Hey, Dororo.
Long time no see.
Oh, Itachi.
I've been looking everywhere for you.
Ta-da. Now show me the other half that you have.
That map...
Listen now, Dororo. Remember this well.
This is your papa's lifelong ambition.
Carry it on with you. And protect it.
Why do you have that, Itachi?
I know you have something like this on your back, too.
Hey.
Don't touch me.
You wanna see my back? Here.
See? No map anywhere.
Boss.
If it's not on his back, it's in his head.
He's our only clue. We're taking him.
Let me go, dammit!
You'll pay for this.
You don't stand a chance against my bro, you jerks!
Still a chatty little brat, eh?
Bro...
Betrayed this world
And it simmers within
Rupturing my innards
Swelling a reddish black
Until the sun burnt skin ruptures
There is a light in the depths of the seething darkness
Confirming each other's voices in the distance
As if to stroke with wet fingertips
I'd like to touch you one day
There is a light in the depths of the darkness
Confirming each other's voices in the distance
As if to stroke with wet fingertips
I'd like to touch you one day
#16 The story of Shiranui
Almost there.
Itachi.
Get to sleep. I got a job for you tomorrow.
You're going to fill in the other half of this.
The place you're headed for, is it...?
Yeah, the place old man Hibukuro hid the money.
What are you so surprised about?
I had an idea of what was going on even when I was under him.
The goods we stole from the samurai went missing now and then.
All good stuff worth money.
And I thought.
That may be the thief was actually Boss.
I kept my eye on him, waiting for him to slip up.
But you gotta hand it to him. That man never slips up.
After a while, I gave up.
I figured I was being paranoid and stopped thinking about it.
Then why...?
I became desperate for money.
That's when I remembered it. I decided to just give it a shot.
But Boss was long dead by then.
You two were the only ones who'd know.
I was heading for that temple where we last met.
No...
Yeah, I dug her grave up.
And I turned her over and saw this on her back.
How could you...
That's my mama...
You dirty bastard!
Dammit...
The dead can't use it anyway.
Feelings won't get you any money.
See that cape, Dororo?
That's Hakkotsu Cape.
It's where your papa hid the money.
Now it's time for you to do your part.
I'll give you a cut if you help out.
Don't you want some money?
You could eat all you want then.
Don't need it.
Your belly sure does.
That wasn't me, that was the horse!
Stop laughing.
Boss, how do we get there?
We can't get there by land.
We'll need a boat to cross over.
Whoa...
Must've been raided by brigands.
Boss!
The boats...
They've all been wrecked. Darn ruthless.
What do we do now?
Want some boats?
I got some. Where you going?
That cape.
Sure. But it's gonna cost you.
Just you? Where are the rest of the villagers?
All dead. The brigands got them.
Something's not right about him. We better not.
I'll pay when we get there.
Sure thing. Come on.
Itachi!
There ain't no other boats.
If he tries anything funny, I'll just kill him.
Get on in.
There.
Where are the oarsmen?
Who said we needed any oars?
What's going on?
What's that?
Sharks! They're pulling the boat.
Jiromaru and Saburomaru.
You named them?
Yeah, they're my family.
Sharks are your family?
That's right. See how powerful they are?
Crazy guy.
Curious about my arm?
Uh, yeah.
I fed it to Jiromaru and Saburomaru.
The poor things were so hungry.
He fed them his own arm? He really is crazy.
I don't regret it.
These two mean the world to me.
But now they've got a taste for human flesh.
They won't eat anything else.
I fed them dead bodies at first.
But I wanted to give them something fresh, so I snatched and fed them women and kids.
They grew bigger the more they ate.
They can devour a whole village now.
A whole village? You mean...
Yeah, there were no brigands.
I fed them all to my babies.
No...
We're getting further away.
So now you notice.
You fool.
Turn the boat around, now.
Jiromaru, Saburomaru. You two hungry?
Time to eat!
You...
B-Boss!
Help us!
They're no normal sharks.
Taste good?
I'll eat later.
You little...!
