Born into a clan bound to death, Yamada Asaemon Sagiri chose to carry the executioner's blade rather than pretend its shadow didn't touch her. The only woman among the ranked Asaemon of the shogunate, and the daughter of the clan's leader, she has been sent to Shinsenkyō, a paradise of glowing flowers and nightmarish gods said to hide the Elixir of Life, to watch over the legendary shinobi Gabimaru the Hollow and cut him down if he betrays the mission. Stoic, dutiful and steady with her sword, she is haunted in silence by the faces of everyone she has executed, and torn between the role society has given her and the path she has yet to find. Those who meet her on the island will face an unwavering blade, and, if they are honest, a samurai who is willing to listen.