Sagara Sozo

''Note: This page contains images that is not owned by the author of Sagara. Images shown in this page belongs to Nobuhiro Watsuki. ''

Captain Sagara Sozo
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Name: Sagara Sozo.

Age at death: 29.

Date of birth: June 15th, 28th year of first Tao era.

Gender: Male.

Eye color: Brown.

Hair color: Black.

Height: 179,6 cm.

Weight: 63 kg.

Affiliation(s): Taogakure, Hitogumi.

Weapon(s): Katana, wakizashi.

Known family:

None

Known techniques:

Chikensatsu

Ryu Kan Sen

Ryukensatsu

Ryu Tsui Sen

Shukuchi

Shuntensatsu

Tai Ryu Sen

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History
Sagara Sozo was born in a small village on the borders between Taogakure and Kunihae, resulting in him being raised in a combined Taoist and Kunihaean lifestyle. Little is known of his early life, until the day he appeared with his own army, the Hitogumi, at the age of 17. His forces consisted mostly of recruited peasants, beggers, and other people with low social rank and little financial status. With the promise of taxes being cut in half after one year of field duty, thousands of farmers was quick to join the organization. The organization was provided with modern weapons by Taogakure, but when the war began they were quickly defeated because their lack of actual training. Sagara Sozo, now captain in the Taogakurian army and lone leader of the Hitogumi, personally led the defense of Taogakure from the front, but was pushed back by the overwhelming enemy forces. Captain Sozo's weapon of choice is the katana - He is a Hitokiri with great knowledge of the Tenken Kamisatsu Ryu, which is said to be the strongest art of swordsmanship in the world. He has only been seen using completely seven techniques, but he probably possesses more abilities than those he showed before his death. Captain Sozo escaped Taogakure when the city became occupied by Shourigakure Imperialists. He searched the outskirts of Taogakure, including his home village, for more help. He found two men that were to aid him greatly in future battles; General Guntai and Admiral Mizu. Together they recruited, equipped, and trained a new army that was put into the field after eighteen months. Captain Sozo himself kept leading the frontline battles, not from horseback as his fellow generals, but on foot. Sagara Sozo were a loyal follower of Bushido, the samurai's code of honor, which gave him these attributes on the field: Fighting on foot, using only sword, aid any allies in need, never retreat, die rather than being captured. Captain Sozo's fearless behavior in combat greatly inspired his soldiers, and with an undefeatable army behind him he attacked the Shourigakure Empire. He won many devastating victories against the conquerors of his homeland, and managed to fight his way to the capital of Taogakure. But once in the city he realized that such powerful defenses could not be penetrated by army size, and instead made the Hitogumi an underground organization that would perform assassinations, sabotage, espionage, quick raids, and similar actions. The Hitogumi was successful and with so many military leaders being assassinated, Shourigakure was weakened and demoralized. Captain Sozo favored the use of Hitokiri, a class of warriors that was said to be undefeatable. This was one of the few things Captain Sozo and his advisors was arguing about: While Captain Sozo preferred the Hitokiri as assassins and infiltrators, General Guntai meant that in these times it was more important with a large, modern army, and not the outdated samurai. It would be proven that General Guntai was right in this matter. When Captain Sozo was travelling alongside a group of samurai bodyguards in the outskirts of Taogakure, searching for more recruits, they were ambushed by a group of Shourigakure policemen. Captain Sozo's bodyguards were killed and Captain Sozo himself were heavily injured. A young farmer boy walks out of the barn he slept in just in time to see Captain Sozo finish off the last policemen. He notices the boy's presence and asks him to help him, and then falls unconscious. The boy followed the captain's wish and gave him bandages and medicine. They talk to each other for some time when Captain Sozo wakes up, revealing their identities to each other. The boy is also named Sagara, and is living with his adopted family that maltreats him often and forces him to hard work on the farms. Captain Sozo gives Sagara his secondary weapon, a wakizashi, as a gift and in hope that the boy will be able to defend himself the next time he is attacked by his family. When realizing that Sagara is helping the enemy (Sagara's adopted family supported Shourigakure), his adopted family attempts to kill him. Sagara instinctally kills his family when defending himself. Captain Sozo then walks out of the barn and lets the boy come with him, as a member of the Hitogumi. Captain Sozo assigned Sagara as the student of Hiten Mitchima, one of the Tenken Kamisatsu Ryu masters. Sagara quickly learns the skills to become a powerful Hitokiri, and the Captain kept a close bond with the boy. Some readers of the Sagara trilogy even thought at first that Captain Sozo was Sagara's father.

Eventually the Hitogumi headquarters was detected by the government, and a large group of Shigai swordsmen was sent to attack the heart of the organization. During the battle, a large amount of Hitogumi soldiers was killed and the leaders was forced to retreat into the forests outside Taogakure, where they kept a secret base. However, not even their secondary hideout was a safe place any longer. General Sendou of Shourigakure, disquised as a Kunihae diplomat, made his way into the camp to get in contact with the Hitogumi leaders. Captain Sozo saw through the general's disquise, but it was too late. After a fast volley of musket fire from a group of Shourigakure soldiers, Captain Sagara Sozo's life ended. However, his spirit would appear several times later on in the story as guidance for several Hitogumi members.



Quotes

 * "We, the Hitogumi, are not simple assassins or rebels. We are soldiers... soldiers of freedom!"
 * "I am not a good person, neither am I a bad person. I'm just a vicious manslayer."
 * "Sagara... do not be afraid. I have seen death before... just promise me... you must... protect Taogakure..."