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Jōsuke Udono (鵜殿 丈助, Udono Jōsuke) is a member of the Kōga Manjidani clan and one of the ten ninjas selected by Danjō Kōga to participate in the war against the Iga Tsubagakure clan.

Appearance[]

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Jōsuke's full body and facial expressions

Jōsuke is an extremely fat man with short brown hair that has a circular marking in between his eyebrows just above his nose and a beard.

He wears a large brown vest, tied loosely with some string and light colored shorts. He also wears traditional sandals and wraps tape around his wrists to form wristbands.

Personality[]

Good-humored, a little dumb and extremely fat; Jōsuke hardly fits the traditional concept of the ninja. And as he proved with his interactions with Akeginu; he's also a bit of a lecher.

Despite his boorish demeanor, Jōsuke is more perceptive than he lets on and during his stay with Gennosuke Kōga in Iga Tsubagakure, he was the first to realize the Iga were planning something suspicious before they silenced him.

Biography[]

Before the War[]

In an anime only scene, Jōsuke is seen sneaking up on Okoi as she bends over, intending to catch a boar. He grabs her from behind, causing her to sequel and scare the boar away. The boar steps on Gyōbu Kasumi's face as it escapes and Okoi screams loudly at Jōsuke for interrupting their hunting trip. He then rolls down a nearby hill, crashing into a river at the bottom and interrupting Saemon Kisaragi and Shōgen Kazamachi's fishing. Okoi and Gyōbu follow close behind and Jōsuke, realizing he's been caught, tries to make an excuse. The others then joke that they should cook Jōsuke instead since he had let all their food get away. Jōsuke unwisely joked that if Okoi ate something as fatty as himself then her hips would become too big, at which point Okoi soundly thrashed him. Lying injured on the ground, Jōsuke tells Shōgen of how he wanted Saemon to be his double so that he wouldn't have to accompany Gennosuke Kōga to Iga Tsubagakure and how he imagines Oboro to be ugly and unappealing.

He later accompanies Gennosuke and Danjō Kōga to Iga to meet with Ogen and Oboro. He waits outside with Koshirō Chikuma who refuses to speak with Jōsuke, even though Jōsuke tries to start a conversation. When Oboro screams having dropped the tea Jōsuke goes to see everything is alright but is stared down by Koshirō, who goes to check instead. On the return to Kōga Manjidani, Jōsuke wondered out loud who would win if Gennosuke and Oboro were to use their abilities on each other and Gennsouke reply is how Oboro is far too gentle to make an effective combatant.

Journey to Iga[]

Jōsuke is first seen wandering through the woods alone before he notices Ogen's hawk flying overhead so throws a knife at it, causing it to drop the scroll it was carrying. Rōsai Azuki appears and demands that Jōsuke gives him the scroll as it is Iga property. Jōsuke refuses and instead asks if Rousai would play a game of ninja skills to see who can get the scroll back. Rousai attacks right away but Jōsuke is uninjured. He taunts Rousai before catapulting up into the air and rolling away. However as he escapes he comes across Gennosuke Kōga, Oboro, Akeginu, Hotarubi, Nenki Mino and Jingorō Amayo. Oboro looks at Jōsuke and, due to her abilities, Jōsuke stops rolling. Rousai arrives and demands the scroll back, which Gennosuke commands Jōsuke to do. The Iga takes the scroll and reads it privately while Jōsuke talks with Gennosuke and Oboro. When Oboro asks what's written the Iga tells her the peace treaty is secured and the Iga suggests that Gennosuke goes back to Iga Tsubagakure with Oboro. Jōsuke decides not to go, but Akeginu asks him personally, grabbing his hand as she does so. Jōsuke agrees and the four set out to Iga.

On the way, Jōsuke notices Oboro and Gennosuke walking hand-in-hand and slyly asks Akeginu if they should do the same. She ignores him and keeps walking leading Jōsuke to attempt to jump her from behind. Akeginu swiftly dodges and Jōsuke is sent rolling down the steep cliff. At night the group finally reaches Iga and are met by Jingorou, who welcomes them in through the drawbridge. Jōsuke appears to be somewhat suspicious but enters into the village anyway.

Time Spent in Iga[]

Later, Jōsuke and Gennosuke Kōga are invited to dinner and eat with many of the Iga Tsubagakure clan in a large hall. Throughout dinner, Jōsuke tries to flirt with Akeginu. Having got very drunk, he tries to convince Akeginu that they should have a child together, much to the anger of the others. He continues to suggest they should marry until he is ordered to stop by Gennosuke, who bluntly tells him he is bothering Akeginu. Gennosuke then speaks about the future joining of the clans, causing a tense atmosphere only Jōsuke seems to pick up on. In an attempt to change the subject he asks where the group they had met earlier had gone. Jingorō Amayo, fearing they may be discovered, quickly decides that the Kōga should be shown to their rooms.

