Chapter Summaries

Uesugi Tetsu followed Asahina Yasutomo to meet the Imagawa Clan’s Elder Council, where the elders presented a captured red demon as a trial of his Onmyoji abilities. Imagawa Yoshimoto silently resolved to punish the elders for defying her, while Tetsu agreed to exorcise the demon in exchange for a look at their breathing techniques.

• Imagawa Yoshimoto followed Uesugi Tetsu and Asahina Yasutomo, then set aside her irritation and imagined forming a kemari team with Tetsu and others.
• Uesugi Tetsu received a stage quest to suppress the Mikawa Rebellion and uncover its cause within 62 days, then followed Asahina Yasutomo to a secluded building.
• The Elder Council questioned Tetsu’s background and revealed that they had brought a red demon in an iron cage to test him.
• Imagawa Yoshimoto realized the elders had defied her orders by bringing the demon into the residence and decided to send them to their deaths.
• Uesugi Tetsu agreed to exorcise the demon if the elders let him inspect their breathing techniques, and they accepted the bargain.

Uesugi Tetsu’s Shikigami Two-Shaku-Sama killed a two-and-a-half-star Red Oni with one slash, changing the Imagawa elders’ view of him and earning him access to breathing-technique observations. Afterward, Asahina Yasutomo asked Uesugi to investigate Okabe Motonobu’s unexplained nighttime awakenings.

• Uesugi Tetsu summoned Two-Shaku-Sama and gave her Kaga Kiyomitsu to face the Red Oni while he watched.
• Two-Shaku-Sama used Kaga Kiyomitsu to decapitate the Red Oni in a single strike, earning Soul Ash and slightly improving the blade’s quality.
• The Imagawa elders applauded and agreed to let Uesugi observe breathing techniques, while Imagawa Yoshimoto led him away from the scene.
• Uesugi found that the Red Oni’s horn could raise the quality of a Demon Incarnation, and he kept it from being used in public.
• Asahina Yasutomo apologized to Uesugi and asked him to investigate Okabe Motonobu’s nighttime awakenings, which Uesugi eagerly agreed to consider.

Uesugi Tetsu agreed to help investigate Okabe Motonobu’s troubles and was assigned to assist her in suppressing the Mikawa uprising, while Imagawa Yoshimoto decided to take the threat seriously after drawing [Bad Fortune]. As they traveled through Sunpu Castle to visit a blacksmith, Tetsu improved his Demon Incarnation Brahma with Red Oni Horns and spotted a purple-quality uchigatana.

• Asahina Yasutomo told Uesugi Tetsu that Okabe Motonobu had been sleeping poorly, and Tetsu agreed to examine her when he had time.
• Imagawa Yoshimoto assigned Tetsu to serve as Okabe Motonobu’s deputy in Mikawa and investigate rumors of a Great Demon, but Tetsu warned that the uprising might be more serious than it seemed.
• Imagawa Yoshimoto drew [Bad Fortune] from Tetsu’s Omikuji cylinder, reconsidered her assumptions about Mikawa, and ordered Hanzō to report the situation in full.
• Imagawa Yoshimoto decided to take the Mikawa uprising seriously and arranged to take Tetsu to a blacksmith before sending him to Okabe Motonobu.
• Tetsu used Red Oni Horns to slightly improve his Demon Incarnation Brahma, then explored Sunpu Castle with Imagawa Yoshimoto and Two-Shaku-Sama.
• At the blacksmith’s shop, Tetsu spotted a purple-glowing uchigatana among the weapons on display.

Uesugi Tetsu visited a blacksmith shop with Imagawa Yoshimoto, discovered its young blacksmith had once met someone who knew about Heavenly Artisans, and learned she had lived in an abandoned temple in Mikawa Province. After Imagawa Yoshimoto left him with an apprentice to guide him to Okabe Motonobu’s home, Uesugi Tetsu opened the door and froze at what he saw.

