It has been serialized in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Morning since September 1998, with its chapters collected in 37 tankōbon volumes by July 2014.

Two 17-year-old teenagers who joined the losing side, Takezō Shinmen and Matahachi Hon'iden, lie wounded in the battlefield and pursued by survivor hunters.

Their paths separate: Takezō decides to become a vagabond and wander the world challenging strong opponents, and Matahachi chooses to stay with women.

Takezō returns to his hometown, the Miyamoto village, to tell Matahachi's mother, Osugi Hon'iden, that her son is alive.

However, Osugi reacts hostile because the village detests Takezō for his extremely violent and antisocial tendencies, and because the future of the Hon'iden gentry family is compromised now that their heir Matahachi is missing.

Takezō fights his pursuers but is eventually caught by the monk Takuan Sōhō, who makes him reconsider his purpose in life.

Musashi's new wandering leads him meet the orphan Iori, whom he decides to raise while dealing with a village with poor fields.

After finishing the basketball manga Slam Dunk, Takehiko Inoue wanted to write something more realistic.

In retrospect, Inoue's experience with changing demographics feels obligatory as he believes manga authors should challenge themselves.

Having come off of drawing a sports manga, he wanted to create a series about more basic concepts, such as "life and death, the human condition, etc."

Inoue also expressed difficulties when drawing scene were the characters are wounded, most notably when Musashi battles the 70 Yoshioka which took a lot of energy to properly make.

[15] Inoue posted an update on his website in December 2010, stating that Vagabond would not return until he regained "enthusiasm" for the series.

[24] In North America, Viz Media started publishing the manga in an American comic book format in December 2001;[25][26][27] 16 issues were released until March 2003.

The artist brags about boldly challenging the national literary work of Eiji Yoshikawa, even so, the sense of speed that he creates is impressive.

[17] In early releases of the manga, MangaLife found Musashi appealing for his quest of strength and Inoue's detailed artwork despite its slow pacing.

[45] They find the early journey of Musashi impressive due to the emphasis on violence over his mental development and his connections with Matahachi.

[46] The eventual release of the sixth volume received more acclaim from the Manga Life for further developing Musashi's bushido, his acceptance of his weak point and how Matahachi also kept appearing despite the two still not meeting.

[47] The Fandom Post was drawn out by the writing of Inoue when reading the first manga volume, praising its large amount of content and whether or not Musashi is still capable of being a true warrior when interacting with the monk Takuan.

[51] Comic Book Resources praised the way Musashi addresses Bushido, the Code of the Samurai, which makes him honorable.

[56] Los Angeles Times regarded Vagabond as a "samurai masterpiece" for the contrast it makes with the novel by deepening the characterization of Musashi and alternate take on the rival Kojiro.

Another aspect praised by Los Angeles Times was how the protagonist makes philosophy about strength and his goal as the arc of the Yoshioka where the main character kills 70 men ends with him retaining severe wound on his foot that weakens him and makes him question what is being invincible.