English titles below are from the Glynne Walley translation. Chapters I-XIV make up the prologue of the story.
Inaugural Volume
Book One
After three days, a weary Yoshizane and Ujimoto have reached the border of the neighboring Awa Province, but their food has run out, Sadayuki is missing, and they can find no boat to ferry them across. When Ujimoto asks some local children for food, one sneers and throws a clod of dirt at him. Ujimoto is ready to kill the boy on the spot, but Yoshizane laughs it off, catching the clod in one hand and even thanking the boy for it. He tells Ujimoto that there's no point wasting energy getting mad at random people you'll never meet again - instead he'll behave as Duke Wen did in Zuozhan and take this gift of land as a good omen for his future.
Suddenly a storm rolls in, forcing everyone to take shelter; before it clears, the men catch a glimpse of a white dragon ascending to the heavens. Yoshizane takes this as another good omen, and gives Ujimoto a long Exposition Dump on many aspects of dragon lore (which also Foreshadows a number of the novel's future plot points). Ujimoto is moved by the depth and breadth of Yoshizane's wisdom, calling him a true Warrior Poet and someone he couldn't be prouder to serve.
Eventually the tardy Sadayuki arrives, revealing that he's secured them both food and a boat. In high spirits, the trio set off for Awa.
Two strong-bodied peasants named Bokuhei and Mukuzō grow tired of Sadakane and resolve to assassinate him, but Sadakane learns of their plot. He and Tamazusa persuade Mitsuhiro to go on a low-profile hunting trip, while spreading publicly that he plans to go on such a trip himself. He then has Mitsuhiro's horse poisoned so that it collapses soon into the trip, and loans him White Maneater as a replacement. Bokuhei and Mukuzō, lying in ambush along the route, mistake their disguised lord for Sadakane and kill him. Sadakane captures the two, using their plot as grounds to have all his enemies executed as "co-conspirators". He then formally assumes control of the region, with Tamazusa as his wife.
Sadakane sends his letter of introduction to the other two lords of Awa, who react with shock. The hot-headed Nobutoki secretly meets with Kagetsura to propose that they join forces to attack Sadakane and divide his lands between them - Kagetsura is interested, but believes that they should bide their time before acting. A messenger then arrives to announce that Satomi "Matatarou" Yoshizane and his two retainers are outside and seek an audience.
Book Two
An hour later, Yoshizane's party receive an audience, albeit under suspiciously heavy guard for such a peaceful region. Yoshizane explains that until yesterday he would have been happy to receive even the meagerest fisherman's hut, but after hearing the word on the streets he now believes that Lord Anzai may find him useful. The two lords are skeptical, seeing Yoshizane as a mere silver-tongued stripling, and eventually Ujimoto and Sadayuki grow infuriated enough to leap to his defence. When Kagetsura mocks them for embarrassing their lord by getting overcome by emotion, Yoshizane smoothly responds that the commoners of Awa are starting to get overcome by emotion too, unable to understand why such "brave warrior lineages" as the Anzai and Maro are taking no action against the obvious injustice of Sadakane's coup - they suspect that their lords' retainers no longer allow negative words to reach their ears.
As Yoshizane turns to leave, Kagetsura hastily apologises for their earlier remarks, while a furious Nobutoki blurts out their plans to attack Sadakane and begins to draw his blade. Convincing Nobutoki to leave the room for a moment, Kagetsura tells Yoshizane that he has passed their first test. The Satomi heir has shown the spirit to be a capable vassal, but he still wants assurance that he will be a loyal one who does not chafe at his orders. To this end, he will give Yoshizane a second test - the Anzai traditionally sacrifice a great carp to Hachiman before they march to war, so Yoshizane must personally fish one up and return within three days. Against his retainers' protests, Yoshizane agrees.
With Yoshizane gone, Kagetsura explains to Nobutoki that the Satomi men are too dangerous to keep on a leash, but that attacking them without just cause would only turn them into martyrs and make the people even more leery of him. Instead he will force Yoshizane to return in disgrace - for the waters of Awa have no carp.
