Tamiya Gantetsusai, formerly known as Tetsunosuke, is a renown master swordsman known throughout as the Blade Dragon (剣けん龍りゅう, Kenryū) and Eight Provinces Unparalleled (八はっ州しゅう無む双そう, Hasshū Musō).
After his arrest for cutting down a damiyo's property, Gantetsusai is recruited to find the Elixir of Life on Kotaku for the shogun in exchange for a pardon. Upon taking the mission, Yamada Asaemon Fuchi was chosen as his assigned monitor.