Giichi

偽一

A highly proficient Mugai-ryū assassin. Details regarding his background or the grounds for his death sentence remain scarce, although it is implied that the matter may concern his ailing son, Tojiro, who passes away abruptly. Giichi ranks among the series' most capable combatants, having personally slain 59 Ittō-ryū swordsmen. Within the Mugai-ryū, he is the sole member who accumulates sufficient kills to secure his release. He collaborates closely with Kagimura Habaki and looks after the other Mugai-ryū members, attempting without success to purchase Hyakurin's freedom. He vanishes when Habaki disbands the Mugai-ryū and is subsequently discovered by Rin and Hyakurin living among the burakumin, where he supplies Rin with details regarding Manji's location. Now a shattered man, he intentionally keeps his distance from Hyakurin to spare her further anguish and is cognizant of her pregnancy; when she attempts to abort the fetus, he intervenes, convincing her to carry the child to term and permitting him to raise the infant after birth.
He wields a distinctive weapon resembling an enlarged bladed shackle connected to a chain. This armament, Kanetsura's Mito-no-Kami (Guardian of the Three Paths), was modified from a thresher or comparable agricultural tool, enabling him to sever or entangle limbs, necks, and weapons at a distance. It proves difficult to parry, as the shackle-like mechanism wraps around whatever it strikes, but Manji breaks it in Volume 14: Last Blood. Giichi makes his debut in Dark Shadows part 1.