A ronin tries to escape his violent past, but in the shadows of Edo, the sword that made him a killer refuses to stay sheathed.

In Edo-period Japan, the country is at peace but the samurai still carry their swords. With no wars to fight, the warrior class has nowhere to direct their urge for violence, except toward each other. Can a man trained to master the art of killing escape the fate that art demands, or is the power over life and death too strong a pull to ever truly renounce?

Seno Soichiro is a ronin trying to live quietly in Edo, but trouble always finds him. Despite trading his blade for one made of bamboo, challengers still seek him out. After taking up residence in an Edo tenement, Seno forms an unlikely bond with Kankichi, a young neighborhood boy. But a serial killer haunts the neighborhood, and Seno may be the only one who can confront what lurks in the dark.