Fujibayashi Tsuyu

He who increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow. This article contains spoilers, meaning it has information and facts concerning Assassin's Creed: Shadows – Tales of Iga. If you do not want to know about these events, it is recommended to read on with caution, or not at all. This template should be removed from the article 8 January 2027.

Fujibayashi Tsuyu (born c. 1530s) was a Japanese Assassin, the wife of Fujibayashi Nagato and the mother of Fujibayashi Naoe. She was a founding member of the Kakushiba ikki as its first recruit, training under the excommunicated Spanish Assassin Alvaro Catarribera as his apprentice. Following her mentor's departure, she led the organization as a Master Assassin, greatly expanding it with new recruits while continuing the league's secret mission to safeguard the Imperial Regalia of Japan.

Not long after the birth of her daughter, Tsuyu led the Kakushiba ikki in a mission to protect the regalia from the Shinbakufu, who sought the artifacts for their own ends. Although the Assassins failed and were killed, Tsuyu successfully protected one of the regalia, the jewel Yasakani no Magatama (八尺瓊勾玉), which she then entrusted to her husband while she left to search for the other two, the bronze mirror Yata no Kagami (八咫鏡) and the sword Kusanagi no Tsurugi (草薙劍).

However, this mission would take much longer than Tsuyu had anticipated. Following leads on the sword's location, she tracked it to Awaji but was captured by the Sanzoku Ippa and regularly interrogated for information by their leader, Kimura Yukari. After several years, she was presumed dead and the Kakushiba ikki eventually fell apart. In 1582, Naoe would rebuild the Brotherhood and, upon finding evidence suggesting that her mother was still alive, sought to find and reunite with her.

Biography

Early life

Born in Osaka, Tsuyu was the eldest sibling of her family while her parents worked as farmers. However, the land they once knew became barren and dry, resulting in struggles for the family to pay their debts for the land.

In 1541, Tsuyu and her younger sister Tomi were tasked to carry resources home for their family. However, after Tomi found and woke up a lone samurai, they ran off after the samurai began to chase them. Although escaping him, they lost nearly all the supplies when they made it home. When they arrived, they see that their father had begged the monks for more time and protection, to which they agreed. However, that night, Tsuyu confronted her father and pushed for a better living, only to be physically reprimanded. Her father later promised that this was the best course, to which she reluctantly conceded.

Within a year, Tsuyu saw her father beg once more when the monks came back to collect. In a desperate attempt, he offered Tsuyu as a form of payment. Upon hearing this, Tomi comes out and tries to protect her sister. Yet, the head monk soon offers to take both girls as a full payment, to which their father agrees. However, Tsuyu fought back and injured one of the monks before trying to reason with her father. Ultimately, their father took back Tomi but ultimately let Tsuyu go, regarding her as disobedient, and disavowed her as her daughter. For the next seven years, she was placed into servitude under monks and their temples.

Training under Catarribera

"And she is promising as well. A Japanese girl that I saved. Her arm has shriveled from starvation... I wonder how her wrist can bear the weight of a hidden blade. But I recognize the look in her eyes. She is determined to learn. Has the potential to become lethal."

―Alvaro Catarribera, regarding Tsuyu, c. 1549.

In 1549, Tsuyu was sold to Portuguese slavers and was brought onto a ship sailing to Lisbon. While onboard, she grew aware of the situation and sought to escape or die trying. One night, she made her way onto the deck, only to be spotted by Portuguese Templar Balthazar, who ordered his men to apprehend her. While trying to escape, she was saved by Alvaro Catarribera, a Spanish Assassin who had been excommunicated from his Brotherhood and had come to Nagasaki while following a trail of Templars.

Fighting against Balthazar, the Assassin was soon held at gunpoint and almost about to die, until Tsuyu managed to trap him with a water bucket. Blinded, Balthazar fell overboard and presumably died. Thanking the girl, Alvaro promised to bring her back, but Tsuyu begged to be trained by him. When he rejected her, she promised to kill herself as she had nothing left to fight for in her eyes. The Assassin sought to locate allies in order to combat the Templars and, seeing potential in the young girl, took her under his wing, training her in the ways of the Brotherhood.

For nearly more than a decade, Tsuyu trained under Alvaro's tutelage and learned the ways of an Assassin. As a gift for her hard work, Alvaro gifted her a Hidden blade. Before they could proceed in their mission, Tsuyu left one day and went to find her sister Tomi, who had been enslaved to the monks like she was. Meeting her sister one last time, Tsuyu gifted Tomi enough mon to buy her freedom and to live her own life before departing.

