01x10 - Greatest Loser

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GREATEST LOSER

Not once in his life
did Kojiro Sasaki win a fight.

ICHIJODANI CASTLE TOWN, ECHIZEN PROVINCE
AT THE CLOSE OF THE SENGOKU PERIOD

TODA DOJO

You lazy bastards!
You've been slacking off lately!

KAGEKATSU TODA, NEPHEW OF SEIGEN TODA

You don't deserve to be
disciples of this school!

At the dojo of Seigen Toda,
a swordsman renowned throughout Japan,

the boy was considered
nothing but dead weight.

Sasaki!

Oh, Kagekatsu. Good morning.

You're late again!
You've got a lot of guts to do that!

Tee-hee!

Thank you for the compliment.

It's not a compliment!

You lazy oaf! I'll whip you into shape!

He blocked Kagekatsu's strike!

I surrender!

You surrender?

Yes. You win, Kagekatsu.

Fool! You call yourself a warrior?

If you lose your sword,
then hit with your fists!

If you lose your fists,
then bite with your teeth!

Never give up till the very end!

Leave him be, Kagekatsu.

You're wasting your breath on Kojiro.

But, Father, this guy...

ASSISTANT INSTRUCTOR KAGEMASA TODA
YOUNGER BROTHER OF SEIGEN TODA

My brother,
Kojiro has no talent with the sword.

It's pointless to keep him in the dojo.

Kojiro, why did you
give up fighting so quickly?

Well, I could never defeat Kagekatsu
even if I fought him 100 times.

If I fought him with all my might now
and got injured,

it would only harm my prospects.

"Now," is it?

What? Harm your prospects?

Sounds like we've got ourselves
a budding merchant here.

Thank you for the compliment.

- It's not a compliment!
- It's not a compliment!

Is it actually talent with the sword
that you lack, Kojiro?

Well, I'm afraid it is.

Unbelievable!

However, the dojo's best students
and even the assistant instructor

erred in their judgment...

of the swordsman,
Kojiro Sasaki's true nature.

So how can I defeat Kagekatsu?

I should probably strengthen my arms.

No, considering
the difference in our size,

my footwork is probably more important.

The lower body
is fundamental in sword fighting.

Whoa! Very nice!

These are the kinds of moves I need!

Hey! Wait up!

Kojiro gained instruction
not at the dojo, but in nature.

The millet they serve
at the dojo isn't enough.

I'll eat meat to build my muscles.
That will be my way of training.

I will learn the secrets of battle
from the wild beasts.

This will also be my way of training.

As he studied alone,

his understanding of victory
increased with every loss.

That was Kojiro's talent.

I surrender!

Sorry it's taken me so long.

Kojiro! You bastard!

How dare you show up now
after disappearing for six months!

Is Master Seigen here?

He's so buff, I hardly recognized him.

What has he been doing and where?

I like it!

Fight me, Kojiro.

You truly were quite tough.

To defeat you,
I had to fight you 146 times in my head.

What?

So I no longer need to face you.

You no longer need to face me?
You defeated me?

Don't mock me!

Kagekatsu?

What happened?

Let's not do this, Kagekatsu.

I...

I surrender!

Kagekatsu?

What's wrong?

I'm not sure what to say.

Master Seigen!

I came because I have a request for you.

Please do me the honor of fighting me.

Gladly.

Then...

Come here!

After that,
Kojiro stopped coming around the dojo.

Several years later...

It's been a while, Kojiro.

Master Seigen!

It's so good to see you.

It has been a long time.

Since you stopped coming around,
I was worried about you.

So I came to see you.

When Seigen visited him at this time,

he had already lost his sight
due to eye troubles.

However,

even with his unseeing eyes,
Seigen instantly detected it.

Even I, with my blind eyes,

can clearly see this.

Kojiro, I can see...

the strenuous training
you underwent daily.

Well, it took me four years
and nine months to best all of them.

KAGEKATSU TODA

KAGEMASA TODA

KANEMAKI JINSAI

Not for anyone else to see.

Not in competition with anyone else.

You trained all alone here

merely to improve yourself.

My goodness, Kojiro...

Have you already

surpassed even me?

SEIGEN TODA

That's awful tea.

Well, they're just random leaves I picked.

Kojiro,

I will recommend to the Asakura clan
that you be an instructor for them.

You could even become
the lord of a fief yourself.

Master, I appreciate the offer,
but I will be leaving soon.

There is nothing more
of interest for me here.

Where do you intend to go?

I don't know.

But I plan on taking a trip
of continuous losses.

It remains a mystery
where Kojiro Sasaki traveled

after leaving the dojo of Seigen Toda.

There are almost no reliable records
of where he went.

Yet one thing is for sure.

KAGEHISA ITTOSAI ITO
ITTO-RYU FOUNDER

You are still green.

I surrender.

Kojiro Sasaki continued to lose
match after match.

The best swordsmen...

Please allow me to fight you.

