Chapter Summaries

Kakizaki Mitsuhiro learned that armed ships had gone south to aid the Buyo tribes and weighed who might be behind the intervention. He ordered scouts and messengers sent while leading his force north with Ishikari warriors, leaving the Wajin camp mobilized for a confrontation.

• Ishikari Mountain Bear reported that his scouts had seen three large ships carrying archers and armored warriors heading south to support the Buyo tribes.
• Kakizaki Mitsuhiro and his retainers considered whether Ando Sadasue, the Nanbu Clan, or the main Ando house could be involved, while Kudo Shigeyasu warned Mitsuhiro to guard his words around the Ezo chieftains.
• Kudo Shigeyasu urged Mitsuhiro to report to the house head at Katsuyama Castle and investigate the Buyo clans before committing to a course of action.
• Kakizaki Mitsuhiro ordered scouts to investigate, a messenger to travel south, and Ishikari Mountain Bear to gather his warriors for a march north.
• Three days later, two hundred Wajin Samurai, ten mounted scouts, and groups of Ishikari tribesmen crossed the river and headed north.

Kakizaki Mitsuhiro's army approached the Buyo Clan's stronghold, where Kudo Shigeyasu warned him that the growing Ishikari Clan had to be kept in check. The Buyo forces and Zuwaro's armored warriors prepared to face the Wajin and Ishikari troops, ending with the two armies arrayed against each other.

• Kakizaki Mitsuhiro and Kudo Shigeyasu marched north with Kakizaki Samurai, Ishikari warriors, and Uchiura porters toward the Buyo territory.
• Kudo Shigeyasu warned Kakizaki Mitsuhiro that the Ishikari Clan was growing powerful and urged the Kakizaki Clan to balance it by subduing the Buyo Clan.
• Kakizaki Mitsuhiro agreed with Kudo Shigeyasu as the army neared the Buyo-Kanham stronghold and its conch horns sounded the alarm.
• The Buyo leaders mobilized their warriors to defend the stronghold against the approaching Wajin and Ishikari forces.
• Zuwaro rallied his armored Kingdom and Deer Tribe warriors under the Main God's banner and led them out to form ranks opposite the enemy.

Kudo Shigeyasu and the Kakizaki forces faced a heavily armored army led by Zuwaro, whose warriors were mistaken for ancient Jurchen invaders. After the Ishikari fighters suffered heavy losses against the enemy Spear Wall, the Wajin formation finally advanced with mounted archers circling around it.

• Kudo Shigeyasu recognized that the enemy’s disciplined bronze-armored spear troops were far more dangerous than ordinary Ezo warriors and warned Kakizaki that a direct charge would cost too many lives.
• Kudo Shigeyasu positioned the Wajin in a defensive Spear Wall and sent the Ishikari fighters to clash with the Buyo and Cold Shore warriors on the wings.
• Zuwaro surveyed the Wajin army through a Divine Eye Telescope and saw the Ishikari fighters being pushed back despite their superior equipment and morale.
• More than a dozen Ishikari braves, including the Great Bear Chieftain, died attacking the enemy spear formation, prompting the Ishikari chieftains to demand that their Wajin allies advance.
• The Wajin spear formation began advancing while ten mounted warriors circled with bows, using Yabusame tactics and frightening Horo.

Wajin Yabusame riders harassed the Kingdom’s forces and disrupted the Ainu clans fighting on the wings, while the central spear formations held their positions. Zuwaro and Lu Shetu devised a way to exploit the riders’ pause, leaving the counterattack still to come.

• Ten Yabusame riders approached the Kingdom’s spear formation and fired arrows, but the armored warriors held formation under Tami-kusa’s orders.
• Kudo Shigeyasu ordered the Kakizaki warriors to hold position while the Yabusame split into two teams and attacked the Ainu fighters on the wings.
• The Yabusame threw the Buyo Clan into disorder, wounded Buyo Nizhao, and forced his warriors to retreat beneath the stockade wall, while the Cold Shore Tribe continued fighting.
• Zuwaro refused Buyo Nizhao’s request for reinforcements and watched the battle through his golden tube, waiting for the Yabusame to tire.
• When the Yabusame stopped to rest, Zuwaro gave his archers to Lu Shetu, who proposed a plan to shoot the riders, and Zuwaro ordered him to prepare it.

Zuwaro's forces used blank fire from three crouching tiger cannons to panic the Wajin cavalry and rally the Buyo clans. With the Ishikari clans faltering and the Sanda warriors charging, Kudo Shigeyasu prepared to risk everything in a decisive fight.