The next dawn, Ujimoto and Sadayuki beg their lord to reconsider his promise. He admits that he doesn't have a lot of faith in the Awa lords, nor in their intent to actually follow through with attacking Sadakane's stronghold. However, if Awa falls through then he doesn't have many other places left to turn to. And since his arrival was heralded by a dragon, starting off as "the carp guy" doesn't sound so bad either.
The beggar introduces himself as Kanamari "Hachirō" Takayoshi, retainer of the late Lord Jin'yo Mitsuhiro. Five years ago, unable to speak up against his lord's descent into debauchery, he abandoned his post. He returned to find that Bokuhei and Mukuzō, two talented soldiers in the Kanamari's service, had been forced to return to their family farms after his departure, and were manipulated by Sadakane into killing Lord Jin'yo. Using skin-irritating lacquer to disguise his appearance, Takayoshi had lurked about Sadakane's fortress of Takita Castle, but never found a chance to enact his revenge. Now, however, he can see his village ("Sato mieru") - he knows that if this boat raises its sail then a strong wind will gather behind it. Yoshizane is uncertain, but Takayoshi has detailed information on the castle's defences, as well as the utmost faith in Yoshizane's talent and virtue - he is confident that between them they can build a rebellion and install Yoshizane as the new manager of the Jin'yo lands. Ujimoto laments that with Takayoshi's body covered in sores and lesions, he may have trouble getting old acquaintances to recognise him; Yoshizane suggests crab flesh as a remedy, which proves miraculously effective.
The group set off to Kominato in Nagasa, arriving late at night, and Takayoshi gathers a crowd by setting a fire near Tanjō Temple. Having suffered under Sadakane, and heard many whispers of praise for Yoshizane, the local villagers are easily won to his cause. The elders suggest that he seize the nearby Tōjō Castle as his base of operations, which Yoshizane excitedly declares that they shall do that very night.
Using a shackled Takayoshi as bait, a group of villagers lead by Sadayuki trick Tōjō Castle into opening its gates, then rush in to attack. Takayoshi in particular proves to be a ferocious warrior whose thundering voice helps swiftly cow the castle's defenders into surrender. However the castle's owner, Shietage "Kokuroku" Motoyori, manages to escape in the confusion.
Takayoshi returns a while later with Kokuroku's severed head, having figured out his escape route; he explains that his men were able to capture all of Kokuroku's guards alive, but that in the initial panic his wife and children were thrown to their deaths. Yoshizane is disquieted by this - he believes that the majority of those serving Sadakane are not evil, and so set out to capture the castle with minimal bloodshed, but Kokuroku's fate was so miserable that it seems almost like divine punishment.
After rewarding the village elders and those who distinguished themselves in battle, Yoshizane immediately leads a mounted force to attack Heguri, hoping to land another victory before news of his presence spreads to Sadakane (or the other lords of Awa, who might assist Sadakane out of spite). Starting with a mere 200 men, his force joins with a group of sympathisers en route, swelling to over a thousand. When Yoshizane pauses to leave an offering of two arrows at Shirahata Shrine - a place where the great Minamoto no Yoritomo once stopped his men to rest - the troops see two white doves fly towards Heguri, emboldening their morale.
Book Three
About a week into their siege, the attackers have yet to receive new supplies from Nagasa. Yoshizane blames himself - he refuses to inflict any more suffering on the locals by taking their food, and proposes instead breaking off the siege until he manages to properly win the Nagasa farmers' trust. Sadayuki proposes retreating at night, leaving behind a decoy group of men carrying multiple torches each. Takayoshi instead wants to press for a quick victory, by disguising some of their number as Anzai-Maro troops and tricking Sadakane into letting them inside his gates. Yoshizane, however, refuses both plans - he believes it is his duty to manage Heguri as a just ruler who never relies on deception and harms none but the guilty. Sadayuki and Takayoshi are moved by his idealism, but tell him that innocent casualties are inevitable in war and that what he seeks is likely impossible. Yoshizane simply grins and reveals his own plan - inspired by the omen at Shirahata Shrine, he will tie messages to the pigeons travelling between Takita Castle and the nearby fields, motivating the people within Sadakane's fortress to rise up against him.
