"Hmm, another rat."
"But those eyes."
"A starving wolf."
"Before I kill you
tell me your name. Tell me your name!
"No name to give. You shinobi are all the same."
"You die nameless with no one to mourn you."
"However, your left arm.
"A prosthetic shinobi arm."
"It reminds me of..."
The reason he laughs is that once there was another with a similar name
Sekijo, the One-armed Orangutan.
"It's it..."
"A one-armed wolf."
I like it, which means...
Sekiro. That is what I shall name you."
Words have meaning but names have power and
yours is tied to another.
"I brought some sake."
"Don't mind if I do."
"Is it not to your liking?"
"No, it's damn good."
"But it does make my old wounds ache."
"Your left arm?"
"Yes, and this sake was the favorite
of the man who cut it off."
"Who was...?"
"Lord Isshin."
"Isshin?"
"Why?"
"He did it for my sick. I was on the verge of being consumed."
"Consumed by what?"
"Shura."
"Well, whether you believe me or not that's for you to decide, but you do well to beware..."
"Shura's shadow."
Shura is a sort of demon, a manifestation of hatred that can appear in those who kill excessively.
Although,
Isshin killed many, polishing his skills in the blood of his enemies
He did not succumb to Shura.
Why?
Well, because after every enemy he killed he performed the Breath of Nature
expelling both regret and reaffirming his core.
Shinobi, however, inherit the Karma of those they've killed and they become physically burdened with regrets as a result.
"I see it in your eyes too."
"The shadow of Shura."
"Hmm, give me cause and I will kill you. You would do you well to remember that."
To understand what set the sculptor on his path to Shura
We look to his past, way back when he was still known as the Bounding Monkey of the Sunken Valley
"I trained in the techniques of the shinobi in the valley where the monkeys dwelled." "By yourself?"
"No, there were two of us. We were rogue shinobi. There was no proper master for the likes of us."
"That's why we went to the valley. To run, to jump, to clash swords."
"Where one slip would mean your doom. That was how we trained. We came to move exactly as monkeys did after a time."
"I drink this monkey booze whenever I tired of training and I'd
listened to the howl of my partners whistling finger while I drank."
"How?"
"It was from that unique ring."
"Whistling through that ring would fill the valley with a somber melody."
"Strangely enough, I enjoyed that sound. I listened to it so often."
Her cry could once be heard all along the waterfront of the Sunken Valley as
she whistled through this ring that could also send beasts wild and it was this same ring that was
unfortunately found in the belly of such a beast
and it's a sound that the sculptor will recall forever.
"To think it was in the belly of an ape"
I'm sure it'll play a somber but enjoyable tune. Make sure you use it well."
Perhaps it was the loss of his training partner that set him on the path to Shura. After all, it's
implied that there was more between them. But after Isshin severed Shura's arm,
the flames of hatred receded and sculptor regained control. And after Sekijo's defeat, he's ties to the Ashina's deepened."
For Isshin had this charm about him.
He had a way of turning his enemies into compatriots, especially those he respected for their battle prowess.
For there were still many battles to be won.
After one such battle, Sekijo found a young girl on the battlefield.
She was staring up at him
so intently that he felt he had to give up this rice ball that he was eating.
"When I was young
I stood alone in the aftermath of a battlefield. I was alone and
staring,
dumbfounded."
"I could do nothing, neither cry, nor even get angry"
"Complete shock and then there was a monkey eating a rice ball."
"A monkey?"
"Maybe an ape."
"Maybe."
"Either way, he made it look so delicious. I remember being angry at that but then,
then he gave me the rice ball. It tasted so good."
"What a kind monkey."
"Yes"
"He was a very kind monkey."
After this Emma threw herself into medical work with her new mentor Dogen,
who was a doctor of incredible ability.
"After that..."
well, a while later Ashina became a dangerous place for the both of us. Around then
Dogen adopted her as his daughter.
I suppose it didn't really matter where she ended up. One thing's for sure: she's happier for the fact
she wasn't raised by a shinobi."
Our story is testament to that fact for we too were found on a battlefield by a shinobi.
He was a cunning owl who would go on to use us to deny the self and to leave us nameless,
save for being known as a loyal wolf.
