Ogami is tested by five messengers, each who try to kill him. After defeating all the messengers, Ogami learns he must kill a young girl who was raised as a boy and is intended to be the heir of a local daimyo, while the real heir, a little boy, is kept locked away. In addition to murdering the senile, old lord, his concubine and the girl, Ogami must stop a document revealing the deception from reaching the hands of his mortal enemy, Yagyū Retsudō. Meanwhile, Ogami Daigoro is again separated from his father and proves his courage and sense of honor as he refuses to admit the guilt of a woman pickpocket he became mixed up with.
Set in Japan during an unspecific year of the Edo period, Ogami Ittō, disgraced former executioner, or Kogi Kaishakunin, to the shogun, wanders the countryside, pushing a baby cart with his 3-year-old son Daigoro inside. A banner hangs off his back. "Ogami: Suiouryo technique" (Child and expertise for rent)(子を[son] 貸し[for hire] 腕 [arm|skill] 貸し[for hire] つかまつる [to serve] 水
The disgraced former executioner, or Kogi Kaishakunin to the shogun, Ogami Ittō is now living rough on the land with his three-year-old son Daigoro, travelling the countryside as a hired killer. Pushing his son in a baby cart, he stops at a bathhouse looking for a room and a bath, and is eagerly welcomed in by a young woman. However, the manager of the house sees Ittō as a dirty vagabond and scolds the young woman for letting him in the house. Overhearing this, Ittō goes to the baby cart and retrieves a bundle and hands it to the manager for safe keeping – it is 500 gold pieces, earned from a recent job. The manager's tone quickly changes, but when he tries to wash Daigoro's feet, the boy kicks water at the old man and tromps across the floor, leaving wet footprints.
Oyuki, a tattooed female assassin – the renegade member of a daimyo's personal bodyguard detail – is killing every man that is sent up against her. Along with her deadly use of the short blade, she strips to the waist while fighting to reveal elaborate tattoos on her chest and back. On her front is a kintarō grasping her left breast. A portrait of a mountain witch covers her back. She then cuts off her victims' topknots, or chonmage, which brings dishonor to the dead man and his family.
Ogami Ittō, the disgraced former shogun's executioner, or Kogi Kaishakunin, is traveling by river on a boat with his young son Daigoro floating behind in the baby cart. A young woman at the front of the boat, clearly distraught for some reason, accidentally drops a bundle into the water, which Daigoro retrieves. Ittō, draws his sword partway and notices in the reflection on the blade that some bamboo reeds are trailing the boat. Ittō is being followed by operatives of his mortal enemy, the Yagyū Clan – a constant threat that he can never ignore. Later, as Daigorou is relieving himself in a bamboo glade, Ittō slices some bamboo stalks, causing some ninja to fall from their perch.
Link Stuart (Bronson) is a ruthless outlaw, and co-leader along with Gauche (Delon) of a gang of bandits. Link and Gauche lead their gang on a successful train robbery, and discover that one of its cars carries a Japanese ambassador, who is bringing a ceremonial katana (sword) as a gift for President Ulysses S. Grant. Gauche takes the sword, and kills one of the two samurai guards, while members of his gang attempt to murder Link by throwing dynamite into the train car he occupies, then leaving him for dead.
Une procession officielle tourne au carnage lorsque les gardes de l'escorte tentent de tuer un jeune garçon d'origine chinoise qui a eu le malheur de se trouver sur leur route. Sa famille, qui vole à son secours, est massacrée mais les agresseurs sont à leur tour décimés par un étrange bretteur manchot, Wang Kang (Jimmy Wang Yu), venu à la rescousse de ses compatriotes. L'enfant arrive à s'enfuir et est recueilli par Zatoichi qui finit par croiser la route de Wang. Mais ils sont poursuivis par les hommes du gouvernement et des yakuzas à leur solde, qui veulent faire disparaître les derniers témoins du drame tout en accusant Wang du massacre. Ce dernier se méfie de tout le monde, y compris de Zatoichi dont il ne comprend pas la langue.
Yamamoto Kansuke (Toshiro Mifune) is a general of warlord Takeda Shingen (Yorozuya Kinnosuke), whose titular red banners are his trademark. Yamamoto has a ruthless but effective approach to battle and politics, and advises Takeda Shingen on almost everything he does, including the assassination of Suwa Yorishige (Akihiko Hirata). Of Lord Suwa's household, Princess Yu (Yoshiko Sakuma) refuses to commit suicide, and the film comes to center on a love triangle between the lord, his general, and the princess.
Okada Izo is a ronin born into poverty who joins the Tosa loyalists, a group headed by Hanpeita Takechi. Izo soon becomes a well known and successful killer, and he is stubbornly loyal to Takechi. However, Ryoma Sakamoto warns him that he is merely "Takechi's dog" and that Takechi will end up betraying him. As Takechi becomes more and more determined to succeed, it becomes necessary to sacrifice Izo, which he does by having him arrested and later trying to poison him. Izo, disillusioned, confesses to his murders for the Tosa Loyalists, and he is condemned to Crucifixion. Before being killed, he is told that Takechi will be forced to commit seppuku.
Near the end of the nineteenth century, as the balance of power shifts from Shogunate towards the Emperor, Japan restlessly awaits the dawning of a new age. But not all are content...
Magobei Wakizaka is a samurai for the Sabai clan. A nearby island, Sado, boasts a rich gold mine which provides plentiful riches for the Tokugawa clan. When one of the gold ships sink, the local farmers recover some of the gold, intending to return it to the Tokugawa clan. However, Magobei's clan master, Rokugo Tatewaki, takes the gold and slaughters the farmers so they cannot report the gold stolen. Magobei is appalled. He promises not to report Rokugo to the shogunate in exchange for Rokugo 's promise to never do so again.
Gonzo (Toshiro Mifune), a member of the Imperial Restoration Force, is being asked by the emperor to deliver official news to his home village of a New World Order. Wanting to pose as a military officer, he dons the Red Lion Mane of Office. Upon his return, his attempt to tell the village about a brand-new tax cut is quashed when the townfolk mistakenly assumes that he is there to rescue them from corrupt government officials. He learns that an evil magistrate has been swindling them for years. Now, he has to help the village, ward off Shogunate fanatics, along with the fact that he can't read his own proclamations.
Many years ago ronin killed parents of the young girl named O-kin, and crippled her by cut off her right arm and gouged out her right eye. Nevertheless, this girl grew up and became a great swordswoman. Despite her mutilated body, she is unbeatable. Now, she lives in the small town and owns a very valuable and rare sword - The Drenched Swallow. O-kin protects from robbers and ronin a little girl and her grandfather. Local Daimyo collects swords and orders to samurai takes away all swords from its owners. A few samurai came to girl's home and kill her grandfather before were killed by O-kin. Now O-kin wants to take revenge. Together with another swordsman and simultaneously heavy sake drinker, O-kin protects the child.