Hibiki is the daughter of Genzō Takane, a renowned swordman known throughout Japan during the Bakumatsu era. He had retired to an isolated area in the countryside with his daughter but continued his work with various swordsmen around the country. One fateful day, a silver-haired man approaches Genzō and requests that he forge a new sword. Though the man radiated an aura of pure, unfathomable evil, the master sword-smith finds himself unable to refuse the request. He spends a time of almost 3 months forging this sword, which he dubs the “Yaso Magatsu Hi no Tachi” (八十枉津日太刀, “Blade of Eighty Days Harbored Unwillingly”), detailing the amount of time he invested in the weapon. The labor renders him ill, however, and he is soon permanently bedridden.