Sword of The Stranger - Plot

Plot

Set during the Sengoku-era in Japan, a young boy named Kotarou flees into the wilderness with his dog, Tobimaru, and the monk, Shouan, after their temple home is attacked and set ablaze. Shouan leaves Kotarou to check on the conditions of the other monks but tells him to head to the Mangaku Temple in Shirato for safety. Before departing, Shouan gives Kotarou a small gem, which he tells him to sell for one sen. Meanwhile, in the providence of Akaike, a group of Ming foreigners, under the command of Lord Byakuran, are led through a mountain passage, where they are ambushed by rogue Akaike swordsmen. The swordsmen are quickly overwhelmed, however, by Luo Lang, the sole Westerner of the Ming group.

In Akaike, Kotarou survives by stealing food and water from the local villagers. He leads Tobimaru into an abandoned temple, where they plan to sleep for the night . Much to Kotarou’s surprise, however, the temple is already occupied by the ronin, Nanashi. Kotarou vehemently claims the temple as his home and demands Nanashi to leave, but the samurai light-heartedly wards off the young boy’s complaints. Kotarou is annoyed by Nanashi’s presence, but Tobimaru takes a liking to the ronin.

Later, Kingai and two Akaike soldiers arrive at the temple and demand Kotarou to be handed to them. Nanashi refuses after seeing the soldiers rough treatment of the boy. The Akaike soldiers attack but are killed by Tobimaru and Nanashi. Kingai attempts to kill Nanashi with a poisonous kunai, but Nanashi is saved by Tobimaru, who is injured as a result. Nanashi finally manages to kill Kingai without unsheathing his sword. Although he attempts to leave, Nanashi is stopped by Kotarou, who demands that the ronin save the dying Tobimaru. He presents Nanashi with the small gem, which he claims is valued at ten ryo. Kotarou proclaims that he will give Nanashi the treasure if he saves Tobimaru’s life and takes them to the Mangaku Temple in Shirato. Although at first hesitant, Nanashi later agrees.

The daimyo, Lord Akaike, meets with his chief vassal, Shogen Itadori, to discuss the plans of the Ming Emperor. It is revealed that the Emperor has ordered the building of a large structure on the Shishine fortress grounds for unknown reasons. The daimyo sends spies to find out. At the abandoned temple, Doshi, another of the Ming group, who arrives to collect Kingai’s body, is ambushed by Akaike soldiers, who set the temple on fire. Nanashi and Kotarou ride arrive at nightfall in the next village, where a doctor heals Tobimaru. Nanashi rents a room for him and Kotarou for the night. Tobimaru remains unresponsive, which strains the relationship between Kotarou and the ronin. The Ming group also arrives in the village the next morning. After purchasing a saddle in the village, Nanashi is drawn into a fight by Luo Lang. Weng Fu intervenes, however, after revealing that Kingai and Doshi were killed.

Tobimaru recovers his health, which, in turn, warms the relationship between Kotarou and Nanashi. As they take a bath in a hot spring, Kotarou questions Nanashi’s life as a samurai, to which Nanashi replies that he enjoys his present life much more than his previous occupation as a general. It is revealed that Nanashi has frequent nightmares about his past. Kotarou realizes that Nanashi dyes his hair black. Unsure of his origins, Nanashi reveals that his natural red hair drew fear from everyone around him, but the problem was mitigated after he learned the method of dying his hair. As the pair dry themselves by a fire, Nanashi notices that they are being pursued by two men. He prompts Kotarou to begin speaking of his past to give the impression that the pair do not notice them. Kotarou reveals that he is an orphan, and the day before he was to be sold, the monk Shouan, who came to Ming to train, saved him and brought him to Japan. The pursuers, who are revealed to be mere thieves, are easily overwhelmed by Nanashi.

During one of Itadori’s kendo sessions with his students, Luo Lang appears and manages to injure Itadori during a spar. Itadori remarks that Luo Lang was the second man he met with such reputable power and talent. The first was a man he fought alongside in war, who later grew weary of fighting and disappeared after a battle. The man is later revealed to be Nanashi.

Nanashi and Kotarou finally arrive at the Mangaku Temple, where Shouan greets them. As such Nanashi prepares to part ways with Kotarou, Kotarou gives Nanashi the small gem he promised earlier for the work Nanashi did for him though the gem turns out to be only worth one ryo. Despite that, Nanashi and Kotarou say goodbye on happy terms.

