The Samurai

Shintarō saves a young Ainu wrongly accused of murder, relying on his wits and his pistol.

Shintarō captures an escaped thief and takes him to the town of Kiritap to be held until Kiba arrives. However, the villagers' greed allows the thief to free himself and kill one of them and hold another to ransom.

Shintarō comes upon a woman and her young son who are being terrorised by a loan-shark and his offsider, a disreputable but skilled swordsman.

A group of Ainu take a wagon carrying gold from the goldmine on the Shibuchari River in revenge for the death of the son of one of them caused by two of the guards.

A shipwrecked rōnin impersonates Matsudaira Nobuchiyo at the instigation of a smuggler of guns so he can get them to the Ainu who has purchased them.

Shintarō helps a young boy find his mother who was taken by Onibishi, an Ainu chief. Kiba persuades Onibishi to set a trap for Shintarō.

New adventure series set in medieval Japan telling of Shintaro the master swordsman and of his relentless search for his enemies, the black robed society known as the Koga ninja. On a Tokyo street at midnight, a lonely traveller is passing when a dark figure springs out of the darkness, kills him and begins ransacking his pockets in a hasty search for a bag of gold he was taking to one of the Shogun's ministers.

The first of the 13 ninja of the Koga society is dead after challenging Shintaro to a fight. Now Shintaro and his young companion,. Shusaku, are in search of another challenger.

While walking along a dusty road on their way to Kofu, Shintaro and Shusaku notice an express courier in a great hurry and they catch sight of a ninja knife falling out of his pocket. That night Shusaku is kidnapped.

While he and his companions are resting in an inn, Shintaro sees a scared rat running from the closet and realises there is someone hiding inside.

When the leader of the infamous Koga society harangues Kurobei for failing to rescue another ninja from Shintaro, Kurobei decides to turn against the society and join the master swordsman.

After sneaking out of a temple in which Shintaro has sought refuge for the night, Kurobei is challenged by a black clad figure in the belfry.

Sadanobu summons some close associates to tell them of his mission to Kyoto, ostensibly to oversee the rebuilding of the Imperial palace destroyed in a fire some months before but actually to root out a conspiracy against the shogunate as Lord Owari has offered to rebuilt the palace at his own expense, thus curry favour with the emperor. Plus there are documents which reveal just how vulnerable the shogunate is. High Priest Donkai asks Shintarō to defend Sadanobu on his journey but Shintarō refuses, having renounced the sword and gone fishing because of all the killing he had to do with the Kōga ninja and Takeda Shingen's treasure.

At Totsuka, the 6th station of the 53 on the Tokaido, Momochi Genkurō and his 10 master ninja, from the Manji Valley, who have been hired by Lord Owari to assassinate Sadanobu, plan to attack his caravan with a rocket packed with gunpowder, and fired by their best archer Koheita.

At Fujisawa, the 7th station, Gensai, one of the Iga group, bribes a maid at the inn Sadanobu is staying at, to put sleeping powder in the well. She immediately repents of her action and is saved by Shintarō, who cuts off Gensai's arm in a duel.

Discontented with Tonbei's leadership, Sanosuke is forced into working for Genkurō, to lure Shintarō into a trap with a false message from Sadanobu who is staying at Odawara Castle, Odawara being the 10th station.

Okayo, the ninja sister of Koheita, the archer, assumes the guise of an innocent traveller who has had her papers stolen but needs to get through the checkpoint at Hakone, the 11th station to visit her sick mother. Shintarō helps her but Tonbei and Sanosuke, who is trying to redeem himself are suspicious.

At Yoshiwara, the 15th station, Genkurō challenges Shintarō to a duel. Okayo is his guide, so she can watch him be destroyed. The plan is that Tonbei's Iga ninja will also follow Shintarō to see if they can help leaving Sadanobu unguarded. Both Shintarō and Genkurō are wounded but Genkurō's sword had poison on it. However, Okayo gives Shintarō the antidote.