What is this, a shounen manga? I kept being reminded of Ruroni Kenshin as I read the sixth volume of RG Veda.
Yasha takes his party back to the Yasha tribe's destroyed village once again. This time, he's going to burn the bodies of the dead villagers. I'm not sure how long has passed since the start of the series, but by this point, I wouldn't imagine there was much left of the bodies to burn. Still, because there are only about 5 places in the world, that's where we are for volume 6.
Karura, who decided to join Yasha, only shows up in a quick vision at the beginning of the book. Sohma is at least there and gets some speaking parts, though now she's filling in for Gigei and acting motherly towards Ashura. Ashura continues to insist that the only person who appreciates him and loves him is Yasha, yet Ryuu and Sohma and even Kujaku all seem awfully friendly towards him.
While Yasha's burning whatever is left of the village, his long-lost brother Rasetsu shows up. Rasetsu sports giant spiky armor and a killer mullet and fights with two scythes connected by a chain. He could have come straight out of Kenshin. He's justifiably angry at Yasha for protecting Ashura and getting his tribe killed and so he attacks Yasha.
The rest of the book is pretty much taken up by the two of them fighting and remembering the past. Rasetsu was Yasha's younger brother, but he was the son of the king's wife. Yasha's mother was a concubine, so Rasetsu should have been the next leader of the tribe. But Rasetsu decided that Yasha was the stronger warrior, so he left the village so that Yasha would have to lead. Now he's back, and pissed off that Yasha got everyone killed.
Eventually, Yasha explains to Rasetsu that he was told by the old Lord Ashura that he should protect whatever is most precious to him, even if it meant death, if he wanted to fulfill his destiny. He's come to realize that it wasn't his tribe, but rather Ashura, that is most precious to him, so he's going to protect Ashura. I'm not sure how it took him so long to realize this since he's been acting like a father to Ashura for the last six books, but RG Veda is full of people taking far too long to come to emotional decisions that they seem to have already made. Rasetsu gives up on killing Yasha, saying that he gave up on the tribe, too, so they were basically even. Then he goes out and gets himself killed, despite saying that all he wants to do is live to protect the one he loves. It's probably supposed to be tragic, but it all happens so fast that I just shrugged it off.
Meanwhile there's a whole lot of Ashura feeling guilty for getting the Yasha tribe killed, and of Yasha feeling guilty for getting the Yasha tribe killed, and Ashura wanting to protect Yasha, and Yasha wanting to protect Ashura, and Ashura feeling bad that his mother tried to kill him and of course, the prophecy of the six stars. Four books to go. Four more stars to find and a final battle to be fought.
At least when a book is all fighting, it's easy to get through quickly.
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