The absolute highlight of Kagurabachi chapter 81 was, without a doubt, the return of Yoji Uruha—a character who totally won over fans before he supposedly bit the dust.
Bringing characters back from the dead is always a risky move for writers; there’s always a chance it could totally blow up in their face.
But Takeru Hokazono played this one smart. Uruha storming back into Kagurabachi is in no way an asspull and I am here to tell you why. Take notes Gege?
There was proper foreshadowing:
First off, the Kagurabachi fandom—or at least a good chunk of it—never really bought that Uruha was actually dead.
Why? Because there were enough hints pointing in the other direction.
If you recall, right after taking down his loyal comrade, Samura went on to cut down Chihiro. But the young hero only stayed dead (like, really dead) for a few pages before coming back to life.
That situation made a lot of fans second-guess Uruha’s fate and wonder if he was truly gone.
Sure, there were doubters, but the whole “Uruha is alive” agenda really took off after chapter 60, especially when Shiba hinted that Samura and Tobimune were somehow behind bringing Chihiro back.
Chihiro’s resurrection basically laid out the welcome mat for Uruha’s comeback. If Chihiro’s wounds could heal and he could be brought back to life, the same could happen for Uruha, right?
The foreshadowing was heavy. And then we got even more details about Tobimune’s powers in chapter 77, especially concerning Suzaku.
With that, the stage was perfectly set for Uruha to make a killer comeback.
The mechanisms behind it:
While Chihiro coming back to life was the blueprint, Hokazono still had to explain the “how” of it all. Meaning, Uruha’s return would’ve made a lot less sense if the author hadn’t decided to show off Suzaku’s working a few chapters earlier.
Suzaku’s power is all about the Phoenix motif—bursting into flames and rising from the ashes. It gives its user the ability to heal wounds and regenerate (not revive).
But Samura had taken those powers to a whole new level. As Chihiro himself notes, there were a number of unrecorded things from the war which in theory shouldn’t have been possible.
So, even though it’s not officially confirmed, it’s pretty safe to say that Suzaku was the key to bringing Chihiro back. And it’s a solid bet that’s what happened with Uruha too.
Samura could have started using Suzaku on Chihiro and Uruha immediately after their heart stopped, healing their wounds and making sure their brain cells don’t die.
But that raises an interesting question too. If it really was Suzaku, did nobody spot the flames and black feathers that come with it?
Suzaku is an insanely powerful ability. It can make someone close to immortal and cancel out hallucinations and damages to objects as well. Reality altering would be a good term to associate with it.
And with Samura being a master at wielding Tobimune, it’s no shocker that he can use its powers to this degree.
But then, all of this is my assumption. I am sure we will get an answer to how exactly Uruha came back from the dead in the next chapter.
And for those who are wondering, the Uruha we see in Kagurabachi chapter 81 is no doppelganger. He clearly shouts centipede to Hakuri, a callback to their first meeting (read chapter 49), proving beyond doubt that he is the same person they knew.
Uruha’s comeback is a plot point that Hokazono clearly thought through and pulled off really well. It’s definitely not some cheap trick.
For example, just compare this to what Gege Akutami did with Nobara—and you can immediately see who handled it better.
On top of that, I am a stern believer that Uruha still has a lot of narrative potential left. After meeting with Chihiro, he found a newfound will to live and decided he wouldn’t throw away his life.
Now that he has a second lease at life, let’s hope he gets to do something worthwhile with it!