Inukai

"Suzume"

- on Inukai

About
Inukai is the dog-loving leader of Iga House, a JAPANese nation founded by Ninja who sought to break away from the mistreatment they suffered under other nations. As the leader of Iga, Inukai is recognized as the Ninja King, the highest ranking and most skilled ninja on The Continent.

Inukai was born into the Iga clan when it was still allied with Oda House. In his youth, Inukai was raised by master ninja Kousaka Yoshikage, who taught him a vast array of powerful skills from a very young age. He was recognized as a prodigy by his clan, and was allowed the honor of serving under the legendary ninja Gekkou, who further enhanced his talents through rigorous training.

Following Gekkou's apparent death, Inukai was made the representative of the Iga Clan in Oda, where he became enraged by the way Gumo Danjou, the Oda commander left in control of the Iga Clan, treated ninja as entirely expendable. Inukai's hatred of Danjou overpowered his loyalty to Oda, and he later declared Iga to be its own independent nation in order to protect his subordinates from further oppression. From that moment forward, Inukai made it his life's goal to improve the rights of ninja throughout JAPAN.

During the events of Sengoku Rance, Inukai learns that Oda House is now under the leadership of a mysterious foreigner and orders further investigation to be done on him. Following realization that Rance intended to conquer JAPAN by destroying all of the other nations within it, Inukai immediately deemed him a threat and ordered his trusted subordinate Suzume to assassinate him. Unexpectedly, Suzume became attached to Rance during her assassination attempt, and deemed serving him to be "more fun" than serving Iga, abandoning Inukai in the process. While Inukai is surprised by Suzume's betrayal, he decides to reevaluate his decision to kill Rance until his motives become more clear, refraining from declaring war against Oda House until it has conquered most of JAPAN.

Inukai's fate varies heavily depending on the player's actions. If Rance defeats Iga without Suzume's assistance, Inukai will manage to escape with his life and eventually raise a resistance movement to take back Iga. If Suzume assists Rance, Inukai will be killed by the combined efforts of the two. On additional playthroughs, Rance has the option of attempting to assassinate Inukai before conquering Iga, where the two battle but are eventually broken up by Suzume, who persuades Inukai to make Iga rejoin Oda. As an ally, Rance can assist Inukai in taking his revenge against Gumo Danjou, where it is eventually revealed that the Danjou Inukai was pursuing was actually a fake. Inukai immediately begins planning his next attack against Danjou but is foiled when Suzume delivers him Danjou's head, having found and assassinated him with ease, leaving Inukai flabbergasted.

Despite it not being possible on a first playthrough, the option of Inukai submitting Iga to Oda's rule as an ally is considered to have been the canon outcome, as Inukai currently loyally serves under Oda Kou in the unified JAPAN.

Personality and Appearance
Inukai is a rather young man with a muscular and toned body covered in scars and bandages that indicate his vast experience as a ninja. He has short white hair and piercing yellow eyes that always posses an intense and focused expression, giving him a mysterious and intimidating appearance. His clothing consists of a sleeveless black dogi with several gold emblems and a long, flowing scarf.

As the leader of Iga, Inukai takes his duties as Ninja King very seriously, and works tirelessly to improve the rights of his fellow ninja throughout JAPAN. He carries a deep distrust of outsiders due to the past abuse ninja have suffered while working under them, and maintains an extensive spy network that monitors all rival nations to ensure that he will be instantly alerted of any suspicious activity they are performing. He has no tolerance for those who look down upon the ninja, and will mercilessly pursue them at all costs until they are eliminated.

While he generally possesses a gruff, serious and aloof demeanor, he is shown to have a more comical side that he attempts to keep hidden from others that is frequently brought out by Suzume. He was notably left speechless by her effortless defeat of his lifelong nemesis Gumo Danjou and was noted to have been regularly seen absentmindedly sipping tea in the middle of hallways muttering to himself following the revelation of this.

