Oyaneko was a former general and adviser to the late Lord Higashi. Ordered not to commit seppuku when the lord died, he did his best to look after the youth the lord left as his heir. Other advisers, jealous of his position, framed him in a scandal that ruined his reputation and he was forced to take a position as head magistrate of a small town.

Usagi saved a messenger of the magistrate from thugs and was shown the old samurai's hospitality. Talking at length with him and his manservant Monshiro, Usagi discovered that the old man had a terminal illness. Oyaneko, frustrated at his inability to defeat this sickness, desired death as a warrior, and surprised Usagi as he left the town, challenging him to a duel in a lonely mountain pass. Although blades were crossed, Usagi refused to kill the old man, and Oyaneko could not needlessly cause the death of a friend. He returned to his town to serve his people.

Three weeks later, Oyaneko passed on, not long after the completion of an irrigation canal he had planned and put into action was completed.