Rikimaru's personality was different before the events of "". He believed that he was already good enough to defeat any opponent and his misplaced self-confidence would eventually earn him many painful experiences once he finally left his village, but those experiences would also be the source of great mental and spiritual growth. Rikimaru had bonds with two other ninja: Shiunsai and Tatsumaru. Both were very important to him, and both were lost. Shiunsai was a father figure to him, but Rikimaru showed only his student connection to Shiunsai, while Tatsumaru was like his older brother and role model. Suffering from a memory loss, Tatsumaru kills Shiunsai. Upon the recovery of his memory, he kills himself. This event marked the death of Rikimaru's former personality. Upon his master's death, Rikimaru takes the role of leader of the Azuma Ninja Clan at the age of 18.