Eiichi and Kisaku receive their first stipend as samurai and are given new names, "Tokudayu" and "Seiichiro" by Enshiro. Tokudayu's first assignment is to conduct a covert investigation of Orita Yozo, a Satsuma clan samurai who holds a key position in the defense of the Seto Inland Sea. While there, Tokudayu meets Saigo Kichinosuke, who tells Tokudayu that "the more brilliant a person is who can read far ahead, the more likely they are to die a horrible death," and he worries about Enshiro's fate. Meanwhile, in the Mito domain, Fujita Koshiro, the son of Fujita Toko, was leading the Tengu Party in a campaign to expel the barbarians.