Yagyu Sekishusai

Yagyu Sekishusai (, Yagyū Sekishūsai), also known as Yagyu Muneyoshi (, Yagyū Muneyoshi), is a character featured in Ryu Ga Gotoku Kenzan!. He is based on the real life historical figure of the same name.
== Profile ==
=== Appearance ===
Sekishusai is a mid-sized man. He is muscular for his age, but gaunt nonetheless. His formerly black hair has gone completely gray. He has a distinctive scar across his chest, which resulted from a sword wound during his youth.
=== Attire ===
=== Personality ===
== Background ==
Sekishusai was an incredibly skilled samurai who developed his own sword-fighting style, known as Shinkage-ryu. Ever since his younger years, he took on the habit of disguising himself as a wandering buddhist monk and traveling Japan in order to refine his Shinkage style against varied opponents. During these travels, he befriended and trained alongside several skilled warriors from across the country, including Hozoin In'ei, Marume Nagayoshi and future shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu.
He eventually settled down in his home-village once more and raised a family; fathering two sons, Munenori and Hyogonosuke. His elder son, Munenori, grew up training in the Shinkage style and became an incredibly skilled fighter; possibly even more powerful than his father. This skill earned him a position as the chief sword-fighting instructor for the Tokugawa Clan.
Eventually, Sekishusai discovered that Munenori had betrayed the Tokugawa Clan and had started conspiring against them alongside the Imperial emissary to the Tokugawa, Nankobo Tenkai. Fearful for his son's life, Sekishusai resumed his travels as a Monk in order to investigate his son's machinations and put a stop to them.
== Involvement ==
=== Ryu Ga Gotoku Kenzan!: 1601-1605 ===
In 1601, while pursuing his son, Sekishusai happened to run into Miyamoto Musashi; the man whom Munenori, Tenkai and Sekishusai's former friend; Marume, had tricked into assassinating Tokugawa heir Yuki Hideyasu. Miyamoto had been wounded in a fight with Tokugawa bounty hunters and was being attacked by a new set of them. Taking pity on the man who's life had been ruined by his son, Sekishusai saved Miyamoto from the hunters and tended to his injuries.
After Miyamoto fully healed, Sekishusai took him to the Kyoto pleasure district of Gion. There he could start a new life without being afraid of bounty hunters, because the city was under direct Imperial rule, so the Tokugawa Clan had no direct authority. After helping him get settled in, Sekishusai departed once more to track down his son.
In 1605, Sekishusai learned that Marume had murdered the foster family of Haruka; Yuki Hideyasu's daughter who was living in hiding under an assumed name, but the girl had somehow escaped. Sekishusai tracked down the scared girl and protected her from bandits. Afterwards, he took her to Gion and instructed her to seek out Kiryu Kazumanosuke (Miyamoto Musashi's alias) for protection.
Soon after, a contrite Marume tracked down Sekishusai. The General told him that he decided to turn against Tenkai after he ordered him to kill Haruka, so he let her escape after killing her foster family in front of Tenkai's cronies. He now wished to help Sekishusai put a stop to his former partners in crime. This proved opportune for Sekishusai, as he'd been gradually becoming more and more ill in the preceding months. Following Sekishusai's instructions, Marume continued to work for Tenkai while secretly sabotaging his plans and feeding information to Sekishusai and to Tokugawa Ieyasu. With Marume as his new ally on the field, Sekishusai retired to his home-village once more to receive treatment for his illness.
A few months later, Miyamoto would travel to Yagyu Village to seek answers about his rival Sasaki Kojiro (which was Munenori's alias). Sekishusai told Miyamoto the truth about Sasaki and Tenkai and begged him to help him put a stop to his son's plans before they destabilized Japan once more. Afterwards, Sekishusai reunited Miyamoto with Marume, who proceeded to apologize for all the harm he'd caused Miyamoto.
After learning Miyamoto had persuaded his son to turn on Tenkai and that the treacherous emissary's plans were foiled, Sekishusai died peacefully in his sleep in 1606.
== Gallery ==
RGGK! - Character Render - Yagyu Sekishusai.png|Full-body Ryu Ga Gotoku Kenzan! render of Sekishusai
RGGK! - Character Render - Yagyu Sekishusai (Yagyu Village).png|Full-body Ryu Ga Gotoku Kenzan! render of Sekishusai in the Yagyu Village
Category:Historical Figures
Category:Ryu Ga Gotoku Kenzan! Characters