MUNETOSHI SEKISHUSAI YAGYU
YAGYU SHINKAGE-RYU

I surrender.

And even better swordsmen...

I beg you, please allow me to fight you,

Master Kamiizumi!

NOBUTSUNA ISE-NO-KAMI KAMIIZUMI
SHINKAGE-RYU FOUNDER, MASTER SWORDSMAN

I shall fence with you.

I surrender.

Now that's a true master swordsman.
I didn't even come close.

Like the parched soil thirsting for water,

Kojiro sought out foes he was no match for
and continued to lose.

Okay, how do I defeat him?

Why is Kojiro Sasaki
absent from the annals of history

until that day at Ganryujima?

It was because Kojiro Sasaki
continued to lose

in his pursuit to become the greatest.

Thank you for this meal.

This is great!

Thus, the greatest loser
in history was born.

I sure don't want to die.

But I doubt that I can get away
with surrendering this time.

Please allow me to fight you.

I guess I've got no choice
but to go after him.

I certainly can't run away now.

For my instructors who trained me

and those in all of creation
who have become part of me...

That would...

dishonor them.

Here I come.

For Kojiro Sasaki's first strike,

he swung his nearly meter-long blade,
the drying pole, made by Nagamitsu Bizen,

downward from over his head
with all his force behind it.

However,

at 1.5 times the weight of a normal blade,
the drying pole sped downward.

According to the law of inertia,

stopping it instantly
is nearly impossible.

However,

the innumerable losses of Kojiro Sasaki
gave rise to this move.

That is to say...

since it resembles a swallow
reversing direction at 200kph,

the swift strike is known as...

the Tsubame Gaeshi!

Brünnhilde!

That was fast! He b*at Poseidon's thrust!

Gramps, you're really something.

Goodness. What a surprise.

Who would have thought Poseidon...

would look a human in the eye.

You finally looked me in the eye, kid.

What is it, Father?

Sasaki!

APRIL 13, 1612
FUNASHIMA (LATER KNOWN AS GANRYUJIMA)

Powered by muscles honed from training,

the stroke of the drying pole
was as deadly as a chopping axe

and impossible to defend against!

Even if the strike was avoided,

the blade retraced its path
for a second att*ck

at lightning speed
from the foe's blind spot.

It was a slashing swing
impossible to defend against or dodge!

It is

the Tsubame Gaeshi!

That really takes me back, Sasaki.

Listen, god of the seas.

I don't care if you are a deity.

If you think you can face the man

who achieved the level of Number One
Under the Sun without defending yourself,

you are mistaken!

He can do it! He can win!

This time for sure, Hrist,

mankind will be victorious!

This blade is perfect
both in its balance and cutting edge.

It is the Völundr of Hrist,
the Trembling One,

the second of the 13 Valkyrie,

and the nearly meter-long blade
forged by Nagamitsu Bizen!

VÖLUNDR
NAGAMITSU BIZEN NEAR-METER LONG X HRIST

This drying pole is truly

a master blade suited to me.

- What?
- You must be kidding!

I can't believe this!

This is unbelievable!

Poseidon, a true god of gods,

is actually advancing on his own!

AMPHITRITE

In the face of
Poseidon's raging as*ault of strikes,

Kojiro weaves and dodges!

Kojiro avoids every one of them!

Amazing!

Kojiro can see the thrusts
of Poseidon's trident!

Does that mean his eyes
are as good as Adam's?

He does not see his thrusts.

He has already experienced them.

Experienced them? What do you mean?

This is their first fight, right?

You can gain experience
even without having fought, Göll.

Kojiro Sasaki has faced
numerous great warriors,

suffering defeat after defeat,

yet he trained himself
to continue to battle them in his mind.

From the moment
Poseidon entered the arena,

he read every minute detail about him,

from how he walked and breathed

to his blinking
and the faintest body movements.

Using that information, he created
an image of Poseidon in his mind.

Then he fought that image in his mind
over and over, again and again,

simulating over 1,000 possible
att*ck patterns and their outcomes.

He already fought him
in that short amount of time?

That's right.

While Adam was
the quickest counter attacker,

Kojiro is

the quickest scanner.

No matter how fast your att*ck is
or how many times you att*ck,

he has already simulated
what you will do next and avoids it.

He predicts every move
his opponent will make.

That is Kojiro Sasaki's true power.

The Senju Musou.

I know this one. And this one.

This one too.

And this one.

I know it!

Way to go, gramps!

That's history's greatest loser for you!

Incredible! He avoided every strike!

How could none of
Poseidon's blows hit home?

Are you telling me
he can even predict the moves of a god?

Yes, so it seems.

How can this be?

How can there be humans
who have achieved the ultimate?

How is it that they're all able to...

They excite me so much!

He's whistling?

Oh! Is that...

He's coming.

What's his next move?

That's it!

He's far faster than I predicted!

What's wrong?

It was the first time
this god had spoken to a human.

I thought you were able to read

your opponent's moves.

You loser!