The following are packed with spoilers.

Chacha sees Chigusa, and immediately recognizes her as Sarasa's mother (supposedly, they resemble each other). In the process of selling Chigusa a dress, Chacha tells her that Tatara is coming to rescue her. To convey her understanding, Chigusa gives Chacha her necklace as payment.

Back at the Red Palace, Shuri is busy planning the construction of his underground water canal with his chief engineer Sakaki.

During one of these meetings, the now pregnant Senju comes to ask for the Red King's help. Her problem: Shidô's parents want her unborn child. And she can't bear to give it up. As a compromise, Shuri proposes to stand in as the father, and tells Senju to raise the child in his Palace.

Ashô disapproves of this decision, and suspects aloud that the child might really be Shuri's. Before he can say any more, Shuri gets furious and shuts him up by sticking the Sword of Byakko into his mouth.

After Shuri storms away, a very shaken Ashô is confronted by Kazan, who chastises him for being so careless in front of the hot-tempered King. He also tells Ashô to stop embezzling the national treasury lest he loses his job and the King finds out.

Meanwhile, Shuri has ordered someone to spy on the strange maid Umewaka (aka Asagi's henchman), and the spy reports that Umewaka is simply one of Ashô's distant relatives who has come to work for him. (Sigh. How wrong he is...)

Anyway, after the whole ordeal at the Palace, Ashô goes home and throws a tantrum. In the middle of the tantrum, Ashô is disturbed by his dogs. As it turns out, the dogs are digging at the corpse of a girl buried in his yard (this is the girl Umewaka is impersonating). Ashô is horrified by the discovery. And that's when Umewaka reveals himself as the Blue King's servant.

Umewaka tells Ashô that the Blue King is in fact alive and well. At this moment, Shuri's spy comes upon the corpse and rushes to report to the King. In light of what happened earlier that day, Ashô fears what the Red King will do to him if he finds out. So in desperation, he orders Umewaka to kill the spy. After everything is said and done, Umewaka thanks Ashô for cooperating, and tells him about Sarasa's mother living at Kazan's house.

After finding out Kazan's dirty little secret, Ashô quickly reports to the Red King, and Shuri promptly interrogates Kazan about the matter. Kazan is shaken by the accusations, but he knows the Red King will kill Chigusa if he gets hold of her. For Chigusa's sake, Kazan lies to Shuri, and denies keeping Tatara's mother from him. It's obvious to everyone that he's lying.

Shuri is furious at Kazan's stubbornness. But rather than punishing Kazan, he sends him on a trip. More specifically, Shuri appoints Kazan as his representative in the Emperor's pilgrimage from Kyôto to Kumano. He tells Kazan not to bring any female companions with him. And that whatever happens at his mansion will not be his responsibility. Obviously, during Kazan's absence, Shuri is going to ransack his mansion and take Tatara's mother by force. This way, he's giving Kazan an easy way out without losing face. What a smart guy.

Kazan understands this, but he just can't bear to give Chigusa up. Back at his house, he tells Chigusa what happened.

"I've lied to the King. What on earth have I done? ... I've served the Red King since he was a child ... Loyalty has been my honor ... If Tatara appears before me now, I'd chop his head off ... I'm confident of that."

"But what am I doing now? ... I've never felt this way before... During my absence, the King will ransack my mansion. He said I won't be accountable for what he finds. Such kindness moves me to tears... But... I won't give you to the Red King."

Basically, Kazan decides to take Chigusa with him on the trip to Kumano, against Shuri's will. The big burly guy has got it bad for Sarasa's mother.

Chacha just so happens to be eavesdropping and hears the whole thing. This complication bothers her, and she ponders whether to tell Sarasa or not.

Meanwhile, back on the ship, Sarasa has received her mother's necklace from Chacha and knows for sure that she is alive. Everyone decides to ambush General Kazan and rescue Chigusa. Asagi proposes for them to ambush Kazan in Kumano:

"The Emperor, White King, and Black King will all be there. Won't it be nice to get a look at the Royal Family?"

So the whole gang decides to head over to Kumano.

After Sarasa & Co. come upon the Kumano coastline, everyone mentions how creepy it looks. And the old fortune teller exclaims "that's the cursed forest." But Sarasa only has one thing on her mind:

"The Emperor is coming. General Kazan and my mother are also going to Kumano..."

But of course, they're not the only ones, because Shuri is going after Kazan for taking Chigusa.

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.