• Kudo Shigeyasu spotted the Sanda spear formation appearing to loosen and ordered the Wajin cavalry to draw its warriors out.
• Zuwaro fired three crouching tiger cannons, frightening the Yabusame horses and disrupting the Wajin and Ishikari forces.
• Twenty Deer Tribe archers shot at the panicked Yabusame, killing Samurai and wounding horses.
• Sanda warriors charged the disordered Wajin as the Buyo clans rallied and counterattacked.
• The Ishikari clans began to retreat, leaving Kudo Shigeyasu and Kakizaki Mitsuhiro facing the advancing Sanda force.

Kudo Shigeyasu withdrew Kakizaki Mitsuhiro and the main force, then stayed behind with thirty warriors to cover their retreat. Zuwaro ordered the Sanda forces to capture the rearguard alive, and Buyo Kawabuchi began seeking an alliance with the victorious Chishima Tribe.

• Kudo Shigeyasu sent Kakizaki Mitsuhiro and one hundred and seventy warriors retreating toward the fortified camp beneath Mount Ezo Fuji, while he remained with thirty warriors to hold the rear.
• Kudo Shigeyasu led the rearguard to a defensible slope and ordered them to fight, using threats against their families to prevent them from fleeing.
• Tami-kusa prepared to attack the rearguard, but Zuwaro's messenger ordered him to surround them, shoot them with arrows, and take captives instead.
• The Sanda warriors killed or captured the thirty Wajin warriors, including the wounded Kudo Shigeyasu, while the rest of the Kakizaki force escaped.
• Buyo Kawabuchi asked for his daughter Qingquan to bring Kuchikamizake to Zuwaro, hoping to secure the Chishima Tribe's protection and alliance.

After the Buyo Clan defeated the Ishikari Tribe, Zuwaro planned a sacrifice and the conversion of Ainu prisoners while keeping Wajin captives to secure horses and trade. He led the first blood sacrifice in the land of the Ainu, leaving the gathered clans and prisoners to witness the kingdom’s rites.

• The Buyo Clan pursued the defeated Ishikari Tribe to the Toyohira River, then returned to bury the dead and count prisoners and spoils.
• Zuwaro heard the Buyo Clan’s songs about the underworld and decided to spread the Main God’s faith among the Ainu.
• Tami-kusa reported the casualties, prisoners, armor, and five captured horses; Zuwaro ordered him to interrogate the Wajin captives and seek information about the southern Wajin.
• Zuwaro chose to sacrifice the badly wounded prisoners, convert the remaining Ainu captives, and retain fourteen Wajin prisoners for ransom or trade.
• The next morning, Zuwaro lit the Sacred Fire, prayed to the Main God, and killed a wounded prisoner with an obsidian dagger as the first sacrifice in the land of the Ainu.

After defeating the Wajin and reclaiming territory, Zuwaro became leader of the Buyo alliance and married Buyo Baishan and Buyo Seisen. He vowed to unite the scattered Ainu tribes and restore the Rubber People, calling his wives the wings that would help him fulfill his mission.

• At a victory celebration, the tribes sang a creation myth that recast the Wajin as the ancestors who stole Ainu land and divine objects.
• Buyo Kawabuchi named Zuwaro alliance leader and offered him his daughter, Buyo Seisen, in marriage, while Buyo Nizhao reaffirmed his sister Buyo Baishan's marriage pact with him.
• Zuwaro celebrated the tribes' alliance and wedding with Chishima Shell, Buyo Baishan, and Buyo Seisen through the night.
• At dawn, Zuwaro prayed to the Main God and declared that he would gather the scattered Rubber People tribes and unite them again.
• Zuwaro called his three wives the wings that would carry him through the Ainu lands and prayed for their descendants to remain its masters.

After the Kakizaki Clan’s defeat, Kakizaki Mitsuhiro tried to salvage his political standing by blaming the loss on a supposed Sanda invasion. A Sanda envoy arrived with news that Kudo Shigeyasu and other samurai were alive, but the ransom terms demanded wealth, livestock, skilled workers, and farmers that Mitsuhiro could not accept.

