Yamabushi

Yamabushi (山伏, "one who bows on the mountain") are Japanese ascetic monks who date back to the 8th and 9th century and whose origins correlate to yamabito (山人, "mountain people") and itinerant hijiri (聖, "holy [ones]") Buddhists. They follow a mix of Tantric Buddhism and Shintoism as their religious preference.

After the Tenshō Iga War, Oda Nobunaga commissioned a group of nine soldiers to dress and patrol as yamabushi and tasked them with eliminating any remaining Igan soldiers. Unfortunately, the soldiers became more brutish and devious, killing any innocents in their path, while some became grossly competitive with each other. In 1582, the yamabushi Genpaku met the Kakushiba ikki members Fujibayashi Naoe and Yasuke, whom he told about these imposters and how they wrought havoc across Japan. Naoe and Yasuke agreed to help and hunted down these imposters. With some exceptions, as was the case with the group leader, the pair managed to find and eliminate these criminals, ending their murderous patrols.

Known practitioners

• 
  The Clifftop Yamabushi
• 
  The Forest Yamabushi
• 
  Genpaku
• 
  The Mountain Yamabushi
• 
  The Pathway Yamabushi
• 
  The Pond Yamabushi
• 
  The River Yamabushi
• 
  The Shadow Yamabushi
• 
  The Valley Yamabushi
• 
  The Village Yamabushi

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Shadows