Yoshizane's manifesto spreads like wildfire throughout the castle, until everyone but Donpei and Togorō seeks rebellion. Desperate to save their own hides, and hoping that Yoshizane will reward them, they attack Sadakane themselves and kill him after a short fight.
The next day, Takayoshi leads an interrogation of Donpei and Togorō, who claim that they killed Sadakane as part of a long ploy to avenge the death of Lord Jin'yo. When their lies are seen through, they start trying to shift the blame by exposing each others' crimes. With the evidence against them insurmountable, Takayoshi sentences them to death by dismemberment.
Next is Tamazusa, who listens quietly as Takayoshi delivers her charges: subverting Lord Jin'yo's governance for her own gain, and later consorting behind his back with Sadakane. Tamazusa eruditely argues that she is merely a woman tossed about like a prize between powerful men (Yoshizane being only her newest captor), and that she broke no vow to Lord Jin'yo since they were never married in the first place. She dismisses all stories about her as slander spread by those jealous of her position, pointing out that the Jin'yo had many vassals who would abandon their duties or switch masters at the drop of a hat... Takayoshi included. Angrily, Takayoshi defends his actions and tells her that the witnesses of her crimes are countless. Tamazusa breaks into beautiful tears and begs for forgiveness - from Yoshizane renowned for his mercy, and from Takayoshi her old comrade.
Yoshizane takes pity on Tamazusa and is willing to let her go free. However, Takayoshi is adamant that Sadakane's chief accomplice and co-conspirator cannot be allowed to live - especially not when Yoshizane's subjects will think that he too has fallen under her spell. Yoshizane rescinds his previous judgement and orders her beheaded. At this, Tamazusa turns scarlet with rage. She curses Takayoshi, so hungry for blood, to soon die by the blade and have his house come to ruin. And Yoshizane she rebukes as a foolish commander who treated her life as a plaything, swearing that even in death she will lead his descendants along the path of beasts and make them dogs of worldly desire.
The heads of the four criminals are mounted on pikes, where they draw spectators for some days. A messenger arrives from Tōjō Castle, bringing the head of Lord Maro whom Ujimoto's forces slew in battle, and prepares to relay the details of what took place.
Book Four
As Yoshizane curses Kagetsura's treachery, another messenger arrives to confirm that Kagetsura has withdrawn his forces to Nobutoki's former castle and absorbed the Maro territory into his own. Ujimoto offers (in the message) to attack Kagetsura immediately, an idea which Sadayuki and Takayoshi are happy to support. However, Yoshizane refuses on the grounds that this would not be a war of liberation like with Sadakane, but a war of simple personal revenge. He instructs his men to stay vigilant, but not to attack Kagetsura unless he strikes first. They are once again impressed by the Satomi heir's wisdom.
As summer comes to a close, Kagetsura sends his senior vassal Kabuto Toppei with gifts and flattery for Yoshizane, apologising for his previous behaviour. Yoshizane naturally believes none of this, but treats the message with courtesy all the same, and agrees to establish friendly relations.
Come July, on the night of Tanabata, Yoshizane gathers Sadayuki, Ujimoto and Takayoshi for a traditional Satomi tea ceremony, where he finally has a chance to show his gratitude. As thanks to the guidance of Hachiman, he has shrines to the god constructed around the castle, and issues a decree forbidding the killing of pigeons within Satomi territory. To Sadayuki and Ujimoto he gives wealth. And to Takayoshi he grants Tōjō Castle along with half the district of Nagasa. Takayoshi is flattered but refuses - saying that by avenging the death of Lord Jin'yo, Yoshizane has already given him everything he could ask for. When Yoshizane insists... without warning, Takayoshi draws his sword and stabs himself in the gut. The group panics, recognising the wound as fatal and asking Takayoshi if he's gone mad. Takayoshi explains that all his valour and loyalty in the campaign against Sadakane was born from guilt - both for abandoning his duties to Lord Jin'yo, and for personally training Lord Jin'yo's assassins into such skilled fighters. He cannot allow himself to benefit from his crimes against his old lord, but for the same reason he cannot refuse the gratitude of his new one, leaving suicide as his only way out. Shaken and deeply regretting his lapse of judgement, Yoshizane calls for Takayoshi's other reward to be brought in before it's too late.
