02x07 - Willow Branch

[bunniefuu]

[intriguing hip-hop music playing]

- Thanks for getting up so early.
- Well... [yawns]

I guess it'll be worth it
if we get your ancestor's sword.

Oh! So where are we
gonna find this Maple Branch?

Willow Branch.

I knew it was a tree thing.

I'm glad I didn't drag Kiyoko
along with us.

Toshiko's taking her
to the Fuzzy Pony today.

Oh, lucky! So cool.

Do you think Willow Branch really can
cut the Clavis off the Ki-Stone?

Well, it's the only thing to have
ever cut the Ki-Stone. Right, Tetsujin?

[snoring]

Tetsujin?

Gah!

Don't you hate it when you wake up
with your head stuck inside something?

[sniffling]

No one understands me.

Tetsujin, if we run into any trouble
where we're going,

just stay behind us
and try not to get hurt.

- We'll protect you.
- I can handle myself.

I am a Kaikishi warrior!

Of course.

Usagi, how did Willow Branch get lost?

Well, according to family lore,
it happened a thousand years ago.

Miyamoto Usagi gave Willow Branch
to a messenger

to take to his family for safekeeping.

The messenger stumbled into a huge battle
in a secluded valley.

He tried to defend Willow Branch,
and almost lost his life.

He didn't regain consciousness for weeks.

By then, the sword was lost,

and so was his memory
of where the battle happened.

They say he searched for that valley
for the rest of his life,

but was never able to find it.

But now, we have someone who can find
any battle that ever happened.

- Right, O-Dokuro?
- Please control your tokage!

I am not a plaything.

I'm sorry. You know Spot loves bones.

I consider it his finest quality,

but I wish he would admire me from afar!

Are we getting close
to the b*ttlefield yet?

I sense it is near.

I see tusks and manes.
I hear the clashing of steel.

It was the Battle of Enza!

And what a ferocious fight it was.

Ashibasha, go south at the next fork.

We will be there soon.

Past the forests and mountains,
that is where the sword will be.

[dramatic music playing]

- [hip-hop music playing]
- Are you sure you know where you're going?

Do not question me!

I have been locating battlefields

since before you bone-incubators
developed language.

Did he just call us "bone-incubators"?

As long as I get to keep incubating 'em,
I'm okay with it.

[Spot yips]

[Chizu] Do you see these signs?

I think someone
doesn't want us to go this way.

It doesn't matter. We have to find
Willow Branch, no matter what.

[menacing music playing faintly]

The Ashibasha can't handle this terrain.
It'll wait for us back at the road.

[Ashibasha chirps and whirs]

Something's coming.

Is there, like,
a historical reenactment group here or...

- [blowing horn]
- [whooshing]

- [blowing horn]
- [whooshing]

Ahh! They're ghosts!

Yay, they're ghosts!

When I was, like, four,
my best friend was a ghost.

I called her Chiyo,
but everyone said she was just a smell.

Your best friend... was a smell?

Why does everybody say that?

Hello, ghosts! Do you know Chiyo?

Red Village?

Or White Village?

Um, neither?

[Spot chirping]

- [O-Dokuro] Hello?
- Oh!

- [O-Dokuro] Ahh!
- [crash]

[grunts] Ooh!

I can hear the underground bones
better from here.

[dramatic music playing]

It's like fighting air!

Kaikishi weapons can make contact
with their weapons.

At least we can defend ourselves.

Do any of you know Chiyo?

She's super nice, with a strong smell?

Tetsujin!

Whoa, whoa, whoa! What?

You guys don't get
to see me fight much, huh?

Usually it's hard, because I have to
concentrate to keep my hands substantial,

but with ghosts, I don't have to.

[blowing horns]

Tetsujin, why didn't you tell us
you could fight like that?

What part of Kaikishi warrior
were you unclear on?

It's not just a title, you know.

I trained for years.

You are a mighty warrior.

The rest of you might be useful...

for target practice!

How can you be so rude?

Ha! Do I lack your noble refinement?

I am here to win, not make friends.

And you will do neither.

Ya-ya! I am Yabushita.

My family has served Lord Tsunoda
of the Red Village

since the dawn of time.

I am Sawaguchi.

I fight for Lord Miyatake,
and for the White Village.

You! Are you the leader?