• Uesugi Tetsu examined the blacksmith’s epic-grade uchigatana and learned that fine weapons at the shop cost hundreds of kan.
• The young blacksmith showed Uesugi Tetsu rare-grade blades, examined Kaga Kiyomitsu, and admitted he had forged the epic-grade uchigatana only by chance during a thunderstorm.
• Uesugi Tetsu showed the blacksmith his Qualified Spirit Gold, but refused to part with it because he intended to use it for Koga.
• The blacksmith recalled meeting a woman in an abandoned temple in the mountains of Mikawa Province, where she had taught him forging techniques and spoken about a Heavenly Artisan.
• Imagawa Yoshimoto arranged for the apprentice to guide Uesugi Tetsu to Okabe Motonobu’s home, where Uesugi Tetsu opened the door and stared in shock.

Uesugi Tetsu investigated Okabe Motonobu’s strange sleep disturbances and discovered that a tiny Akaname had been cleaning her weapon-filled home at night. After Okabe welcomed the creature as a pet, Tetsu mentioned the uprising in Mikawa, and Okabe’s expression turned cold.

• Uesugi Tetsu met Okabe Motonobu and discovered her powerful internal-force control, unusual training, and severe exhaustion from unexplained nighttime noises.
• Uesugi Tetsu and Two-Shaku-Sama waited outside Okabe Motonobu’s home, where he found a faint Akaname cleaning discarded weapons and disturbing her sleep.
• Uesugi Tetsu brought Akaname to Okabe Motonobu, explained its harmless cleaning efforts, and helped them agree that it would stop waking her.
• Okabe Motonobu happily took Akaname in and began teaching it rules, while Uesugi Tetsu prepared to tell her about the uprising in Mikawa.
• When Uesugi Tetsu mentioned the uprising in Mikawa, Okabe Motonobu opened her eyes with an icy expression.

Uesugi Tetsu and Okabe Motonobu discussed the renewed Mikawa Rebellion and agreed to support Imagawa Yoshimoto, then returned to the Imagawa Residence. There, Tetsu received permission to study nine breathing techniques, and notifications revealed that each could complete a stage of his Solar Crown Breathing Technique.

• Okabe Motonobu explained that she had suppressed the previous Mikawa disturbance and agreed to rely on Uesugi Tetsu against the Great Demon stirring the new rebellion.
• Asahina Yasutomo learned that Motonobu’s sleep problem had been caused by the Akaname and apologized for frightening it.
• Uesugi Tetsu inspected his newly purchased tachi and discussed the Mikawa Rebellion and cultivation with Okabe Motonobu on their way back to the Imagawa Residence.
• Okabe Motonobu startled Imagawa Yoshimoto, who disciplined her before giving Tetsu the konpeito and pastries she had promised.
• Imagawa Yoshimoto arranged for Matsudaira Motoyasu to escort Uesugi Tetsu to the room containing handwritten copies of all nine breathing techniques.
• Uesugi Tetsu opened the first manual and received notifications that all nine techniques could complete the Palace of Flesh stage of his Solar Crown Breathing Technique.

Uesugi Tetsu learned nine breathing techniques, completed the Copper Skin stage, and discovered that her Corona Breathing Technique and the wider breathing-technique tradition were incomplete. After deciding to seek the Imagawa Clan’s technique and investigate the Four Extremes Breathing Technique, she encouraged Shiraishi to train as a ninja.

• Uesugi Tetsu learned nine breathing techniques with the help of Soul Soothing Incense Ash, unlocking Sinew Casting and reducing the proficiency needed for Palace of Flesh cultivation.
• Uesugi Tetsu used the surge in her understanding to complete Copper Skin, increasing her physique and learning that Palace of Flesh was one of the Four Ultimate Forms.
• Uesugi Tetsu discovered that Sea of Qi, Palace of Flesh, and Five Viscera Immortal were incomplete, and suspected the Three Great Families possessed the complete Four Extremes Breathing Technique.
• Matsudaira Motoyasu learned from Hanzō that Uesugi Tetsu had advanced in breathing techniques and resolved to befriend her; Uesugi Tetsu considered seeking the Matsudaira and Imagawa techniques.
• Uesugi Tetsu gave Shiraishi konpeitō and a ninja manual, reassured him that she would not abandon him, and urged him to become a world-renowned Great Ninja.