Meeting Fujibayashi Masayasu

In 1560, Tsuyu, now an Assassin apprentice, accompanied Catarribera to Iga, looking for new recruits for their brotherhood, the Kakushiba ikki. In particular, they hoped to find Momochi Sandayu, a legendary shinobi fighting daimyō oppression in the land.

Tsuyu observing Masayasu

As they arrived in Iga, Catarribera reminded Tsuyu of their mission from the late Emperor Go-Nara to safeguard the three Imperial Regalia, and joked about her befriending Sandayu's apprentice, Hattori Hanzō, who was around her age. The ever-stoic Tsuyu did not respond and performed a Leap of Faith off a cliff.

Later, Tsuyu, alongside Catarribera and Sandayu, observed a fight between Hanzō and Fujibayashi Masayasu, a young farmer who had attempted to protect his village from corrupt samurai. Masayasu ultimately emerged victorious after resorting to underhanded tactics, and Sandayu, sensing Masayasu's potential, decided to train him as a shinobi. As Masayasu departed the village to commence his training, an intrigued Tsuyu watched him from afar. She later made a brief informal introduction, when she threw a kunai at a target, nearly missing him in the process, at the end of the day.

Soon, Tsuyu soon introduced herself along with her mentor Alvaro to both of Sandayu's students Masayasu and Hanzō. They all began to discuss the true war and how the fate of Japan rested on their shoulders. They stated that the Templars were after the Imperial Regalia and how they deemed themselves its protectors. However, Hanzō insulted and stated that Tsuyu may not be able to do much against the Templars. Instantly, Tsuyu managed to overpower Hanzō and refuted his notion, calling him arrogant. After Hanzō apologized, Sandayu assigned them to train together the next day to not become shinobi but Assassins too.

Training Masayasu and Hanzō

The following day, Tsuyu trained and sparred against the two shinobi, besting them. However, Masayasu managed to sweep her feet, only to save her from a snake. While thanking him, she pushed him away and ended the training that day. While sleeping alone at a watchtower, she surprised Hanzō, who came by uninvited. However, Hanzō asked to apologize and wanted to start over, to which Tsuyu agreed. While talking about their future, Tsuyu admittedly stated that this path is hers and that a family is unnecessary before bidding Hanzō a good night.

Within two weeks of their training, Tsuyu began a new test and took them to a cliff. There, she introduced to both Masayasu and Hanzō the Leap of Faith. Instantly, she performed it and landed into a batch of hay below before telling Hanzō to do it next. Yet, he rejected doing it, prompting Masayasu to volunteer instead. Despite her opposition, Masayasu performed it and landed in the hay successfully. Congratulating him, she helped him up before continuing with their training. However, after the training, she noticed trespassers and eavesdropped on the conversation between the rōnin Kuroiwa Gonjou-rou and a former student of Sandayu Toza, where she learned that they were contracted by the Templars to attack Iga.

However, during their attack, Tsuyu managed to find Toza's legion of shinobi, who surrounded both Sandayu and Masayasu. With ease, she managed to kill five of them instantly before eliminating the remaining four with no issue. Meeting with Sandayu and Masayasu, she informed them of her immediate departure as Alvaro called her for a new mission. Some days later, she met Alvaro at the Daisen-ryō Kofun, where they discussed the recent events and rumors of the Templars being in Nagasaki and Mikawa. While tasked to venture to Mikawa, Hanzō interrupted them and offered to join their mission. Both Assassins opposed while she saw Alvaro attack Hanzō, who successfully blocked his attack after offering to go home to Mikawa to investigate for them. He also deduced that the Imperial Regalia was not in Iga but in the kofun behind them. Thus, Alvaro offered Hanzō a choice: to join or to die. The shinobi agreed to join and thus left for Mikawa while Tsuyu returned back to Iga.

Working closely with Masayasu

In 1561, Tsuyu continued her work with Sandayu's shinobi, including Masayasu. However, one night, she noticed Masayasu wanting to leave the grounds and asked what he sought. When he wanted to protect his land as a Fujibayashi, Tsuyu reminded him of his new path and how he has his own choice not his family's before leaving. Convinced, Masayasu thanked Tsuyu the next day and continued with his training. However, within a year, tensions grew between the two. At one instance, Tsuyu left the dining room after Masayasu criticized her manners. Outside to calm down, she was later approached by Chiyo, a young girl from Masayasu's village. Demanding an answer, Chiyo then fell out of the tree but Tsuyu managed to catch her. From there, she and Chiyo made their way up the watchtower, where she told the young girl about her upbringing.

