Lady Ochiba returns to Osaka in order to accelerate the Regents' campaign against Toranaga. In Ajiro, Toranaga tests Mariko's loyalty to his cause.

Outplayed by new alliances in Osaka, Toranaga is forced to carve out a new deal with a long lost family member.

Toranaga's defeated clan moves to Edo and awaits their fate. Blackthorne must decide who he fights for - the lord who has turned his back on him, or the ambition that brought him to Japan in the first place.