"Akane No Mai"
The group is quickly bound by ropes before they can fight back at the man with the sword, who does not kill them but does threaten them. Maeve attempts to control them with voice commands, but this fails to work and their leader Musashi instead gags her. The group is then led into a Japanese town which Maeve and her host friends realize in disbelief is an exact copy of Sweetwater, with Musashi being Hector's counterpart and a geisha named Akane being Maeve's; even the narratives play out the same, which Sizemore defends as him being pressed to create 300 new narratives. After Armistice saves her own counterpart Hanaryo, the group is released and convince Musashi to leave Clementine's counterpart Sakura alone. Maeve is able to unlock her Japanese language function in the process, and she and Akane apparently recognize each other.
While waiting in the Japanese town's tavern, a samurai comes along demanding Sakura for the Shogun, which Sizemore recognizes as a storyline called "Army of Blood." However, Akane kills the emissary, breaking the narrative but putting herself and Sakura in danger. Sizemore suggests they bring Sakura to "Snow Lake," where they can also access a service tunnel. Maeve agrees and they wait until nightfall only to be attacked by several ninjas sent by the Shogun. Maeve manages to order two ninjas to fight each other but is quickly choked by another, preventing her from verbally commanding him. However, she soon learns she can send mental signals, and is able to order him to kill himself, but the ninjas make off with Sakura. The Shogun's army arrives in town: while Musashi, Hector, and Armistice cause a distraction, Maeve, Akane, Sizemore, Felix, and Sylvester escape out the back.
Sizemore questions Maeve's ability to order the ninja non-verbally, which Maeve reasons is because she found a new voice. They head to the Shogun's camp to save Sakura and disguise themselves as emissaries for an emperor, but they quickly realize the Shogun is malfunctioning due to cortical fluid leaking from his ear. The Shogun reveals that he cut off all of his soldiers' ears so Maeve could not control them, and orders Akane and Sakura to dance for him that night, and then he will release her.
Maeve witnesses Akane comforting Sakura by telling the same story Maeve always tells about being who she wants to be. Telling Akane about her daughter, she offers the geisha a chance to join her and search for freedom, but Akane declines, mindful of Sakura. Later, Maeve witnesses with horror as the Shogun cruelly murders Sakura in front of Akane before forcing her to continue with her dance. Akane does as she's told, but is able to entrance the Shogun enough to trick him and kill him. The Ninjas prepare to kill Akane and Maeve, but Maeve is able to silently order them all to kill each other. Once the carnage has finished, Sizemore notices more of the Shogun's army approaching. Maeve grabs a katana and prepares to fight.