1 Prologue

During the Edo Period of Japan, there existed one clan with the potential to change the entire nation.

However, the Uesugi clan could no longer continue on in its current state.

Sakamoto Uesugi, the clan leader, created a caste system within the ranks of his clan.

Those who were the lowest ranking were poor merchants, treated like filth, and were worked nearly to death from dawn to dusk.

Those who were fortunate enough to be ranked in the middle-class were able to work as paid soldiers, and did the bidding of the upper-class in order to survive.

The middle-class was treated with respect by those below them, but in the eyes of the upper-class, they were no better than the dirt beneath their feet.

As tensions rose the two lower-classes broke away from each other to form their own separate clans.

The middle-class was reborn as the Akamatsu clan, while the lower-class would establish itself as the Yukimura clan.

Among the clans, there were three young boys who were each destined to lead their people, although the way in which each child would rise to power would turn out to be drastically different.

The firstborn son of the Uesugi clan, Takeshi, knew nothing but the finest luxuries in life from the moment he was born.

He looked down upon those below him and was raised to believe that those who were not within his clan were inferior trash.

Raijin Akamatsu was the second son to a commonplace middle-class household; however, unlike anyone else amongst the three clans Raijin completely opposed the idea of violence.

From a very young age, he was known for his charismatic spirit, as well as his ability to negotiate and understand others.

Tetsuya Yukimura, an orphan whose parents passed away shortly after his birth, was a child who had known nothing but sorrows his entire life.

His clan saw him as nothing but an annoyance, and another mouth to feed.

At the young age of 5 years old, Tetsuya had already grown cold to the world and was determined to rise to power at any cost.

These three children had no idea at the time, but their fates were intertwined.

The three clans would soon be thrown into a state of chaos that had never before been witnessed.

[END OF PROLOGUE]