This reward turns out to be Takayoshi's infant son, accompanied by his grandfather. Takayoshi had lived with a peasant woman named Kohagi for a while during his wanderings, but left when she became pregnant, never expecting a successful birth. With Kohagi already dead, the boy will soon be an orphan. Since the child has not been formally named, Yoshizane grants him the name of Kanamari "Daisuke" Takanori in honour of his father, also promising to grant Takayoshi's territory to the boy once he comes of age.
Takayoshi, unable to withstand the pain any longer, asks someone to come and act as his second. Yoshizane obliges, decapitating Takayoshi and ending his suffering. With everyone else weeping and consoling each other, Yoshizane is the only one one to notice the dark feminine shape that briefly flickers over Takayoshi's body as if consuming him.
Fuse is a child with beauty rivalling Princess Kaguya in the bamboo, but she cries easily and never smiles or speaks. Her parents try any number of doctors and priests to cure her ailment, but to no avail. In Anzai territory, behind an ancient shrine, stands a cave once used as a place of meditation by the legendary En no Gyōja
, and which now holds a statue of the great ascetic said to grant blessings upon pilgrims. Isarago had sent petitioners there monthly on her daughter's behalf, but by the time Fuse is three she decides they need to risk sending her there in person.
The pilgrimage is performed secretly, with a pair of Satomi retainers as Fuse's escorts. On their way back they encounter a hunched old man in the middle of the road, clutching a cane tipped with a sculpture of a dove. The man is a spiritualist who somehow knows who Fuse is and why they're travelling, so the retainers decide to tell him the rest of the story. He diagnoses Fuse's condition as the result of a curse laid by an evil spirit, but refuses to dispel it. He says that, while he won't reveal to them all the workings of fate, "ill fortune and good are like a rope interwined" - the harm brought by this spirit's wicked intent cannot break a house as virtuous as the Satomi, only temper them into something greater. Instead he gives Fuse a set of crystal prayer beads, inscribed with the Eight Confucian Virtues, as a protective charm, saying that some day she will understand. He also leaves them with a single hint to the curse's nature, saying it can be found in the child's name. Then, saying it's time for him to go back, he walks away in the direction of the shrine at impossible speed. After a few moments of stunned silence, the retainers rejoice as they realise that this man was the spirit of the legendary sage himself. Under the beads' protection, Fuse becomes able to laugh and smile, and grows up an exceptionally clever and virtuous young girl - her parents' pride and joy.
In Nagasa, a peasant named Wazahei witnesses his dog give birth - not to an entire litter, but to a single pup of exceptional strength and sturdiness - and then die to a wolf attack shortly afterward. Wazahei is unable to care for his prize pup and thinks it doomed to die, but discovers that an elderly tanuki has been travelling from Mount To to nurse it, appearing from the sky in a flash of light. The tanuki continues to visit for another month or two until the animal is grown enough to fend for itself.
Sadayuki and Ujimoto have begun taking turns managing Tōjō Castle. Sadayuki sees the now-famous dog on his way back from his year of duty, and reports it to Yoshizane. Yoshizane marvels at a tanuki that would care for its natural enemy, calling it an act of deepest compassion. Because tanuki (狸) is written by adding the "dog" particle to "village" (里), it is surely a good omen for the Satomi (里見, "village view"), so he orders the dog brought to him. The animal proves to be twice the size of a normal dog, with sharp eyes but adorable droopy ears and a curly tail, and a fine white coat mixed with black. Yoshizane purchases the animal as a pet, naming it Yatsufusa ("Eight Spots"), and the whole family quickly fall in love with him.
