Retsudo Yagyu is clearly at the end of his path. The Shogun himself gives him an ultimatum: Kill the Wolf and Cub within a month or it will be Retsudo head that will roll. The only upside I suppose is that he gives the Yagyu Lord the official Firewatchers. The elite of the elite to kill Ogami Itto and his son.
The Wolf bares his fangs and takes out most of the Firewatchers and after several of the men are cut down the leader requests a duel and his cut down. Ogami continues on the road to Edo and is attacked by several guards after a villager spots him in town. There is now a five thousand dollar bounty on his head.
A man from a poor province begs Ogami for money. They are farmers and need a canal built. The lord request a gift of nine thousand gold. Ogami refuses but when he and Diagoro see the suffering of the people, father and son are separated.
In a bid of desperation, Retsudo goes the five retired ninja and asks them to kill The Lone Wolf and Cub. They begrudgingly take to the road and even meet Ogami and use different methods the check his level of skill. After agreeing with each other there is only a fifty-fifty chance of winning and realizing that they would have had children and grandchildren the same age as their targets they all hold hands and walk into the ocean.
It is not as though that Lone Wolf and Cub do not feel pain. He spared a young couple on the road when they believed they could claim the bounty on him and even took the difficult road to climb up the side of a mountain to bring out a group of riflemen.
Lastly, towards the end of his journey arriving in near Edo, the assassin takes the life of the captain and his crew but not before weeping. The pain of his journey has not only taken a toll on him, but also his soul.
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Lone Wolf and Cub is available digitally and on Amazon.