Rousai Azuki (小豆 蠟斎, Azuki Rōsai) is a member of the Iga Tsubagakure clan and one of the ten ninja picked by Ogen to participate in the war against the Kouga. He is the second oldest after Tenzen.
Appearance
Rousai has a very large, gourd-shaped head with a small tuft of white hair on the top. He has a long, white beard and a very pointed nose. He has many wrinkles to show his old age and has very small, sharp eyes. He is the shortest of the Iga ninja and wears a yellow shirt and dull blue hakama. He wears a red vest over his shirt and a pair of sandals on his feet.
Biography
Before the War
Rousai appears in an anime only flashback with Nenki when Oboro had hiccups. When Oboro is taking a walk around Iga, worrying about her upcoming meeting with Gennosuke, both Rousai and Nenki jump out from behind a wall and scream at her. Despite giving Oboro a fright they were unable to cure her hiccups.
In another flashback he is seen with the rest of the Iga clan huddled in a group talking. They hear a noise from the room next door so they slide it open slightly and peer inside. The group catches sight of Ogen fixing her make-up and is so shocked they fall forward into Ogen's room, braking the doors in the process.
Battle with Shougen
Rousai is first seen confronting Jousuke Udono, who is trying to read a scroll that was carried by Ogen's hawk. Rousai orders him to drop it as it is Iga property but Jousuke offers him to play a game of ninja skills to see who can get the scroll. Rousai attacks Jousuke without any hesitation, kicking Jousuke in the face with his stretched leg while declaring he doesn't care about the peace treaty. Jousuke manages to catapult himself into the air with the scroll but is caught by Oboro, Gennosuke and other Iga ninjas. Rousai arrives just behind Jousuke and tells Akeginu to take the Iga scroll of Jousuke. He and the other Iga ninjas then read the scroll in private and are initially shocked by what they see, before laughing to themselves about having the upper hand. Rousai then leaves with Hotarubi, Nenki and Jingorou Amayo to find Tenzen.
When they meet Tenzen the group decides to hunt down Shougen Kazamachi, the ninja Danjou would have given the scroll to. After sending Jingorou back to Iga the group leaves to find Shougen but on the way come across a Kouga carriage. Koshirou kills the carriers and breaks the carriage, exposing Juubei Jimushi. The group leaves Tenzen to finish off Juubei and continues on their search for Shougen. That night they find Shougen and ambush him. Rousai tries to grab him by stretching his arm but gets caught in Shougen's web with Nenki and Koshirou. Shougen taunts Rousai but gets distracted by Hotarubi's attack. This allows Nenki to break them free and stab Shougen in the head. As he falls Shougen throws his scroll, which is caught by the awaiting Juubei. Rousai, along with Koshiro and Nenki chases after the scroll.
The three keep chasing Juubei but are unable to catch up. Tenzen then appears before Juubei and easily cuts him in half before retrieving the scroll. The group then decides to burn the other scroll after scoring off Shougen and Juubei's names.
Attack on the Kouga
The next day Rousai and the others decide to head to the Kouga Manjidani village and try to assassinate some Kouga ninjas. They stop by a tree where Rousai breaks a guard's neck before heading into the village. Rousai insists they should immediately dispose of the names on the scroll but Tenzen stops him, reminding him of how difficult it was just to kill Shougen. Koshirou then notes he senses someone nearby and Rousai is suddenly pulled towards the wall and held against it. Rousai struggles to get free and when he does he smashes the wall with a kick. Rousai informs the others the wall spoke to him just before it shouts for reinforcements. Tenzen tries to claim they were sent by Gennosuke but the ninjas know they are lying and the group are forced to attack. Rousai uses his stretchy limbs to knock large groups of opponents over, breaking their necks in the process.
The group then approach Hyouma, Saemon, Kagerou and Gyoubu, who had emerged from the wall. Tenzen warns them not to try and get revenge as they will kill Gennosuke if they do. The group then disappears in the butterflies that Hotarubi summoned.
Return to Iga
The group then begins to return to Iga but suddenly Tenzen stops. Rousai asks if they have been followed but Tenzen only tells them to hide. Okoi then appears and Rousai decides its time to erase another name from the scroll, but Tenzen tells him they are to take her back to Iga instead. The group surrounds Okoi and ask her to return with them to Iga but Okoi decides she wants to return to Kouga first and leaps into the trees to get away. Nenki chases her and manages to capture her quickly, allowing the group to head back to Iga with Okoi.
When they reach Iga the group meets up with Akeginu and Jingorou to discuss the events that have occurred and decide its best not to tell Oboro anything. Rousai then goes to the salt store, where Okoi is being held. He begins to interrogate her about the Kouga ninjas' skills and says she may be let go if the answers she gives are satisfactory. He gets angry when she doesn't answer, breaking a salt barrel with a kick and threatening her with violence. He then places his hand on her shoulder to intimidate her but the blood begins to be sucked out of him. He tries to remove his hand but is unable to so he tries to kick her. Okoi blocks the kick with her foot, allowing her to suck more blood from him. She stamps on his other foot, pulls him into a bear hug-like position and bites his neck draining the remains of his blood. When she lets go he falls over dead, his skin badly shrivelled and his limbs stretched out and twisted.
Personality
Rousai has a very short temper to match his short stature. Like many of the Iga ninjas Rousai despises the Kouga, going as far as to say his head is so large as it is swollen with hatred for the Kouga due to their surprise assault on the Iga alongside Nobunaga. He dislikes being teased about anything, particularly his age and tends to hold a grudge against people who mock him.
Abilities
Elastic Body: Rousai possesses the ability to stretch his limbs to unnatural lengths. He tends to use this ability by sneak attacking from a distance outwith his enemies range or, if surrounded, knocking all his opponents over by using his arms like a sweeper.
Taijutsu: Rousai specialises in hand-to-hand combat and is never seen using a weapon. Although his frail and antiquated appearance says otherwise, Rousai is a highly skilled martial artist whose punches and kicks are capable of felling trees and smashing rocks with one blow. He is shown as being capable of easily breaking his opponent's neck.
Relationships
Oboro
Rousai, like many of the Iga ninjas, views Oboro as being a failure and not fit to lead the clan after Ogen. He has no problem with deceiving Oboro and secretly plotting with the others to assassinate Gennousuke.
Jousuke Udono
Rousia has an extreme hatred for Jousuke and considers breaking the peace treaty to kill him. Jousuke's cheerful and joking attitude is something Rousai is unable to put up with, especially since many of the jokes are made at Rousai's expense.
Trivia
- Rousai was not included in Shinobi: Heart Under Blade, a 2005 film based upon the same source material as Basilisk.
- In the manga Rousai's red shirt has a flower-like pattern printed on it. This was completely omitted in the anime, where it is depicted as being a solid red colour.
- Rousai doesn't kill the guard outside the Kouga village in the manga as, while they did stop by a tree, there was no guard hiding in it.