The Sword Saint Might Be Kagurabachi’s FINAL VILLAIN. Is Chihiro’s Enten His COUNTER? Kagurabachi Chapter 72 Spoilers!!

In the previous Kagurabachi chapter, we see Samura’s flashback, how he became close with Iori and how he betrayed everyone.

We continue with the Samura flashback.

Kagurabachi Chapter 72 is titled, “The Future”

This chapter has 19 pages.

Editor’s note: “Iori’s childhood days: And the one who appears, is the leader of the Hishaku, Yura!”

The chapter begins where we left off when Yura speaks to Samura, who wants to be left alone after his ex-wife’s funeral.

Yura gives his thanks to the “heroes” who responded to the Seitei War that began with an invasion from the small country, the aspect which we learned in Chapter 66: “Truth”

Yura narrates about how the small nation’s people held an “innate barbarity” due to the Datenseki and as such, they grew to have tenacious bodies that made the invasion into a bloody war.

Things changed when the “heroes” appeared bearing the Enchanted Blades, which resulted in a “cleansing” of the “vicious people” of the small nation, a complete suppression of this threat.

However, Yura elaborates further on the details of the “cleansing” not revealed to the public.

This is a good example of how easily war and, especially, the horrors of genocide are glossed over by the public, by saying there was a cleansing but not the finer, gory details so that the act can be justified.

Yura goes on to say that the release of the Shinuchi changed the battle completely, resulting in the end of the war with a peaceful flag of surrender being waved, which is the public narrative in schools.

However, there are some secrets.

First, there is no such thing as a “uniform existence”, which is true for the Datenseki peoples.

Among the “barbarians” are a different family that can not only conform to the Datenseki but gain unique powers, a unique body compositions, the Royal family, which led the small nation and its invasion.

Yet this family chose “happiness” or peace and to prevent wars, surrendered, signing a treaty to establish peace, for a time.

We then cut to a scene of the Sword Saint seemingly recalling in his own terms how the war went, which implied that Yura somehow was able to visit the Kamunabi headquarters in spite of the best security possible.

The Sword Saint said that, in truth, the war was not won by peace but by “complete extermination”.

Yura goes on to say that a “certain hero”, who had gone through war and stepped over corpses too many to count lost their sanity.

The Sword Saint, like Samura, experienced trauma from the carnage brought by the Datenseki but instead of guilt, he was filled with a corrupted rage that resonated with the Shinuchi, Magatsumi.

Yura reveals that the “true realm of an Enchanted Blade” is called Kodoku, which the Sword Saint called off and this power had one mission: kill as many lives in one fell swoop as possible.

There was no good or malice involved: only a “calamity” that resulted in 200,000 deaths.

However, due to its significant power, the Shinuchi and Sword Saint developed a toxic relationship, a mutually-destructive relation where both parties would devour each other.

This is where the term “Kodoku” comes in, which would be familiar to both Hunter x Hunter and Jujutsu Kaisen fans.

At the start of Hunter x Hunter’s recent arc, the Succession War, we learn that the Seed Urn was made similar to the Kodoku process or “Worm Toxin” where several poisonous insects would be contained for several days until the survivor absorbs the poison, which is also how the Succession War itself is formed where all Kakin princes fight to the death until only one survives and gains all the “poison” or the Nen via the coffins.

In Jujutsu Kaisen, Kodoku is the ritual used by Sukuna’s servant, Uraume, to freeze and safely squeeze the toxic blood of cursed spirits to create the “Bath”, which will bring Sukuna’s vessel closer to evil.

Kodoku is a form of Eastern magic where a bunch of insects kill each other until one survives, with the poison used to curse and control an individual while the surviving insect becomes a good luck charm.

However, the owner, in return, must feed the bug or be eaten by the enraged insect.

The kanji used means “charmed and cursed”, which fits the ritual’s intent.

In Kagurabachi, the swordsman that reaches the Kodoku stage must feed the Enchanted Blade’s bloodlust, such that the urge of the blade to keep killing consumes the user, so the user must channel that somewhere before he loses full control, hence the Seitei War’s conclusion was essentially Kagurabachi’s equivalent of the Atomic Bomb falling on Japan.