• Kakizaki Mitsuhiro mourned the defeat, including the loss of thirty samurai and the capture of Kudo Shigeyasu, and feared for his inheritance and the Kakizaki Clan’s rule.
• Mitsuhiro declared that the Kakizaki Clan had been defeated by a powerful Sanda tribe, sent out warnings of a Sanda invasion, and requested reinforcements from his father.
• After three days without reinforcements or an invasion, a Sanda envoy arrived with two Ezo warriors and a Kakizaki captive, announcing that fourteen samurai had been captured.
• The returned captive told Mitsuhiro that Kudo Shigeyasu was alive, and Mitsuhiro decided that ransoming the elder was crucial to limiting the defeat’s political damage.
• The envoy gave Mitsuhiro Kudo’s ransom demands, which included ironware, rice wine, rice, livestock, poultry, craftsmen, and a hundred farmers.
• Mitsuhiro rejected the demand for skilled workers and farmers as impossible for the Kakizaki Clan to meet.

Lu Jiaohu threatened Kakizaki Mitsuhiro with an Ainu uprising and repeated raids, forcing Mitsuhiro to admit the Kakizaki Clan could not meet all the Sanda tribe’s demands. When Lu Jiaohu offered a gold amulet as a deposit and promised gold in exchange for goods, livestock, and craftsmen, Mitsuhiro was tempted to negotiate.

• Lu Jiaohu threatened that the Sanda tribe would take captives for a blood sacrifice and lead Ainu warriors south if the Wajin refused their demands.
• Kakizaki Mitsuhiro warned that he could summon the Nanbu and Ando clans and the Koga Kubo, but Lu Jiaohu said the Sanda would evade them and resume raiding after they left.
• Mitsuhiro offered some ironware, rice wine, rice, livestock, and fowl, but explained that the Kakizaki Clan could not supply all the requested goods or master craftsmen.
• Lu Jiaohu insisted that the Great Chieftain demanded everything and urged Mitsuhiro to obtain it by any means, promising tribal specialties in return.
• Lu Jiaohu gave Mitsuhiro a heavy gold amulet as a deposit, and Mitsuhiro stared at the gold as Lu Jiaohu repeated the offer to trade for the goods, livestock, and craftsmen.

Kakizaki Mitsuhiro examined the Sanda Tribe’s gold and negotiated with envoy Lu Jiaohu over ransoming captives in exchange for artisans and farmers. He pressed Lu Jiaohu for information about the tribe’s origins and gold supply as talks over the captured Kudo elder continued.

• Kinoshita Ichiro confirmed that the Gold Talisman was high-purity gold, and Kakizaki Mitsuhiro recognized its engraved glyph as a symbol meaning “god.”
• Kakizaki Mitsuhiro explained that acquiring senior artisans would be difficult and costly, while ordinary artisans and farmers would be easier to obtain.
• Lu Jiaohu offered one Gold Talisman for each senior artisan, several ordinary artisans per talisman, and one talisman for twenty-five skilled farmers, with a limit of one hundred farmers.
• Kakizaki Mitsuhiro bargained for a higher price for senior artisans, while Lu Jiaohu refused to release the captured Kudo elder before the artisans arrived.
• Kakizaki Mitsuhiro asked where the Sanda Tribe came from and whether its gold came from a mine, offering to connect the tribe with influential figures and raiding clans.

Kakizaki Mitsuhiro questioned the Sanda envoy Lu Jiaotu about the tribe’s homeland and gold, then turned his desire for trade into a plan to strengthen his clan. As Wajin reinforcements gathered and the Kakizaki Clan prepared its first formal transaction with the Sanda Tribe, the gold trade was poised to begin.

• Lu Jiaotu claimed the Sanda Tribe lived far to the north in vast snowfields and that its gold mines were hidden among its migrating tribes.
• Kakizaki Mitsuhiro abandoned thoughts of seizing the gold by force and decided to pursue trade and ransom with support from his father and Morino Kiyoshi’s fleet.
• Kakizaki Mitsuhiro entertained Lu Jiaotu for three days while the envoy pressed him to show sincerity by delivering the promised goods.
• Atsuya Masanobu arrived with twenty Samurai and two hundred peasant soldiers, and Lu Jiaotu returned north after assessing the Wajin forces.
• Atsuya Masanobu carried a Gold Talisman south to report to Takeda Nobuhiro, while messengers traveled between the northern camp and Katsuyama Castle.
• Kakizaki reinforcements and supplies reached the camp beneath Mount Ezo Fuji, where the Kakizaki Clan prepared to begin its first formal transaction with the Sanda Tribe.

