The following are packed with spoilers.

At the end of the last chapter, Asagi told Sarasa that General Kazan of the Red Army has imprisoned her mother in his house. Since this is the same General Kazan who also beheaded her brother, Sarasa is devastated. Suddenly, getting Asagi off the ship is the last thing on her mind. You can probably imagine the smirk on his face as she stumbles out of his room.

Sarasa's immediate reaction is to consult Nagi and Kakujî. But they're not on the ship and she has to find them on land. While she's looking for them, she gets more and more distraught about her mother:

"To be at the house of such a demonic beastly general. How miserable that must be...!"

Sarasa wants to go west, to the captial of Suou, and rescue her mother. But she has already decided and convinced everyone else to go north to fight the Black King. It would be selfish of her to change her mind for personal reasons. At this point, she sees Nagi tending to the injured at a camp in Seiran, and Kakujî cleaning up rubble left by the flood. She realizes that everyone is busy with their own things, so she has to rely on herself only.

In this moment of crisis, Ageha happens to walk by in full Kichô mode. He's in a great mood and invites Sarasa to see his performance. She declines and hesitantly asks him whether he has heard of any of her family being captured by the Red Army. He says "no" and asks her why. So of course she clams up and tells him "never mind." Ageha being Ageha quickly senses that something's wrong and tells Sarasa she should open up to her friends, because that's what friends are for. Unfortunately, Ageha's little pep talk did no good, and Sarasa decides to sneak off to Suou by herself:

"I'll go by myself. To see if it's true. And then... If it's true, I'll rescue you, Mother. So until then, please stay alive."

Just as she's leaving the ship, good old Asagi pops up and asks to go along with her, offering to help. Of course, Sarasa tells him to get lost. And that leaves him no choice but to blow the whistle.

Poor Sarasa gets caught red-handed, and Chacha is furious. She doesn't understand why Sarasa insists on doing everything by herself when there are many people who are itching to help.

"You already went to Kanto by yourself. And now, you're going off alone again?! Well, I guess you don't need us! ... When you went off to Kanto by yourself, we were so worried. If we can be with you, we can help you. Then you don't have to bear all this burden alone. Why won't you let us?!"

"You gave us a new pride! The pride of finally standing up to country's tyrants!"

When Sarasa still insists on leaving the ship alone, Chacha gets really pissed, and challenges her to a fight.

Meanwhile, Nagi is tending to Raizô's wife Izumi at the camps on land. She's one of the women the Blue King "silenced," which means she's mute. Nagi concludes that an operation overseas or in Kyôto may be able to restore her voice, and Raizô is overjoyed.

After Nagi leaves, Ageha shows up and congratulates them on the good news. Raizô then changes the mood by asking Ageha whether he knows about Asagi's hidden intentions. Ageha says he does, but won't spill the beans. He refuses to choose sides, and intends to remain a neutral figure in everything. Raizô respects Ageha's reasoning and doesn't inquire further. As Ageha is leaving, Raizô asks him where he plans to find "the woman worth giving up [his] life for." Ageha says he has no idea and walks off pondering the question, while Raizô is left pondering the past.

Back on the ship, things are just about to get ugly between Sarasa and Cha-Cha until Asagi selflessly breaks up the fight. He tells everyone that Sarasa is actually going to rescue her mother. And that instead of fighting, everyone should help her, since this rescue mission entails defeating General Kazan, the Red King's right-hand man (hey, wasn't that Shidô's title?). Upon hearing this, Chacha cools down and rallies everyone to go west. Sarasa is overwhelmed and relieved, but remains puzzled by Asagi's actions.

While Asagi is recouperating from (yet another) injury, he reasons that this rescue mission is the perfect opportunity to reduce both Tatara and the Red King's forces.

"Tatara and the Red King will become too powerful if left alone. I need to get rid of their right-hand men so as to reduce both their forces. From the looks of it, the one who is the General's equal and Tatara's right-hand man is that pirate woman... She'll play right into my plan. Tatara's mother is the perfect bait."

Before the ship is to sail west for Suou, Chacha and Zaki seeks the advice of a fortune teller on board concerning their rescue mission. According to the fortune teller, a forest of evil awaits in the west, and Tatara is cursed. To counter this curse, one of them (either Chacha or Zaki) will die.

With that ominous note, the ship takes off for Suou. But during a stopover at the port of Ise, Asagi learns (via his henchman Ranmaru) some new information, and reports them to Sarasa:

"After the Blue King's funeral ceremony is held in Kyôto ... the Royal Family and fellow aristocrats will travel to Kumano to pray for the prosperity of this country. The entire journey will take approximately 1 month ... It's the perfect chance for us to attack."

In light of these new developments, the whole gang quickly decides upon a course of action. Chacha and Zaki will journey to Suou, posing as peddlers, to check things out and report back to Sarasa via Hisha. Meanwhile, everyone else, including Sarasa, will sail the ship to Kumano and wait for word from Suou.

Back at Suou, Shuri's hair has grown back into a nice little buzz cut, and he's just received Sarasa (forged by Asagi)'s letter.

After replying to the letter, Shuri is interrupted by the snooping servant, Umewaka, aka Asagi's henchman, currently posing as a maid in Ashô's house. Shuri senses something strange about Umewaka, and tells himself to keep an eye on this woman (who is in actuality a feminine man). Speaking of spying, Chacha - while posing as a peddler - finally makes contact with Sarasa's mother.

Basara is not available in English. What you see here are manga panels I scanned and modified - meaning I erased the Japanese writing and typed in the English translation. Keep in mind I translated this manga chapter myself, so there are bound to be mistakes. But it's all for the fans' enjoyment, and I get no profit whatsoever. It's also tedious work, so I would appreciate it if you don't rip them off and call them your own.