It all began when Lord Jibu, the eccentric old minister -Bugyō (奉行)- of a thousand battles, agreed to recall his heroism at the age of 18 wearing the uma-jirushi from the battlefield, but was interrupted to help the young Heishiro, who works for the pipsqueak Zusho Kato, a high-ranking official in the current government and a scoundrel with whom the old Jibu has had a grudge against for more than 15 years.

Lord Jibu helps the young man in the fight inside the castle, and the young man shows his interest in his daughter Yoshie. He also explains the ambition of Lord Ukyo Shinoi, a hanshi (government assistant) who has been secretly extracting gold and metals from Mount Iba for three years. Lord Jibu rejects the young man for working for the greedy scoundrel Zusho Kato, who serves as a Jiseki-garo (assistant government advisor) and is a rival of Shinoi. Heishiro asks him to support them against Shinoi. The eccentric old man obviously refuses because a long time ago (although he does not tell the young man), he was betrayed by Kato when they were fellow warriors, and Kato allowed the abuse of a young girl whom Jibu found wounded in an old building. Kato used his position to get away with it, and the honorable eccentric never forgave him.

When Kato visits Lord Jibu to convince him to go against Shinoi, Jibu reminds him that he, Jibu, is only a minister of 110 kokus (according to Beashley, W.G., this is a poor measure because 1 kako is approximately equal to 181.80 liters of rice, enough to feed one person for a year). Beashley points out that even the fudai, or minor vassals, controlled territories of 200,000 kokus, so Lord Jibu barely earns enough to feed himself, his wife, and his daughter. Jibu made him see that he is only a minister of 110 kokus and Kato is a karo, that is, a high-ranking samurai.

Kato leaves, but during the night Lord Jibu saves Saku, Heishiro’s sister. Shinoi’s men had locked her up to prostitute her, and for that simple reason, Lord Jibu rescues her and carries her on his back, carrying her house.

He then enters Shinoi’s palace and brutally slashes him. As expected, Shinoi’s men seek revenge, and Kato does not intervene.

This is how Heishiro realizes what kind of person his boss is and decides to support the eccentric man because he considers himself part of the family, being in love with his daughter Yoshie. In the end, Lord Jibu planned to escape, but not only Heishiro but also a handful of his subordinates defended him and never allowed the enemies to reach the eccentric man. His wife Shige did not abandon him either and claims that she has become just as eccentric as he is. In the end, the story is light, but it was nice to see an old man defend his values, even knowing that he could never win against the odds.