Ken Matsumune

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Ken Matsumune (マツムネケン, Matsumune Ken) is a and a wandering  from the Land of Iron. At the age of fourteen he challenged his older half-brother, Nakago, to a duel, thus committing a grave offense against his family's honor. As punishment, he was ordered to cut off his sword hand and was then promptly banished from his homeland. Over the past three years he has journeyed through the lands of the, and has made it his personal task to gather as much outside knowledge as possible as he one day intends to return to the Land of Iron. It is believed that he studied while in the  as he is able to use a few  techniques. However, he primarily relies upon in battle, and his level of mastery is such that he was able to best all  during the. He currently wields the Nijunten (二順天の剣, lit. "duel will of heaven"), a and   that he inherited from his grandfather, Seigen, a legendary swordsmaster.

Part I
Ken was born during the Fujiwa shōgunate as the third son of the Matsumune clan. Originally, his birth name was simply “Saburō,” meaning “third son.” His oldest brother, Iori, was heir to the clan but uninterested in military affairs and a relative pacifist. In contrast, his brother Nakago was a prodigy of the sword and their father Nobunosuke's favorite, despite being illegitimate. Because of this, Ken was generally ignored by their father, and was instead raised by his maternal grandfather, Seigen.

Seigen lived as a hermit deep within the mountains, but would spend the most bitter part of the winter at the clan’s main estate. During the summer, Ken would accompany his grandfather to the wilderness to study under and train with him. When Ken turned twelve, his grandfather gave him his full adult name of Seidōken (正道剣), meaning “righteous sword,” but since he considered the name to be sacred, he preferred to simply be called “Ken” except in the most formal circumstances. A few months after Ken’s coming of age ceremony, Seigen did not return to the estate for winter like he always had in the past, so Ken left in order to search for him. He was caught in a blizzard in the middle of the forest, and after struggling through the night, he collapsed from the cold. It was then that Seigen emerged from the storm and carried him to the Tuyma’s house, an Utari family who raised horses for the Matsumune and knew Seigen. But when Ken regained consciousness, his grandfather was nowhere to be found. Later, he learned that his grandfather had died a few months earlier at the turning of fall, and he came to the conclusion that it had been the last vestige of Seigen’s spirit that had protected him. Ken remained with the Tuyma until spring thawed the frozen mountain pass, allowing him to return to his grandfather’s home. In Seigen’s deserted hut he found Ten’un no sōtō (天運の双刀, lit. “twin blade of heaven’s will”)—his grandfather's swords that had been left for his inheritance.

Almost immediately after returning from the mountains and still grieving Seigen’s death, Ken’s father demanded that he and Nakago accompany him to fight in the War of the Northern Frontier. But even Ken’s father, a militant, war-hardened and territory-seeking man, was opposed to attacking during the winter, a foolhardy maneuver that had been commanded under the Fujiwa’s imperial dictatorship. The Land of Iron had been besieged by sea raiders, and as the samurai engaged them in the deadly cold of the polar sea, they suffered heavy casualties. During one of the battles, Ken killed his first man with the swords his grandfather had given him, and this was an event that impressed deeply upon his conscience. At that moment he understood both Seigen’s path of nonviolence and his brother Iori’s pacifism, but also recognized the logic behind his father’s pragmatic “kill or be killed” perspective, as he had struck his attacker down in self-defense. Ken would spend the rest of his life trying to reconcile the two opposing views, and always questioned whether or not it was moral for him to take a life before doing so.

Shortly after this, Ken discovered that Nakago was possessed by Rōma, an ancient warrior spirit that would drive his hosts into moments of complete and demonic self-abandon in the heat of battle. This had not always been the case, as Nakago had only been seized by Rōma’s madness after witnessing his cousin and best friend die in battle. Ken confronted his brother, hoping to convince him to end his war-crazed rampages that endangered friend and foe alike, but Nakago explained that his berserker tendencies were beyond his control and begged Ken not to tell their father. Ken promised he would not reveal his brother’s secret, and this marked a turning point in their relationship as the younger, less-favored brother gained leverage over the older, causing Nakago to eventually become embittered against Ken. Nonetheless, Ken understood that his brother was only resentful towards him because of the helplessness he felt, and did not blame Nakago. Instead, he tried repeatedly to make amends, but to no avail.

After securing their pyrrhic victory against the sea raiders, the samurai clans turned their attention to the inner affairs of the Land of Iron. Countless warriors had perished in the war, leaving many lesser clans bereft of heirs. This, coupled with the heavy taxes levied against the citizens and the extravagant court lifestyle of the Fujiwa, caused resentment against the ruling clan to grow. While tensions had existed for several decades prior to Ken’s birth, the subjugated clans were only now beginning to voice their discontent—both peaceably and through violent means. Aiming to build an alliance against the Fujiwa, Ken’s father attempted to secure ties with other family clans, and to this end he used his sons as pawns in his struggle for political power. Iori had been forced into a pre-arranged marriage a few years before the war, sacrificing his true, unrequited love to another in order to serve the interests of the Matsumune. Nakago was allowed more freedom, but as the favored son Nobunosuke held the highest expectations for him and he was always under the pressure of pleasing his father. For his part, Ken unwillingly lost his virginity at age thirteen to Lady Murashibu, as planned by his father in order to curry favor with the important noblewoman, who happened to prefer younger males to men and who had included the demand as part of their negotiations. After Nakago revealed this to Ken, the latter realized that Nobunosuke’s morality had slipped, and he lost all respect for his father. Only Chikei, Ken’s younger brother, was spared from their father’s schemes as he was four years younger than Ken and at that point relatively insignificant in the political sphere.

