[heavy metal music playing]
GREATEST LOSER
[Brfmnhilde] Over the course ofh/S entire life,
TOMB OF KOJIRO SASAKI
TOMB OF KOMRO SASNQ Kojiro Sasaki never won a single battle.
TOMB OF KOJIRO SASAKI
ICHIJODANI CASTLE TOWN, ECHIZEN PROVINCE AT THE CLOSE OF THE SENGOKU PERIOD
ICHIJODANI CASTLE TOVVN, ECHIZEN PROVINCE AT THE CLOSE OF THE SENGOKU PERIOD -[men grunting] -[wood tapping]
-[men grunting] -[wood tapping]
TODA DOJO -[men grunting] -[wood tapping]
TODA DOJO
[groaning]
KAGEKATSU TOD A, NEPHEW OF SFJGEN TODA
KAGEKATSU TODA, NEPHEVV OF SEIGEN TODA How pathetic- You are obviously a slacker-
KAGEKATSU TOD A, NEPHEW OF SFJGEN TODA
If you want to stay a student of our dojo,
you'd better shape up.
[yawning]
Huh?
[Brfmnhilde] In the dojo ofSe/jgen Toda,
a swordsman renowned throughout Japan,
the boy was seen as little more than a burden.
Sasaki!
Uh? Hello.
Master Kagekatsu, good morning to you.
Late again, are you?
You must be pretty brave, you little shit!
[laughing awkwardly]
Aw, I'm hardly worthy of such praise.
That wasn't a compliment!
I'll teach you to focus,
if I have to beat it into you.
Huh?
[growling]
[grunting]
-Did he just...? -Did he block Master Kagekatsu?
[straining]
Ah! Ooh. Ah. [grunting]
I surrender!
D-Did you say surrender?
I did. Victory is yours, Master Kagekatsu.
You little bastard! You call yourself a warrior?
İf you lose your blade, fight with your fists.
İf you lose your fists, bite with your teeth!
Struggle and fight until the very end.
-Save your breath, Kagekatsu. -Huh?
Such teachings hold no sway over young Kojiro.
ASSISTANT INSTRUCTOR KAGEMASA TODA YOUNGER BROTHER OF SEIGEN TODA
ASSISTANT INSTRUCTOR KAGEMASA TODA YOUNGER BROTHER OF SEIGEN TODA B-But, Father...
ASSISTANT INSTRUCTOR KAGEMASA TODA YOUNGER BROTHER OF SEIGEN TODA
ASSISTANT INSTRUCTOR KAGENIASA TODA YOUNGER BROTHER OF SEIGEN TODA —did you see what he- - -? —[sighing]
-did you see what he.. .? -[sighing]
Brother, Kojiro is talentless with a blade.
Why are we wasting our d0j0's time with such a failure?
Hmm...
Kojiro, you held your own at first, so why surrender now?
SEIGEN TODA, TODA-RYU FOUNDER "KODACHI MASTER" Kojiro, you held your own at first, so why surrender now?
Uh, well, I couldn't win.
Even if I fought Master Kagekatsu 100 times.
At my current level, if I gave it my all,
I would only get injured,
damaging any future prospects I may have.
Huh?
"Current level," huh?
[scoffing] "Future prospects"?
Huh?
[Kagemasa] Now you're sounding just like
a born-and-bred businessman.
Thank you, but I'm hardly worthy of such praise.
[both] That wasn't a compliment!
So is it true, then?
Is an aptitude for the sword what you truly lack, Kojiro?
Indeed. Though it's painful to admit.
-Unbelievable! -[students laughing]
[Brfmnhilde] However; the dczv/‘o is senior drlscrjo/es
had not yet come to recognize
Kojiro Sasaki's true nature as a swordsman.
Now then, how can I defeat Master Kagekatsu?
Perhaps I should work on my physical strength?
No, he's so much bigger than me
that my footwork will be more important.
The foundation of swordsmanship lies in the lower body, after all.
-[leaves rustling] -H m?
Whoa!
Ha! This is just what I need.
This movement, it's perfect.
Huh? Hey, wait. Wait for me.
[Brijlnnhilde] Instead of the dojo,
Kojiro found his lessons in nature.
Huh? [Screaming]
[straining] At the dojo,
the only thing they give us to eat is millet.
I need more.
I'll build up my body by eating meat.
This, too, will be my training.
[hissing]
[shrieking]
Learning the flow of battle from beasts in the wild
this, too, will be my training.
[BrUnnhilde] I/I/ithin each loss, he sought the path to victory.
Refining his technique alone,
such was the talent Kojiro possessed.
[shouting]
Uh. |-| surrender.
Hello there.
Sorry I'm late.
Hmm?
Kojiro, you got nerve, I tell ya.
You disappear for six months,
and show up here like nothing happened?
Is Master Seigen here, by any chance?
[all gasping]
[Kagekatsu] He looks I/ke a completely d/fierent person.
What has he been up to all this time?
This could be fun.
Kojiro, let's have a match.
I'll admit, you truly were a mighty foe.
So much so that I had to fight you 146 times in my mind
before I could defeat you.
You what?