Jōsuke wakes up in his room to find all the doors and windows have been sealed shut. Undeterred, Jōsuke heads to the window and squeezes himself between the narrow spaces between the bars. Having escaped, he heads to Gennosuke's room to make sure he's safe before he hears Oboro inside and decides to leave, pretending he hadn't heard anything. Through the darkness, he sees Akeginu heading for his room and decides to sneak up on her. He creeps up behind her and lifts her up, taking her by surprise. She demands to know how he escaped but he simply jokes it was with the power of love. He grabs at her breasts, but she manages to spin round and kick him in the face to get away, though she loses the top of her kimono in the process. She challenges him to a battle of ninja arts and Jousuke agrees on the condition that he gets to spend the night with her if he wins. She agrees and blood starts to pour down her face, completely catching him off guard and allowing her to spray it in his face. A red mist surrounds him and Akeginu disappears into it, suddenly appearing behind him and slashing her sword into his face. Jōsuke falls to his knees and Akeginu begins to boast but her interrupts her by groping her breast again. She flips away to see Jōsuke caught the sword using his cheek. He throws the sword back to her and she tries again, slashing at his stomach. He takes to the air, followed quickly by Akeginu but he manages to disarm her, knocking her sword into the darkness. He advances on Akeginu, wanting his prize for winning, but is interrupted by Oboro. He lies for Akeginu and says she was just annoyed at him for flirting which calms Oboro down, but he is actually wondering why Akeginu had attempted to really kill him. Believing it to be just her hatred for him he heads to the spring to wash away the blood.

On the way there, he gets lost but comes across a slime trail leading from Gennosuke's room to the spring. He follows it and finds a semi-dissolved Jingorou begging for water. He picks him up and holds him over the water, promising to drop him if he tells him why he had targeted Gennosuke when there was a peace treaty. Jingorou tells him Hanzo the 1st's treaty was broken and that the clans are now free to kill each other. Jōsuke is stunned for a moment which allows Jingorou to spray him in the face with liquid from his nose. Jousuke slips and falls into the water, followed by Jingorou who forces him down deep. Jōsuke, being mand of air, quickly bursts back out of the water like a balloon, but Jingorou has buried himself in Jōsuke's throat, suffocating him. Unable to breathe, Jōsuke suffocates in the air and his body falls back down into the water, still floating on the surface.

Abilities[]

Rubber Body: Jōsuke's obesity is the basis of his technique as it grants his body the consistency of rubber; allowing him to bounce like a ball, roll over enemies like a living boulder, deflect physical attacks with ease, squeeze through openings impossible even for someone a quarter of his girth, or even float into the sky by rapidly inhaling air to blow himself up like a balloon.

Enhanced Agility: Although his corpulent physique suggests otherwise, Jōsuke possesses speed and agility that rivals and even surpasses several of the other characters. During his battles with Rōsai Azuki and Akeginu, he easily dodged and avoided their attacks whether on the ground or in mid-air.

Relationships[]

Gennosuke Kōga[]

Jōsuke seems to have quite a close relationship with Gennosuke and is often seen by his side. Despite their friendship, Jōsuke still respects Gennosuke's authority and tends to follow any orders given to him by Gennosuke.

Rōsai Azuki[]

Jōsuke loves to taunt Rōsai and seems to take great pleasure in irritating Rōsai. Calling him names such as 'old man' causes Rōsai to spiral into a rage, something Jōsuke uses to his advantage while trying to annoy him.

Akeginu[]

When Jōsuke sees Akeginu, he almost instantly develops a crush on her. On the return to Iga Tsubagakure, he constantly tries to get her to hold his hand and after getting drunk even suggests they should marry and have children. He even covers for her when Oboro discovers their battle, despite the fact she had tried to kill him.

Etymology[]

  • The name Jōsuke means "height, length, stature, measure, all" (丈) () and "assist/assistant/assistance, help, rescue" (助) (suke).
  • Jōsuke's surname Udono means "cormorant, shag" (鵜) (u) and "palace, rear, mister, feudal lord, mansion, person, Mr." (殿) (tono/dono).

Trivia[]

  • Jōsuke did not appear in the film Shinobi: Heart Under Blade, a film based on the same source material as Basilisk.
  • Jōsuke's fight with Akeginu is much shorter in the manga, ending immediately after he counters Akeginu's first strike.
  • In the manga, Jōsuke is considerably more aggressive than his anime incarnation. During the flashback of volume 4 which describes how Oboro and Gennosuke Kōga first met, he discusses with Shōgen Kazamachi that he didn't want to accompany Gennosuke and Danjō Kōga to meet with Ogen and Oboro as the Hattori truce forbid him from killing any of the Iga.
  • In the novel, Jōsuke lacks the ability to inflate himself with air and is described as having droopy facial features. While traveling to Iga Tsubagakure with Gennosuke, he jokes with Gennosuke instead of Akeginu about wanting to marry a skinny young lady (which earns him a swift rebuke). His duel with Akeginu is also different as it happens during the escort to Tsubagakure, the agreement being that if Akeginu can make Jōsuke bleed he'll stop, but if he can take all her clothes off, she'll be his wife for the night. Akeginu tries to cheat by using her blood when she slashes him with her sword, but Jōsuke is able to tell the difference. Jōsuke is also able to rip her top off, but she uses her ability to hemorrhage blood to quickly cover herself again. The fight isn't elaborated upon any more, but it says that Akeginu quickly thrashed him after summoning her blood mist. While he entreaties Akeginu once more for her hand in marriage, it's Oboro that breaks the awkward silence by saying he should ask Ogen when she returns instead of Gennosuke saying he's making Akeginu uncomfortable. Jōsuke's technique is also something he must consciously activate in order to use as when he was knocked into the spring, Jingorō Amayo took advantage of Jōsuke's inability to balance himself in the water to eviscerate him with a katana gripped in his mouth.
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