Actually they are similar situations as the act of genocide to end the rampage of Datenseki “barbarians” was too drastic yet it was able to bring peace, or rather suppress the Royal Family and other members of the small nation, keeping them hidden.

One of them, Char, would be kidnapped for Genichi Sojo’s experiments for the Hishaku.

In Kagurabachi, we know of a power-up called “True Realm” that synchronizes the wielder and blade in such a way that new extension techniques can be made, such as Enten’s “Kuro: Shred”.

The “Cursed Realm” is where the two, the swordsman and the sword, are so in-sync that they are bonded through fear of being devoured by the other, or if we follow Kodoku logic, the sword devouring the user, which makes the user kill as many people as they willingly can.

The fear of the sword, like in Bleach.

Here, the Enchanted Blade will indiscriminately try to kill people as swords are tools for murder, which is the same mentality of “freedom” and “instinct” as the Hishaku member Hiruhiko but of a higher scale.

It took the effort of the other five Enchanted Blade wielders to stop the rampage and confine the Sword Saint while the small nation, though unstable from the aftermath of its invasion of Japan, was able to rebuild its society and avoid further tensions with Japan.

Japan would only know that the Sword Saint was the hero that destroyed the enemy nation, with no specifics on how it was done.

Samura is surprised by how much Yura knows.

Is it possible Yura was a part of the Kamunabi prior to forming the Hishaku?

Then Yura goes into his main point, a prophecy stating that if the Sword Saint stays alive, the calamity (“wickedness” in kanji) will return, except it will destroy the country.

This means that since the Sword Saint has committed genocide on most of the Datenseki nation, his next and most immediate target would be the people of Japan.

This would especially make sense since they imprisoned him for years.

So Yura proposes for Samura to do something only he could do as an Enchanted Blade user and one of the best at that.

But before Samura could respond, the door behind Samura opens up and Yura uses his flame teleportation Sorcery to leave without a trace but not before asking Samura to do it for the sake of the future.

Iori appears from behind and wonders who the visitor was.

Iori has also overheard some details, particularly about a calamity and something Samura must do, which makes the girl worry about her father leaving.

Samura assures his daughter that he is not leaving.

At the Kamunabi Headquarters, Samura meets with the Gremlin Kamunabi, with Samura remarking that he has gotten “real old”, such that his walk is slow but the Kamunabi leader chies Samura for his sharp tongue.

The old man challenges Samura but the latter passes as a flashback plays of the Gremlin Kamunabi beating Shiba and Samura in sparring, making them beg for mercy and say “you beat me”.

This is surprising considering that Shiba is touted as one of the series’ strongest Sorcerers and Samura is one of the greatest swordsmen, among the three licensed to use White Purity Iai.

We need to see all the Kamunabi leaders in action since they barely appear or even have names.

Perhaps in due time when the Hishaku attack their headquarters to kill the Sword Saint.

The narration also notes that  “Once, this man gave Azami and Shiba a run for their money in Taijutsu.”

Samura relays to the old man about what Yura told him and the Gremlin Kamunabi is surprised that someone would know about the Sword Saint’s secrets since only the Kamunabi higher-ups and Japan’s bureaucracy should know about this matter.

This also indicates that while Samura knew and was involved in subduing the Sword Saint, not even knows the details of his sealing.

Samura also notes that Yura is not someone from the Seitei War as he would recognize their smell or voice.

The Gremlin Kamunabi also wonders if this “prophecy” is akin to the Monks’ dreams in the Tenrakuin, which the Kamunabi sees as a form of fortune-telling but it would only represent a “worst case scenario”.

So the Gremlin Kamunabi assures Samura that he should not be too worried about it since the Sword Saint is held in confinement and there is no way for anyone else to interfere.

Not to mention that the Shinuchi is held far away from the Sword Saint’s reach.

The only way to be 100% sure that no calamity will happen would be to execute the Sword Saint but Samura knows that would not be the case.

We now get a deeper explanation into the Lifelong Contracts between the Enchanted Blades and their wielders.

It is an advanced Sorcery linking the user’s life and death.

