Chapter 4

The Old Dog and the Boy
Title
Kanji	老犬と少年!!
Romaji	Rōken to shōnen!!
English Title	The Old Dog and the Boy
Information
Volume	1
Pages	21
Release Date	December 11, 1990
WSJ Issue	1-2, 1991
Arc	Spirit Detective Saga
Anime Episode	None (Exclusively in the manga only)
Navigation
← Chapter 3
Chapter 5 →

The Old Dog and the Boy (老犬と少年!!, Rōken to shōnen!!) is the 4th chapter of the Yu Yu Hakusho manga series, written and illustrated by Yoshihiro Togashi.

Short Summary

Yusuke Urameshi and Botan help Shouta move on from the death of a beloved pet.

Summary

While wandering around, Botan and Yusuke Urameshi see a boy named Shouta and his old dog, Jiro, and how Shouta is being picked on by bullies, which pisses off Yusuke as the boy did not fight back. As they observe them more, Botan tells Yusuke that the dog was going to die that night, just before Shouta comes back from school. When Shouta finds his only friend dead, he starts crying, which causes Jiro's ghost to remain around the house.

Seeing that, Yusuke comes up with a plan and goes into Shouta's dream and pretends to be a villain. He tells the boy that he will be taking Jiro to hell as the dog refuses to go to move on to the afterlife. Shouta begs him not to take his dog, but Yusuke explains that it was due to his constant crying and not wanting to let go of his dog. Shouta promises to not cry anymore. He stands up against Yusuke, who pretends to retreat, promising he will be back if Shouta starts crying again. Seeing Shouta standing his ground, Jiro moves on and Botan comes to take him. The next day, the kids try to bully Shouta once again, but this time he fights back, and they leave him alone.

Characters in Order of Appearance

• Botan
• Yusuke Urameshi
• Jiro
• Shouta

Manga Notes

• This is the first of a few adventures Yusuke has as a spirit while he waits for his egg to hatch that are not adapted into the anime.
  • Shouta will appear again in one of those adventures in Chapter 10.