Hiro-matsu receives Toranaga’s sealed dispatch confirming submission and orders to hold the Kwanto passes. Mariko recounts Yokosé, including Blackthorne’s rescues and value. Troubled by Toranaga’s choice and his son’s failings, Hiro-matsu recalls his clash with Zataki. He decides to disobey Toranaga, co-opt Sudara and Genjiko, trigger Crimson Sky after the rains, and hold Toranaga secure in Yedo.

In Mishima, Gyoko returns to her teahouse, audits profits, expands her enterprise, and maneuvers courtesan contracts. She stonewalls Omi over Kiku, assigns Akiko to blunt his rage, and indulges her young lover, Inari. Weighing leverage, she tallies volatile secrets—hidden arms in Anjiro, a new musket regiment, Omi’s plot against Yabu, Zataki’s whispers of Ochiba—and considers how best to profit before scandals explode.

Aboard the Santa Filipa off Nimazu, Alvito and Rodrigues discuss Toranaga’s surrender, Blackthorne’s elevation to hatamoto, and the danger if Blackthorne reaches Erasmus. Alvito sends carrier pigeons and plans to reach Yedo by road, tasking Rodrigues to carry dispatches. Rodrigues restrains a restless crew after a recent riot, confesses he once tried to kill Blackthorne at sea, and decides to warn Blackthorne that, if armed, they must be enemies.

At the Inn of the Camellias, Blackthorne and Mariko enjoy privacy and intimacy. Rodrigues arrives heavily armed and attempts entry; Yoshinaka enforces disarmament and, on Mariko’s instruction, a thorough search reveals hidden blades and pistols. Blackthorne tests Rodrigues’s brandy for poison and they speak candidly: Rodrigues apologizes for the earlier attempt on his life, but both affirm they will fight if they meet at sea. After Rodrigues departs, Mariko and Blackthorne reflect on trust and the necessity of the precautions she ordered.