Toward the end of their journey, Ogami Ittō's "dōtanuki" sword is surreptitiously tampered with and damaged by a supposed sword-polisher who is really an elite "Grass" "ninja" of the Yagyū clan. When Ittō is finally attacked by the last of the ("kusa") Grass ninja, the sword breaks and Ittō receives wounds that are ultimately fatal. Deadlocked in mid-battle with Retsudō, Ittō's spirit leaves his body after years of fatigue and bloodshed, unable to destroy his longtime enemy and ending his path of "meifumadō".