Yes, on matters of science
or flower-arranging.

Though the second one
doesn't come up much.

The leader must choose sides
in our battle.

That sounds hard. Talk to the rabbit.

Him? The one who fights
with a child's toy?

Are you the busho of this army?

Great busho!

How do these old-timey introductions work?
Uh...

[clears throat] Ya-ya!

I am Usagi,
and I seek the sword Willow Branch.

These Kaikishi warriors are

Murakami Gennosuke, Lord of the w*r Clubs,

Chizu, Leader of the Neko Ninja,

Kitsune, Master of Puppets,

Tetsujin, Guardian of the Ki-Stone,

O-Dokuro, the Fearsome Skeleton-Yokai,

and that...

That's Spot.

- Say hi, Spot.
- [yips]

I am their busho, sure.

He must hear our tales and choose a side.

Agreed. I will go first.

I will go first!

No, I!

[grunts] Let us do snake, spider, raven.

One, two, three!

Snake eats spider! I am victorious!

I have brought shame
upon the White Village. You go first.

Come, hear our tales and choose a side.

We don't want to choose sides.
We're just looking for a sword.

Hear our tales

or we will make sure
you never find what you seek.

These two busho must have been
haunting this valley for a thousand years.

Okay, obviously,
I know what a busho is, but, uh...

It's a military leader.

Thank you.

You have until this fire
burns out to choose.

Then the battle will commence.

I am of the Red Village.

It is a place of peace and happiness.

There, the breeze is sweet.

There, the cherry trees grow.

There, my family
has served the daimyo for generations.

[Sawaguchi] There,
the people talk too much.

[Yabushita] This is my tale!

When the cherry trees bloomed,
my daughter was born,

and so we named her Sakura,

"cherry blossom."

And it was in that season

that the White Village invaded
this valley that is rightfully ours.

You lie! The Red Village invaded
this valley, which is rightfully ours!

I am talking now, and then you will talk.

That is how this works.

As I was saying,

Lord Tsunoda commanded that we drive
the White Village from the valley.

I vowed to do so to keep our village safe.

Since then, we have fought
the White Village in this valley.

Each day, we fight.

Then the next day, we arise to fight anew.

Now you talk.

Yes, I have a bunch of ghost questions.

Do you have to brush your hair?
Do you eat?

Do you ever rot?
What happens when you take a bath?

If you use a bath b*mb, do you melt?
What happens when you arm wrestle?

Have you ever met my friend Chiyo?

She's so nice, and she might be a smell,
but probably not, so...

It was a mistake to allow questions.

Hear me now!

I was an orphan,
taken in by Lord Miyatake,

daimyo of the White Village.

[baby coos]

[Sawaguchi] He was kind.

He taught me all he knew.
I grew strong and wise.

[Yabushita] Well, strong, anyway.

Silence your speaking hole!

When Lord Miyatake heard
the Red Village had invaded our valley,

he chose me to lead the fight.

I would die for Lord Miyatake
a thousand times.

So, the noble White Village,
or the fiendish Red Village?

Choose your side now!

Great busho, this battle you are fighting
ended long ago.

Lies!

I will not listen to your nonsense.

You will fight by my side
or perish by my sword.

We just need Willow Branch.
We don't wanna fight.

Then you are in the wrong place.

For here, there is nothing but fighting.

The fire is nearly out.

Choose a side,
or we will all be against you.

Now!

For the Red Village!

For the White Village!

Busho, don't do this.
The Red and White Villages are long gone.

Lies!

The Red Village will stand forever!

[blowing horns]

[dramatic music playing]

Huh?

Kitsune!

Gah! What was that?

A really big dragonfly.

The White Village must be eliminated.
This valley is ours.

We won't let the Red Village
defile this place.

We will never bow to you.

Oh, no?

[gasps] Lord Tsunoda!

What?

Do you surrender?

Never! My wife and daughter
await me back home.

I will not fail them.

Then you perish!

Any last words?

I am Yabushita, son of Yasuchika,

grandson of Yasuhiro,
great-grandson of Yasuomi...

It was a mistake to ask for last words.

[straining]

If only they knew
there's nothing left to fight for.

I know. [grunts]

We need them to see things
from our perspective.

Perspective!

Tetsujin, can you lift those two busho?

Sure. Ghosts don't weigh anything.