When Fuse is 16, harvests fail in Anzai territory. Kagetsura sends his top vassal Kabuto Toppei to request rice from Yoshizane, promising to repay it twofold next year, and also offers to adopt Fuse as his heir. Takayoshi's son Daisuke, now 20, says that Kagetsura is slime and they should take the opportunity to attack him and seize his half of Awa, but Yoshizane angrily dismisses the notion; he denies Kagetsura the adoption but happily provides the food aid. The next year, harvests fail in Satomi territory while the Anzai have a bounty of excess food, but Kagetsura refuses to repay his debt. Daisuke continually presses Yoshizane to be more aggressive and drag it out of him. Yoshizane loves Daisuke as a son, but wants him to have some achievement to his name before he grants him lordship of Tōjō Castle, so he agrees to let Daisuke lead a party to negotiate.
In Anzai territory, Daisuke is stalled by Kagetsura for many days until he realises that his men are preparing to march to war. His fleeing company are chased down by Kabuto Toppei, who calls Yoshizane an upstart and vagabond with no right to request anything from the Anzai. He claims that Kagetsura has already taken Tōjō Castle, and that his request to "adopt" Fuse was simply to put her pretty face to use as a concubine. Daisuke swears to rip Toppei's head off and bring it back to Yoshizane, and a bloody battle ensues. Daisuke's small group manages to take out thirty of Toppei's men, but the enemy's numbers are too great and they are gradually cut down until only Daisuke remains. The chapter ends with his fate left uncertain.
Book Five
Desperate, Yoshizane goes for a walk in the garden to think, accompanied by Yatsufusa. He muses on how pitiful it is that his dog will starve to death without even understanding why... but also on how even a beast with no ability to rise above its desires can have admirable qualities - namely a sense of loyalty superior to humans. Jokingly, he orders Yatsufusa to sneak into the enemy camp and kill Kagetsura, promising to reward him with a mountain of fish. When the dog turns away, Yoshizane plays along by suggesting other rewards, eventually offering Fuse's hand in marriage. At the mention of Fuse, who showers the dog with just as much affection as her father, Yatsufusa perks his ears and barks happily; Yoshizane laughs and says it's a deal. Later that night, the Satomi family and their senior vassals have a meager last meal before preparing to open the gates and launch a final suicide charge. To their shock they are met by Yatsufusa, holding Kagetsura's head in his jaws. With their general dead, the Anzai forces are left in chaos, and easily routed by the Satomi.
When news of his lord's death reaches Kabuto Toppei, he dismisses it as rumour and orders his men to keep fighting; one day, however, they find that he has slipped away in the night and decide to surrender. Soon after, the Anzai castles at Hiratate and Tateyama are overthrown by the locals, who present them to Yoshizane along with Toppei's head. Now fully united under Yoshizane's rulership, the province of Awa becomes a wonderful place, where the people lack fear or crime or even stormy weather. News of Yoshizane's deeds even reaches as far as the Shogun himself, who awards Yoshizane a courtly title and officially acknowledges him as lord of Awa. Yoshizane's one regret is that, despite sending out numerous search parties, Daisuke has yet to be found.
In the aftermath of his victory, Yoshizane grants luxurious rewards to his vassals, but most of all to Yatsufusa, who is waited on hand and foot. However, the dog refuses Yoshizane's attention each time, instead simply returning to the spot where he delivered Kagetsura's head and staring at him. When Yoshizane realises what's going on, he loses all love for his pet and starts going out of his way to avoid it. However, Yatsufusa grows increasingly stubborn and aggressive, eventually breaking into Fuse's room and pinning her down. Yoshizane attempts to kill the beast for its insolence, but Fuse begs her father to show mercy, saying that it's beneath him to punish his subjects for their loyalty like this. The workings of karma can be cruel, but it is Yoshizane's duty to maintain his moral integrity even in the most bizarre situations - otherwise he cannot prove to the people that he is any better than Kagetsura.