He is extremely affectionate towards his army of Wanwans, who he has trained in several potent ninja arts. During his free time, he often does more mundane things with them, such as playing fetch. In return for his love, Inukai's wanwans are extremely loyal to him, and will blow themselves up along with his body without hesitation should he ever fall in battle. Three of these wanwans in particular, Kyankyan, Yamorin and Maid-san, were adopted by him as strays and appear to be very close to him, being at his side at all times. They are each named after various species of Gal Monster, suggesting that he may have an affinity for them.

He possesses a deep trust in the Kunoichi Suzume, who he personally trained as his pupil for several years. Inukai firmly believes that Suzume is the most talented ninja to have ever been produced by Iga, and recognizes that her potential far surpasses his own. Prior to her defection to Oda House, Inukai entrusted Suzume with the most dangerous espionage and assassination missions Iga was required to perform. Following her betrayal, he expresses regret that they can no longer work together but respects her decision to make her own choices. This admiration is ultimately what can allow him to join Oda House, as he surrenders and allies with them following her declaration that she wants to continue spending time with him. Despite his love for her, Inukai will still expresses annoyance with Suzume when she slacks off from her work, and puts her through relentless and grueling training until she meets his expectations.

Despite his usual stoicism, he is deeply afraid of his former superior Gekkou, who he timidly refers to as "Boss", due to the excruciating training he put him through during his early days as a ninja. He loses all of his confidence when in Gekkou's presence, up to the point of immediately surrendering to Oda House and fleeing from his position as Iga's leader upon learning that Gekkou is with them.

Though he was raised by Kousaka Yoshikage, he is often annoyed by his laid back and carefree personality, creating a rift between the two. Despite this, he still maintains a certain amount of respect for him, recognizing his abilities as a ninja and being unsurprised when he forms a friendship with Suzume.

Abilities
As Ninja King, Inukai is recognized as the most powerful ninja in JAPAN and, by extension, the Continent. He was trained by both the legendary ninja Gekkou and the feared Takeda House commander Kousaka Yoshikage, making him highly disciplined as a ninja. He excels across all fields of the ninja arts such as stealth and assassination, and is capable of performing a vast array of secret techniques only known to the Ninja King. In addition, he is a highly capable military commander, and leads Iga's ninja army with precision and ferocity.

He is extremely deadly as a fighter, possessing a high Level Cap of 47 that he is very close to reaching, making him one of the strongest people on the Continent. His speed is incomparable even to most other ninja, and can only be matched by the small handful with talents rivaling his own. In battle, he makes heavy use of traps and misdirection to trap his opponents, making him a cunning warrior in addition to being a powerful one. His skill is best seen during his battles with Rance, who was incapable of successfully defeating him without the assistance of Suzume.

Inukai's most unique ability is undoubtedly his skill at training wanwans in the ninja arts. In battle he is supported by an army of hundreds of wanwans at all times, most of whom are kept hidden from sight to allow them to launch surprise attacks against his opponents. Each wanwan is capable of performing several techniques, such as immobilizing enemies with poisoned licks or simply lunging at them with their sharp fangs, making them all deadly opponents in their own right. Inukai's most powerful technique utilizing his wanwan army is known as 101 Doggies, where he unleashes a stampede of 101 of them to trample his opponent. He is also capable of performing a more powerful version of this technique known as 201 Doggies, adding 100 more wanwans to the attack.

Besides his amazing skill as a ninja, Inukai is also an incredibly talented teacher who is capable of bringing out the potential of anyone under his tutelage, with both Suzume and Kentou Kanami improving their skills immensely following their training with him. While his methods aren't shown, they are suggested to be very taxing, pushing the body to near-death in order to reach its absolute limits, resulting in both Kanami and Suzume being exhausted and slightly afraid of him afterwards. While it is never outright stated, it is very likely that this is the same training Inukai went through when training under Gekkou.

Trivia

 * The first kanji of his name, "inu", literally means "dog". The second kanji of his name, "kai", literally stands for "owning and taking care of (pets)".