Don't eat them all at once now.
Save the rest for later.
Saburomaru, keep watch.
You can eat the rest after sundown.
It ain't letting us get away.
Guess this is finally the end for the great Itachi.
I got away from the samurai, only to get eaten by sharks.
Samurai... Hey, Itachi. I thought you had it good with your lord.
Yeah, I did.
I went off to war under his orders.
I worked my ass off trying to win some ground.
But...
Dammit, when are reinforcements coming?
Boss...
Are reinforcements coming?
They ain't. They ain't ever coming.
What?
They all went to attack headquarters.
We were just a lure. We were sent here to die.
Boss was right.
To them, we aren't even human.
No good comes from messing with samurai.
So I left them and went back to being a brigand.
So that's why you're here.
Yeah. He went through all this trouble to hide it. It's gotta be a fortune.
I could do anything I want to with that money.
But what a fleeting dream that was.
I wish I never dug up your mama's grave.
Sorry about that, Dororo.
Hey, ouch. What are you doing?
That hurts, right? That means you're alive.
So don't act like you're already dead.
I lived all on my own, even without Papa and Mama.
I've been through lots of tough days. Almost died a few times, too.
But I never gave up, never even complained.
I shrugged it all off and pushed on.
Don't look down. Keep your head up.
If you're a brigand, act like one and hang on to life till your last breath!
Lots of words for a little runt.
You sound just like your papa.
Okay, you heard the little brat.
If you're a man, stand up and fight for your life.
Anybody still crying like a baby, no sharks are gonna get you.
Cuz I'll kill you first.
But Boss, what do we do?
Well...
What do we do, Dororo?
I'm diving in to lure it.
Pull this rope up when I signal it.
The shark will jump up trying to catch me.
When it does, you all stab him at once.
That'll get it for sure. I'm counting on you.
Dororo! That reckless kid.
Here it comes.
Pull the rope!
Gotcha!
Now!
Did it get away?
Is it dead...?
We... we did it!
It's not over yet.
He'll be back soon.
We gotta reach the cape before the sun sets.
Tear off the seats and use them as oars.
Paddle for your lives!
One more thing.
Saburomaru.
Saburomaru!
Saburomaru...
It's over.
The idiot shark boy really came.
You bastards...
You had the upper hand in the water. But not up here on land.
Hey, you've done enough. You're going to kill him.
I lost half of my men because of him.
I could kill him a thousand times.
Itachi!
Fine.
Toss him somewhere.
Okay, time for you to spill your guts.
Don't play dumb. Tell us where the money is.
I never said I'd given up.
I told you, I don't know.
There's a whole fortune just waiting for us to grab it.
Don't you want it?
What you have on your back can move people and change the world.
It's a source of great power.
I don't want it right now.
Yeah?
Then I'll just force you to speak.
I won't let this be the end of me. I need one more shot at life.
There's nothing on my back. You saw it.
Not your back.
But maybe somewhere else.
No... No!
Dang...
I never knew. I wonder why Boss raised you as a boy.
Dammit...
Dororo, your back.
Warm her back by the fire.
Stop it!
No, don't look!
So that's how you hid it, Dororo.
Let's go.
Damn it...
Get back here, Itachi!
That's Papa's precious money...
What's that?
Jiromaru...
Jiro...
Maru...
Saburomaru...
How it must've hurt.
How it must've pained you.
Those bastards...
I'll kill them all.
Jiromaru, eat them all up!
Born into this world
There is no salvation
The distorted shape of the heart
Yet it beats courageously
There is no turning back
Even from the path of evil
Witnessing the withering seasons
We search for the truth
In our ugliness
We don't even recognize the pain
As we peel back the skin
We are forever tormented by our stupidity
But if the dawn never comes
Through the painful night
You who distrusts nothing
You will be able to love this accursed world
Now that we carry the world on our shoulders
It's time to take it back
Dororo.
You there.
It must be difficult for you to travel without a leg.
I know of a man who goes around giving limbs to those who've lost theirs.
I think his name was...
"Jiromaru"