Rise of the Ronin - Yokohama's Shadow

In the year 1853, the Blade Twins are tasked by the Bladesmith to assassinate Commodore Matthew C. Perry and steal a secret message in his possession. They are able to steal the message, but are unable to kill Perry due to the intervention of another assassin, the Blue Demon. Outmatched, one of the Blade Twins is forced to flee while their partner sacrifices themselves to ensure the Blade Twin's escape. After Shogunate oniwaban attack the Veiled Edge's village, the Blade Twin realizes that their partner is still alive and decides to desert the Veiled Edge to search for them. The Bladesmith forces the Blade Twin into a duel to the death to win the right to abandon the clan, with the Blade Twin prevailing and the Bladesmith wishing them luck with her dying breath.
The Blade Twin makes their way to Yokohama in 1858, where they befriend wandering ronin Ryoma Sakamoto. The social order of Yokohama and all of Japan has been thrown into turmoil due to the arrival of the Perry Expedition and increasing Western influence in the country. As Ryoma searches for his master Shoin Yoshida with his fellow students, the Blade Twin investigates the whereabouts of their partner, now known as Demonclaw Samurai, who is working for the Americans and British. Shogunate Chief Minister Naosuke Ii enacts harsh suppression and purges of anti-Shogunate and anti-foreigner sentiment, culminating in Shoin's arrest and execution in 1859 which angers Ryoma and his friends. Genzui Kusaka decides to take Shoin's place and rebel against the Shogunate. He rallies a small army of his own to attack Ii directly. The Blue Demon, whose true identity is Akikatsu Manabe, attempts to protect Ii but is struck down by the Blade Twin in retribution, and Ii is successfully assassinated. As a result of Ii's death, American influence in Japan wanes as British influence strengthens.
In 1863, the Blade Twin continues working with Ryoma's group in Edo upon learning the Demonclaw Samurai is collaborating with the British. After Genzui brazenly burns down the British Legation, Ryoma begins to balk at Genzui's increasingly violent methods. Genzui sets his next target as Kaishu Katsu, an important Shogunate official. The Blade Twin and Ryoma attack Katsu, who easily fights them off and instead wins them to his side by telling them his desire to reform the Shogunate and modernize Japan without the use of violence. They assist Katsu in recruiting additional followers to his cause. Eventually, they meet the Shogun Yoshinobu Tokugawa himself, who expresses his own desire to modernize Japan to match the West. Yoshinobu decides to travel to Kyoto as part of a ploy to lure his enemies into the open, and Katsu requests the Blade Twin and Ryoma to join the Roshigumi to protect Yoshinobu. However, shortly after their arrival in Kyoto in 1864, the leader of the Roshigumi, Kiyokawa Hachirō, is assassinated by the Blade Twin's partner and exposed as a traitor, throwing the organization in chaos. Roshigumi is disbanded, some of its members returning to Edo while those remaining in Kyoto form the Shinsengumi.