Talk:Mikazuki Munechika/@comment-179.215.20.88-20150729000344/@comment-26215551-20150729001747

A "(narrow) brush with death" means to come close to death/dying - it can be either physically or figuratively. For instance, if a bullet hit your arm instead of the heart (which would be physical); or if you had decided to go out for a walk one day, and a plane crashed into your house while you were away (which would be figurative, since you could've been inside but you weren't).

In Mikazuki's case, since those around him encountered death (his master being killed and other swords being lost or destroyed) while he lived on, you could say he has had a brush with death.