Warning: Violence and Spoilers
Ubisoft’s award-winning video game Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2025) brings to you a prequel story of Fujibayashi Masayasu, a low-ranking samurai from a small farming village in the province of Iga. His painful rise through rigorous training in the ways of the Shinobi is just the beginning for what’s coming in Tales of Iga.
Everything is Difficult at First
Our story begins very traditionally, like any role-playing game. Fujibayashi Masayasu, a lowly peasant from a small, unassuming village, is the sole caretaker for providing protection to his village. It was attacked by two lone bandits, but was saved by Masayasu’s first companion, Hattori Hanzo. Hanzo is very well known throughout Feudal Japan’s history as one of the most infamous shinobi; not much is known about his clandestine past.
He’s from a noble house from Iga, not so noble is his arrogance and ego. After being saved by Hanzo, Masayasu tries to become his disciple and pledges himself on the spot to learn the ways of the Shinobi in order to better protect his village. Masa absolutely dodged that shuriken when Hanzo’s sensei Momochi Sandayu steps in and allows him to become his disciple, provided he takes one simple test: beat Hanzo in unarmed combat. It wasn’t a matter of skill or to see if he could best his star pupil, Sandayu wanted to know just how far Masa would go to achieve his goal.
Fight as if You Are Already Dead
So far, the only possible relation between characters in the manga is Sandayu and Masayadu, but in name only. After a little research, Sandayu’s real surname is Fujiyabashi, but for now goes by Momochi. Combining both game and manga, as it turns out, many go by the name Fujibayashi, including Naoe and her father Nagato, who are from the game and are not yet addressed in the manga. However, the question remains, why is Sandayu going by a different name? Taking Masayasu under his tutelage seemed all too conveniently timed when Hanzo saved him. Sometimes the best-kept secret can be right in front of you.
The Path that leads to truth
Masayasu had endured months of training to be a shinobi, a crash course through every feasible scenario from smoke bomb making, disguising, and weapons training. In that time, Hanzo had started to warm up to Masa, not accepting him as Sandayu’s new student at first, but being his senior genin, Hanzo had to, at some point, be the bigger man. The camaraderie was short-lived when a new face arrived at the shinobi training grounds. Tsuyu, young, silent, innocently beautiful looking, but another shinobi of a different order. Sandayu had called in a meeting with the three of them to meet Tsuyu maestro, Alvaro Catarribera, possibly of Spanish descent, and the first introduction of the Order of the Assassins to Hanzo and Masayasu.
Alvaro inducts Sandayu’s students as well as Tsuyu to fight the coming war on the island of Hinamoto. The target: the province of Iga. He believes the Assassin’s ancient enemy, the Templars, are planning to steal the three sacred treasures of Iga: the mirror Yata no Kagami, the sword Kusanagi no Tsurugi, and the jewel Yasakani no Magatama, in an effort to subjugate the masses and bend them at their will. It’s not clear whether the Templars believe the treasure is or in any way linked to the Apples of Eden, but they are nonetheless important, the Templars want them, so Alvaro wants to stop them at all costs.
Truth is not What You Want it to be
Hanzo, being the ever-gracious host, says ixnay on that, he doesn’t want to get involved with any Southern Barbarian wars, such things were beneath him. His arrogance got in the way of his own defenses, which led to him being underneath Tsuyu. His laps in seniority led him to believe he was better than anybody, including some little girl, but that little girl quickly reminded him that appearances can be deceiving. A quick change of heart put him back on the mission, or rather, a misplaced assumption that Tsuyu would be a suitable bride for him based on her skills and not common sense. Before they began their mission, Masayasu and Hanzo had to go through even more extensive training so that they’d be ready for anything.
The catch? Their instructor turned out to be Tsuyu, trained by Assassins, so the tactics were a little bit different. Hanzo’s rationalized approach to the Assassins’ Leap of Faith technique did not bode well with him. He didn’t believe in the impossible, jumping off a cliff to safety based on blind faith, he knew it was suicide. Masayasu, strangely enough, didn’t have that kind of problem. He’d been so bullheaded about reaching his goal that he didn’t give it a second thought and leaped without hesitation. Tsuyu saw an ally in Hanzo, but she saw something else in Masa. Hanzo’s preemptive plan to betroth Tsuyu began to slip away right in front of him, which made him all the more competitive.
Anticipate Nothing, be Prepared for Anything
With their training near completion, the idea was that Mas, Hanzo and Tsuyu would travel together to battle the Templars, but it seems the Templars were already underfoot in acquiring the sacred treasures of Iga. The area in which the shinobi were living was currently being monitored by mercenaries, one of whom was a former pupil of Sandayu turned traitor. After a fierce battle that cost many lives, Tsuyu sent word to Sandayu that she and Alvaro were leaving them for the time being to search their enemy’s home base in Mikawa.
Masa tried to leave with Tsuyu, but was immediately rejected, it was better to stay behind and complete his training. Hanzo, however, ever the arrogant one, left and caught up with Alvaro and Tsuyu in the province of Setsu. This is the first volume of Tales of Iga, it seems rather early for the stereotypical Naruto time skip, where everyone leaves and comes back older and stronger. In a way, that might mean this may be a purported short manga series, which is understandable, but all the more disheartening because it was just getting good.
More Than One Path to the Top of the Mountain
This is Regujie’s first-ever creation, which they’ve made exclusively for Ubisoft, and both story and artwork are all done by them. With the highly anticipated story arc into the history of Feudal Japan, Assassin’s Creed Shadows and Tales of Iga have been long overdue for the Ubisoft franchise. The main focus now is, what are the possibilities Ubisoft can do with said manga? Will they end it as a one-off?
Will they continue it until there’s enough storyline to relaunch it as an anime? Or theoretically relaunch it as a stand-alone game/story arc that runs parallel with Shadows, then conclude them with a possible third sequel bringing the two worlds together. Nothing is true, anything is possible, and even if such things are uncertain, you just have to take a leap of faith.
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