This is the story of a nearly blind kid from a poor mat-making family who decided he was destined to save the world, by killing people.

He claimed to have divine powers, built a cult with scientists and cops in it, and then unleashed nerve gas on Tokyo subway system during rush hour.

And somehow, that's not even the wildest part.

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This is 10-minute murder.

Let's get into it.

Music Let's get into it. ... In the spring of 1955 in Kumamoto, Japan, a poor family of matmakers welcomed their fourth son.

His name was Chizuo Matsumoto.

And at first glance, his life was expected to follow a pretty standard track. Grow up, weave some tatami mats, raise a family, in credits. But Chizuo was born

with infantile glaucoma. His left eye was completely blind and his right eye barely worked. That alone was enough to knock

him off the family's career path. So at age six, his parents sent him to school for the blind.

He didn't just study there, he lived there, and he never moved back home. He graduated in 1973

and despite being mostly blind, he wasn't lacking

in ambition. At school, Chizuo carved out a reputation as a bit of a bossy guide, sometimes

a leader, sometimes a bully. He helped other students get around using his partial vision,

which made him useful, but it also made him bold.

He used to tell classmates that he'd be president of Japan someday, not student council president,

actual president. And when he finished school, he figured, sure, why not go for it? He applied

to law school in Tokyo. The answer was no.

A pretty firm no.

That rejection pushed him onto a more common path for people in his situation at the time.

...