Sakafuneishi

Sakafuneishi is one of the rock structures of the Asuka Rocks situated in Nara, Japan. In the late Sengoku period, Master Assassin of the Kakushiba ikki Fujibayashi Tsuyu created a secret safehouse underneath the rock itself.^[1]

History[edit | edit source]

In 1582, the Kakushiba ikki member and shinobi Fujibayashi Naoe ventured to Sakafuneishi after her correspondence with overthrown leader of the Shinbakufu and former Shōgun Ashikaga Yoshiaki. There, she saw the Assassins' symbol but tried hard to open it. Frustrated, she recalled the night Iga fell and remembered her father telling her about what he and her mother did with the Imperial Regalia. Playing her father's song with her tsuchibue, the stone moved and opened up a secret base.^[2]

There, she saw the Assassins' symbol but tried hard to open it. Frustrated, she recalled the night Iga fell and remembered her father telling her about what he and her mother did. Playing her father's song with her tsuchibue, the stone moved and opened up a secret base. Inside, Naoe found a room made to hold the Imperial Regalia and placed the Jewel safely on its pedestal. There, she found a note from her mother stating how she lived from the Shinbakufu's attack. Hearing the song again, she turned and hoped to see her mother but saw Hattori Hanzō enter.^[2]

Hanzō then placed the Mirror on its pedestal and revealed how Tokugawa Ieyasu stole it back from the Templars and gave it to him upon request. Walking out, Hanzō told Naoe about how Ieyasu noticed her and Yasuke's efforts and how the lord admired their work. Outside, Hanzō then admitted that he unknowingly gave the Imperial Regalia's location in Izumi Settsu to the Shinbakufu and betrayed Tsuyu's trust over her choosing Nagato and building a family with him.^[2]

Although he regretted it immediately, he failed to save Nagato and offered Naoe a place with him to find Tsuyu and to leave the Kakushiba ikki. Angered, Naoe challenged Hanzō to a duel and ultimately bested him. While Hanzō waited, Naoe did not kill him. When Hanzō was about to leave, Naoe told him that revenge has led them both on a downward spiral. Forgiving him, Naoe offered him a place back into the league, to which he solemnly agreed, and together they agreed to find Tsuyu.^[2]