"Before the ears of rice start bowing' their heads, come back with some samurai." "Got that?" "You dummy!" "If you had kept yourself out of it, I could have stopped them sooner." "I was just trying to lend you a hand!" "That's enough, both of you." "Now then, what are you going to do?" "If you have caught Maro-sama's eye, then this is the wrong time to be looking for samurai." "No, we will continue." "I will take seven samurai-sama back to the village, no matter what it takes." "Move it!" "Move it!" "Katsushiro-sama..." "Like I said, I'm never going to let go of your hand again." "I am enamored..." "Being able to understand each other, and to share with each other, are both as short-lived as a bubble on the water." "Obscured by the sands of time, unable to hold on," "I gave up, until I saw you again, asking" ""How much pain have you been carrying, all alone?" "And how much loneliness is hidden behind your eyes when you smile?"" "Embrace this miracle of an encounter now," "By gazing upon each other, we can become stronger." "And if this isn't what you call love, then what is it you call love now?" "The express messenger!" "Hey, the express messenger is here!" "Grandfather, what'd Kirara say?" "Are the samurai comin'?" "They're comin' soon." "As of now, they've gotten two of 'em." "That's what it says." "Two of 'em?" "That ain't much." "No, it ain't much." "They're comin' back with seven of 'em in all." "Seven of 'em?" "!" "Now, that is a lot of 'em!" "Yeah, that's too many." "Grandfather, you said four, didn'cha?" "Don't be so grudging'." "I didn't think we could get ten of 'em." "But then, if I said ten, it'd turn into fifteen." "That's how things go." "But still, I'm concerned." "I'm scared of swords." "And more'n anything', our daughters're crazy 'bout samurai." "The village can't handle the samurai runnin' off with our daughters." "The bandits are comin'!" "What good is it worrying' 'bout your beard when your head's about to be chopped off?" "What?" "Kill some bandits?" "I beg of you, if you'd be so kind..." "I won't hear of it." "Ask someone else." "Looks like you fed yet another one for nothing." "Samurai-sama!" "Hey, cheer up." "You'll get the next one." "Next time, try saying this, with feeling:" ""Samurai-sama, I greatly admire you."" "It's appropriate." "If you tell a samurai you admire them, it won't offend them." "Go on, try it out." "But, I..." "It's okay, just say it." "Go on, nobody is watching." "S- samurai-sama, I deeply... admire ya." "There now, that's a good fellow." "But you'll have to do better than that." "Now, come on, with a little more enthusiasm." "Otherwise, the samurai will not be moved." "Samurai-sama!" "I deeply admire you!" "Good, good!" "That's the spirit!" "This is the number of samurai that have turned each of us down up to now." "Seven for Rikichi, three for me, two for Kirara-dono, and two for Gorobe-dono." "We cannot exactly say that things are turning out well, can we?" "Two of us so far, huh?" "That makes it a ratio of one in seven." "Don't forget to count me." "Let's try a different corner this time." "That's a good idea." "Hey, are you listening to me?" "!" "No, we weren't." "What's the use of this?" "!" "Cheer up!" "Leave me alone, Komachi!" "In any case, we know that out of every seven that we ask, one will join us." "Your recordkeeping was not without merit." "Right." "Well then, shall we be going?" "By the way, what do you intend to do about that samurai from before?" "A scar on your neck..." "That must smart quite a bit." "He must have been a worthy opponent, to have been able to wound you, Kyuzo-dono." "Keep an eye on things while I'm out." "Poor turnout today, huh?" "We had all of six people turn us down." "Hey, that just means that the next one will be today's seventh samurai." "He'll be the one." "Right..." "I know..." "Everyone is tired and all." "How about we go have a cup of tea?" "That sounds good." "How sweet and delicious!" "I ain't ever eaten anything' like this before." "If you like, how about another cup?" "A small gift, compliments of the proprietor." "That is most gracious of you." "Not at all." "It is wholly thanks to you samurai-sama that I am even able to prepare