Shinran

Ezio, my friend! How may I be of service? This article has a lot of room for expansion. Please improve it with additional information in accordance with the Manual of Style

"Shinran granted us access to the Pure Land in the afterlife. Offered the way of Buddha to the common folk."

―Mitsumune describing Shinran to Naoe, 1582.

Shinran (親鸞, 21 May 1173 – 16 January 1263) was a Japanese Buddhist monk and the founder of what later became the Jōdo Shinshū sect of Japanese Buddhism.

Legacy

At some point prior to 1582, the monk Kyonyo, leader of the Ikkō-ikki, entrusted a statue of Shinran to Mitsumune for safekeeping. The statue was later stolen by bandits, and Mitsumune could not afford to recover it due to his forces suffering heavy losses in the war against Oda Nobunaga.

When the kunoichi Fujibayashi Naoe was sent by Kyonyo to recruit Mitsumune and his men for a fight against Nobunaga's retainer Wada Koretake, Mitsumune informed her of the loss of the statue and asked her to recover it to boost his men's morale. Naoe did so, retrieving the statue from the bandit hideout at the Toneyama Post Town, and Mitsumune agreed to lend his aid to her and Kyonyo's cause. He also asked her to return the statue to Kyonyo, feeling that he was no longer worthy of protecting it, and Naoe did so when she next met with Kyonyo. Later, Kyonyo gave the statue back to Naoe and asked her to keep it, believing that the figure might help guide her on her path.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Shadows (sculpture only)