Jimushi Jubei

nihongo|Jimushi Jūbei|地虫 十兵衛 a character in the Japanese anime "". Jubei was chosen to be one of ten elite shinobi warriors chosen by Kouga Danjo to represent the Kouga Manjidani clan in their war against the chosen ten of the rival Iga Tsubagakure clan.

A "living torso," Jubei lacks both arms and legs but is able to slither across the ground like a snake at high speed by flexing his chest muscles to manipulate the armor plates sewn onto the front of his tunic. In place of hands, he's trained his tongue to extend out of his mouth to act as a grasping tool as well as use it to draw and attack with the short sword he keeps sheathed inside his throat. Jubei is also skilled in the art of astrology which he uses to predict the Koga's future with surprising accuracy.

In the flashback of episode 16, it's hinted during his conversation with Muroga Hyouma that Jubei had foreseen sorrow and loss in both Gennosuke's future and that of the Koga if he pursued his intention to marry Oboro but was unable to discern what the final end result would be. Jubei also knew nothing could be done to change Gennosuke's mind and adamantly refused to reveal to his clansmen what he had prophesied; resigning himself to letting fate play out as it would.

Battles

"Jubei VS Tenzen" (episode 3): Seeing a dark star over Lord Danjo, Jubei left to investigate only to wind up being accosted by Yakushiji Tenzen and the other Iga ten on the road. After sending Koshirou and the others to search out Kazamachi Shogen and his copy of the battle scroll, Tenzen attempted to question Jubei about the Kouga's techniques and wound up getting stabbed through the heart by Jubei's weapon. Remarking that deception is part of his strategy to Tenzen's corpse, Jubei left to investigate the Iga's actions and came across them just they had mortally wounded Shogen. Shogen tossed the battle scroll to Jubei who caught it in his mouth and managed to outrun the Iga team only to come across the freshly revived Tenzen. Knowing he couldn't draw his blade while holding the scroll in his mouth, Jubei dropped the scroll and leapt toward Tenzen. But this time Tenzen knew what to expect and not only dodged the attack, but managed to slice Jubei in half lengthwise. Afterwards, Tenzen crossed out Jubei's name on the Iga's scroll with his enemy's blood and burned the Koga's copy to grant the Iga a strategic advantage.

Manga

As the flashback between him and Hyouma only occurs in the anime; Jubei in the manga has perhaps the smallest role among the entire Koga ten. Additionally, while his weapon in the anime is a straight bladed tanto, Jubei in the manga uses a blade that more closely resembles a hiltless "jian," a Chinese straight sword.

Alternate information

In the original novel, Jubei maintains his quadraplegic form and is described as having a face like an ox. His abilities are the same as in the anime and manga but instead of having an extendable tongue, Jubei projects his hidden weapon by regurgitating it from his mouth at high speeds.

References

*Fumitoro Kizaki (Director). Basilisk-Koga Ninpocho [TV-Series] GONZO/Kodansha/Japan Digital Concepts: Japan. 2005
*Masaki Segawa (Manga-Ka). Basilisk-Koga Ninpocho [Manga] Kodansha: Japan. 2003-2004
*Futaro Yamada (Author). Koga Ninpocho [novel] Japan. 1958