Drugged and helpless, Manji's unconscious body is a bloody plaything in the hands of two demented medical examiners! Working for Habaki Kagimura, Burando and Mozen are determined to tap into the secrets of the kessen-chu, the mystical bloodworms that heal Manji's wounds and grant him near-immortality. As Mozen decides to take a direct, heavy-handed approach, the competitive, backstabbing Burando waits gleefully in the wings with katana and scalpel at the ready. Horror, politics, and squabbling surgeons, as Hiroaki Samura takes his award-winning samurai epic down a disturbing, gory pathway.