Kakizaki Mitsuhiro read Takeda Nobuhiro’s instructions for the trade and recognized that his father was also directing him toward a raid on the Nishihara tribes to restore his reputation. At the first exchange with the Sanda Tribe, both sides arrived cautiously with troops, captives, people, livestock, and goods, and Kakizaki Mitsuhiro ordered the trade to proceed in guarded stages.

• Takeda Nobuhiro’s letter assured Kakizaki Mitsuhiro of his inheritance and laid out priorities for redeeming Elder Kudo and the captured Yabusame cavalry, acquiring gold, and winning military merit.
• Kakizaki Mitsuhiro concluded that his father wanted him to raid the Sumunkur Tribes in the east, and he burned the letter after reading it again.
• Kakizaki Mitsuhiro considered whether the Sanda Tribe might also want papermaking, farming, and weaving artisans, then arranged the first trade for five days later at the mouth of the Shiribetsu River.
• Zuwaro observed the Wajin party and noted its armed samurai, trade goods, horses, poultry, and water buffalo.
• Kakizaki Mitsuhiro saw the Sanda Tribe’s three ships and armed warriors, feared a possible ambush, and ordered his men to keep their distance while exchanging people and goods in batches.

Zuwaro and Kakizaki Mitsuhiro negotiated the ransom of captives and a trade for artisans, disguising their rivalry with warm, poetic talk. Zuwaro accepted four artisans after they demonstrated their crafts, then rewarded Kakizaki with four heavy gold talismans, leaving the Wajin eager for further trade.

• Zuwaro and Kakizaki Mitsuhiro exchanged poetic greetings while their armed forces faced each other across the shore.
• Kakizaki offered artisans and other goods in hopes of ransoming his clan's elder and trading for gold and local products.
• Four Wagoku artisans built an octagonal lantern, impressing Zuwaro with its craftsmanship and revealing Kakizaki's suspicion that the Sanda had no ties to nearby Asian powers.
• Zuwaro pretended the artisans were not skilled enough, then stopped Kakizaki from taking them away and agreed to take all four.
• Zuwaro placed four one-jin Main God Gold Talismans around Kakizaki's neck as payment, prompting him to eagerly anticipate more trade.

Kakizaki Mitsuhiro sold Zuwaro thirteen artisans for eight Gold Talismans, while Zuwaro recognized the value of lacquer and sought materials for silk production. The chapter ended with Kakizaki offering silkworm eggs, mulberry trees, and Joseon silk craftsmen for one hundred Gold Talismans.

• Kakizaki Mitsuhiro handed over four Gold Talismans and delivered artisans to Zuwaro's Sanda tribe.
• Urushi Haruki demonstrated lacquered leather armor, and Zuwaro asked about lacquer trees and seeds.
• Zuwaro bought the leatherworker, tailor, mason, and potters, bringing the transaction to thirteen artisans for eight Gold Talismans.
• Kakizaki and Zuwaro considered each other trusted brothers while privately recognizing their competing interests.
• Kakizaki offered to procure silkworm eggs, mulberry trees, and Joseon silk craftsmen for one hundred Gold Talismans.

Zuwaro declined Kakizaki Mitsuhiro’s offer of silkworm eggs and silk artisans, choosing instead to seek craftsmen, livestock, and shipwrights while concealing the kingdom’s strength. He paid a deposit for seagoing shipwrights, and Kakizaki asked him to release Elder Kudo and several mounted warriors in exchange for livestock and poultry.

• Zuwaro refused to spend one hundred Gold Talismans on silkworm eggs and silk artisans, explaining that the tribe urgently needed craftsmen and livestock.
• Zuwaro limited the proposed hemp-weaving trade to one Gold Talisman, payable when Kakizaki Mitsuhiro brought the craftsmen and seeds.
• Zuwaro asked whether Kakizaki could obtain shipwrights capable of building seagoing ships, and Kakizaki quoted five Gold Talismans with one as a deposit.
• Zuwaro accepted the price and had Captain of Warriors Tami-kusa hand Kakizaki a Gold Talisman as a deposit.
• Kakizaki offered twelve mares, a pair of breeding oxen, and forty pairs of poultry, then asked Zuwaro to release Elder Kudo and several mounted warriors.

Zuwaro returned Kudo Shigeyasu to the Wajin and exchanged gifts and trade proposals with Kakizaki Mitsuhiro. Kudo revealed that the Sanda claimed descent from a Sky God lineage marked by golden eagle talismans, leaving the Kakizaki leaders eager to investigate the secret.

