Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi

In The Elusive Samurai, Tokiyuki Houjou is a carefree eight-year-old noble living in Kamakura, more interested in outwitting the adults around him than in preparing for the burdens that await him as the next shogun. While his father and retainers expect him to master swordsmanship and archery, Tokiyuki instead turns avoidance into an art, slipping away from lessons, advisors, and danger with uncanny skill and finding the best hiding places in the city. That playful talent becomes his only path to survival when a sudden coup annihilates his clan and leaves him, wracked with guilt, as the sole survivor. Ready to follow his family into death, Tokiyuki is instead swept onto a battlefield by the mysterious priest Yorishige Suwa, who declares that the boy will one day become a great hero. Forced to flee enemy soldiers rather than face them, Tokiyuki discovers that escape can be just as thrilling as victory. With Yorishige’s prophecy, the promise of powerful allies, and a growing resolve to avenge his family, Tokiyuki begins his fight the only way he knows how: by running, hiding, and turning survival itself into a weapon.