Blade of the Immortal, Vol.1

The story begins in Edo-period Japan. Manji, a masterless samurai known as the "Hundred-Man Killer," is cursed with immortality by an 800-year-old nun named Yaobikuni. She infuses his body with kessen-chu (holy bloodworms), mystical organisms that automatically heal any wound and can reattach severed limbs. Weary of his eternal, bloody existence, Manji strikes a deal with the nun to regain his mortality: he vows to slay one thousand evil men to atone for the one hundred innocent people he killed while serving a corrupt lord. Meanwhile, a ruthless, modernist martial arts school called the Ittō-ryū, led by the enigmatic Anotsu Kagehisa, begins a violent campaign to dismantle traditional dojos across Japan. The Ittō-ryū massacres the family of young Asano Rin and leaves her for dead. Driven by a burning desire for vengeance, Rin spends two years training but realizes she is too weak to face the Ittō-ryū alone. She crosses paths with Manji and begs him to become her bodyguard. Though initially reluctant to involve himself in a teenager's feud, Manji sees the ghost of his deceased sister in Rin and accepts her request. Volume 1 sets their dark quest in motion as the immortal swordsman and the vengeful orphan hunt down their first targets from the Ittō-ryū.