Shimura Kingo fails his duty to protect the life of the Shogun's chief minister, and spends his life tracking down the assassin. However, all but one of the assassin die before Kingo can reach them. Still, Kingo presses on.

Kingo Shimura (Kiichi Nakai) serves his lord Naosuke Ii (Kichiemon Nakamura), but Naosuke Ii is killed by ronins from the Mito Domain. He is not allowed to kill himself and receives a secret order to exact revenge. Kingo Shimura travels for 13 years to find the last enemy. That person is a samurai named Jyubei Sahashi (Hiroshi Abe).