will face an opponent whose methods are utterly unlike those of the sword.

Beyond the fierce duels, this volume also contains numerous passages of daily life and travel, with the layered ink-wash textures in the artwork particularly prominent; many readers regard it as a turning point in the series' visual style during its early-to-mid period.