The Ansei Purge (安政の大獄, Ansei no taigoku) by the shogunate continues, with a crackdown on the Joui movement. Manjiro manages to get an audience with the Mito clan chief retainer Tatewaki Aijma. He clams to be a Takeki, but by quoting the Written Teachings of Koudoukan, he is accepted into the Mito clan...