The Hunt for Ugetsu

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Makoto has tidings regarding Ugetsu's whereabouts.

— In-game description

Steps

A thorough search of Shiden's quarters has turned up missives revealing the location of the insurgent base in Yanxia. With his hold over the Sekiseigumi greatly weakened, it is believed that Ugetsu will either await your coming or bring the fight to Kugane. While Captain Kongo holds fort, he bids you and Makoto journey to the mainland to hunt down the insurgent leader. Your first stop is Namai, a farming village situated amidst the Gensui Chain.

Arriving in Namai, Makoto briefs you on her plan. While she goes on ahead to scout the ruin serving as Ugetsu's hideout, she bids you scour the area for his cohorts and deal with them as necessary.

As you survey a stretch of the Glittering Basin, you encounter an insurgent and dispatch him before he is able to raise the alarm. Keeping low and quiet, you continue on in search of other enemies.

You come upon more insurgents and silence them swiftly. Perhaps one more spot, and you may be reasonably confident that the area is secure.

Another band of insurgents appear before you, and as before, you make short work of them. The third time's the charm, and you set off to rejoin Makoto.

Ugetsu is not in Yanxia. Even as the sickening realization dawns on you, one of his henchmen confirms your fears: he is on his way to Kugane. There is no time to lose; you and Makoto must make haste back to the Sekiseigumi Barracks.

You and Makoto return to the barracks in time to see Captain Kongo squaring off against Ugetsu. The duel is over in an instant, and the captain collapses to the ground, the life draining out of him. With his last breath, he names Makoto his successor to lead the Sekiseigumi. But her authority is immediately undermined, as Ugetsu reveals that she is in fact his younger sister, Kagetsu. The insurgent leader proclaims his intent to change Hingashi with fire and blood, and invites those present to join his cause─you, his sister pupil, included. Yet though no one answers his call, uncertainty is writ plain on all faces. Ugetsu then proposes a battle between your two factions to decide matters, but as he leaves, he taunts Makoto that she may want for allies. Makoto attempts to rally her men, but with her identity exposed, her words are met with a lukewarm response. It seems Ugetsu's words may prove to be true.

Makoto confesses all to you. She and Ugetsu were born into a samurai family in the capital, and from a tender age her brother exhibited great talent in the katana. Musosai took him as his pupil, and together they took to the road for his training. But the Ugetsu who returned was a changed man, one filled with anger and despair both, who dreamed of toppling the bakufu. The situation came to a head when he assassinated Hingan dignitaries, a crime for which his entire family paid with their lives─all except for Kagetsu herself, who managed to escape. Thereafter she journeyed to Kugane, where she took the name Makoto and knocked on the Sekiseigumi's doors. Since that time, she has lived to punish her brother, but even as his cause grows in strength, hers only weakens on account of the blood she shares with Ugetsu. With the captain gone, she has naught to depend upon save her own conviction...and you.
- ※The next samurai quest will be available from Makoto upon reaching level 70.