Rin encounters a ronin carrying a severed head who only says he is from the Shingyoto-ryu, Ibane School, and to be beware. At the Ohara tea stop, Rin sees a wanted poster for her and Manji. Rin asks the Nakamaya couple living near the Kobotoke gate to help her pass as a member of their family. They refuse and tell her the story of a desperate prostitute they helped three years earlier who was caught and beheaded. Nevertheless, she convinces them to help her, and Nakamaya takes her to the gate...