Iori had taken Chikei in after their mother, Himeko, died after giving birth to her third and final child, and raised him alongside his own young son. But Iori tended to coddle him, which finally prompted Nobunosuke to send Chikei off to a monastery in order to learn the art of discipline apart from the shelter of his older brother. Ken, who had found Chikei a willing student whenever he tried to teach him kenjutsu techniques, was the one who rode with Chikei on the week-long journey to reach the temple, and their subsequent parting was difficult for Chikei as he had come to rely on Ken as a mentor. However, it was perhaps better that Chikei was not be at the family estate to witness what would happen within the following year.

Seeing Nobunosuke as cruel and discontent with his inability to reconcile the injustice that he saw perpetrated against the Matsumune’s vassals, Nakago was finally driven to rebellion. Without the knowledge of their father, he joined a faction of guerrilla warriors known as the Winter Movement who had sworn to fight the Fujiwa and drive them out of the western mountains close to the Matsumune’s territorial holdings. Ken was aware of Nakago’s involvement with the revolutionaries, but he again kept his older brother’s secret from their father. However, Nobunosuke was eventually called upon by the Fujiwa to deal with the rogue warriors, and Ken soon realized that he had only waited so long to eradicate the rebels because he had been setting a trap. The leader of the Winter Movement had been planted within the gang with Nobunosuke’s help, and they intended to lead the revolutionaries into an ambush at Kamayamadji Pass (上山地の山峡, lit. “Upper Mountain Pass”). Unknown to their father, however, the planted leader was also secretly allied with the Fujiwa, and planned to either capture or kill Nagako and deliver his head to the shōgunate, thereby framing Nobunosuke as directly involved with the rebellion in order to bring a ruinous end to the Matsumune.

Having observed the rebel faction for some time, Ken noticed when their movements became less-strategic and his suspicions were aroused. He had informed Nakago of the ambush after overhearing their father’s schemes, but was confused when the Winter Movement continued along the course that would lead them straight into Nobunosuke’s trap. Concerned, he captured one of the men who served directly under the head of the revolutionaries, and forced him to reveal the leader’s true intentions regarding the betrayal of Nakago. By then, however, it was almost too late, as Nakago had nearly reached their father’s position at Kamayamadji Pass.

Knowing that Nakago’s forces would turn against him if they discovered that their plot to kill him had been exposed, Ken isolated his brother from the rest of his unit and tried to convince him to turn back, explaining that it was a trap. But Nakago was determined, and assumed Ken had only been sent by Iori to stall him. As tension rose between the two brothers, the spirit of Rōma began to take control of Nakago, and he refused to listen to reason. Finally, they drew their swords. The ensuing battle was prolonged and destructive, but the fact that Ken was able to hold his own against his older brother served as a testament to both Seigen’s training and the power of the Ten’un no sōtō. It is likely that their duel would have continued until one of them collapsed, but before they could reach that point they were interrupted by their father.

Nobunosuke was furious that his sons had broken one of the greatest taboo of the samurai, who greatly valued fidelity, in attacking a member of their own family. He demanded to know who had struck first, and Ken confessed, more pained by his father’s evident relief that it had been him as opposed to Nakago than the consequences he knew he would face. As punishment for attacking his older brother with the force to kill, Ken’s sword hand was cut off and he was exiled from his clan’s territory forever. Ken was forced to flee the Land of Iron in shame, but was secretly aided by Iori and Nakago, who healed his severed limb and returned his swords to him, respectively. This allowed him to make the perilous journey through the mountains and across the territories of clans who were hostile to the Matsumune until he had at last reached the lands of the shinobi.

Equipment
二順天の剣 Nijunten no tsurugi

Abilities
Water Release: Learned in Kirigakure under Hunter-nin, but was trying to gain medical information in order to improve the puppetry of his hand. Water Senbon with medical precision along with typical swordsmanship water blades, hiding in mist, and chakra-draining mist. Mainly uses natural sources. If in the Land of Iron, temperatures there are typically so cold the water techniques become ice.

Trivia

 * Ken's full adult name, Seidōken, was given to him by his grandfather, meaning "righteous sword."
 * 松棟 Matsumune, Ken's clan name, means "pine sword-spine," and was meant to refer to both the Matsudaira, a historically powerful samurai clan, and Masamune, the legendary Japanese swordsmith.
 * Ken and all of his brothers were all given adult names that refer to swords: Iori, (庵), top ridge of the mune, Nakago (茎?), tang, Ken (剣), straight double-edged sword or blade, and Chikei (地景), black gleaming lines that appear in the metal between the ridge and waterline.
 * Ken's dual sword set, consisting of a tachi and kodachi, were based off of the 順天 Heaven's Will sword from Vietnamese mythology.