In the turmoil of Japan, before the banishment of the samurai class, a disillusioned samurai, Itashima Chobei, is confronted by Akiyama, a samurai on a mysterious errand for his powerful leader. Their conflicted worlds lead to a battle of wits, ego and pursuit. In the middle is a beautiful woman, Miyo, attached to one, coveted by the other. Journey to feudal Japan in the years before the Meiji restoration and live in a quite inn on the Nakasendo highway, see the beautiful yet brutal Japan of the 1860s.