Beheading requires a high degree of skill.
The neck, which is composed of strong bones
and more than ten layers of muscles, is not easily severed.
Any last words?
No.
Furthermore, beheading a person with a single blow is next to impossible.
In most cases, several blows are required to behead a person,
which makes executions a horrific spectacle.
Impossible.
Why? Why can't I die?
No, why won't I die?
I have no attachment to life.
I've killed countless people until now.
I don't expect to live a long life.
The Death Row Convict and the Executioner
Your name is Gabimaru.
Born a shinobi in the village of Iwagakure,
you studied only assassination techniques since you were a child.
Many lose their lives during training, but in exchange,
those who survive develop superhuman bodies.
I see.
For someone from Iwagakure,
breaking a blade with your own flesh is a simple task.
Well, yeah.
Someone that shitty with a sword can't hurt me.
I didn't even have to use any ninjutsu.
You can use ninjutsu?
Could you show me some?
Why?
As a matter of personal interest.
In that case, no.
Burn him at the stake!
Being burnt at the stake is normally the punishment for arson.
Searing the flesh inflicts incredible pain.
The heat causes the muscles to shrink,
bending the body so severely that bones break.
Ultimately, the person dies when they suffocate
or are poisoned by the smoke produced by the flame.
It is an incredibly painful execution method.
Sometimes the person is killed beforehand as a mercy.
Uh, sorry.
B-But the flames are enormous...
I'm not trying to resist.
If anything, I wish you'd kill me.
I see.
If you're gonna look away, then why not give me clothes?
C'mon, c'mon.
My job is to record events, and your nudity is no obstacle.
Please continue.
My background's not very interesting, you know.
It's my job.
My parents? I dunno.
I was only told they were killed by the village chief when I was a baby.
I don't know why.
I don't have any feelings about it.
Dreams? Don't have any.
Shinobi don't have any great purpose.
They just kill as they're told.
Why was I caught?
Well, uh...
I tried to leave the village.
I was captured on a job when my cohorts betrayed me.
The village chief probably put them up to it.
The village doesn't allow anyone to leave.
It's not like they had a choice.
Why did you try to leave the village in the first place?
Have him torn apart by bulls!
In execution by bulls, ropes tied to a person's legs are pulled by bulls.
Human legs can withstand up to 500 kilograms of force,
but bulls exert 950 kilograms of force.
The method not only removes the person's legs,
but also splits them from groin to chest.
Oh, uh...
At this rate, the magistrate's office will be disgraced.
Bring more bulls!
It's strange.
My shinobi's body?
No.
Despite saying you want to be killed, it seems to me as though you were resisting.
Why would someone with no will to live...
Never mind.
Why did you try to leave the village?
Will you answer the question I asked you yesterday?
Who cares about the record? Just kill—
I'm working.
Um, the bulls—
I'm working.
Whatever.
I'm work...
It wasn't for an interesting reason.
I was the best in Iwagakure.
I had the chief's recognition, and married his daughter.
But his daughter was a real idiot.
I don't know how a shinobi's,
much less the chief's daughter, ends up like that.
She was a carefree, naïve, and sheltered girl.
She turned my life upside down.
Remove your shoes when you come inside.
Pray once a day.
Say "thanks for the meal" together and express gratitude for the life we've taken.
I was totally bewildered, and I got fed up with her.
I didn't want to lose my edge.
If that's the case, then there's no helping it.
But could you do one last job for me?
I knew I'd been set up.
But I also knew the people of Iwagakure would follow me everywhere, even if I escaped.
It was over the moment I was caught in their trap.
It was stupid of me to defy the chief in the first place, so I gave up.
Well? Not a very interesting reason, is it?
Perhaps I should mind my own business,
but a woman shouldn't get involved with him.
Do you know what his name is?
Isn't he Gabimaru, former shinobi of Iwagakure?
I mean his other name.
Gabimaru the Hollow.
He's a hollow man, without blood or tears.
A monster who killed 20 men when he was arrested.
Rumor is the shinobi of Iwagakure consume an Elixir of Life.
The medicine of immortality that comes from Shinsenkyo.
The Elixir...
Forgive me for speaking such nonsense.
In any case, he's dangerous.
Are you sure about that?
Why would a hollow man fight back so hard that he killed 20 people?
Despite saying you want to be killed, it seems to me as though you were resisting.
She's right. What am I doing?
Why don't I just die?
I have no attachment to life.
Tomorrow. I'll end it all tomorrow.
With tomorrow's execution...
Death by boiling, also known as death by cauldron, uses a large quantity of oil.
Because oil combusts at a temperature of over 370 degrees, however,
it could not be kept boiling long in the earthen pots used during the Edo period.
Why won't I die?
Why am I still enduring this?
I should have no lingering attachments.
I should be empty.
Damn it! Why won't you die?
Sir, the arrangements have been made.
I'm ready to start at any time.
What kind of execution is it this time?
Honestly, I'm getting tired of this.
When are you going to...
This will shut you up.
What is this?
She's no mere inspector.
She's a sword-tester sent here from Edo.
