Here, Yoshitoshi shows the fierceness of the boy warrior Sakai Kyūzō, a retainer for the first great unifier of Japan after the Warring states era, Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582) in the mid-16th century. Sakai's blue-shaded eyes and bloody mouth illustrate his youthful, violent rage that would propel him toward an honorable death early in his life. Sakai, the son of samurai Sakai Masahisa, engaged in his first battle at the young age of 13 and was killed two years later, in 1568, while defending his master, Nobunaga, in his march to Kyoto. Such an example of indefatigable loyalty would have made Sakai a compelling subject to Yoshitoshi's audience.
