Honegoe Monogatari

Tokimaru is no ordinary Buddhist priest. Known as a skull monk, he possesses the unsettling ability to hear the whispers of the dead through their discarded bones—a gift that forces him into the lingering regrets and unfinished business of spirits who have yet to find peace. Though he carries out these duties with visible reluctance, each restless soul he encounters only deepens his weariness with a path he never chose for himself. Yet beneath his detached exterior lies a burning personal quest that overshadows all else. His younger brother, Fujinari, was once stationed under a formidable and powerful oyakata, but has since vanished without a trace from his post. With no clear explanation and few allies to trust, Tokimaru journeys across the land, using his macabre talent not for charity, but as a means to uncover the truth behind his brother's mysterious disappearance. As he pieces together fragments of whispered testimony from the dead, he begins to realize that the circumstances surrounding Fujinari's fate may be far more sinister—and closer to him—than he ever anticipated.