After telling her story to the young girl, Tsuyu was informed to meet with Sandayu and Masayasu about Hanzō's mission in Mikawa. From Hanzō's intel, they all learned that of a Jesuit priest having made contact with Imagawa Ujizane and how he garnered the support of daimyō Matsudaira Motoyasu during his investigation. They also learned that people had gone missing and forced into slavery, which led Sandayu conferring with Tsuyu and Masayasu about his investigation in Ise about the same thing. Angered, Tsuyu promised to investigate alone, which led Sandayu to give a code word for his contact there. Although Masayasu wanted to go, Tsuyu told him to continue his training while she left.

Investigating Ise

Making her way to the Old Inn of the Fifty Emblems in Ise, Tsuyu appeared as a visitor and eavesdropped on multiple conversations while searching for Sandayu's contact. However, she was then pursued by a man, who thought that she was a working lady. While she kept rejecting her, the pursuit was interrupted by Gonjou-rou, who was staying at the inn and then injured the man for insulting him for being armless. While Gonjou-rou left for his room, the owner soon asked Tsuyu what she was doing here. Caught off-guard, she was soon surprised by Masayasu, who followed her, as he introduced them as a married couple on their honeymoon.

Masayasu soon convinced Tsuyu to play along as to avoid suspicion. She agreed and they continued to masquerade as entertainers. In the midst of their entertainment, Tsuyu began to play the the tsuchibue, which enchanted Masayasu. She explained to him that she learned it from Alvaro but also admitted of being a novice with it. They soon caught the attention of Sandayu's contact, who took them to his private quarters. There, he confirmed of the Templars' presence in Mikawa and the man involved to be Paulino Massa. He also divulged of a Templar slavery operation at a nearby dock. Tsuyu and Masayasu thanked the man, unaware that the man was an imposter who killed their contact.

At night, Masayasu implored Tsuyu to go together but Tsuyu refused. Looking into her eyes, he begged again but she told him that it hurt her of how much she looked at him. While they rested, Tsuyu woke up early and venture towards the docks alone before Masayasu could wake up. Arriving at the docks, Tsuyu infiltrated the compound and came upon two guards talking about meeting with Balthazar. Venturing closer, she realized the Templar was the one from the ship that survived and heard the men stating six slaves were on the ship. Balthazar corrected them, stating seven will be there, before directing his attention on Tsuyu. Realizing she was discovered, Tsuyu was immediately paralyzed by a poison dart and then dragged for interrogation.

Balthazar questioned about the location of the Imperial Regalia and about the Assassins in Iga. She remained silent, resulting in Balthazar beating her up. While thinking about Masayasu, she continued to remain silent until she stated that she will never concede to his methods. He relented and stated that violence was always regretful before telling one of his men to cut off her fingers. Motionless, she watched the man near closer and became horrified. However, Masayasu appeared instantly and killed the guard. While motionless, Tsuyu heard Masayasu state that since she has protected him, he will protect her.

Tsuyu soon saw Masayasu take down all the guards before engaging Balthazar alone. Nearly defeated, Masayasu managed to gain an upper hand and ultimately killed the Templar. He later freed the slaves on the ship before carrying Tsuyu aboard a rowboat away from the dock. Thanking him, she amused the notion of them continuing the ruse as a married couple before laying her head on him, surprising Masayasu.

Leading the Kakushiba ikki

"Today I announced my departure to Tsuyu. I gave her the task of protecting the objects... to keep their secrets. The balance of Japan rests with her."

―Alvaro Catarribera in his journal.

Tsuyu recruiting Momochi Sandayu and his students

In 1563, Tsuyu and Masayasu had returned in Iga, continuing their training. Soon enough, Hanzō returned from his mission, successfully killing Massa and ending the Templar's operation in Mikawa. Starting again, the trio spent the next few weeks honing their skills, soon becoming on par with each other. Meanwhile, Tsuyu began a romantic relationship with Masayasu.

With the trio being successful in their growth, Catarribera planned to depart for parts unknown and trusted Tsuyu to continue the Kakushiba ikki's mission alone, handing her the responsibility of the Imperial Regalia. Upon leaving, Tsuyu came to see him leave and began to thank him for all his training. While Alvaro stated that he did so upon his guilt of a failed past mission, she was still grateful and bid farewell to her mentor. In charge of the league now, she continued to train the Igan shinobi, but was totally unaware that Hanzō had developed feelings for her as well. At this point, her league composed of Masayasu, Momochi Sandayu, and Hattori Hanzō, who all swore an oath to the Creed to help Tsuyu protect the regalia.

