shishido baiken

Originally named Tsujikaze Kohei. Born in 1580 in the Fuwa village and younger brother of Tsujikaze Tenma. His mother attempted to kill him by pushing him off a waterfall, similar to what she did to Tsujikaze Tenma, but Tenma killed her and took Kōhei under his wing. Despite Tenma's kindness, Kōhei hardly showed any affection. When the Tsujikaze Gang was formed and engaged in crimes including robbery, rape, and extortion, Kōhei joined at age 12 and was considered the most savage member. At 12, Kōhei attempted to rape the wife of a villager he had killed, but Tenma, repulsed by the act, slew the woman to end her suffering and crushed Kōhei's testicles, rendering him impotent. Kōhei failed to kill Tenma and was imprisoned as punishment, during which he adopted a nihilistic outlook on life. The Tsujikaze Gang failed to honor their employer, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, by not capturing Tokugawa Ieyasu. In 1600, at the age of 20, after serving 7 years in prison, Kōhei was released by surviving Sekigahara soldiers and has hunted his brother ever since. Initially wanting to kill Tenma before Takezō could, Kōhei confronts Takezō, only for the battle to be postponed by Takezō’s captors; he cuts the rope suspending Takezō. As a bandit known as the 'God of Death,' Kōhei killed Shishido Baiken, master of the kusarigama, though he was just the leader of a small band of thieves. Pretending to be Baiken, Kōhei lived with a little girl, Rindo, who also wielded the kusarigama and was actually his teacher in using it. He is challenged by Musashi and loses, yet his life is spared, though he loses some fingers on his left hand. While recuperating, he recalls that Sasaki Kojiro humbled him by being further "along the path of death" than him. It has recently been revealed that Kojiro gave Kohei his disfiguring facial scar.