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The Two-Hundred and Fifty Ninth: Iron and Chrysanthemums
Feudal Japan. In an isolated country temple, a large assemblage is gathered. There are priests, and prostitutes, ronin, yakuza, peasant farmers, imperial soldiers, ninjas, acrobats, hard guys from the local prison. All sits in silence, eyeing each other suspiciously. A middle-aged bureaucrat, Fukui-san, stands and addresses the crowd. He carries an armload of scrolls and documents—diagrams, inventories, maps, imperial decrees—and turns to face the assemblage.
Fukui-san: Well, this a complex situation...
In the crowd, a man who has been sitting silently suddenly stands up. He is Ogami Itto.
Ogami Itto: Not complicated at all.
Fukui-san: Huh?
Ogami Itto: Assassin! Lone Wolf and Cub! I come for your life!
Ogami Itto kills the entire assemblage.
Fukui-san (dying): But—I'm the one who—hired you...
Ogami Itto: . . .
Ogami Itto leaves the temple, and retrieves his son Daigoro from his hiding place—hanging upside-down by his ankles from the clapper of the temple bell. The baby carriage rolls slowly away. From the highest bough, a cherry blossom falls. |
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