farmer of Kanna village. A short pudgy man who's always complaining about things along with Manzo. Antagonists Ukyo is the adopted heir to Ayamaro. His shielded and pampered lifestyle leaves him with a self-centered yet playful attitude on life, which is really a cover for a rather calculating, manipulative and cruel personality. He is later revealed to be the 49th clone of the Emperor and after surviving a three-day ordeal of constant questioning, Ukyo is proclaimed heir to the throne. He then murders the Emperor to succeed him and launches a plan to pit the villagers, samurai and bandits against one another to consolidate his control. Tessai is a samurai employed by Ukyo as a body guard. Throughout most of the series, he plays the role of the frustrated sycophant to Ukyo, enduring near constant verbal abuse. However, he is eventually revealed to be a competent warrior, whose martial skills may even be greater than the heroes. His subservience to Ukyo comes from a sense of personal honor in loyalty to his retainer, however undeserving that retainer might be. Ayamaro is the Magistrate to Kogakyo and adopted father of Ukyo. He raised Ukyo and taught him in the ways of commerce. But, when his samurai hunt for the murderer of the Imperial Envoy turn up unsuccessful, he is stripped of his title which is given to Ukyo. Ayamaro was seen in the last episode, living among the Shikimoribito. Hyogo is one of Ayamaro's bodyguards. He is identifiable by an androgynous appearance, and deports a cutthroat personality; he is always seen trying to outshine Kyuzo, as suggested in Episode 5 when he challenges Kanbei after Kyuzo is defeated by the ronin. He is later killed by Kyuzo, who cuts him down after he fires a shot from his newly-acquired rifle at Katsushiro. /Lord/Emperor He's the emperor, whose body was damaged during the great war. Therefore he bought out the samurai in an act of revenge. He also created several clones in an attempt to make a successor, including Ukyo. The reason behind the harem of women he keeps is to impregnate them with his seed in order to create more clones; this is seen with Sanae being pregnant with another clone and Mizuki revealing that they were being used as "farms" to hold the clones of Amanushi. Leader of the intelligence operation during the initial Kanna Village campaign, receiving information from