The year is 1562, Japan is in the midst of a nationwide civil war. Every province in this war-torn landscape is either trying to grow and conquer to unify the land or is being swallowed up by other provincial lords in their conquest for power. In one such province called Kai ruled by the great daimyo Takeda Shingen who through cunning, strategy, and some good fortune has turned this landlocked province into a powerful force to be feared and respected. Yet even despite its fearsome daimyo this land is not immune to constant raids and border skirmishes. Unfortunately, one such village has fallen prey to such an ill-fated destiny on the southern border of Kai.

  Black smoke billows high into the sky and all of the village buildings are now heaps of burnt wood and the smell of burnt corpses fill the air. A once prosperous farming village with excellent rice yield, which is rare in Kai as most of the land is mountainous and not suitable for farming. Yet amidst all this death and destruction a young boy emerges from a burnt-out hut covered in dirt and ash and is clutching a small burnt wooden sword in his hand. In the distance this young boy can see a small party of riders approaching his village.

  The group of about six riders approach the village from the north in the direction of Kai province. The lead rider by the name of Jinsai Kuroda who is a minor retainer in the service of Takeda Shingen and has little land and less fortune has the unfortunate task of investigating this village. He was informed of the burning village by one of his servants passing nearby the village and promptly rushed to investigate and see if there are any survivors. As Jinsai approaches the village he moves with caution and though he is accustomed to seeing scenes of death and war he has never liked seeing the innocent hurt in these unfortunate incidents. He steels himself for what he is about to see. As his group approaches the entrance of the village, he sees a small of boy of maybe no more than the age of nine or ten standing outside a burned down hut clutching a burnt wooden sword. Finally, they stop just in front of the boy, and he lunges at them to attack them with his broken wooden sword and actually startles one of the horses and one of his men falls off. Then Jinsai immediately dismounts and blocks the boys blow and then disarms him and his men hold him down. Jinsai then says, "We are not your enemy boy, who did this to your village? We have come to try to help any who survived" He looks at the boy, and he sees in his ash covered face a fierce angry look in his eyes that Jinsai is surprised by the boy and in his mind, he composes himself inwardly but shows no sign outwardly that he is affected by this boy fierce gaze. The boy replies, "Bandits raided the village and killed everyone except me when I was knocked out by a bandit near the entrance of my parents' home. They came for our rice that we just harvested" Jinsai men still searched the village to make sure no one else was alive. Then made the decision to return to his estate as the bandits may still be roaming the area and his small party would be no match for a much larger force.

  Jinsai then tells the boy, "I am sorry for your loss boy, you will be coming home with me and living on my estate from now on". He then commands one of his men to pick the boy up place him on his horse. Jinsai felt compassion for the boy, but he was impressed by his determination to fight him and his men despite they were armed samurai and Jinsai felt that this boy had potential to be a great warrior and with the right teaching and guidance he would serve the Takeda clan well. Jinsai and his group with the boy ride north to his estate. The boy does not even look back for one last look at his village and thinks to himself that one day he will fight the bandits who killed his family and stop them from hurting another village like his home village.

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  It was dusk when they finally arrived at Jinsai estate. The servants and attendants immediately came out to greet them and Jinsai was widowed and had no heirs to his name, so it was really just his servants and soldiers and their families who lived on the estate with him. Jinsai immediately dismounted and ordered two of his female attendants to take care of the boy with a bath, something to eat and a place to sleep. The estate had a main house with typical samurai mansion and a few smaller buildings including servant's quarters, horse's stables, other various small buildings for a small country estate. His estate had rice fields to the east of his mansion which barely produced 100 koku per year. A small country road heading north to south of his estate and to the west of his mansion was a bamboo forest and a small training ground. Though his estate was not large and basically was considered poor, but it was still able to eke out a decent living for Jinsai. After the boy was fed and cleaned, he was summoned to Jinsai and he began to explain to him he would train him, but he would still have to earn his keep and do chores around the estate and in between work he would train. The boy said, "Will I become a warrior like you and learn to fight" "Yes, but you must train in spirit, mind, and body first. A samurai worth is not in his birth but in his blade and heart. I am going to name you Ryuzen Kuroda which means Dragon of the Fields. You were raised from the fields who was a child of farmers but will become a samurai. You will have both worlds in your heart" The boy nodded in understanding. Your new life begins now. Sleep well for you will surely need it.

  At the rooster crow the next morning the boy now named Ryuzen was awoken by one of the servants and instructed by the servants to go to the nearby brook and fill a bucket of water and bring it to the kitchen. It was stated the brook was a quarter of a mile into the bamboo forest and the kitchen required at least ten buckets of water. So, this was to be Ryuzen first chore of the day and he was start as soon as the rooster crows ever morning from now on. Then he will be given breakfast. After finishing filling, the buckets of water and eating breakfast his next task was to report to the stables and help feed, groom, and clean up after the horses with another servant boy. By midday the boy next task was to chop wood and gather it for the next day. Though his was tired he took to each task with determination. Finally, by the middle of the afternoon his chores were finished and he reported to Jinsai. His new lord then handed him a worn-out bamboo sword and then took him to the small training area. Jinsai said, "I want you to grip the sword with two hands and raise it above your head and then strike swiftly down with one slash. Do this until my servant calls you for supper. Do not stop until you hear them call you" Then Jinsai demonstrated exactly how he wanted him to practice the sword. Then Ryuzen began to practice the strike he was just taught by Jinsai. Jinsai watched the boy for some time to make sure he follow his instructions correctly and the boy caught on very quickly. Jinsai wanted to see if the boy would continue after he was out of sight and would watch him from afar where the boy could not see him. To his surprise the boy did not stop and continued on and to the point the sun was beginning to set and finally the servants called him to eat.

  When Jinsai saw the boy, he was caked in layer of salt from dried sweat of hard practice and chores. Jinsai then told the boy a samurai must always bath to keep his appearance clean and neat. Ryuzen then went and washed himself and was given fresh clean clothes to wear and his dirty clothes would be washed by the servants. Jinsai was extremely impressed by this young boy determination and hard work, and it was barely the first day. As he watched the boy eat, he felt a little spark of pride in Ryuzen and Jinsai was determined he would train him as best he could to be a great warrior someday.