Ii

Modeled after the influential late-Edo statesman Ii Naosuke, this character operates within an alternate timeline where the Meiji Restoration never came to pass. As the Shogunate's Tairō, he stands at the apex of political power, orchestrating events from the shadows with cold precision. He views everyone around him—allies and rivals alike—as mere pieces on a grand chessboard. His keen interest in the protagonist Keiichirō, who carries Tokugawa lineage, is purely strategic, as he simultaneously wages a covert power struggle against forces such as Hitotsubashi Shigeyoshi.