A swordsman carries his brother's killer on his back, unaware of who his passenger truly is. This is the strange fate that awaits Kyojiro Terashima, a warrior who set out on a journey of vengeance but wasted seven fruitless years unable to locate his target. Reduced to working as a palanquin bearer just to survive, Kyojiro now spends his days hauling travelers along the highways of historical Japan. One day, he finds himself hired to transport a certain guest, and only when the journey is underway does he realize that the person riding in the palanquin is the very enemy he swore to destroy. The story follows what unfolds from this cruel twist of coincidence, forcing a degraded swordsman to confront his duty, his lost honor, and the man who killed his brother while the two remain bound together on the road.

Kyojiro Terashima is the protagonist, a once dedicated warrior whose obsession with revenge stripped him of purpose and left him scraping by as a laborer. His passenger is his brother’s murderer, and the dramatic irony of their situation drives the tension as Kyojiro must decide how to act while physically serving the man he came to kill. The original short story comes from Norio Nanjo, the late author known for Kenshi Hiden and as the creator behind the source material for Shigurui, and it has been adapted into manga form by Shinzo Tomi, an artist with a deep interest in swordsmanship who previously drew the historical series Yagyu. The manga presents a compact, character-driven narrative centered on the weight of vengeance, the erosion of time, and the humiliating gap between a warrior’s past pride and his present desperation. Rather than following a sprawling arc, the plot focuses on this singular journey and the psychological confrontation it forces, building toward the moment when the bearer must decide whether to remain a servant or become a killer again.