Shiraishi accepted Uesugi Tetsu’s ninja manual and rapidly began mastering it, while Tetsu tested his cultivation and sought medicinal ingredients from Imagawa Yoshimoto. At the evening meeting, Okabe Motonobu discovered Tetsu had nearly completed Skin Tempering, tested Samurai Cleaver with a powerful punch, and arranged to discuss breathing techniques with him later.

• Shiraishi hesitated over Uesugi Tetsu’s ninja manual but accepted it, and opening its first page raised Tetsu’s historical influence to one percent.
• Shiraishi rapidly learned from the manual while Uesugi Tetsu spent the afternoon tempering his skin and gained only two proficiency points.
• Uesugi Tetsu visited Imagawa Yoshimoto and Okabe Motonobu to request medicinal bath ingredients, and Okabe recognized that he had nearly completed Skin Tempering.
• Imagawa Yoshimoto learned that Uesugi Tetsu had completed Qi circulation and asked about his master, whom Tetsu claimed had left to travel the world.
• Uesugi Tetsu summoned Samurai Cleaver, and Okabe Motonobu struck it with enough force for it to report 10,237 guan.
• Okabe Motonobu praised Samurai Cleaver and agreed to discuss breathing techniques with Uesugi Tetsu later that night.

Uesugi Tetsu made rapid progress in Skin Tempering through a medicinal bath and exchanged insights with Okabe Motonobu, who also revealed that Imagawa Yoshimoto planned to keep him out of a purge of the Elder Council. He refused the promise of lands and a castle, choosing instead to help Yoshimoto rise to power, and four days later he stood one session away from completing Skin Tempering.

• Uesugi Tetsu proposed placing the Samurai Cleaver at Sunpu Castle so Imagawa Clan warriors could test their blades, and Okabe Motonobu agreed.
• Imagawa Yoshimoto ordered the medicinal-bath ingredients gathered, then left after watching Uesugi Tetsu and Okabe Motonobu begin Skin Tempering.
• Okabe Motonobu shared her cultivation insights during the bath, raising Uesugi Tetsu's Corona Breathing Technique proficiency by 66 points.
• Okabe Motonobu told Uesugi Tetsu that Imagawa Yoshimoto wanted to deal with the Elder Council members without involving him and hoped to grant him lands and a castle.
• Uesugi Tetsu rejected the reward and declared that he wanted to help Imagawa Yoshimoto become the Lord of the Tokaido and eventually shogun; Okabe Motonobu urged him to witness her rise.
• Four days later, Uesugi Tetsu reached 336/360 proficiency in Skin Tempering and said one more round of cultivation would complete the stage.

After completing Skin Tempering, Uesugi Tetsu confirmed that time in the Sengoku era now passed fifteen times faster than in the modern world and decided to publicly test his strength at the trial-slashing grounds. His show of power was intended to boost his reputation and unsettle the Elders before Imagawa Yoshimoto’s planned purge.

• Uesugi Tetsu completed the Skin Tempering stage after a two-hour medicinal-bath session, increasing his physique and stiff-aura efficiency.
• Uesugi Tetsu traveled between the Sengoku era and the modern world and discovered that their time ratio had shifted from thirty to one to fifteen to one.
• Uesugi Tetsu set out with Shiraishi and Two-Shaku-Sama to test his blade, while Imagawa Yoshimoto chose not to stop him.
• Uesugi Tetsu walked openly through Sunpu Castle in his priest’s robe, and onlookers recognized him as the thunder-commanding Onmyoji Tetsu.
• The crowd followed Uesugi Tetsu toward the blade-testing grounds, while a skeptical rōnin grew curious and considered going to watch.

