Sadao (貞夫; Sadao) was the headman of Kuta Farmstead and one of the conspirators responsible for the Adachi massacre.
Biography[]
Sadao was the brother of Hachi and the husband of Hina, with his cousins being bandits. He was appointed by Harunobu Adachi, the leader of Clan Adachi. as the headman for Kuta Farmstead, while his brother worked as a local supplier. His work as headman came to an end when Sadao intentionally withheld rice for himself, effectively starving his people to turn a profit. Due to these shortages, Sadao faced protests from the locals.
Irritated at these protests, Sadao hired a group of bandits (his cousins), who subsequently massacred the protestors, and kept his involvement a secret. Masako Adachi deduced that Sadao was trying to hide something and accused him of hoarding the rice to himself, and Sadao was subsequently removed as headman. One day, Sadao received an offer from Lady Hana to join a conspiracy to wipe out Clan Adachi. Eager for vengeance against Masako and the rest of Clan Adachi, Sadao accepted the offer.
Unbeknownst to Sadao, however, Masako had survived the massacre and recruited Samurai Jin Sakai to help exact revenge on the traitors. When Sadao learns of her survival, he takes over the Ariake Lighthouse, which Clan Adachi had built for Ariake, with the aid of a group of bandits. As Sadao goes into hiding at the lighthouse, Masako and Jin try to track Sadao and follow Hachi, who inadvertently leads them into Sadao's home. Once there, however, they only find Sadao's wife: Hina, whom they take for interrogation back to the Adachi Estate.
Hina is unwilling to betray her husband at first, but starts seriously considering it until Hachi arrives to rescue her. Hina refuses to leave and begins to scream for help, leading Hachi to panic and kill her to protect his brother. Hachi is later killed by Mongols, and Masako and Jin find a map on his body of Hachi's supply routes. They deduce that Sadao must be hiding at one of the survivor camps. The monk in charge of one of the survivor camps, Junshin, helps pinpoint a specific location on the map that guides Masako and Jin to the lighthouse.
The duo arrive at the lighthouse, where Sadao watches them from the top, and they engage his men below. After dispatching them, Masako climbs up to the top and confronts Sadao for his betrayal. Sadao shouts at Masako for the deaths of his wife and brother, to which Masako responds that they died because of him. When Sadao angrily states to Masako that she should have died with the rest of her family, she admits that she wishes she had before striking him with her katana, killing him and preventing Masako and Jin from obtaining further information.