Furuta Sasuke, a 34-year-old vassal of Oda Nobunaga, is sent on a diplomatic mission to Shigisan Castle to negotiate with Matsunaga Hisahide, a general who betrayed Nobunaga and allied with the Mori Clan and Ikko-ikki. Nobunaga instructs Sasuke to offer Hisahide a pardon for the betrayal in exchange for the Hiragumo teakettle, a highly-prized and artistic piece. October 1577 is the date of the siege. On the day of the negotiations, Hisahide refuses to surrender, instead filling the teakettle with gunpowder and strapping it to his chest...