1608 (Keichou 13) was the year Tokugawa Ieyasu won the Battle of Sekigahara. Under Ieyasu's reign the Uesugis had their vast 1,200,000 koku holdings in Aizu drastically curtailed to 300,000 koku in Yonezawa, Dewa Province. Many vassals give up on the future and leave the Uesugis. In the midst of this, Maeda Keiji continues to remain in Yonezawa and chooses to live with people trying to cope with difficult times. Over 60, he lives in a shabby, secluded hut and contemplates the "right time". On the other hand, his son, Shinkuro, objects to him being fond of drinking and absorbed in cultural pursuits such as poetry, painting and calligraphy, and nothing like the brave general he is famed to be with the rumours of the Tokugawa plotting the demise of the Uesugis. However, Keiji "performs" when it comes to the crunch. Although he has considered retirement, he is willing to sacrifice himself in order to protect the Uesugis. Shinkuro is gradually fascinated by his magnanimity and his way of life. Keiji is in no hurry to hand over the reins of the family to Shinkuro. Furthermore, Keiji's daughter, Sano, comes from the Maedas of Kaga to bring her father back and both Shinkuro and Sano are shocked to learn of the existence of a sibling for the first time. In the midst of this, Kitagawa Jiemon a wandering samurai who once fought with Keiji, challenges him to a duel.