• Zuwaro returned Kudo Shigeyasu to Kakizaki Mitsuhiro after confirming the Wajin had brought trade goods and livestock.
• Kudo told Kakizaki Mitsuhiro and Atsuya Masanobu that the Sanda leaders used Chinese writing and had asked about the Ming Dynasty and the Joseon Kingdom.
• Kudo claimed the Sanda were descendants of the Sky God and said their gold talismans bore a divine eagle emblem, but the Wajin leaders stopped him from explaining further in Zuwaro's presence.
• Zuwaro confirmed that the twelve gifted horses were breeding-age mares and gave the Wajin three more Gold Talismans as thanks.
• Kakizaki Mitsuhiro offered to broker trades of Wajin ironware and liquor for horses from western Sanda tribes, and Zuwaro concluded that the Wajin would be essential middlemen for the kingdom's westward trade.

Zuwaro and Kakizaki Mitsuhiro expanded their trade, exchanging gold for workers, livestock, and supplies. After discovering that the Wajin could provide plentiful salt, Zuwaro arranged future shipments and released the remaining Wajin captives.

• Kakizaki Mitsuhiro offered three horse keepers and two cattle herders in exchange for a Gold Talisman, and Zuwaro accepted them.
• Kakizaki Mitsuhiro revealed that more than a hundred farmers were being handed over, and Zuwaro paid four additional Gold Talismans while releasing the three captured Yabusame cavalrymen.
• Kakizaki Mitsuhiro promised to seek donkeys, sheep, pigs, mares, and water buffalo for future trades, and Zuwaro gave him a Gold Talisman as a deposit.
• Kakizaki Mitsuhiro presented ironware, rice wine, rice, and five koku of salt, and Zuwaro realized the Wajin could supply salt cheaply and in abundance.
• Zuwaro paid five Gold Talismans for the goods, ordered them loaded aboard the ship, and released all the remaining Wajin captives.

Zuwaro agreed to Kakizaki Mitsuhiro’s request to keep their gold trade exclusive and secret, while Mitsuhiro realized the deal could transform the Kakizaki Clan’s fortunes. Both sides departed that night guarding their newly acquired wealth, with Mitsuhiro planning to report the trade to his father and secure a lasting supply network.

• Kakizaki Mitsuhiro begged Zuwaro to keep the trade secret from southern Wajin clans and Temple-Shrines, and asked him to take the captives and farmers away.
• Kakizaki Mitsuhiro resolved to prevent the Matsumae Guardian from learning about the gold trade, fearing the Hiyama Ando Clan would seize control of it.
• Zuwaro accepted an exclusive trade with Kakizaki Mitsuhiro, promising not to seek out other Wajin tribes in exchange for a steady supply of goods and artisans.
• Kakizaki Mitsuhiro calculated that the transaction had earned the Kakizaki Clan twenty-four Gold Talismans, worth as much as a year’s income for the house.
• Kakizaki Mitsuhiro decided to tell his father about the trade and bring Uncle Morino Kiyoshi into the supply network.
• The Sanda and Kakizaki parties set off in opposite directions that night, each guarding its gold, captives, and goods against betrayal.

Takeda Nobuhiro rebuked Kakizaki Mitsuhiro for focusing on the gold from trade and ordered him to strengthen ties with the Ishikari Tribes through aid, training, and a marriage alliance. He left Mitsuhiro warned that the Kakizaki Clan must discover the Sanda tribe’s origins and intentions before it loses its influence in Ezo Land.

• Kakizaki Mitsuhiro presented Takeda Nobuhiro with twenty-four jin of gold from his first trade with the Sanda leader and explained that the army remained stationed near Mount Ezo Fuji.
• Kudo Shigeyasu reported that the northern forces were secure and that the Sanda armored soldiers had sailed north without threatening the allied tribes.
• Takeda Nobuhiro ordered Mitsuhiro to provide supplies to the Ishikari settlements, form a stronger alliance, and bring Ishikari youths to learn smithing and martial skills.
• Takeda Nobuhiro ordered Mitsuhiro to betroth his twelve-year-old son Takahiro to daughters of Ishikari chieftains, prompting Mitsuhiro and Kudo Shigeyasu to object.
• Takeda Nobuhiro explained that the Sanda’s wealth and alliance with the Buyo Clan threatened Kakizaki influence, then warned Mitsuhiro not to let the gold distract him from discovering the Sanda’s plans.