One night, Tsuyu and Masayasu were close together while she played her tsuchibue. She later gifted him his own Hidden Blade before admitting that she wanted to spend her life with him and start a family. However, Hanzō overheard her and grew sad and embarrassed of the news. As a response, the following day, Hanzō challenged Masayasu to a duel to the death, to prove who was the better warrior. However, during the fight, Masayasu only blocked his attacks and told him of wanting to start this path alongside him. Hanzō started to beat on him, before Tsuyu came to stop him. While Hanzō told her to stay away, she told him that she was pregnant with Masayasu's child. With this news, Hanzō stopped and left Iga for good.

Under Tsuyu's leadership, the Kakushiba ikki prospered. Although she was seen as a stern and strict leader, her guidance meant that the Brotherhood was able to rapidly expand its influence, establishing hidden outposts throughout Japan and recruiting numerous new members, while their enemies were kept at bay.

The following year, Tsuyu had married Masayasu-by this time known as Fujibayashi Nagato-and gave birth to their daughter, naming her Naoe. Although her new motherly responsibilities took priority over her Assassin duties, Tsuyu loved her family and sought to protect them at all costs. For the next six years, she grew the Brotherhood and had recruited many of Sandayu's shinobi, including Konan and Hachi-rou, to the league. Meanwhile, Hanzō saw that her family made Tsuyu weak and, unable to cope with the fact that she had fallen in love with Nagato instead of him, he left the Kakushiba ikki, becoming a mercenary and a vassal to Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Disappearance

"The league died with her. And every night, for years, I played her favorite song. And then one night, across the valley, I heard someone playing the song back to me. I ran towards the source, but... she was gone. I know it was her. And so, I kept playing her song every night to let her know the Jewel was safe. And that you were all right. Naoe, she might be alive."

―Nagato informing Naoe of Tsuyu's survival, 1581.

In 1569, Hanzō returned to Iga and contacted Tsuyu with urgent news, claiming that the Imperial Regalia's location had been compromised. To prevent the artifacts from falling into the hands of a mysterious group called the Shinbakufu, Tsuyu sent a summons for all Assassins in Japan, asking them to help her protect the artifacts. While Nagato stayed in Iga with Naoe, Tsuyu and the other Assassins fought the Shinbakufu at the kofun.

However, Tsuyu saw the demise of her allies, including the deaths of Konan and Hachi-rou, and two of the Regalia taken. She soon caught sight of Gonjou-rou, working for the Shinbakufu, with the Jewel and the butchery of her fallen Assassins' arms and gauntlets. Before he could leave, she attacked and killed him swiftly, grabbing the box. She later took down a guard before Hanzō arrived and provide her cover to escape. Nevertheless, their defense failed to prevent them from stealing the other regalia, and most of the Assassins perished during the battle.

Tsuyu entrusting the Jewel to Nagato

Sandayu, who was among the few survivors, later returned to Iga to inform Nagato of Tsuyu's apparent death. Unbeknownst to him, Tsuyu had in fact survived and managed to give the box to Nagato. Tsuyu entrusted the artifact to her husband and left to search for the other two regalia. After several years passed, she had still not returned, and thus she was presumed dead. Although, Nagato never lost hope that she might still be alive.

As a result of Tsuyu's disappearance, Nagato raised their daughter alone and kept her in the dark about her mother's fate and true affiliations, wishing to protect her from the burdens of that knowledge. He would finally reveal the truth in 1581 during Oda Nobunaga's invasion of Iga, shortly before the Shinbakufu returned to kill him and steal the Jewel.

After eliminating the Shinbakufu and recovering the Jewel, Naoe would meet Hanzō, who had been searching for Tsuyu ever since her disappearance years prior. After confessing that he was the one who had sold the Shinbakufu information about the Imperial Regalia's location in a blind act of jealousy, Hanzō claimed that he sought to atone for his past actions and find Tsuyu so that she may forgive him. Naoe reluctantly spared Hanzō and invited him to join the new incarnation of the Kakushiba ikki she had formed, so that together they may find her mother.

Captured on Awaji

After nearly more than a decade, Tsuyu had made her way to Awaji, finally locating the sword Kusanagi no Tsurugi. Acquiring it, she hid in a cave under a waterfall, locked in a compartment, at Myoshoji Temple. To hide it away, she entrusted the key to an ally and Bō master Taguchi Myoga.

