The story takes place during the beginning of the Sengoku Jidai in Awa, a tiny province that is currently a part of modern-day Chiba Prefecture. Fuse, princess of the Awa-based Satomi clan, spiritually gives birth to eight warriors who are scattered across different areas of the region. Because the spiritual father of these warriors was a demonically-possessed dog, these warriors came to be known as the Hakkenshi (八犬士), with hak (八), or hachi, meaning "eight", the ken (犬) meaning "dog", and the shi (士) meaning "warrior". (The word "den" (伝) at the end of the title means "legend", so the title of the series can be translated as "The Legend of the Eight Dogs".)