Vagabond Vol. 9

Vagabond is a seinen manga by Takehiko Inoue, serialized in Kodansha's Weekly Morning since 1998. Adapted from Eiji Yoshikawa's novel Musashi, it follows Shinmen Takezo—later renamed Miyamoto Musashi—from the late Warring States period into the early Edo period as he duels the great swordsmen of the age and pursues the Way of the Sword. This is Volume 9 of the series. Picking up the embers of the Yoshioka Dojo arc: Musashi's duel with Yoshioka Denshichiro in the flames is cut short, the Yoshioka Dojo burns down in a fire caused by Matahachi, and Ueda Ryohei, wounded, entrusts a letter reading "Miyamoto Musashi has come" to be carried toward Nara. Musashi receives a flower arrangement from the master swordsman Yagyu Sekishusai and, from a single pruned branch, perceives the man's depth; he resolves to travel to Yagyu to seek an audience with the swordsman who may be the strongest of all. Meanwhile, with his clumsy disciple Jotaro in tow, he is mocked by the monk Takuan as dragging along a womanish burden on his training. Yoshioka Toji vows as an assassin to take Musashi's life, the authorities post portraits of the arsonist everywhere, and Otsu, living under the Yagyu roof, still cannot forget Musashi. Prized blades and flower branches, pursuit and the search for the Way run side by side: this is the volume in which Musashi turns from "making a name in Kyoto" toward "seeking the Way within."