Unfortunately, by 1585, Tsuyu was soon captured by the Sanzoku Ippa, a brigand collective led by Templar Kimura Yukari, who came into power after the departure of Awaji's daimyō and his men. Held hostage at Sumoto Castle, Tsuyu was tortured and interrogated for the sword's location, especially through the malicious methods of Yukari's taishō (大将, lit. "general") Nowaki and Yasuhira.

Despite the Templars' efforts, Tsuyu did not break. Thus, Yukari devised a plan, which was to create a puppet show that entailed Tsuyu's capture in Awaji, thus to entice her daughter Naoe, who recently created a new iteration of the Kakushiba ikki on the mainland. Yukari's plan worked as Naoe traveled to Awaji and ultimately infiltrated the castle, only to find Tsuyu but become captured by Yukari and one of her taishō Imagawa Tomeji. With Naoe stripped of her resources, Tsuyu did not budge but Yukari and her men left her to think about her choice.

Alone together, Tsuyu, having seen Nagato's hidden blade, learned of his passing, to which Naoe admitted that his killers were dealt with permanently. However, she learned that the other two Regalia were safeguarded, nearly completing the mission she was entrusted. Wondering how they would escape, Tsuyu was soon informed of Naoe's ally and fellow Kakushiba ikki member Yasuke. Making his way inside Sumoto Castle, Yasuke managed to break out Tsuyu and Naoe from their cell and made their way out.

Defeating multiple guards, Tsuyu, Naoe, and Yasuke managed their way but not before Yasuke faced off against Tomeji. Despite winning the fight, Yasuke was surrounded by Tomeji's men. Fortunately, Tsuyu killed two of the guards and called for Yasuke to follow her. Yasuke managed to dodge all of their arrows and bullets but Tsuyu took a shot and heavily injured. Tsuyu was then carried by Yasuke and met with Naoe, making their successful escape.

Securing the Sword and Dismantling the Sanzoku Ippa

At Sumoto Kakurega, Tsuyu tasked herself to recover the Sword Regalia herself but was still recovering from her wound and being malnourished. Thus, she reluctantly informed Naoe and Yasuke of the key being with Myoga while she stayed in hiding. After Naoe recovered the key's location from Myoga, and safeguarded it from Nowaki, she and Yasuke sought to retrieve the Sword. However, despite their best efforts and Hattori Hanzō's aid, Yukari and her forces managed to capture Yasuke, using him as a bargaining chip to obtain the regalia from Naoe.

Informed of their failure, Tsuyu blamed herself and desired to fix the problem. However, Naoe and Yasuke assured that the Sword remained on Awaji and thus all three planned to rid Yukari of her taishō, dismantling her hold over the island. With this, Tsuyu informed the duo all she knew of them before they left to find their targets. Together, Naoe and Yasuke successfully defeated and eliminated Yukari's generals and later met with and discussed the next steps with Tsuyu back at the safehouse.

Together, the three Assassins formed a plan to enact a final assault at Iwaya Castle to defeat Yukari and retrieve the sword. Garnering allies and weakening the Sanzoku Ippa's resources,, the three Assassins decided Naoe to infiltrate and weaken their defenses, Yasuke to lead the charge and kill Yukari, and Tsuyu was charged to find and to retrieve the sword. Ultimately, Naoe and Yasuke broke the castle's defenses while Yasuke confronted Yukari and killed her, ultimately ending the Templars' activity in Awaji.

Meanwhile, Tsuyu recovered the sword but was chased by Sanzoku Ippa guards. Despite killing multiple soldiers, she was soon overwhelmed by the guards at the harbor. Fortunately, Naoe arrived and eliminated all the remaining guards. Tsuyu soon stood up but was saddened to have failed the mission. Naoe then reassured her that she does not need her mother to be a warrior but to learn to be a family again. Although not knowing how to be a mom, Naoe promised that they will train together to become one. When Yasuke joined them, Naoe stated that with all three Imperial Regalia in their possession, they must return them back to the Emperor once and for all. Thus, she and Tsuyu ventured to Kyoto and delivered the Imperial Regalia back to Emperor Ōgimachi at his Imperial Palace.

Later life

With her mission finally concluded, Tsuyu returned back to Iga and worked on the remodeling of her old home.

Gallery

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  Render of Tsuyu from the Tales of Iga cover art
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  Tsuyu performing a Leap of Faith
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  Tsuyu fighting ninja
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  Tsuyu killing Kuroiwa Gonjou-rou
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  Tsuyu reuniting with Naoe

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Shadows (first appearance) (flashback only)
  • Claws of Awaji
• Animus Hub (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Shadows – Tales of Iga