Take them up. Show them their villages.

But their villages are...

Oh, I get it.

- Here we go!
- [Yabushita] What?

[Tetsujin speaking Japanese]

[Sawaguchi] Let me go!

[both screaming]

Look down.

I don't want to!

No, no, no, no, no, no!

Look down or I will drop you both.

The Red Village. It should be there.

Where is it?

And the White Village, it is gone.

No, not gone.

Look closer.

The White Village was once there,
and the Red Village was once there.

Over time, they put aside
their differences and grew together

into a great city.

Ah! The Red City.

The White City!

It is neither.

They call it Sakura City,

for the many cherry trees
that bloom this time of year.

Sakura.

But who conquered the valley?

No one.

No one wants the valley.

- You know why?
- No.

Because it's haunted
by a bunch of annoying ghosts.

[both] Ahh!

But to lose this battle
will dishonor my family.

What family?

How many generations have passed?

Our battle is forgotten.

We are forgotten.

You are both wise busho,
and you must know the important thing

is that your descendants found a way
for both sides to be happy.

[somber music playing]

We both love our villages.

And we love our families.

We have always had that in common.

[blowing horns]

The battle has ended with honor.

It is time to move on.

To be with your families.

[both] We release you.

[blowing horns]

Usagi, we are grateful.

We wish to help you on your quest.

[Sawaguchi] We summon
the swords of the fallen.

[swords clattering]

Beware. Every sword has a rightful owner.

If you are worthy,

you have a right
to wield your ancestor's sword.

But it would be a grave offense

for you to touch any sword
you do not have a right to.

The swords would all attack you at once.

You would perish
and be cursed to haunt this place forever.

So...

I only have one chance.

[sword 1] I have drunk the blood
of many warriors,

but I am thirsty for more.

I will wage w*r again!

[sword 2] Fear my name.

None will forget the terrible,

the fierce, the unstoppable,

Mr. Stabby Stab.

[sword 3] A sharp edge isn't everything.

Some warriors prefer a blunt sword.

Like if they're clumsy.

[sword 4] Mostly I was used for whittling.

This one time, I carved a really neat owl.

[swords whispering]

[whispering intensifies]

- [whispering fades]
- [Usagi exhales]

[dramatic music playing]

Willow Branch, I know it's you.

I only hope I'm worthy to wield you.

[gasps]

Willow Branch!

- [triumphant music playing]
- [all cheering]

You chose well.

Good luck to you.

[Kitsune] Hey, wait!

If you guys see my friend Chiyo,
please say hi.

I miss her,
and the way she smells, very much.

We will.

[ethereal music playing]

We go now.

[blowing horns]

[sniffing]

[chirps]

Usagi, the bones of this battle
are now freed of their spirits.

You have been honorable,

and you deserve this.

[intriguing music playing]

Once I sought to destroy you
because you were a Yokai fighter,

but you have proven yourself
to be a Yokai friend.

Can you tell that I am smiling?

No one can tell
when you're smiling, buddy.

Well, I am.

I am smiling very much.

I can maybe kind of see it.

Like... like in spirit, I guess.

- [chirps]
- Oh!

Here you are, Spot.

Something to remember me by.

[Spot panting and yipping]

I will take my leave now
to walk the Earth.

There must be
many new battlefields to visit

since I was put in the Ki-Stone.

I'm sorry you were in the Ki-Stone
for so long.

Thankfully, you released us.

And you should know, Usagi,

that the Ki-Stone could not
have held us Yokai much longer.

Our energy had been
building up for centuries,

and soon we would have
blown the Ki-Stone apart.

- [Usagi] What?
- [Gen] No way!

No wonder she was acting so strange.

By releasing us, you saved the Ki-Stone.

Thank you all.

I am off to see the world's battlefields!

"Bone" voyage!

[soothing hip-hop music playing]

I can't believe it.

Willow Branch. My ancestor's sword.
I never thought I'd see it.

[sneezing]

Oh, no. I think I got the ghost sniffles.

- Is that a thing?
- It's definitely not a thing.

[sniffing] That's...

That's the smell!

Fermented soybeans.

That's Chiyo's smell!

I love you, Chiyo!

I love you!

Are you eating fermented soybeans?

Yeah, I'm just gonna
let her have this moment.

Good call.

[dramatic music playing]