Kumagai

Kumagai no Naozane is a Taira-era warrior whose path crosses the young noble Atsumori at the battle of Ichi-no-Tani, and whose later life is shaped by grief over that encounter. The play's notes suggest Atsumori must have done Kumagai some kindness in a former incarnation, which would account for the depth of his remorse—a karmic debt binding killer to victim. His struggle between martial duty and Buddhist conscience gives the drama its moral weight, and his presence as a penitent priest frames the ghostly return of the boy he killed.