Koji was born and raised in Japan, in a small village on the border of the great Daimyo Uesegi's territory. His father was a good man, an ex-samurai, but he was now old and weak. Koji's father decided that his son must follow in his footsteps, and become a samurai. But Koji was still young, too young to leave home, and so was trained from home by his skilled father. Within a year, Koji had become wise in the way of the Bushido, and also skilled with a sword. With his training and his father's pride with him, he set out to join the Uesegi Daimyo as a No-Dachi samurai. However, Koji's journey did not proceed as planned. On his way to join Uesegi, he ran across a band of Ronin.

The Ronin carried weapons, and were clearly not friendly. Koji hid in the bushes, and waited for them to pass. But as they grew close, an animal behind him made a noise, and Koji was discovered. The men drew their weapons and charged. Koji in turn drew his sword and parried their blows. Remembering his training, Koji killed all the men but one. The last man ran off. In the morning, Koji awoke to the sounds of a large group of men coming his way. Looking from the bushes, he saw more rebels, led by the man who had run off last night. Koji fled, forced to leave all his possesions. Gone were his hopes of travelling to the heart of Uesegi's territory to join his armies. Koji, now penniless, with only his sword, was now desperate. The first samurai he came across, he offered his services to. Koji was soon made a samurai, ighting for a rising Daimyo.