The executioner Yamada Asaemon Sagiri.
Yamada Asaemon is the trade name of the Yamada Clan ronin
who have served as sword-testers and executioners for generations.
They are master swordsmen capable of testing swords
and beheading criminals with a single blow.
You're an Asaemon... and a woman?
Yes, a woman.
Runaway shinobi Gabimaru from Isshu,
the shogunate has charged me with your execution.
You said you wanted someone to kill you.
I shall grant you your wish.
She's the real deal.
Sagiri-dono, kill him, quickly.
At once.
Why did you evade my blow?
You'd have died if you hadn't moved.
Could I have died?
Do I not want to die?
Through my job, I've been present during the final moments of many.
I've learned to identify how people truly feel when they're dying.
A person's true nature is reflected in the blade.
Some put up a brave act until just before their death.
Some desperately beg for mercy.
And some lie to themselves and claim to have accepted death.
What?
Gabimaru the Hollow.
There's certainly a great emptiness inside you.
I'm certain of it after listening to you describe your history.
But you lied about one thing.
You do have an attachment to life.
No, you love your wife.
To you, is she not your reason to live?
Pray once a day.
Say "thanks for the meal."
We should always strive to be ordinary,
so that we can be a married couple, like normal people.
You...
I'm right.
Why do you lie to yourself?
You couldn't die during your executions because of your feelings for her.
Are you not just telling yourself that you have no attachment to life?
Shut up!
I have no attachments!
You know nothing about the world I've lived in!
I am hollow!
You're not hollow.
No, the nickname suits me.
I've grown too accustomed to terrible, ugly things.
I can only show you the same.
That's not true at all.
You're kind.
After all, you're the only one who wasn't repulsed by this face.
Maybe being accustomed to ugly things isn't so bad after all.
In Iwagakure, men are soldiers, and women bear children.
We're not allowed to live as people.
That's what happened to my face.
My father burned it so I'd give up on trying to live like an ordinary woman.
But people's hearts don't die so easily.
But...
What are you...
Look at how much you're blushing.
Someone like you couldn't possibly be hollow.
I am Gabimaru the Hollow!
I'm a heartless monster!
Try as I might, I can never be human!
I'll quit making a living by killing people.
The two of us will live a quiet life.
It's what's best for his daughter. The chief will understand.
I won't kill anyone.
We'll live in a quiet place.
And live an ordinary life.
Like normal people.
It's impossible!
It's possible!
What?
Official Pardon
This is an official pardon.
Not only does it dismiss all charges,
but it even grants you the shogun's protection.
With this, neither the magistrate's office nor the village's shinobi could harm you.
What are you talking about?
But it comes with a condition.
You will go to the Underworld.
What?
The Underworld? You mean the Other Side?
Yes.
Are you telling me to die?
No.
There is a land brimming with fertility and joy, where there is no pain:
Shinsenkyo.
Believed in since ancient times, people have
called it Paradise, the Other Side, and Heaven.
It was said to be far to the southwest, beyond the Ryukyu Kingdom.
And it's finally been found.
Butterflies and flowers dance.
Beautiful voices can be heard singing.
It is as the legends describe.
It is said that the immortality-granting Elixir of Life can be found in Shinsenkyo.
The shogunate sent a search party there to acquire the Elixir.
However...
Five more expeditions were sent, but no one returned...
except for the things they became.
W-Wait a minute.
What kind of story is that?
It sounds like a fairy tale.
Yes.
Everyone believed it was merely a fairy tale
until they saw that.
Humans became flowers?
How mysterious. How mystical.
That land must be real.
The Elixir of Life must be there.
Choose expendable people for the next expedition.
Gather criminals condemned to death from
around the country and send them to the island.
Whoever brings back the Elixir of Life will be pardoned.
I came here looking for potential candidates.
Someone with skill and a fierce desire to live.
On my way here, I heard your wife is still in Iwagakure.
Since the day you were captured,
she closed herself off and hasn't spoken to anyone.
She must believe you'll return.
I'll ask you again.
Do you have any attachment to life?
Traveling to a mysterious island with heinous criminals
condemned to death and competing with them for a pardon
is the only way for you to be reunited with her.
Will you risk that
for a life with her, Gabimaru the Hollow?
This is ridiculous.
I'm not releasing him over such nonsense.
The shogunate has commanded it.
He's merely a man condemned to death. There are plenty more like him.
If you interfere, you'll go down with him.
Are you listening, Hollow?
Heartless, hollow...
People's hearts don't die so easily.
You said you wanted to see ninjutsu.
If this'll do, then watch this.
Ninpo: Ascetic Blaze.
Impressive.
I'll do it. I'll find this Elixir of Life.
So, what should I do now?
Come with me. First, we'll go to Edo—
What?
Why don't we go directly to the island?
Edo's a detour. What a pain.
He's complaining more now that he's out of his funk.
If you don't want to go, then we can call off the deal.
I'll do it, I'll do it.
I'll do anything now.
It doesn't matter if I have to face condemned criminals or mysterious islands.
I'll make it back alive.
For you.