Chihiro links up with new allies in Kagurabachi chapter 61 as the world trembles in the face of Samara’s betrayal. They might have a way to stop him, but at what cost?

As a plot development, Samara going over to the Hishaku has been surprising in so many ways. Not only was there no reason to suspect that he might go rogue given that he was initially introduced as an ally, the focus of the narrative has shifted almost entirely to him as a result. Let’s not forget that this arc started out with the aim of protecting the wielders of the Enchanted Blades from the Hishaku: now it’s all about bringing Samara down and ending his reign of terror. 

With any luck, that’s by design and not the product of sloppy storytelling, but Kagurabachi chapter 61 provides Chihiro with a hint on how he might be able to challenge the otherwise seemingly invincible Samara: his daughter. Despite refusing to rely on the Masumi for most of his career, the one thing Samura did ask his ninja retinue for was to hide his daughter after the Seitei War so that she couldn’t be used as a hostage by the Kamunabi. They were pretty thorough about it too, as they not only faked her death but also cast a spell on her so that she could never recognize her true heritage.

Of course, the idea of going after Samara’s daughter carries with it several major moral implications. Even if the Masumi presume that the Hishaku have already figured out that Samura’s daughter isn’t dead, what if they haven’t? Won’t they end up leading them straight to her? Furthermore, using a young girl as a bargaining chip isn’t exactly a noble thing to do, especially when she has no say in the matter. Samara is hardly going to be happy about the situation when he finds out, either.

Joining Chihiro in the mission to track down Samara’s daughter will be none other than the Masumi themselves, who have chosen our protagonist as their new master following Samara’s move to the dark side. Kagurabachi chapter 61 uses this fact for a little bit of comic relief between the long bouts of exposition as they feed Chihiro and wipe his mouth in the way that Samara would never let them do, using his recent injuries as an excuse. They’ll almost definitely play a more significant part as combatants in the future, but for now they’re mainly here for some laughs and moving the plot forward.

Here’s my wild prediction: Samara’s daughter will join the main cast to make a central trio consisting of her, Chihiro and Haruki. Looking at such series as My Hero Academia and Jujutsu Kaisen, shonen manga seems to love including at least one female protagonist in the main cast for some reason, possibly because women now make up a large part of the overall readership. Whether Samara’s daughter will make an interesting addition apart from her gender, however, remains to be seen. 

You can read Kagurabachi chapter 61 in English for free via VIZ Media’s Shonen Jump.