Unable to come up with a counterargument, Yoshizane simply laments his family's fate. He understands now why the old sage said that a hint to Fuse's curse could be found in her name - for the character 伏 can be split into 人 (person) and 犬 (dog). He also guesses that Sadakane's wife Tamazusa is the evil spirit who placed it; while he thought himself clever for calling a tanuki a "Satomi dog", the animal is also known as "jewel-face" (one alternate reading of which is tamazura). He comments on how much the situation resembles the tale of King Gaoxin and his dog Panhu, and also relates a similar fable where humans were punished for dishonouring their promises to a horse.
With teary eyes, Yoshizane agrees to honour his promise to Yatsufusa, asking only to give his family a short time to say their goodbyes.
A sobbing Isarago calls her daughter incredibly faithful but incredibly inconsiderate. Fuse affirms her decision, saying that if her misfortune is karma from a past life then even suicide would give her no escape. However, she also explains that there was something which tipped her hand. The moment Yatsufusa killed Kagetsura, the characters within her prayer beads changed - no longer the Eight Confucian Virtues, they now spell out the Buddhist aphorism "Even thus can a beast conceive a heart to know truth". Yoshizane takes this as reassurance from En no Gyōja that even lead by a dog, Fuse will be able to reach the atonement she seeks. He also mentions that, before things went awry, he had planned to marry Fuse to Daisuke.
Fuse goes outside to where Yatsufusa is waiting, taking with her only a copy of the Lotus Sutra, some writing materials... and a dagger. She makes it clear to the dog that she will accompany him wherever he goes but no more than that - if he forgets his station and tries to make a move on her, then she'll kill him and then herself. Yatsufusa howls in agreement, and then the two set off in the direction of Mount To, Yatsufusa carrying Fuse on his back.
At Yoshizane's orders, Terutake leads a squad to shadow Fuse. However, they struggle to keep up with Yatsufusa's speed and agility; chasing the dog up the treacherous slopes of Mount To, even Terutake himself falls into a river to his death. Yoshizane then declares Mount To officially off-limits to all citizens. One year passes; during this time Isarago sends more scouts in secret, but they never dare cross the river and the walls of mist surrounding it.
Daisuke's fate is revealed: he escaped from Toppei's ambush, but found both Satomi strongholds already under siege. He then travelled to Kamakura to request reinforcements, but was turned away. Humiliated, he hid himself away with relatives in Kazusa. Now, learning of Fuse's miserable fate, he decides that slaying a foul beast and rescuing a princess will be the perfect way to redeem himself. Searching Mount To by himself, he eventually comes to the misty river, where hears a faint female voice reciting a sutra...
Second Volume
Book One
Isarago claims that she would rather die than be separated from Fuse any longer, and chastises Yoshizane as a terrible father for making it so hard to learn if Fuse is even still alive. Yoshizane says that he has been trying to remain strong and undistracted for his peoples' sake, but admits that this may not have been the correct decision, and agrees to send a party to check up on her. He then discreetly consults with his son Yoshinari, saying that the shadow of Terutake's death looms over this mission; he needs to send a similarly brave and stalwart man lest he return without results, but he cannot afford to place such a valuable subordinate's life at risk. Yoshinari offers to look for his sister himself, but Yoshizane is hesitant and wants to spend more time thinking it over.
That night Yoshizane dreams of standing before the river at Mount To, where an ancient man points him to a hidden path that will allow him to cross safely. Come afternoon of the next day Sadayuki arrives, claiming that an old man appeared at Tōjō Castle and delivered him an urgent summons to accompany Yoshizane on his secret expedition up Mount To. However, when Sadayuki shows the official letter the man used as proof, he finds that its contents have vanished; in its place are the words "Even thus can a beast conceive a heart to know truth". Confirming that this man's description matches the person he saw in his dream, Yoshizane concludes that En no Gyōja himself is lending them his assistance and reassurance once more.
The next day Yoshizane and Sadayuki gather a small, trustworthy company to escort them to the foot of Mount To. The two men then scale the twisted, overgrown path, finally arriving at the far side of the river.