So I'm afraid I've no need to fight you again.
No need to fight?
So you're saying you beat me?
[yelling] I don't think so!
Ah.
Master Kagekatsu just...
Kojiro didn't even draw.
I think that's enough. Wouldn't you say?
Uh-Uh, I...
I surrender!
Uh!
Are you all right, Master?
What's wrong?
Uh, listen, I never intended to...
Hmm.
[laughing]
Master Seigen!
There's a request I'd like to make of you, Master.
İf I may, would you do me the honor of sparring with me?
Very well.
[inhaling deeply]
Well, then...
Here I come!
[roaring]
[exclaiming in awe]
[Brijlnnhilde] After their match,
Kojiro stopped coming to the dojo.
Though many years later...
[wood splitting]
[grunting]
[signing]
-|t's been some time, Kojiro. -[laughing]
Master Seigen!
What a surprise.
It has been far too long.
I was curious as to why you never returned to the dojo,
so I thought I'd check on you myself.
[Brfmnhilde] By the time ofh/S v/S/tj
sickness and age had already robbed Seigen of his sight,
and yet...
[gasping]
For a brief moment,
Seigen's unseeing eyes perceived everything.
My word.
Even these old eyes of mine, I can see it all so clearly.
Kojiro, I can see...
every hard-earned step of your training.
Well, surpassing everyone took a while.
Four years and nine months, if I'm being precise.
KAGEKATSU TODA
KAG EIVIASA TO DA
KANEMAKI JINSAI
[Seigen] He wasn't tmhg to show ofi' to anyone.
Nor was he trying to compete with anyone.
He did all of this merely to further himself.
You've done well to come so far alone.
Oh, Kojiro.
It seems as though...
SEIGEN TODA
you've surpassed me too.
SEIGEN TODA
Hmm.
This tea is miserable.
[laughing] Well, I did use whatever leaves I could find.
Listen well.
I'll ask the Asakura Clan
to take you in as their sword instructor.
A fine position that could make you
the lord of your own castle.
Hm.
You honor me, Master.
But the truth is, I've decided that it's time for me to move on.
I'm afraid there's very little left here that excites me.
And where do you intend on going to next?
I don't know.
But I hope to keep on losing over the course of my journey.
[Brfmnhilde] As to where Koj/ro went'
after leaving Seigen Toda's dojo,
DO ODE C8D say.
No historical records exist to confirm his whereabouts.
No songs are sung in his honor.
WYO-RYU DOJO No songs are sung in his honor.
ITFO-RYU DOJO
WYO-RYU DOJO Only one thing is certain.
KAGEHISA ITFOSAI ITO, ITFO-RYU FOUNDER
KAGEHISA l-l-FOSAI ITO, l-l-FO-RYU FOUNDER Huh- Well, you need more training-
[groaning] I surrender.
[Brfmnhilde] Koj/ro Sasak/ continued to rack up
loss after loss,
moving from opponent to opponent, and growing stronger.
YAGYU DOJO moving from opponent to opponent, and growing stronger.
Please grant me a match.
MUNETOSHI SEKISHUSAI YAGYU, YAGYU SHINKAGE-RYU
Ah!
L-I surrender.
[Brﬁnnhilde] And stronger still.
[thunder rumbling]
I implore you, please grant me a match.
Master Kamiizumi!
[chuckling]
NOBUTSUNA ISE-NO-KAMI KAMIIZUMI, SHINKAGE-RYU FOUNDER "SWORD SAINT"
NOBUTSUNA lSE-NO-KAIVII KAIVIIIZUIVII, SHINKAGE-RYU FOUNDER "SVVORD SAINT" Well, I believe that I can give you a decent fight.
[crashing]
I surrender.
[horse neighing]
[laughing] So that was the Sword Saint.
I didn't stand a chance against him.
[Brfmnhilde] L/ke a parched desen' longing for rain,
Kojiro continued to pursue and challenge undefeatable foes.
And he continued to lose.
All right, then. So how can I beat him?
[Brijlnnhilde] Why, you as/g
did Kojiro Sasaki's name vanish from history
until his final, fatefiJI duel with Gamyujima?
NOBUTSUNA ISE-NO-KAMI KAMIIZUMI
Because the man continued to lose,
NOBUTSUNA ISE-NO-KAMI KAMIIZUMI
as he trod his path towards greatness.
As he trod his path towards greatness.
Thanks for the meal.
Mm. That's delicious!
[Brfmnhilde] Ana' so, h/sto/ys greatest loser was born.
I'm not dying today.
But I suppose,
for a battle like this one, "I surrender" won't cut it.
I implore you. Grant this old fool a match.
Ah...
All right, you're in it now, Kojiro.
This is one battle you can't run away from.
For all the pioneers who paved my path to strength.
For all creation,
which nourished me and became my flesh and blood.
I need to stand...
[wind whooshing]
With my head held high.
[gasping]
[sighing] Here I come.
[narrator] Koj/ro Sasak/S first move
was a technique all his own.
He swung his famed three-foot-long Bizen Nagamitsu,
a long sword also known as the drying pole,
down from above with all his might,
in a single, devastating slash.