Yet we were saved once more in a sort of rebirth where our life became indebted to another, this time
not to a cunning owl but to a kind monkey instead,
and through him to the man who crafted his left arm.
"About lady Emma's father..."
"Dogen. He was an extraordinary doctor."
"He was also very well versed in mechanisms and devices. Better put, he was obsessed with mechanisms
to the point that it affected his health. He didn't take much else seriously, but I owed him my life."
"And we could say that you owe him your life as well."
"What do you mean?"
"When I lost my left arm
Dogen created that thing,
which has now become your left arm. The first version was a complete failure, it didn't work at all.
So he remade it. Then he remade it again and again, countless times."
"What?" "He told me I needed to practice with the prosthetic in order to use it properly."
"So Emma would pester me into carving her spinning tops and other toys. After
much training of that sort it came to be called a shinobi fang. In other words, that
prosthetic arm
is Dogen's legacy."
"His legacy?"
"So much time has passed."
"While I have abandoned my shinobi ways that alone I could not bear to abandon."
"I'd never have believed that one such as myself would save another who'd lost their arm like you have."
"I'm sure it is fate."
But all of these people, all of the Ashina lead back to Isshin
"There is something I'd like to ask you." "Of course."
"Who trained you to fight with a blade?" "A blade? I am a doctor."
"Yes, but who?"
"Lord Isshin."
"But I only have a passing interest." "I did not believe your skill counts as a mere passing interest."
"Why did you learn?" "Well..."
"Not to kill people." "What do you mean?"
"No, I don't have the slightest desire to kill anyone. It's just..."
"I would want to kill a demon if one were to appear." "A demon?!"
"Don't take me seriously. It was only a joke"
As Isshin would say, the bounds, the ties are so deeply amusing, and we are tied to Sekijo,
who is a constant warning of what a shinobi can become.
Because once it's touched you Shura never really leaves
"War is on the horizon, a dreadful one. At that the Dead will rise as mountains and the hate
will flow like an inferno. It will give birth to a demon."
"I'm certain of it."
The Interior Ministry tried and they failed to take Ashina once before.
But now they're ready. They know its people they know their weaknesses. They know the land and this time they will set it ablaze.
"Orangutan"
"The central forces are here."
"Are they now? They never change their thieving ways."
"Are the flames... still burning?"
"Emma, the answer to that isn't going to change. I could carve Buddha idols for all eternity,
and the flames of hatred would still rage on. The most I can do is keep them in check."
"Orangutan..." "What is it?"
"If the time ever comes"
then I'll..."
"I have ordered a carve. Goodbye."
"Listen..." "What?"
"You'll be the one to kill me." "What are you talking about?"
"Don't play the fool to make her after kill me
I don't think I could bear it."
"Please..."
But if you don't have Kuro strength of purpose to guide you and if you kill for the sake of power like Owl does, then
we too can get lost.
"No! Your..."
"You can't be Shura!"
But it doesn't have to be this way, for if you learn from the sculptors mistakes and fight for Kuro and not for hatred, then
you may become one who prevents Shura from taking root in the world.
All it takes is to remember who we are.
"Thank... you..."
"You know, don't you?"
"You know who the one-armed demon was before."
Yes
If you're like me and you find Sekiro's eastern philosophies fascinating, then
I'd like to put you onto this little audio book that I read last year and it's one that really changed the way I experience
the world. This is the little audio book of Ikigai brought to you by Audible.
Ikigai is a Japanese word for describing the pleasures and meanings of life.
The word literally consists of "Iki", to live, and "Gai", reason.
So Ikigai is about finding joy in the little things, whether it's sipping a cup of coffee in the morning or
spying a ray of sunshine through the trees, or even just working efficiently at a task.
And after you practice this mentality for a little while
you sort of stop looking for external sources of gratification.
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Even if it is just work or performing your daily chores. These things actually become enjoyable.
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Choose one audio book and two Audible Originals
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Everything I recommend to you guys is something I've personally listened to.
And we all share a lot of the same interests here, so suggest me some audiobooks as well.
I listen to them a lot in my downtime.
So if you think you have a few hours that you could fill with an audiobook,
visit audible.com/vaatyvidia or text "vaatyvidia" to 500 500 and let me know what are you listening to.
But as always guys, thank you for watching and I'll see you soon.