When Kimimaro's second deal is a desperate wager against one of his own professors, he gets a lesson on how devastating the consequences can be in real life. Later, Mikuni makes Kimimaro a tempting offer to join his Starling Guild.

Kimimaro learns the hard way that keeping a tight margin during a deal is quite a gamble if he doesn’t have Mashu’s trust. While deals in the Financial District continue to affect Japan, Mikuni deposits more of his wealth into the suffering economy.