The immortal samurai, Manji, and his charge, Rin have lost their best chance to avenge the death of Rin's parents at the hands of Anotsu Kagehisa's renegade sword school, the deadly Itto-ryu. Manji and Rin's alliance with the mysterious Mugai-ryu assassins has failed, and now for Rin to pursue her parents' killer, she must pass through the Shogun's checkpoints that control the roads out of Edo, a task she must perform without Manji, who is one of the most wanted men in all Japan and she is sure to be detected. When Manji discovers Rin has gone, he faces the impossible choice of storming the checkpoint by force or leaving Rin to face Anotsu and his trained killers alone. And when Rin is falsely named as an accomplice in a savage murder, the stakes are raised ever higher as she faces even greater odds to fulfill her blood oath! Collecting issues #1-8 of The Gathering series.