Uesugi Tetsu went to Imagawa Yoshimoto’s test-cutting grounds to demonstrate his strength and build his reputation, drawing a crowd that included Shibata Katsuie and Kinoshita Tōkichirō. As Tetsu waited in line, Tōkichirō recognized him as a potential threat to the Oda Clan, while Katsuie dismissed the warning; the chapter ended with Tetsu turning toward them as if sensing their attention.

• Uesugi Tetsu arrived at the test-cutting grounds and announced that he had come to perform a test cut, surprising the crowd and the staff.
• Shibata Katsuie recorded a striking force of fourteen thousand eight hundred and twenty-six guan, but Kinoshita Tōkichirō pulled him away and helped him hide when they heard Tetsu had arrived.
• Tetsu learned Katsuie had set the highest force, joined the end of the queue, and silenced the crowd by projecting his voice clearly to everyone.
• As Tetsu waited, visitors questioned whether an Onmyoji could wield a sword, while Tōkichirō predicted that Tetsu could exceed twenty thousand kan and warned Katsuie that he was an enemy of the Oda Clan.
• Katsuie rejected Tōkichirō’s warning, arguing that Tetsu could not have had enough time to master breathing techniques unless he was over fifty; Tetsu then turned toward them after sensing an unusual gaze.

Uesugi Tetsu demonstrated his power at a blade-testing ground, striking Samurai Cleaver for thirty thousand and eleven kan and earning widespread attention. Afterward, he discovered that the Hundred-Eyed Demon’s quality had advanced to Epic.

• Fujiyoshiro and Shibata Katsuie debated Uesugi Tetsu’s strength and made a bet about his abilities.
• Uesugi Tetsu noticed that Samurai Cleaver’s advancement progress increased when strong fighters struck it, then asked Shiraishi to test his strength.
• Shiraishi punched Samurai Cleaver for two hundred and six kan, drawing laughter from the crowd until Shibata Katsuie rebuked the mockers.
• Uesugi Tetsu unleashed thunder and hardened qi in a slash that Samurai Cleaver measured at thirty thousand and eleven kan, stunning the witnesses.
• Tōkichirō urged Shibata Katsuie to report the slash to their lord, while Uesugi Tetsu considered its political consequences for the Imagawa Clan.
• Uesugi Tetsu opened the card-pool interface and saw that the Hundred-Eyed Demon had absorbed its eyeballs and advanced from Rare+ to Epic.

Uesugi Tetsu discovered that Hundred-Eyed Demon had advanced to Epic quality and marked potential prey in Mikawa Province, then pursued a mission involving eyeball materials while training and warning his contacts about deadly unknown calls. After returning to the Warring States world, he found Imagawa Yoshimoto trying to enter his room despite Two-Shaku-Sama’s attempts to stop her.

• Hundred-Eyed Demon advanced to Epic quality, requested more eyeball materials, and marked hunting grounds in Mikawa Province, where Uesugi Tetsu suspected a Great Demon might be her kind.
• Uesugi Tetsu returned to Imagawa Residence, found Okabe Motonobu passed out by the entrance, and inspected a durable Rare plain spear from the castle blacksmith.
• Uesugi Tetsu traveled to the present world, called Nanjō Emi about a mission that could provide eyeball materials, and learned that unknown phone calls had become deadly across much of Tokyo.
• Uesugi Tetsu warned Ririko and Kitano Runa about the calls, told Ririko he had completed Skin Tempering and found a Sinew Casting method, and read her plans to master the Sea of Qi prerequisites.
• Uesugi Tetsu returned to his room in Imagawa Residence, where Two-Shaku-Sama tried to keep Imagawa Yoshimoto from entering as Yoshimoto announced she was coming in.

Imagawa Yoshimoto recruited Uesugi Tetsu to join a small vanguard entering Mikawa ahead of the army to prepare for a battle against an unknown Great Demon, while Tetsu completed Hard Bones cultivation during the following half month. The army then assembled to march, and Okabe Motonobu gave Tetsu portraits of targets to eliminate, ordering him to leave no one alive.

