Utsunomiko

During the turmoil of the Jinshin-no-Ran civil war in 762, a child with a small horn on his forehead was born. His mother, fearing he was an oni, abandoned him. A shugendō woman took him in, calling him Utsunomiko, or "Divine Child of the Heavens," and explained that his horn represented the connection between heaven and earth. Miko grew up in the wild, learning shugendō practices, and later explored villages, where he witnessed widespread poverty and hardship. He used his spiritual abilities to aid the people, but his frustration with corrupt rulers and their power struggles led to a confrontation with the Imperial Court, marking the beginning of his journey as a defender of the oppressed.