The chapter opens with a soliloquy by Fudo, in which he tells us that he was born at dawn, and that his mother and father were the only people who welcomed him into their "powerful embrace" . Fudo says that he is beginning to realize that his love for his mother does not really exist. He says that she is not human, and yet she herself does not know what it is like to be human. He tells her that she has made the choice to kill the shinnosuke because she knows that it will cost them their "pound of flesh" , and she is aware of what that means. The shogun meets secretly with a Dokutsu emissary to discuss the "devastating consequences" of the killing of the Toriyamas. He tries to do everything he can to prevent the spread of the shinobi plague, but he is afraid that the man who claimed to have cured the Toriyama clan may be one of them, and it would be foolish to marry her. The emperor has promised the Toras that they will join his troops and form a great empire under his banner, but they are still from the same "line" as he is, and they will not be able to separate.