this tea at all." "A little while ago, there was a samurai-sama that came and said he would like a cup of tea, although he did not have a penny to his name." "Instead, he said he would pay for it in labor, by cutting wood." "And so, he spent the whole day long cutting firewood for me." "What's more, he said as long as he was at it, he would carve up some toothpicks for me." "He was such a pleasant samurai-sama." "There are still some gentlemen that one can look up to, even in this day and age." "Looks like it would be worth it for us to seek him out." "And by winding this here, you can easily hoist things up, right?" "I get it." "This is one handy tool to have." "It's a leftover from the old great war." "How about taking it with you?" "I'll let you have it cheap." "Okay then, if we could work something out..." "Masa-noji, that was rotten of you, making a samurai chop wood for you in exchange for that broken-down heap." "He's the one who proposed it." "What a ridiculous fool!" "Which one of you is the bigger fool, Nunky?" "You want something to cry about?" "!" "A pleasure." "You must find it disgraceful to see a samurai chopping wood with his katana, right?" "No, no, it looks much more enjoyable than chopping up people with it." "Have you cut down many people before?" "To tell you the truth, I do not recollect ever once cutting anyone down." "So, does that mean you did not take part in the great war earlier?" "No, I did go to war, but I was always assigned to be a combat engineer." "Probably because I'm such a timid little person." "For better or worse, I survived through it, covered in dirt." "That's great." "To die is to lose, but to survive is to win." "Is that right?" "It's what I believe." "I'm most grateful." "By the way, how would you feel about cutting down forty or so bandits?" "We wound up not finding the woodcutting samurai-sama." "We'll look for him tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow." "So, you've finally returned, huh?" "I happened to get to know a rather unusual woodcutting master." "Woodcutting..." "Master?" "This is Heihachi-dono." "Er, by any chance, are you the gentleman who chopped wood for the tea stall?" "That's correct." "Really?" "!" "We found him!" "We have been looking for you." "Such is the way that fate works, I suppose." "What's this?" "You say you're from Kanna Village?" "Y- yeah." "Delicious." "Rice from Kanna is truly delicious." "It has just a hint of sweetness, with exactly the right amount of stickiness to capture the heart of whoever eats it." "It is the rice among rice." "Rice is a gift of the farmers' eighty-and-eight efforts." "Eight by ten, and eight more." "See?" "It works out to be the character for "rice."" "You're right!" "You sure do like rice, huh?" "Indeed I do." "Have you ever heard of the tradition that says there are seven gods that dwell within the rice?" "Seven gods?" "Good rice has seven gods within it to protect it." "That's how gracious a blessing from heaven it is." "Five more to go..." "We pray that there will be seven gods who will gather at our village, as well." "Oh, so we're gods, are we?" "Yes, gods." "I have to say, I'm embarrassed." "Heihachi-sama," "I would ask that you please become one of the guardian gods of Kanna." "We'd like to make use of your strength." "With pleasure." "Thank you, thank you, thank you..." "Thank you, thank you..." "Hmph!" "What are you all going on about?" "!" "It's a little strange that he knows so much about rice." "Are you really a samurai?" "You're being rude, Kikuchiyo-dono!" "If he was a real samurai, like me, he would be carrying one of these!" "Look at this!" "I am indeed a samurai, to whom the family's treasured sword has been handed down to!" "A family tree?" "Ha!" "Surprised?" "So, which one of these is you?" "Here, right here!" "That's a woman." "Whoops, my fault..." "This one... no..." "He's at it again." "Here!" "Ho..." "That does indeed read "Kikuchiyo."" "You see?" "That's me!" "Yeah, but if you are really the person named Kikuchiyo here, then you're thirteen years old." "Huh?" "Thirteen?" "It says here you were born in the first year of Genwa, right?" "It would be wrong to send a thirteen-year-old