This is the tale of Minamoto no Yorimitsu, a brave samurai lord, also known as Raiko. He defeated Shuten-Doji, a formidable demon king who terrorised Heian-kyo (modern-day Kyoto) during Emperor Ichijo's reign.
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The Emperor was informed that countless people were disappearing suddenly from the city of Heian-kyo. The majority of them were young women. The locals suspected that this unusual event was being carried out by an oni (demon).
The Emperor ordered the imperial guards to handle the situation, but they were ineffective in solving the problem. One day, a trader came to meet the Emperor and said that one nightfall he saw a frightening oni near the Rajomon (a massive gate at the southern end of Heian-kyo's central avenue). He saw the oni grab a young woman who was passing through the gate and swiftly vanished in the dense fog. A few days later, another imperial guard reported another instance in which the soldier spotted a female oni in the same location. As the news spread, no one dared to wander over the Rajomon after nightfall. The emperor then decided to send a samurai to deal with the situation. He called Watanabe no Tsuna, an exceptional warrior and Raiko's fourth retainer.
One evening, Tsuna was riding his horse across Suzaku Avenue (the central avenue). He was dressed as a merchant and pretended to be a foreign trader. However, inside his robe was hidden armour and his special tachi (long sword), known as Tomokiri. It was dusk, and there was no one anywhere. Suddenly, he noticed a young woman standing alone by the gate. As Tsuna approached her, she came forward and begged him to accompany her to the next checkpost. Tsuna asked her what she was doing alone at this hour. She replied that she came to town to sell a few goods at the central market. She didn't realise it was too late, and now she's afraid to go alone since there's a rumour that a demon has been abducting young ladies.
Tsuna comforted her and offered her to mount the horse. But just as they got through the gate, the maiden transformed into a female oni (kijo) dressed in a white kimono. She grabbed Tsuna's hair with her left hand. But Tsuna was expecting this and was prepared to deal with it. He unsheathed his secret tachi in the blink of an eye and chopped the oni's right hand in a single stroke. The demoness was so shocked that she shrieked in pain and fled without her hand. Tsuna picked up the severed hand from the ground and returned to the palace to inform the Emperor. Hearing the details, the Emperor asked the Onmyoji (diviner), Abe no Seimei, to examine the severed hand to figure out the identity of the oni. The Onmyoji carefully studied the hand and performed a ritual to disclose the truth.
He realised that the hand's owner was an extremely powerful oni, and she was an accomplice of a demon king whose lair was located on Mount Oe. This demon king was to blame for the disappearance of the people. The Onmyoji warned Tsuna that the Oni would return for her lost hand within the next seven days. And if she succeeds in retrieving the hand, she will be able to reattach it and regain her strength.
Using the Humane King Sutra (an old sacred matra reported in the Buddhist text Prajnaparamita), Abe no Seimei sealed the entire house of Tsuna with divine power, preventing any evil being from entering. The Onmyoji told Tsuna not to let anyone inside the house for seven days and to hide the hand in a secure container in his bed chamber. In fact, the kijo could feel the presence of her hand in the house, but she was unable to break the spell and enter. She attempted to enter for six days and nights, but was unsuccessful.
On the final day, she came up with a plan to enter the house. She came disguised as Tsuna's foster mother, Mashiba. She asked Tsuna to open the door. But Tsuna refused to open and asked her to return later. Hearing this, Mashiba feigned to be upset and began to lament loudly. Finally, defying the instructions, Tsuna opened the door and allowed her to enter the house.
After entering, Mashiba questioned why he was not allowing her inside. He told her everything in detail. Upon hearing the whole story, Mashiba said, "Can I see the severed hand? Is it too big? Are the nails very long? I've never seen a hand of an oni. Show me, please!" After some trepidation, Tsuna removed the hand from the sealed box and gave it to her foster mother. "Wow, this is unbelievable. But I can't see it clearly. You know I can't see properly at night these days. Let me go to the window. Even though it's dusk, there's still some light outside. I want to see its nails." Mashiba went very carefully to the window, pretending to see the hand properly. She opened the window slowly. But then, within a fraction of a second, she returned to her original form. She was really a formidable kijo. With anger, she revealed that her name was Ibaraki-Doji and that she would return soon to take revenge on him. The Oni jumped outside with her hand and plunged into the darkness. Tsuna stood still, attempting to process what had just happened. He began to repent for his ignorance, but it was too late.
The Emperor and Onmyoji learned of the incident the next day. The Onmyoji informed the Emperor that the Oni would not take this lightly. Sooner or later, the demon king would strike Heian-kyo with all of his might. Thus, it is wiser to strike them first. He advised the Emperor to deploy a small group of adventurers to deal with this terror. Following Onmyoji's instructions, the Emperor decided to dispatch a small band of six adventurers.
Thus, the emperor summoned Minamoto no Yorimitsu (Raiko), Japan's most powerful samurai, to deal with the situation. Raiko had four exceptional retainers; together, they were called shitenno. They were Sakato no Kintoki, Urabe no Suetake, Usui no Sadamitsu, and Watanabe no Tsuna himself. Aside from these five, the remaining warrior was Fujiwara no Hosho, a tough guy wielding a halberd. In 995 A.D., the small group set out to Mount Oe to finally put an end to the terror.
The Legend of Minamoto no Raiko: The Fall of Shuten-Doji (Part III)
The Legend of Minamoto no Raiko: The Fall of Shuten-Doji (Part IV)
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