The Ordeal of the Sword Heroes, Volume 2

After a village battle scatters allies and enemies, Hakama Hirotarō finds that survival has brought him no peace. Lost loves, rival loyalties, and hidden identities draw him onward while ambitious men pursue the secret of two coveted scrolls.

The quest moves from Edo’s gardens to a woodland mound, an extraordinary cavern, and a mountain settlement of woodturners. Scheming ascetics and military adventurers offer rival accounts of a treasure great enough to transform the country, while the consequences of the Shimabara rebellion reach into the present.

Kunieda Shirō (1887–1943) blends swordplay, broad comedy, religious polemic, romantic intrigue, and sudden revelations in this adventure first serialized in 1926. Its changing viewpoints expose the desires that drive both the powerful and the dispossessed.