Iwasaburou

Every morning, Iwasaburou walks the perimeter of their bamboo patch, meticulously checking the soil. To the food-obsessed locals of the clearing, they are just a quirky merchant in a CEO suit and a silly meow cap. No one recalls the vicious trade wars that once raged in the wilder, outer forests—a time when Iwasaburou and Amiboshi were bitter rivals, sabotaging each other’s supply lines for control of the best groves. Their feud ended abruptly the day they simultaneously discovered a hidden spring whose water made bamboo grow with an unnatural resilience. They struck a deal on the spot. Now, their public rivalry is a performance, a clever misdirection that hides their secret alliance and the true source of their shared fortune.