Otori Takeo and Kaede are now the prosperous rulers of the Three Countries. Shigeko, their eldest daughter and heiress, will inherit the domain of Maruyama when she comes of age, and the Three Countries upon Takeo's death. Their younger daughters Maya and Miki are seen as cursed, due to superstitions concerning twins and their formidable Tribe talents. Although shunned by many, including their mother, they are loved by Takeo and Shigeko. Takeo's only fear is the prophecy concerning his death: he can only be killed by his son. His first, illegitimate son, Hisao (by Yuki) has been raised by the exiled Kikuta family, to one day be used to assassinate Takeo. Kaede soon becomes pregnant with Takeo's second son.

A new threat to Takeo has appeared. Takeo's vassal Arai Zenko and his wife Hana (Kaede's sister) have approached Saga Hideki, a warlord who has conquered most of the Eight Islands under the Emperor's mandate. Saga requests that Takeo submit himself to the Emperor and abdicate; Takeo and Kaede's son is born just before his departure for Miyako, the Imperial capital. Meanwhile, Muto Kenji, at the end of his years, attempts in vain to negotiate with Akio (the Kikuta Master) to see his grandson, Hisao. As Kenji attempts to flee with him he realizes Hisao is a ghostmaster, capable of communicating with the souls of the dead. The soul of his mother, Yuki, is haunting him. Unable to escape Akio, Kenji commits suicide. His death divides the Muto family's loyalty between Kenji's niece Shizuka (the mother of Zenko and Taku, loyal to Takeo) and Zenko, who secretly shelters Akio and Hisao in his capital of Kumamoto despite publicly submitting to Takeo. Zenko has also converted to Christianity in order to gain military support from Portuguese missionaries who Takeo has restricted to the port of Hofu.

Maya, whose Tribe talents are rather volatile, absorbs the spirit of a cat and struggles to control it, becoming increasingly erratic and dangerous. She and Miki are separated, and Maya is trained under Taku and his lover, Sada. Taku and Sada are killed on Zenko's orders by Akio and Hisao, who capture Maya near Hofu. Hisao, who exercises some control over Maya's cat spirit, is finally able to communicate with Yuki's spirit, but rejects her pleas to spare Takeo's life. Maya escapes aided by Miki, and they attempt to return to Hagi (the Otori capital) to reveal Zenko's treachery. Yuki's spirit aides them along their journey.