As autumn turned to winter and then to spring, Fuse's body grew thin and her clothes ragged, but her brilliance remained unmarred. And then one day, as she ventured to a spring, she saw herself in the water's surface and fell back with a scream - for her reflection had the head of a dog. The vision faded as soon as she looked again, but she was left with an uncomfortable feeling which refused to fade days and even months later. Soon she realised that her periods had stopped, and by the time autumn had come once more her belly was starting to swell. She distracted herself from her strange affliction by thinking of how her parents must be suffering too, and how she was doing all this for their sakes.
On a day when Yatsufusa is late to return, Fuse comes across an elfin young lad gathering herbs - apprentice of a centuries-old fortuneteller and medicine-peddler who dwells sometimes at the mountain and sometimes at Susaki.note After the boy gives Fuse news of recent events, Fuse tells him her symptoms and asks if he can diagnose her sickness. When he tells her it's called pregnancy she bursts into laughter... and the boy coldly laughs back, elaborating that Yatsufusa is the father. They have submitted to each other while accepting their partner's boundaries, and come to regard each other as equals; Yatsufusa takes sincere joy in his wife's presence, and Fuse in turn feels compassion towards him - all the groundwork for a couple to receive a child. And since ill fortune and good are like a rope intertwined, Fuse has managed to purify the grudge of the lascivious Tamazusa into a force of chastity and virtue without sapping any of its potency; what was once a curse of canine rape has been distorted into a miraculous contactless pregnancy. Eight children now dwell in her womb, mirroring their father's namesake and the eight volumes of the Lotus Sutra - not bringers of ruin to the Satomi, but prodigies with the potential worth of ten thousand men.
The boy guesses that Fuse will give birth within the month, and foresees that it will be in the presence of her father and her husband; however, as beings created from an "intermingling of nothingess" her children will be born without form and then born again. He then crosses the stream and vanishes into the mist.
Book Two
Fuse resolves to do something she should have done long ago: she prepares a letter for her family, after which she will kill herself by jumping into the river. Yatsufusa's enthusiastic greeting as she returns to the cave disgusts her, but she hesitates when she looks at her prayer beads and sees that they have changed once again - the message "Even thus can a beast conceive a heart to know truth" has vanished, and their original markings of the Eight Virtues have returned. She ponders Yatsufusa's fate, and the acts of nobility he has shown by protecting her father and caring for her health; the remainder of his life as a dog with an awakened heart will likely be a pathetic one, but if he dies now with his faith strong and fresh then he might be reborn as a human. She tells Yatsufusa that she will read through the sutras once more, and then he may choose to join her in death. His emotional reactions as she explains herself confirm that the dog is now a harmless soul completely free of Tamazusa's evil.
Fuse takes out chapter twelve of the Lotus Sutra and begins reading in a strong voice the tale of the first woman to achieve Buddhahood - one who despite her unclean nature had reached enlightenment at the mere age of eight, scarcely any older than Yatsufusa himself. As she finishes, Yatsufusa turns to head for the river... and there is a sudden bang as a musket shot pierces his throat.
The veil of mist begins to clear as a young hunter wades across the river, crouching over Yatsufusa and angrily pumping bullet after bullet into his flailing body until it has been shredded into lifeless chunks of meat. Then he turns to find Fuse, and to his shock realises that his initial double-loaded shot struck her as well. The hunter, who is in fact Daisuke, panickedly attempts to treat her wound, but to no avail. In regret he draws his sword to end his own life, but is interrupted by the twang of an arrow grazing his arm. He turns around to see the approaching Yoshizane and Sadayuki, who order him to cease. Yoshizane reads through Fuse's last testament, then sits down with a sigh and asks Daisuke to explain himself.
In the end, Yoshizane does not blame Daisuke for killing Fuse when it was in line with her own wishes, and in any case he considers everything both Fuse and Daisuke have gone through to be payback for his own lapses in judgement surrounding Tamazusa and her reincarnation. He reveals to Daisuke that he had originally intended to grant him Fuse's hand in marriage, making him likely the "husband" the divine child spoke of. Then, noticing that Fuse's wound is oddly shallow, a thought occurs to him - he places his daughter's protective beads back around her neck, and with a gasp she returns to life.
