Juzo Hitoshi
Reaper of Sakurashi
Juzo Hitoshi is the founder and leader of the Sakurashi Gumi, making him one of the most prolific criminals of Yugawa's current era. As the head of an organization of thieves, assassins, and business owners of questionable repute, Juzo sits atop a massive empire. However, he espouses that his interests are not selfish, but rather for the protection of the people. More than most of the other Gumi bosses, he truly does embody the ideal of an "honorable rogue".
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Juzo is an extremely fit man, owed to his rigorous daily training. He is, however, lacking in bulk or overall strength. He has built his body for speed and endurance, making him very lean despite all of his musculature. Still, he is far from weak, being able to use an odachi in combat if he so chooses.
Identifying Characteristics
His body is covered in scars from his many fights, but he can be most easily identified by his tattoos - assuming he hasn't covered them.
Apparel & Accessories
His standard dress is not uncommon for a peasant; hakama pants cinched at the knee, dōgi top, a simple haori, and an ajirogasa straw hat; but he also has some elements that wouldn't be worn by most common folk. Those are the kote, haidate, and suneate - the wrist, thigh, and shin pieces of Sangu armor. He also has reed coverings on his shoulders and a small cloak over his right shoulder.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Born the son of rice farmers shortly before the Yugawan Civil War started, Juzo is child of conflict. His family had the unfortunate luck of living a mere mile from the border of the Katagawa and vassals of the Munamase Clan, namely the Manade family. In 1568 AK, for their own petty reasons, the Manade attacked the Katagawa. The Manade were admonished by the Munamase, and cut off from the clan, but the Katagawa wanted more. The Munamase were refusing to join the war, so, rather than wait for reparations, the Katagawa marched across the border and started raiding villages under the control of the Manade Daimyo, one of which was Juzo's. His family escaped to another village, deeper in Munamase territory, but the troubles didn't stop.
By 1561 in the Age of Kings, when Juzo was twelve, the Katagawa had cut a path all the way to the foot of the Sen Mountain Range, where Juzo's family had fled. in the last three years, he had seen the Samurai raid and pillage, and now his family had no where else to run. So, rather than flee, Juzo's father stood and fought. He was untrained, not lasting long against the skilled warriors, but he felled a few before being cut down, the Samurai not even bothering to pull his katana out. Instead, he drew his wakizashi, cutting down Juzo's mother, as well.
Seeing that the Samurai he feared weren't immortal, Juzo was metaphorically set ablaze. Filled with rage towards the Samurai for killing the people of his village and now parents, unafraid to die himself, Juzo took the sword lodged in his father's chest and slew the Samurai. Blood on his hands, he ran, managing to surprise a couple more Samurai, killing them, too. It wasn't long before warriors of the Munamase descended on the village, defending the people of their lord, but it was too late; the Katagawa overran the village and killed everyone in sight. Luckily for Juzo, a fleeing Shinobi snatched him up and the two escaped.
Over the next decade, the Shinobi trained Juzo in the way of the sword, hoping that he'd be able to defend himself if the war reached their door, again. In time, the Shinobi became a surrogate father figure to Juzo. However, like every father and son, they were destined for a disagreement. While most disagree on the small issues, Juzo wanted to use his new knowledge of combat to take the fight to the Samurai - something the Shinobi forbade. With a heavy heart, Juzo left his teacher and headed out on his own.
Now in his early twenties, Juzo gathered others to his side that despised the Samurai and their despotic lords. Together, they reformed the first of the Gumi, calling themselves "Sakurashi", and started fighting back against the raiders until the war's end.
Education
He wasn't formally educated in things like history or literature, but he did receive a proper education in swordplay - something he puts to good use. He is, however, able to read and write in both Yugawan Yugado and Common, and has come understand essential principles like economics in order to run the Sakurashi.
Failures & Embarrassments
Juzo's greatest failure and regret is making himself a beacon of open rebellion. It was never his intention to spark yet another flame in Yugawa, and the events he set in motion and some of the people he inspired have gone on to create great pain within the nation. Some who claim to be his brothers-in-arms, calling themselves "Gumi" have done terrible things. Though Juzo still holds that gathering together the Sakurashi was the right choice, he regrets that he wasn't more careful as to not inspire others to go on with less restraint.
Mental Trauma
The young Juzo was shaken to his core by the death of his parents. The fact that it occurred right in front of him was something that haunted him for a long while, and continues to be something he has to deal with. Furthermore, the men he has killed also chip away at him. Despite the fact that he believes he was right and that killing them saved others, he can't help but humanize them. What if they, too, had families that were waiting for them? What if they didn't choose to do the things he killed them for? These questions plague him.
Morality & Philosophy
Juzo's essential moral philosophy is that they who care for the least are given the most. He despises the upper class, as he believes that they exist only to consume the lesser. That, paired with his trauma has led him to believe that violence is the language of change and crime is defined by those in power.
Being raised with the Civil War at his front door, he had two options: despise violence or embrace it. He, eventually, came to believe that change doesn't come about through peaceful means, but rather violent upheaval. That is what caused him to create the Skurashi Gumi. The objective is to take power from the upper class - largely by undermining or circumventing them - in order to simultaneously weaken their hold and give power to the common folk. While others have taken his actions and twisted his philosophy, splintering into other Gumi factions, he has held strong that the purpose of all he and his followers do is to better the people of Yugawa.
These actions have caused him to question himself many times, but he has ultimately come around to the underlying belief that he has always made the best choice he could. Unlike other Gumi that embrace the criminal underworld in its entirety, the Sakurashi only attack those that have been identified as lynchpins to oppression. It is still vigilante justice and criminal in its own right, but he takes a utilitarian view, believing that by hurting a few he helps many.
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