Rin announced that she will go meet with her father's friend Souri, the painter, in her journey for revenge. Souri cannot lend her a hand, but instead gives her funds. Rin, now with a full wallet and no leads, finds her father's sword at the blacksmith from which it was supposedly stolen. However, its wielder is a swordsman of the Ittou-ryu, 'Taito Magatsu.'

A prostitute approaches Manji as he waits for Rin. Though Manji sees through the prostitutes ruse, he accepts her invitiation. But this woman, 'Makie Otonotachibana', seem to weak to be a warrior of the Ittou-ryu as she claims. After sparing Makie's life, she appears before Manji again with different eyes and hair.

Wanting to become stronger herself, Rin received training from Manji, but is still a long way off from matching him in ability, much less the Ittou-ryu. Rin, in her melancholy, is drawn in by a sound, and finds a man training on his own. 'Some day I'll be like him', Rin tells herself, then is astonished upon seeing the man's face. It's her arch-nemesis, the head of the Ittou-ryu, Kagehisa Anotsu.

After seeing Kagehisa, Rin becomes weak at the knees. Lost in thought over her circumstances, Rin and her guard Manji are approached by a Buddhist monk. The monk is 'Eiku Shizuma' of the Ittou-ryu. He fights with Manji but is swiftly cut down. However, despite the lethal blow, Shizuma stands back up, his wound mending itself completely. Shizuma possesses an 'immortal' body, just like Manji.

Rin, who has come to see the festival, meets a cheeky little kid, Renzou. At the mask shop, things get dangerous between Manji and Araya, until Araya's son Renzou shows up and the hostility dissolves. Araya and Renzou then leave. Having watched Manji from behind, for some reason Rin continues glaring at Araya with eyes full of shock and hatred.

Discussions of the task of naming the instructor at the Ittou-ryu school, allotted them by the shogunate, have begun. They will make the Ittou-ryu's sword known to the world. Taito Magatsu vows to make that a reality, but decides to leave from Kagehisa Anotsu's side. At the same time, Ittou-ryu leaders start to be targeted. The tip of that blade is also pointed at Magatsu.

Manji and Rin involve the four known as Mugai-ryu, who hold information on Kagehisa, in order to assassinate him. Lying in wait on the road that leads out of Edo, based on information only known to Rin, she and Shira close in on Kagehisa as he tries to flee from the others.

Rin was told of Kagehisa's whereabouts by Giichi, and now her and Manji are suspected of indiscriminate murder. Suspected criminals cannot pass the checkpoint. But thanks to a maid who was acquaintance of Rin's, she has a countermeasure. She heads alone to a village that can help her slip through the checkpoint.

Manji wants to go after Rin, but he has no pass. That's when Souri and Magatsu appear before him. Souri tells Manji that he can acquire as many passes as Manji likes, but there's a condition. Meanwhile, a gray-haired, one-armed Shira appears before Hyakurin and Shinriji as they re-work their plan for assassinating Kagehisa.