The drying pole possessed a weight of 1.5 times the average katana.
After a slash of that strength,
physics dictates that halting its downward acceleration
should be nigh impossible.
And yet...
Kojiro Sasaki's series of defeats
had given rise to an attack that defied such petty constraints.
A swift strike
like an arrow racing toward its target
and changing its course mid-flight.
His signature move.
[metallic ringing]
Tsubame Gaeshi!
Did you see that?
[grumbling]
He's quick.
He moved before Poseidon had the chance to skewer him.
Pretty virile for an old man.
Huh? This is a surprise.
I never thought I'd see the great Poseidon
looking a human in the eye.
So you meet my gaze at last, huh, kiddo?
[groaning]
You okay, Papa?
Sasaki!
APRIL 13, 1612 FUNASHIMA (LATER KNOWN AS GANRYUJIMA)
[narrator] The first unb/ockab/e swing of the d/y/hg pole,
comes down upon his foe like a giant hatchet.
If they dodge the first swing,
they're finished with the second,
which follows the trajectory of the first, yet in reverse,
appearing from nowhere.
An attack that is at once unblockable, and undodgeable.
The Tsubame Gaeshi!
Really brings back some good memories, Sasaki.
Listen up, sea god.
Even if you are divine,
you better not approach this man unguarded.
[all] Curse your luck,
for today you test your skill against the man we call
Number One Under the Sun.
-[crowd cheering] -[G6ll] We can do this.
We can really do this.
Come on, Hrist. You've got this.
Let's win one for the humans!
Huh. The weight of it, the blade,
not a single fault to speak of.
[narrator] The second of the 73 Va/lg/r/e sisters,
Hrist, the Trembling One,
VCHJLUNDR NAGAIVIITSU BIZEN NEAR-METER LONG X HRIST Hnlstf, the Trembling One,
VGLUNDR NAGAMITSU BIZEN NEAR-METER LONG X HRIST
VCHJLUNDR NAGAIVIITSU BIZEN NEAR-METER LONG X HRIST Bizen Nagam/Tsu San/Iaku Yosun, I/d/undr:
This trusty drying pole of mine,
I can't imagine a weapon more perfectly suited to my style.
Huh?
-I never thought I'd see the day. -No way!
This can't be happening.
What's going on?
I don't believe my eyes.
The god among gods, Poseidon himself,
is advancing upon his opponent.
[blade ringing]
[inhaling deeply]
AMPHITRITE
[exciting rock music playing]
[Heimdall] Pose/don's jabs are as relentless
as the raging tides,
but Kojiro deftly weaves through the onslaught!
Kojiro cannot be touched!
Amazing! P0seid0n's trident's so fast,
but Kojiro can see through every move.
Does that mean his eyes are somehow
just as good as Adam's were?
It's not that he can see the moves,
he can dodge them because he's already experienced them.
Wait, what do you mean?
They haven't fought before, have they?
How has he experienced anything?
He can experience a battle
before he's even drawn his sword, you see?
Uh...
[Brtlnnhilde] After challenging countless powerful opponents,
and suffering defeat after defeat after defeat,
Kojiro Sasaki would continue fighting his foes
Within his head.
Since the moment Poseidon entered the arena,
Kojiro has been analyzing him,
making note of the most seemingly insignificant details.
His gait, his breathing, even the way he blinks.
All this information allows him
to form an image of Poseidon in his mind.
He then takes that image,
and challenges it an endless number of times,
simulating over a thousand different attacks,
a thousand different outcomes.
All in advance.
Wait, he did that already?
They only looked at each other for, like, a sec.
Yes.
İf Adam can lay claim to having the fastest counterattacks,
Kojiro has...
the fastest prediction.
No matter how fast the opponent strikes,
no matter how many times they cut him down,
Kojiro can simulate their attack and evade it.
He can predict any move his opponent might make.
That is Kojiro Sasaki's thousand-fold defense.
SENJU MUSOU
Senju Musou.
SENJU MUSOU
[Koj I r0] I know that one. Ano' that one.
That one too.
And this one.
I know 'em all!
[panting]
[crowd cheering]
That's the way to do it, old man!
[man] History's greatest l0ser's gonna win
Exactly how many attacks
has that decrepit old man dodged already?
I refuse to believe
that Poseidon hasn't landed a single hit on him yet.
Does this mean he's able to predict even a god's moves?
We're supposed to be unknowable.
Yes, that certainly seems to be the case.
Then that means there has to be something wrong
with all of the people here.
These humans that push themselves to the heights of perfection.
Why are they all so...
So impossibly.. .?
Why are they so impossibly, unbelievably exciting?
Hm.
[whistling tunefully]
He's whistling?
[all murmuring]
[whistling continues]
Well, this should be quite interesting.
[Kojiro] Hmm.
What's his next move?
That one!
[gasping]
He's faster than lpredicted!
4V0! goagf] —[splashing]
[gasping]
Ah!
Something wrong?
[narrator] A1' long last,
the god finally broke his silence to the human.
You were supposed to be reading my moves,
were you not?
Worthless clown.
[Japanese pop ballad playing]