old, and raised as a monk in a Buddhist temple. He is an extremely strong martial artist, though he is weak when it comes to alcohol and dealing with women. It seems he was a bully when he was a kid, seen from the attitude of villagers (and his friend) after they hear his name. Keshi means poppy seed. The only girl among the siblings, Natane is 13 years old. She has learned her swordcraft and painting from Asajirō, and has become very skilled. She is constantly bickering with Shichimi. Natane means rapeseed. Later in the series, she learned that she was actually an adopted daughter of the shogun, unlike the other siblings. She frequently had dreams about a brother she had who abandoned her when they were children. That brother was ultimately revealed as Furon. In the last chapter, Asajirō foresaw her marriage with her adoptive brother Shichimi. Chinpi is a brilliant inventor despite being only 10 years old. He wears glasses, and is the second youngest. He is also shown as a skilled craftsman, making various tools and weapons, including Shichimi's pike, explosive ammunition, and even a helicopter for dispersing pesticide and herbicide. Chinpi means citrus peel. The youngest, at three years old, Sanshō possesses amazing ninjutsu abilities due to his frequent training with Hanzō, head of the ninja clan under the shogun's command and came from a ninja village. Sanshō mean Sichuan pepper. A very powerful swordsman who wanders around in search of his step-sister Natane, and the true child of the shogun, thus the true one of the seven siblings. After accidentally killing his step-father as a child in a training session, he left home and went on for training out of guilt. Nearly at the end of the manga, he made the ultimate sacrifice of his life to protect Natane from Shōgo's trap. Even at the last moment of his life, he refused to acknowledge any relation other than that to his sister when Shichimi told him the truth. The Shogunate The eighth shogun of the Okugawa clan (possibly a spoof on the actual shogun clan of Tokugawa). He appeared to be a happy-go-lucky pervert who frequently wandered from town to town and neglected his shogun duty, but he was also a very skilled swordsman, which enabled him to save his son Shichimi and his daughter Natane. His perversion was evidenced by the fact that