In medieval Japan, eight-year-old Hojo Tokiyuki is the heir to the Kamakura shogunate. But the Hojo clan is in decline, and Tokiyuki's peaceful days of playing hide-and-seek with his teachers come to an abrupt end when his clan is betrayed from within. The lone survivor of his family, Tokiyuki is the rightful heir to the throne, but to take it back, he'll have to do what he does best--run away!

Tokiyuki and his loyal retainers, the Elusive Warriors, take on the members of the Kanto Hisashiban, Takauji Ashikaga's stewards in charge of the defense of Kamakura. The members of the Hisashiban possess almost superhuman skills and abilities, as well as...unique personalities. Kojiro faces off against Shibukawa, the most formidable of the Hisashiban warriors, in a duel he must win--for if he loses, Tokiyuki's head will be forfeit! Tokiyuki himself must face the mad warrior Imagawa in a desperate contest of horsemanship to raise the morale of his entire army!