When the lord of a powerful clan favors his daughter over his son, it threatens his entire house -- especially since the adviser with this information is actually a spy for a rival. Ogami Itto (Tomisaburô Wakayama), the shogun's former executioner, is hired to prevent this tragedy from occurring, but first he must prove his skill against five of the clan's top assassins. Each opponent not only has a piece of Ogami's assassin fee, but also one-fifth of the information pertaining to his mission.