Sandayu Asama

Sandayu is an older man with short grey hair, a beard and mustache, and small dark eyes. He usually wears little glasses, a pale blue long-sleeved shirt, and a navy blazer over the top. When the moment to fight arrives he pulls samurai armor of dark green and red over his everyday clothes, ties a sleeveless red coat at the waist with a white sash, and hangs a small light-blue talisman from a wakizashi.

Loyalty is the whole of his character. He served the daimyo Sosetsu Kazahana devotedly and, after his death, transferred that devotion to Sosetsu's daughter Koyuki, guarding and aiding her for years on end. He absorbs every insult and outburst she throws at him without ever answering back, patiently biding his time for the chance to set things right.

In his youth Sandayu lived in Kazahana Castle as a subject of Sosetsu, until Doto Kazahana's revolt burned the castle down and killed the daimyo. He fled with the young Koyuki and became her personal assistant through her acting career. Years later he hires Team Kakashi to escort her to the Land of Snow, having arranged the film shoot there to bring her home and restore her to the throne Doto had seized. Though never shown in combat, his past as a soldier points to real military training, and he carries a sword. He leads fifty samurai in a charge against Doto, but the usurper's ninja cut the whole force down with volleys of kunai. With his last breath, after Doto pulls back, Sandayu tells Koyuki not to weep for him. Once Doto falls and Koyuki becomes the new daimyo, she glimpses Sandayu and her father together before they fade away.