• Imagawa Yoshimoto confronted Uesugi Tetsu about his public thirty-thousand-kan slash, then discussed splitting the expedition to Mikawa into a main force and a reconnaissance vanguard.
• Uesugi Tetsu persuaded Imagawa Yoshimoto to join him and Hanzō in the vanguard, explaining that the Great Demon might have dangerous abilities and asking to search for Tenkō so Koga could grow stronger.
• Over the next half month, Shiraishi advanced to one star, the test-cutting grounds drew crowds, and Uesugi Tetsu continued cultivating.
• Uesugi Tetsu completed Hard Bones, gained a physique point, and advanced his Corona Breathing Technique toward Iron Bones.
• Okabe Motonobu told Uesugi Tetsu that Imagawa Yoshimoto had appointed her commander-in-chief and him deputy commander for the Mikawa campaign, then handed him portraits and ordered him to burn them and leave no one alive.
• Uesugi Tetsu gathered Two-Shaku-Sama and Shiraishi and prepared to set out with Okabe Motonobu.

Uesugi Tetsu joined Imagawa Yoshimoto’s campaign as deputy commander and discovered that Yoshimoto was the warrior he had killed during the Okehazama Trial. Before heading to Mikawa with Yoshimoto, he said farewell to Aine and left her money, a protective talisman, and a Wakizashi.

• Uesugi Tetsu recognized Imagawa Yoshimoto as the armored warrior from the Okehazama Trial, then joined her retainers as deputy commander for the Mikawa campaign.
• Imagawa Yoshimoto confirmed that the army would depart the next day, while Okabe Motonobu privately told Uesugi Tetsu they would turn back after three days to act with Hanzō.
• Imagawa Yoshimoto departed with the army in a palanquin while Uesugi Tetsu and Yoshimoto traveled ahead on Two-Shaku-Sama’s floating platform.
• Uesugi Tetsu visited Aine in Watari Village and gave her ten taels of silver, a protective talisman, and an Imagawa Wakizashi.
• Uesugi Tetsu said goodbye and left Aine behind, and she wondered whether they would ever meet again.

Uesugi Tetsu and Imagawa Yoshimoto traveled toward Mikawa, where they discovered bandits and signs of a major upheaval. After Tetsu revealed his lightning arts and Sakata recognized Yoshimoto, Sakata began explaining how the crisis had started, then faltered as he reached the events of a week earlier.

• Tanaka Rō saw Aine leave with a sack and a Wakizashi, then called after Uesugi Tetsu as Tetsu departed.
• Imagawa Yoshimoto told Tetsu about her ambition to unify the realm, become shogun, and build Sunpu into a true city of the realm.
• Tetsu and Yoshimoto spotted Toda Clan men robbing a merchant family on the road through Tōtomi, and Tetsu confronted them.
• Tetsu struck down an apparition with lightning, and Sakata recognized him as the Great Onmyoji Tetsu.
• Yoshimoto arrived, and Sakata recognized her as the Imagawa Clan's ruler and began recounting the unrest in Mikawa.
• Sakata said local nobles and Buddhist monks had stirred up trouble, then explained that events had changed a week earlier.

Uesugi Tetsu and Imagawa Yoshimoto learned that Disease had devastated Mikawa Province, and the Omikuji cylinder warned that Yoshimoto would face Great Misfortune there. Yoshimoto refused to abandon her people, so Tetsu agreed to accompany her into Mikawa, where they approached a village to investigate.

• Sakata told Uesugi Tetsu and Imagawa Yoshimoto that new diseases, famine, demons, and rising deaths had driven him to flee Mikawa Province and become a bandit leader.
• Imagawa Yoshimoto drew two Omikuji sticks, and both foretold Great Misfortune, with the second warning, "Pestilence lies ahead. Death lies ahead."
• Uesugi Tetsu urged Imagawa Yoshimoto to abandon Mikawa or return to Sunpu Castle, but she insisted that the people there needed her and ordered him to accompany her.
• Uesugi Tetsu accepted Yoshimoto's command, revised his plans, and arranged for Two-Shaku-Sama to carry a letter to Okabe Motonobu while he and Yoshimoto headed toward Mikawa.
• Uesugi Tetsu gave Imagawa Yoshimoto three safety rules and the Life and Death Taiko, then they bought horses and entered Mikawa Province.
• Uesugi Tetsu sensed that something was wrong as they rode toward a village, and Imagawa Yoshimoto spotted it in the distance.

