General Info

First Issue: CRITTERS Volume 1, Issue 1

Comics Which Contain This Story

This story can be found in the following comics:

	CRITTERS Volume 1, Issue 1
	USAGI YOJIMBO Book 1

Characters

The following characters are mentioned in the story:

• Miyamoto Usagi
• One-eyed Ichiro

Story Synopsis

After a day of hard travelling, Usagi wanders into a roadside inn. He is alone but for a rude samurai who introduces himself as Gen. Gen invites himself to Usagi's, stating that he is a bounty hunter. Usagi tells Gen that he is a bodyguard by trade.

Gen goes on to speak of an outlaw, One-eyed Ichiro, who has a one hundred ryo bounty on his head. Usagi is not interested until Gen hires him as a bodyguard. From there it is not a long trek to the temple where Ichiro is holed up, keeping the priest there hostage.

Gen provokes the twenty-five or so henchmen standing at the front of the temple, and a growing wake of carnage is left as he and Usagi cut a path to the wanted outlaw. The two split up, one searching the temple proper, the other heading for the priests quarters. Gen finds Ichiro with his blade at the throat of the priest, however Gen calls his bluff, caring nothing for the life of a priest.

Hurling the priest away from him, Ichiro faces off with Gen, while the priest - actually Ichiro's brother - silently makes his way behind Gen. Gen senses this, but not before the fake priest wounds him. Simultaneously smashing the fake priest with his saya and cutting down Ichiro, Gen staggers and falls to his knees as the cut is made.

Usagi arrives on the scene as the fake priest is about to finish Gen. Usagi makes short work of the outlaw and escorts Gen back to the village. Usagi begins to think that the rude samurai is not so bad after all - that is until he finds that Gen has left him with his bill - 50 ryo.