Toryu's death dealt a crippling blow to all of Orient. For nearly a century the land experienced a period of peace and prosperity under his leadership. When he finally died of old age, his successors were unable to follow in his footsteps. The succeeding shoguns became corrupt, often bullying the emperor. In response, the emperor would conspire with none other than Ina's disciples. Growing tired of the incompetence of the shogunate, they decided to take matters into their own hands by governing as regents to a puppet shogun and emperor. They tried to recruit Ina to their cause, but she strongly refused. She reminded her disciples that it was their duty as the shogun's closest retainers to mold them into the example set by Toryu. Their duty was to nurture the shogunate into one that serves the people, not overthrow it for the sake of serving themselves. This clash in ideals would result in the disciples rebelling against their own master and forming their own group known as the Yako. In response, Ina herself would call upon every warrior that she could to stand up and oppose them. They became known as the Zenko.

A great civil war would break out, engulfing all of Orient in a constant state of chaos. Back and forth the two factions went with neither side gaining the upper hand. It was a seemingly endlessly stalemate that saw nothing but more bloodshed. That is until that fateful day. The Zenko forces were winning, going as far as to completely rout their enemies. The Yako would try to escape, only to be lured into Ina's trap. But that was when the Grandmaster encountered a dilemma.

On the one hand, she understood that she needs to defeat the Yako in order to liberate the land and defend the shogunate. However, she still held some affection for her disciples who she considered to be her own children. Just when the battle was nearly won, Ina realized that she just couldn't hurt them. She was forced to conjure an ancient spell, one that the gods gave to her to be used only as a last resort. This spell was the Blood Curse.

It was then that Ina gave her disciples an ultimatum. They can either surrender, be held accountable for their crimes yet be allowed a chance for redemption. Or they can choose to strike her down, triggering the curse. With this curse the Yako are doomed to die, unable to escape their fate until Ina was avenged. It was then that the Yako leader Mazuko ordered to kill Ina anyway, saying that no ordinary man was skilled enough to defeat them. With her dying breath, Ina responded to this by imbuing her essence into nine magical weapons that Sengo crafted. The weapons were then scattered all throughout the land so that Yako can never find them. Ina's chosen avatars would one day wield these weapons in what would be known as the Hunters. It was their destiny to fulfill the Blood Curse.

In order to make sure that the weapons would not fall into the wrong hands, Sengo would join forces with several of the land's greatest warriors. One of them would be the monk Tenrai, who became the founder of the brotherhood Kazan belongs to. Slowly, these warriors would recover the weapons and hide them from the Yako. For instance, the Mizuchi's naginata once belonged to Tenrai, while Tatsuya's famed katana was used by Sengo himself.

Unable to rid themselves of Ina's curse, the Yako's days were wasted on endless bickering and in-fighting. Their once steadfast alliance quickly crumbled as they played the blame game, accusing each other of incompetence. Seeing all his plans dissolve before his eyes, the Yako leader Mazuko grew disgusted and decided to abandon his companions altogether. He was never seen again. Meanwhile, the three remaining Yako parted ways. They each sought out a rising daimyo with the goal of aiding him in conquering all of Orient. That way, they can force people to hunt for the Nine Weapons without having to worry about crossing someone else's territory. Himei used her abilities to seduce the Hibiki daimyo. Tomeru on the other hand proved himself to the Jikan daimyo by using his powers to make everything slow down around him. That way he was able to best the daimyo's strongest retainers. Akuto meanwhile used threats. By threatening to annihilate the Ashikaga clan's people with hordes of yokai, he forced Higure's father King Hinode to become his puppet. The three clans spent the next few centuries waging war on each other. Each Yako didn't care if survival came at the expense of slaughtering their former allies. Nor did they care if the common folk was caught in the crossfire.

Eventually this led to the people rising up and forming rebel factions to oppose the Yako. Sengo's small band of warriors grew into a large coalition. The Yako were powerful, but the rebels had a seemingly endless supply of soldiers willing to give their lives to stand up to their oppressors. Eventually Sengo was captured by clan Yurei. After steadfastly refusing to reveal the location of the Nine Weapons, he was tortured to the brink of death. Yet Ina's fallen disciple did not even grant him that honor. Akuto would mercilessly place a curse on the blacksmith, which meant that he was never to die until Toryu's true descendant appears to reclaim his ancestor's place. In return, the Yako would mercilessly slaughter generation after generation of the Sanada clan until they were completely wiped out. Sengo had to hide his descendant Hagemi in a remote village, away from the prying eyes of the Yako. It would be this village where Hagemi would lay the foundation of his rebel army.

Captain Hagemi would rally the rebel forces, becoming a constant thorn in the side of the Yako clans as he would get in the way of their goal of total domination. What more, he had his own Hunter by the name of Tatsuya who seemed unstoppable in the battlefield. It was then that the Yako decided to use deception, which all kitsune were known for. Each Yako clan was able to acquire a Hunter, who through shrewd manipulation was able to convince their would-be killers to target their other two colleagues instead. That was how Hibiki was championed by Rai, Jikan by Mabuchi and Yurei by Higure. With Hunters forcibly leading their armies, they rebels were soon routed.

Unfortunately for Sengo, Hagemi's rebellion would result in his death. He was the last remaining Sanada relative that Sengo had left. This was the last straw for the aging blacksmith. Day after day he grew more demented and deranged. He would refuse to cut his hair nor shave his beard. He would bathe himself in the blood of soldiers he ambushed, soldiers all loyal to the Yako. He would also manage to steal Hagemi's remains and hide it in a cave of an unnamed village that he would name after his fallen descendant. To fend off thieves and anyone trying to desecrate the remains, he would dress up in demonic armor which earned him the nickname The Demon of Hagemi.

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"Why can't you just seek out the descendant?" Tatsuya asked as Sengo finished his tale. "We'll help you."

"I wish it were that simple," Sengo sighed. "But if you knew who he is, you'd understand."

"Who is he?" Tatsuya asked.

"The legendary shogun Toryu..." Sengo replied before pausing.

He then looked straight at Tatsuya with hawk-like eyes before continuing:

"... was better known as Lord Taira."

"Wait, Lord Taira?" Roka said, surprised. "Then that would mean..."

"Tatsuya is the descendant we're looking for," Sengo nodded.