Uesugi Tetsu and Imagawa Yoshimoto entered a plague-stricken village in Mikawa, where Tetsu destroyed its Disease and Suffering Retainers and put a suffering girl to rest. They continued deeper into the province and spotted a lit village called Mountain Whale Village, which made Tetsu suspect a connection to the Heavenly Craftsman.

• Uesugi Tetsu prepared himself and Imagawa Yoshimoto against possible infection, then sent puppets ahead as they approached a village filled with corpses.
• Uesugi Tetsu found three Fuyans tormenting a mutilated girl and killed her to end her suffering after seeing that she could not be saved.
• Uesugi Tetsu unleashed Kaga Kiyomitsu and the Five Thunder Pearl against the village's Fuyans, then charged in with a spear and destroyed the remaining demons.
• Imagawa Yoshimoto killed a Fuyan that had escaped the assault, while Tetsu received 211 Soul Ash and a warning that he might have attracted the attention of Eight Sufferings.
• Uesugi Tetsu and Imagawa Yoshimoto rode deeper into Mikawa, disposing of plague victims along the way, until Yoshimoto spotted a lit village sign reading Mountain Whale Village.
• Uesugi Tetsu connected Mountain Whale Village with the Heavenly Craftsman.

Lotus Light, Disease, and Daruma exploited Mikawa’s sick residents to gather wish power while preparing for Imagawa Yoshimoto’s arrival. Uesugi Tetsu and Yoshimoto reached Mountain Whale Village, where they learned that a legendary Mountain Whale Demon King truly existed and planned to investigate it the next morning.

• Lotus Light learned that his Retainers across Mikawa had suddenly vanished, then received word that Imagawa Yoshimoto’s vanguard had set out.
• Lotus Light and Disease held a Gratitude Service, curing 152 people while secretly turning them into potential carriers and gathering wish power.
• Uesugi Tetsu and Imagawa Yoshimoto reached Mountain Whale Village, where Kujiragoro recognized Tetsu’s lightning and admitted them through the guarded gate.
• Imagawa Yoshimoto revealed her identity to Kujiragoro and promised to restore Mikawa and defeat the Great Demons.
• Kujiragoro told Uesugi Tetsu that a mountain whale had once attacked people and that he had seen the enormous Mountain Whale Demon King himself.
• Uesugi Tetsu decided to investigate the mountain whales and set out with Imagawa Yoshimoto the next morning.

Uesugi Tetsu and Imagawa Yoshimoto left Mountain Whale Village and climbed Mountain Whale Mountain to find the Divine Craftsman, where the Mountain Whale King confronted them. The smith stopped their fight and recognized Uesugi as Mr. Brahma, while Uesugi recognized her as Zashiki.

• Uesugi Tetsu comforted Imagawa Yoshimoto as she regretted failing to save her people, and they agreed to focus on stopping Sickness and Suffering.
• Uesugi Tetsu gave Kujiragoro lightning-blessed protective charms before he and Imagawa Yoshimoto left Mountain Whale Village.
• Uesugi Tetsu and Imagawa Yoshimoto climbed the unnaturally silent Mountain Whale Mountain and found a temple after hearing metal hammering.
• Two-Shaku-Sama reached Okabe Motonobu's camp with an urgent letter from Imagawa, and Okabe summoned her senior officers after reading it.
• The three-and-a-half-star Mountain Whale King barred Uesugi Tetsu from meeting the heavenly smith, and Uesugi and Imagawa drew their weapons.
• The heavenly smith stopped the confrontation, called Uesugi Mr. Brahma, and was recognized by him as Zashiki.