The Shogunate has passed an unfair tax, and a clan on the brink of financial ruin spreads rumors about the local peasants in preparation for stealing the Shogun's gold. Unfortunately the plan requires that they silence any witnesses. One of the clan's samurai (Tatsuya Nakadai) decides to leave and turn Ronin rather than participate. Years later, he realizes that events are about to repeat themselves, and haunted by his guilt he attempts to prevent the massacre.