The Edo era is coming to an end. For now the borders of Japan remain solid, but the shogunate"s power is faltering and "black ships" loom on the horizon. The crisis is already near – there are many landless samurai in the country, with nothing to do or eat, and they desperately want money and fights. And so a ronin named Akitsu Masanoseke arrives in the capital looking for work, unique in that he is an excellent swordsman, well‑mannered, yet pathologically shy and insecure. Who needs a warrior who only apologizes to ruffians without raising his eyes? Akitsu could have died of hunger if not for meeting a strange boy named Yaiti, who looks like a playboy and a hangover, who suddenly offered him a job as a bodyguard. Even a brief acquaintance showed Masanoseke that his new patron is a bandit and extortionist, the leader of the "Five Leaves" gang. The poor ronin earned more in one fight than he would in a year, proving his "professional suitability" and learning a little more about the real world. And although all instincts urged the honest samurai to part with the criminal "partner" as soon as possible, it was already too late. The romance of the "noble bandits" seized Akitsu and cut off his way back, and a new companion joined the "Five Leaves." He is neither the first nor the last.
Manglobe Inc. Japan