Having disguised himself as a dancing girl, Keno draws ever closer to avenging his father. But when the dark shadows of Taigyuro are drenched in blood, evil spirits unsheathe their malicious fangs...

The time for the final battle has come at last. Will they savour victory...or suffer defeat? And what strange fate awaits the eight dog warriors after their fight?

Sosuke becomes an assassin after being ordered by Kamezasa to kill Shino. The two warriors, however, soon realize the extent to which fate has connected them, and make a pledge of brotherhood. As for Hamaji, she learns that her hand in marriage has been promised to the jindai, Higami Kyuroku. Deeply in love with Shino and despondent over this news, Hamaji decides to kill herself, but is saved at the last minute by Samojiro Aboshi, who later reveals to her his true nature as an evil sorcerer and sets upon Hamaji himself. Hamaji's subsequent rescuer turns out to be her long lost brother, Dosetsu Inuyama, from whom she was separated at birth.

One day, in the town of Gyotoku, in the province of Shimousa, an innkeeper named Kobungo Inuta rescues two men while fishing on the Tone river. The men turn out to be Shino and Genpachi, who had been adrift since falling into the river from Horyu Tower. Kobungo's brother-in-law Fusahachi, however, recognizes the two as fugitives, and alerts the authorities. During the heat of an intense battle, Fusahachi mistakenly kills his wife, Nui, and in his moment of shock, he is struck down by Kobungo. But all that remain are the carcasses of two dogs...