The boy who fought like a demon. Ushiwakamaru - the childhood name of Minamoto no Yoshitsune - was still a youth when the bandit Kumasaka Chōhan attacked his traveling party. Kumasaka was a massive warrior, a career criminal who led gangs of thieves, feared across the countryside. Ushiwaka was a teenage boy. It shouldn't have been a contest. But the boy had been training in secret with warrior monks, learning swordplay and acrobatics that would make him legend.

Yoshitoshi captures the impossible moment - Ushiwaka leaping through the air in a brilliant red and gold robe, sword flashing, his youthful face calm and focused. Below him, Kumasaka in full armor struggles to track the boy's movements, his massive frame no match for that supernatural agility. Ushiwaka doesn't fight like a warrior - he fights like something else entirely, all speed and precision, turning combat into performance. The bandit leader never stood a chance.

This is from Yoshitoshi's 1883 series Courageous Warriors, created late in his career when he was synthesizing traditional warrior imagery with more modern sensibilities. The story of Ushiwaka became foundational - proof that Yoshitsune was destined for greatness from childhood, that even as a boy he possessed skills that made grown men look clumsy. Kumasaka learned what many would learn after: you can't catch what moves like wind.

Ushiwaka and Kumasaka (源牛若丸 熊坂長範, Minamoto no Ushiwakamaru battling with the brigand Kumasaka Chōhan) from the series Yoshitoshi musha burui (芳年武者旡類, Yoshitoshi's Courageous Warriors) 1883.

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (月岡芳年, 1839-1892)