As Kotarou follows Shouan to meet the Mangaku Temple Head, a few of the Ming group are there. Kotarou realizes that Shouan had betrayed him on the orders of the Mangaku Temple head and under the Ming threats. The Ming capture Kotarou and prepare to return to the Shishine fortress. As they are leaving the temple, the Lord's soldiers launch a surprise attack on them to capture Kotarou for ransom. The Ming easily overpower them and ride off. The commotion in the temple gets Nanashi's attention and he comes back only to see the Ming taking away a tied Kotarou. Unable to catch up with them, Nanashi returns to the temple to get Tobimaru. There he confronts Shouan. Shouan questions Nanashi saying that if Nanashi was in his position, he would have done the same and given up Kotarou. While this statement distrubs Nanashi and gives up memories of his past as a soldier, Nanashi replies that Shouan is undeserving of being a monk and leaves with Tobimaru to rescue Kotarou.

Lord Byakuran is informed by Rarou and his bird not only of Kotarou's capture but that the locals have betrayed them. Lord Byakuran, Luo Lang and the other Ming move quickly to pay a visit to the local daimyo Lord Akaike. Whilst one female Ming poisons the horses, Luo Lang kills the diamyo's guards and the daimyo is taken hostage instead.

Shogen Itadori arrives at the temple to find many of his troops slain, the monk Zekkai captured and Shouan has committed suicide in shame. He is informed of the diamyo's capture and heads off to lead the army approaching the Ming fortress, not before condemning Zekkai to death for working with the Ming. Itadori and Nanashi each seperately race for the Shishine grounds as the Ming prepare to sacrifice Kotarou; the former rides on horse back while the latter is guided by Tobimaru following his master's scent.

Itadori's army reaches the fortress first, but Itadori has his Lieutenant kill the captive Daimyo when he is propped up on a pole to stall for time. Itadori, plotting to create a territory of his own and promising the hand of Akike's princess to his Lieutenant, storms the temple grounds. The two female ming engage the army first, one of them inflicting heavy casualties with her bow while the other fights on the ground. The first ming is defeated by Itadori's Lieutenant, who shoots an arrow clean through her head before being killed by the second Ming in a scene similar to the fight between Lou Land and the bandits at the beginning of the film. The second Ming is then pinned to a wall by Itadori's spear where she is shot with dozens of arrows while reaching for her weapon.

Itadori's army advances onto the grounds, but is harassed by the remaining ming and suffers heavy casualties. Nanashi arrives during this only to be caught up in a series of explosions that claim the lives of most of Itadori's men. He relives the moment that made him put aside his sword: his execution of two young girls on the orders of his Lord. He awakens and climbs out of the wreckage, racing along the roof tops of the temple grounds as the time of sacrifice comes. As he approaches the altat/tower, one of the Ming gets in his way after dispatching a team of Itadori's surviving troops. In a moment of fury and desperation, Nanashi rips through the bindings on his sword's hilt and unsheathes it for the first time in years, slicing through the Ming easily and then throwing it across a great distance into the neck of the Ming assigned to execute Kotarou-who is still alive thanks to Tobimaru briefly stalling the sacrifice.

Meanwhile Itadori's men are finished off, and Shogen himself is injured by Lou Lang. He intends to keep fighting even with an injured knee, a knife in his neck and his spear broken, but is shot by Lord Byakuran. The four remaining Ming regroup, where they decide to recapture Kotarou and wait for the next time of ceremony. Nanashi and Kotarou reunite and try to leave, only to be ambushed by the two subordinate Ming while Lou Lang and Byakuran watch from below. Unarmed, Nanashi stalls until Kotarou throws him one of the Mings' discarded swords, which he uses to kill one of his opponents before being blinded by a spray of blood. He manages to send himself and his second opponent over an edge and cause the Ming's other sword to go through his own neck.

Nanashi, wounded and dazed, is left hanging at another fall while Kotarou attempts to help. Lou Lang admires Nanashi's skill, and saves him from Byakuran before the Lord can shoot him. He slices off Byakuran's left hand and cuts his gun in half first; then he takes Byakuran's other hand when the Lord attempts to attack him, and finally he throws a knife into his head when the old man attempts to scold him, thinking Lou Lang wants the mythical medicine for himself. Lou Lang offers some of his drugs to Nanashi, who hwas reacquired his own sword, but the ronin refuses.

In a climactic battle, Nanashi and Lou Lang fight until both of their swords have shattered, and stab one another at the same time. Nanashi is saved by the gem given to him by Kotarou, and Lou Lang dies while commenting on how being stabbed feels. Kotarou, Tobimaru and Nanashi then ride to the coast where Kotarou comments on how they could visit a foreign nation or take up various vocations. Nanashi blacks out, and a trail of blood can be seen being left behind the horse, leaving Nanashi's fate ambiguous.