This manga features violent stories of passion and swordsmanship, set in the Kan'ei era (1624-1643). It opens with a match between two damaged swordsmen. Irako is blind, and his opponent, Fujiki, is missing an arm. It has been decreed that their match will be fought with metal swords, instead of wooden, so one of these men will die. The story that led them to this final match, and gave them their handicaps, involves ambition, the selection of the heir for a dojo, and the passion of two women-- one the dojo master's daughter, and the other his lover.