Lord Hidetora decides to retire and share his territory between his three sons, Taro, Jiro, and Saburo, but he soon discovers his sons fighting each other. Jiro kills Taro and then Saburo before realising that it's Taro's widow who is responsible for this since she had sworn to revenge Hidetora's murder of her family. Thus Jiro is left to defend the Hidetora dynasty alone.