spoiler
The Kishuu village is decimated by the Ten Crucifix Insects of Sanada and the villagers are killed. The corpses are piled up and a bloody beacon is sent into the sky. Back in Edo, Yoshimune receives a report on the Insect-man that attacked the city and how Jinbei destroyed it, but the officials are still critical of the City Patrol. When they learn that the Insect-man, Sarutobi Sasuke, was a retainer of Sanada, who supposed died a century ago, the superstitious men think they are fighting spirits!
Yoshimune has heard enough from these foolish men and reminds them that they have the Insect Magistrate. Kuroageha is also present at this meeting, and makes the silly ministers happy by telling them that she will take care of things. Yoshimune apologizes to her later for involving her in his lie to the ministers, since he knows that she is now powerless, but Kuroageha is still willing to sacrifice herself to protect Edo. Yoshimune is impressed by this small girl, who has given up everything.
There is a commotion outside with the officials and Nagatomimaru. He is demanding to be told what was said at the meeting, saying that he needs to tell Jinbei. The Insect Magistrate asks who that is and Yoshimune tells her that it’s his son, Ieshige, and he asks if she knows this Jinbei that he’s yelling about. The Shogun is surprised by the pleasant look on Kuroageha’s face when he says Jinbei’s name. She asks permission to speak with Ieshige.
Kuroageha is taken to Ieshige’s room, which is a typical boy’s cluttered room – “no girls allowed”. LOL I liked that little doll of Jinbei too and there are also many other depictions of Jinbei as well. Ieshige is flattered that the Insect Magistrate has come to visit him and is pleased to share his knowledge with her. But he’s also secretly disturbed that this girl has come to “steal” his knowledge and decides to collect her knowledge instead – all for Jinbei, of course! However, Ieshige soon finds out that Kuroageha is only there to question his relationship with Jinbei. She mentions rank and position and wonders how they can meet. Kuroageha discovers that Ieshige must have lied about who he is in order to associate with Jinbei. She also concludes that if one lies about their status, they can still have a relationship with someone of lower rank.
Hearing that, Ieshige realizes that they are in the same boat and takes her to a telescope that is trained on the Magistrate’s Office. Now that they are comrades of a sort, he confides that he watches Jinbei every day and Kuroageha just can’t believe that this guy is going to be the next Shogun! Ieshige gets upset when he watches Oharu fall on top of Jinbei and he gets a face full of her chest! Koikawa is jealous. Jinbei is there with his team to tell them about his vacation and wants to hear what the others did as well. Hibachi went to train in the ninja village and worked on new explosives. Koikawa hunted bandits in the area, and Tenma says that his is a secret. Hearing their stories, Jinbei decides to work harder as well. And of course Genjuurou has been there the whole time, listening.
Genjuurou also knows things about the team and would love to fight them all someday. He also discovers why Jinbei comes to this tea shop and asks Oharu if she’d like to marry his son! LOL He actually ends up begging her to marry Jinbei. As Oharu falters for a way to answer Genjuurou, Hibachi isn’t taking it all that well. And Kuroageha is watching all this through the telescope and isn’t too happy either! Genjuurou tells everyone that he had met his wife, Kanae, in Edo too. Oharu is eager to hear the story, but Jinbei seems surprised, and realizes how little he knows of his own mother.
Genjuurou tells Jinbei that Kanae was also a sword fighter and had a huge chest. The others think that Oharu’s chest may have made Genjuurou suddenly think of his wife. But Genjuurou continues with his story, telling how he met his wife in Edo, while they were both sword training. They had heard the rumors about one another and finally meet. They spar and next, they get married. Looks like Genjuurou skipped a lot of that story! LOL But Genjuurou still has his memories and it seems that first battle between them destroyed much of Edo as they tried to determine which of them was the stronger fighter. But both were impressed with the other’s skills too. Their battle lasted a long time, and neither one of them had so much fun fighting before. As they fight, Kanae decides that their son’s name will be Jinbei and that they will both train him to be a strong fighter.
Everyone is impressed by the story, but Koikawa wants to know who won the battle. Genjuurou tells him that the fight continued for another year, but never ended. Not only did Genjuurou propose during their fight, but apparently Jinbei was also born during that same fight. Perhaps that is partly why Jinbei is such a good swordsman! LOL But the story fires up Jinbei again, who now wants to be as strong as his mother and father. Still watching through the telescope, Kuroageha now asks Ieshige for a favor. She asks him where his father would hide a treasure and Ieshige thinks she’s “after the Tokugawa’s buried treasure, said to be hidden in the Akagi Mountains”. Way to keep a secret, Ieshige!
However, Kuroageha isn’t really interested in treasure; she’s seeking a legend about the insects. Ieshige thinks he knows what she’s talking about and shows her a scroll that he memorized from the Insect Magistrate’s library. It’s that map! Western Japan is crossed off with a big black X and the sign of the insect is written all over it. But east of Kishuu, the map is clear. Ieshige tells Kuroageha that Kishuu is their line of defense against the insects. He still doesn’t know that Kishuu has been destroyed, and continues to tell her that his father would put any treasure he had furthest from the advancing insects. He points to the land of Ezo on the map and tells her that the treasure would be there.
More good news – Sarutobi Saskue’s body has disappeared. That night, it’s reported to the Shogun that someone has stolen the body and the Shogun wonders if this may have been done by other Insect-men. I have a feeling that this bug really isn’t dead either. And he isn’t! A man walks along a moonlit path, carrying the pieces of the body on his back and Sarutobi’s head in his hand. The head says that it underestimated the enemy, but is safe now. The man turns out to be another Insect-man, Kirigakure Saizou, but he didn’t save Sarutobi for the sake of saving him. He saved him to prevent Sarutobi from being examined, which would give their enemy too much information about the Insect-men. Saizou now crushes Sarutobi’s head and disposes of that and what is left of the body, so he can hurry to Kishuu and Sanada.
Kuroageha confronts Yoshimune. She thinks she has a way to get her powers back, and mentioning Kishuu, wants Yoshimune to tell her everything he knows. He seems really worried too. Their talk concludes with Kuroageha confirming that she must visit a well to regain her power. Why didn’t he tell her sooner? She decides to leave at once, but is told that it’s a dangerous trip and Oooka Echizen no Kamitadasuke offers to accompany her as a bodyguard on her secret journey. He may be trusted by Yoshimune, but I’m not sure yet that I would trust him. Thankfully, she also chooses Jinbei to go with her.
Kotori tells Jinbei to wait at a roadside tea shop for someone, but Jinbei isn’t sure who he’s waiting for and worries that he’s in the wrong place. But he hears a voice telling him that she’s already there, and when he turns, he’s surprised to see the Insect Magistrate’s servant at the shop. She tells him that they are going to Kishuu!
