Lord Shigeru, heir to the Otori clan, faces hostility from the ambitious Iida family. His training as a warrior has prepared him for leadership, but fate and Shigeru's youthful determination bring the Three Countries to war, and he must endure defeat at the battle of Yaegahara and its brutal consequences.
Shigeru waits for the moment when he can win back the Middle Country and be with the woman he loves, the Lady Maruyama. But his life is under constant threat. He has friends among the assassins of the Tribe who will not only protect him but will reveal the existence of a boy in a remote mountain village. A boy who is of the sect known as the Hidden, who might prove to be 'the unexpected move that opens up the whole game'. So begin the Tales of the Otori ...