off to war." "Kikuchiyo, where did you steal that from?" "To hell with you samurai!" "To hell with being thirteen!" "Bunch of dumbasses!" "There, there, cheer up." "Shut up, pee-wee!" "I'm nearly the same age as you, Nunky!" "Ah, damn it all!" "Find them." "Nunky, you want to give this a try, too?" "Don't be ridiculous." "I need to have a word with the rice samurai there." "With me?" "You're going to fight me!" "N" " Nunky..." "Unfortunately, I'm not very good at this sort of dangerous business." "They say that even chance meetings in this life are the result of karma." "Gaah!" "And you call yourself a samurai?" "!" "I didn't buy that from you from the start!" "Draw!" "How boorish!" "As fellow samurai, we should cling to our fleeting lives, and admire the beauty of the rising sun, should we not?" "Huh?" "Fellow samurai...?" "Absolutely." "If there is nary a samurai's spirit to be found dwelling within that steel armor of yours, then whither?" "It was nothing, really." "I don't understand what you mean, but still, you just called me a samurai, didn't you?" "Yes." "Hey, you get me, don't you?" "I knew right from the start that we would get along!" "There, look!" "They're about to fight!" "Huh...?" "Fight?" "!" "Don't be silly!" "Right, brother?" "Oh, dear..." "Okay, then." "Kikuchiyo, you come search for samurai with us today." "How nice for you, Kikuchiyo-dono." "Oh, so I see you finally acknowledge me as a samurai!" "At a time like this, I'll take any help I can get." "We've got a mark standing there right off the bat." "I'll put him to the test, to see if he's any use to us." "Hey, you there!" "If you're not doing anything, could I have a minute of your time?" "Kanbe-sama..." "It's no use trying to stop this now." "I have no business with any mechanical samurai." "I wonder if I might have a go of it with the leader of this mountain of monkeys?" "How rude!" "You will face me!" "Stand aside, kid!" "Katsushiro-sama..." "Don't worry." "I will defend you this day." "Very well." "However, defending is more difficult than attacking." "I am aware of that." "Get the hell out of my way, you...!" "Hey!" "Are you running away on us?" "!" "You bastard!" "Don't you fly away!" "All right..." "What are you doing?" "!" "Nothing much..." "Look, you!" "This is no time to be playing around!" "Now, now, things are just about to turn out." "Kirara-dono..." "Kirara-dono!" "Katsu-noji!" "What are you doing now?" "!" "Katsushiro-dono!" "Kanbe-dono!" "Here!" "Katsushiro-sama, thank you so much." "You didn't let go of my hand." "Oh, it was nothing..." "Heihachi-dono, your strategy was effective." "You have my thanks." "Oh, no, you're welcome." "You stuck it out pretty well yourself, thirteen-year-old." "You have my thanks." "You've finally recognized the value in having me around, have you?" "Well, it's too late, Kanbe-san!" "Wait!" "Wait up!" "Wait up, would you!" "Imperial Envoy, the preparations for your departure are complete, and I have come to escort you." "Imperial Envoy?" "Imperial Envoy!" "The old man merely gazed off into the distance from the hideaway in which he lived." "The baby cries, seeking only for the warmth of his mother." "We are born paying the price for someone's punishment, for someone's sins, but there is no such thing as a future without salvation, and the present slips quietly into the past." "We string together nothing but hollow ideas, and tell nothing but hollow lies." "And as the rain falls down upon us, something appears and then fades away." "Okara-chan, this samurai is a little different from all the others up to now." "The one we found today is named Heihachi-sama, and he likes rice." "His surefire technique is the making of toothpicks." "He is always smiling, but I think he's smiling because he is sneaky." "As far as scary stuff," "I heard that Kanbe-sama and the others busted up the middle of town again." "If they keep this up, the village is going to get smashed to pieces." "But, as usual, Sister hasn't wavered one bit." "I wonder where she gets her self-confidence from." "Sister is definitely hiding something or other." "We still haven't found seven men yet, but we don't have much rice left." "Ahh, I'm so hungry..."