The three men beseech Fuse to return home but she cowers from them, considering herself too tainted to return to a normal life. Further she cannot accept Daisuke as her husband - if he held that status all along then she has been grotesquely unfaithful, and he takes it only now then it will mean marrying her partner's murderer. Even knowing her powerlessness before fate, she declares that she will dispel the world's doubts and her own confusion by exposing the truth of the seed within her - grabbing her dagger, she slits open her belly. White mist gushes out from the wound and wraps around her necklace, which rises into the air - the eight large Virtue beads then begin to glow, snapping off and dancing about each other in complex patterns, before finally scattering to the winds like shooting stars.
Fuse marvels at the lights in relief, and then her lifeless body falls to the ground - her soul finally at peace.
Daisuke accepts, bitterly commmenting that if even beasts can enter into the Buddha's truth then he can hardly call himself incapable. He shall travel the length and breadth of Japan making pilgrimages for Fuse's soul and the safety of the Satomi family, and his monastic name shall be 丶大 (Chudai) - derived from the "Dai" of "Daisuke" and a splitting of 犬 (dog) - fitting for one who was dwarfed by a dog in greatness. Yoshizane commends him but notes that Yatsufusa's name was also prophetic in a sense, for when one similarly breaks apart 八房 it can be read as 八一尸方 (one corpse eight directions). Telling Daisuke that there is some purpose yet unknown in the supernatural event they witnessed, he hands him the string of 100 small beads left behind; Daisuke promises that he will keep the necklace safe, and not return to Awa until he has found the beads of all eight virtues and fully reassembled it.
With it growing dark, Daisuke and Sadayuki consider it dangerous to stay on the mountain and offer to help carry Fuse's body; Yoshizane however refuses, mocking them as less manly than his daughter for their unwillingness to endure what she has gone through every night. Two palanquins and their escorts then arrive in succession, each carrying one of Isarago's maids: the first explains that she was sent by a delirious Isarago to bring Yoshizane back before he could climb the "haunted mountain", and the second reveals that Isarago passed away shortly after her colleague left.
The next day Yoshizane lifts the ban on entering Mount To, and a funeral is held for both Fuse and Yatsufusa. Fuse's cave is converted into a tomb which would become known as the Grave of the Valiant Virgin, and Yatsufusa's remains are buried under a tree to her northwest (the direction of the dog). At Takita another funeral is held for Isarago, and at the shrine of En no Gyōja a road and bridge are constructed for the aid of pilgrims. Daisuke, now the monk Chudai, remains on Mount To reading Fuse's copy of the Lotus Sutra for forty days; on the 49th day Yoshizane summons him to take part in a memorial service, but finds that he has already left Awa.
One year after Fuse's death, Yoshizane has a shrine to the mother goddess Kannon constructed on Mount To, containing a memorial to Fuse and Yatsufusa along with her last testament. While Chudai's well-being continued to weigh on his mind, they would not meet again for many years to come.
Book Three
- Chapter XV: Bansaku exacts vengeance at Kinren Temple; Tatsuka detains a traveler at Nenge Hermitage
- Chapter XVI: Under bare blade, phoenix and luan bind their fates together; In the chapel of the heavenly maiden, a couple prays for a child
Book Four
- Chapter XVII: Girding himself with jealous hatred, Hikiroku takes in a stray; Steeling himself with filial piety, Shino performs ablutions under a waterfall
- Chapter XVIII: Kijirou lays down his life on the banks of the River Hi; Yoshirou suffers a wound in the house of the village headman
Book Five
- Chapter XIX: Kamezasa coaxes Nukasuke with a nefarious scheme; Bansaku entrusts his orphan to a far-sighted plan
- Chapter XX: A pair of gem-children make a pact with righteousness; A youth only three feet high speaks of his aspirations
