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|---|---|
| Azai | |
| Biographical information | |
| Current status | Player-determined |
| Physical description | |
| Gender | Male |
| Hair color | Black |
| Eye color | Black |
| Personal information | |
| Allies | Hisomu Clan (formerly; player-determined) |
| Enemies | Ninja civilization, Hessians (formerly; player-determined) |
| Chronology | |
| First appearance | Mark of the Ninja |
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SPOILER WARNING! This article contains information about key plot details. |
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Azai the Measured is the leader of the Hisomu Clan and the player's mentor in Mark of the Ninja. He trained the Marked Ninja to fight, and was targetted by Hessian at the dojo. It is eventually revealed that Azai seeks to steal the modern technology as a substitute for the declining traditional sources of power the Ninja have previously used. This is why he incited a conflict between the Hisomu Clan and Hessian Services, and why he is revealed to be arguably the primary antagonist of the game later.
History[]
He is the head of the Hisomu Clan before the game's events.
He went to Tabriz to see their Sumi flowers have been eaten or rotten which make the Sumi virtually extinct. He felt that they could not survive without adapting the future especially without the Sumi. Therefore, he decided to modernize the Clan, whilst preserving what traditions he could. He entrusts his heir with the Mark in order to help his mission against Hessian Services, whose technology are rich. Before he left Tabriz, bandits attacked him though he slaughtered most of them, causing the others to flee. He then took rest to prepare for the clan's future.
When the ninjas successfully took some of the technology, Corporal Kelly sent a team to retaliate against the Clan. However, the Marked Ninja was able to kill most of them and save Azai and the ninjas. This gave Azai justification for war against Hessian Services, and so, he sent the Marked Ninja to kill its leader, after which he was supposed to return to the clan and commit ritual suicide to avoid falling into madness.
When the Marked Ninja came back from his Europe mission, he was influenced by Ora to not go through with the sacrifice, and he escapes to Tabriz to find Dosan. Azai sent some newly outfitted "stalkers" to capture or kill the Marked Ninja.
When the Marked Ninja returns to the Clan to confront Azai, Azai welcomes him into his gardens, with the ninja ready to kill Azai, who then demonstrates that the "Ora" he saw is a figment of his imagination brought on by the Sumi ink in his tattoos, and he should sacrifice himself to stop the madness of his tattoos. Thus, the Marked Ninja is faced with two choices at the shrine : kill his own master or kill himself.