Usagi Yojimbo Book 25: Fox Hunt written and drawn by Stan Sakai
More adventures of the rabbit ronin...
Kitsune Gari--Usagi and Gen are traveling and come to a crossroads on the way to the next town. The beggar sitting there tells them one is a shortcut and warns the travelers to stay on the path because nine-tailed foxes inhabit the woods. Coming to a bridge, Usagi reluctantly crosses. It collapses just as Gen tries, forcing him to backtrack. On the way, he discovers another shortcut off of the shortcut. He hopes to beat Usagi to town but things don't work out like that. The story is a lot of fun.
Sakura--Usagi and Gen arrive at another town and run into Gen's old friend Sakura. She is a talented performer who is on a mission, so she travels a lot picking up odd jobs here and there. She works for a local gambler and discovers he has enslaved a young girl because her father couldn't pay his gambling debts. The father is now dead after falling into debt again. Sakura tries to pay for the girl, only to be rebuffed. She cold-cocks the gambler and takes the child on the run, which of course brings Gen and Usagi back into the picture. The typical action and excitement ensues.
Snitch--Usagi and Gen get the Yojimbo treatment as a snitch takes payments from them for money on a bounty while also getting money from another bounty hunter across town. The scheme eventually breaks down which is not good for the snitch. It's another fun story and an interesting reconfiguring of Akira Kurosawa's classic.
Saya--Usagi accidentally bumps the sheath of another swordsman who demands an apology. Usagi is initially reluctant but does apologies. That's not good enough for the other swordsman, who assumes he is superior and deserves more respect from a mongrel ronin. They go off into the woods to fight with a surprise result.
The Beggar--Usagi is followed from town to town by a ramshackle beggar, or is it just a coincidence? Paranoia is not Usagi's strong suit, so he does some of his own sneaky work to figure out what is going on. This is another interesting story.
The Fortress--Usagi runs into old friend Chizu, the disgraced leader from the Neko Ninja Clan. She tells him the procession they see below is doomed--they are going to claim a fortress as a reward from the Shogunate, but an ambush awaits them. Usagi naturally wants to warn them. He gets drafted into the procession to see if he is right. It comes true, leading to a lot of bloodshed. This is an interesting one-off showing more about Usagi and Chizu than developing a larger plot.
The Outlaw--Gen and Stray Dog wind up parting ways over a large bounty. They are on the trail of the titular outlaw when a fork in the road has no clue as to which way he went. So they split up, with the deal that whoever gets the guy get three-quarters of the bounty. The story follows Gen who cleverly discovers the outlaw but gets a lot more than he bargained for as he takes the bounty alive. The story is very interesting and touching, a great finale to a nice set of stories.
Recommended, highly for Usagi fans.
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