In medieval Japan, eight-year-old Hojo Tokiyuki is the heir to the Kamakura shogunate. But the Hojo clan is in decline, and Tokiyuki's peaceful days of playing hide-and-seek with his teachers come to an abrupt end when his clan is betrayed from within. The lone survivor of his family, Tokiyuki is the rightful heir to the throne, but to take it back, he'll have to do what he does best--run away!

In order to seize the Suwa domain, the conniving governor of Shinano, Ogasawara Sadamune, seeks to prove that Tokiyuki, in his guise as Chojumaru, is a Hojo clan survivor. Tokiyuki must face the all-seeing gaze of his adversary, as well as Sadamune's equally perceptive henchman. And even if Tokiyuki can escape Sadamune's machinations, his trials are far from over. When Suwa's hard-pressed allies come under attack from superior enemy forces, Tokiyuki and the Elusive Warriors must ride to their aid. Can they snatch victory from the jaws of defeat?