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Born ‘Yasufe’ of pre-colonial Mozambique, Yasuke was kidnapped and subjugated as a young boy. He would spend his entire adolescent life being forced from faction to faction, utilized as an object of war and battle. In 1579 after years of what seemed like endless hell on the battlefield, Yasuke was appointed as a bodyguard for Italian Jesuit missonary Alessandro Valignano in his far eastern Journey to Japan. In the few years following Yasukes arrival, word of the towering black skinned warrior would catch ear of the most powerful warlord in Japan, Oda Nobunaga.
It was 1581 when Yasuke was personally summoned to the capitol city, Kyoto to meet Lord Nobunaga. In all of the great warlord's years he had surely never seen a man anything like Yasuke. Nobunaga was immediately impressed by his towering strength, demeanor, and ability. Yasuke had exceeded the warlords expectations so greatly ,The Oda Clan leader ordained him as his “Black Warrior of the Oda Clan”. The Daikokuten; god of great darkness. Yasuke now wielded the sacred sword of the noble warring class. A man, stolen into thralldom, taken across many lands was now amidst the most elite warriors the world has ever known. The Samurai.
In the following year, Yasuke and Nobunaga fought many great battles together. While the Black Samurai and Daiymo grew stronger in their bond, one of Nobunaga‘s own generals, Akechi Mitsuhide was planning an extraordinary betrayal. For unknown reasons Akechi was determined to kill his lord. Nobunaga never could have forseen Akechi’s plan to call upon thousands of soldiers against him. In the summer of 1582, Nobunaga and Yasuke were ambushed in Kyoto. Akechi's army surrounded his fortress, Honno-ji, setting it ablaze. As Honno-ji burned, Nobunaga, Yasuke and the few Oda men left standing fought their way to his personal quarters. They were closed in. It was over. Nobunaga would retain his honor in the final moments of his life by committing seppuku.
Oda Nobunaga was now dead and the House of Oda had fallen forever. Nobunagas death was immediately followed by a massive strategic purge of any remaining Oda clan members. Miraculously, among the few to survive execution was Yasuke. No official historical records reveal what happened to Yasuke after this point.
This is where our story begins...
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