Creating multiple Lifelong Contracts to connect users to their blades like a “parent-and-child device” in such a short time is a tough task, as shown when Kunishige Rokuhira did it in the midst of the Seitei War.

The blade at the core of the Lifelong Contract was given to a man Kunishige trusted, the Sword Saint and therefore the Sword Saint was the foundation of the whole system connecting all six, actually seven Lifelong Contracts.

That means that killing the Sword Saint would lead to other contractors to synchronize and suffer physical damages and kill them in a matter of days.

This allows the Enchanted Blade users to stay inseparable from their “general” and a show of resolve and commit to perform their duties in the midst of battle.

Yet this contract is now a detriment, especially with

In short, to kill the Sword Saint is to kill every Enchanted Blade user, which worries Samura as it means he can do nothing about the future.

The Gremlin Kamunabi also brings up how he heard about Samura raising his daughter, which explains his behavior, so he assures Samura that everything is taken care of.

Additionally, for anything to happen, the Shinuchi itself would have to be unsealed first and there is also a low probability of someone being able to break that seal themselves.

The Gremlin Kamunabi assures Samura that death is nowhere close to him and that while they have a lot to atone for after the Sword Saint’s sin, the old man reminds Samura that they were not just killers but people who tried to save lives.

Later, Samura returns to the dojo and is surprised to see Iori improve as she spars with another dojo kid.

Samura explains that she has been imitating him ever since she moved in, as if this is second nature to her.

One of the watchers notes that, if anything, when she opens her eyes, the real fear of the situation kicks in but Samura disagrees, saying that by closing her eyes, Iori can be rid of all distractions completely to perform the work of the sword.

Does this not reflect the irony of his own blinding, that he chose to do so out of his sense of guilt yet it is precisely because of his blindness, especially in the present without memories of his daughter, that he can completely focus on the sword.

In Chapter 70: “”, we see Iori’s precision and mastery allow her to cut without killing, so Iori represents the positive path towards swordsmanship as a means to save lives instead of giving into violence, which is still in line with Samura refusing to kill anyone unless absolutely necessary.

In Samura’s case, he chose the Enchanted Blade users as targets and the Hishaku if they threaten the nation.

The chapter ends with Samura praising Iori’s grasp of the Iai style and her promise to become the strongest to protect her father.

Samura looks forward to seeing his daughter’s growth.

We will be continuing with the Samura flashback as we deepen the bond between father and daughter and even see how Iori became a master of Whie Purity Iai, which is hinted here via her constant practice and her mastery.

This situation is probably also inspired by Naruto, where the Seven Ninja Swords of the Hidden Mist are now the Tailed Beast that the new Akatsuki, the Hishaku, want to wield individually, and now we have confirmation that not only is their lifelink between sword and user but that to kill the original swordsman, the Sword Saint, would be to kill every Contractor.

That would also, in turn, end the Sorcery of the Enchanted Blades themselves, until maybe someone uses them again but that aspect, of whether or not the Blades can be used without a Contract, has yet to be elaborated on.

If Samura at present, having no memories of Iori, would end himself along with the other Contractors via ending the Sword Saint

Yet if you notice Samura’s actions throughout, if he does attempt to kill the Sword Saint, that requires breaking into his prison and opening the door for his potential rampage, which would fulfill the prophecy.

Yura’s motivations are also explored more but with more questions added.

Why would the man want to wield the cursed Shinuchi? Does he also desire wanton destruction?

Yet his words, hollow as they feel, are somewhat telling of how he also does not want to witness such carnage.

Perhaps he wishes to use the sword against an enemy or even to prove his superiority over the Shinuchi or the Sword Saint, a means of being the strongest.

We will see as more truths get told over time, which seems to be a critique against the storytelling regarding the Seitei War.

However, I feel like this aspect of the story is done well as these are just the puzzle pieces that the present story will put together eventually.

Editor’s note: “And so the time spent as father and daughter keeps on going…”

“Kagurabachi will be on sudden break next week for the specific reason of Hokazono needing to gather material. Serialization will continue as normal thereafter.”

Kagurabachi will be on BREAK NEXT WEEK.

Kagurabachi Chapter 73 will be released on March 31, 2025.

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