Along the Mikuni Highway, a woman mourns the loss of her fiancé, slain by a wandering yakuza. Her fiancé’s mother, consumed by hatred, closes her heart to all. Meanwhile, three members of a local gambling family are killed in succession, their deaths shrouded in mystery.

In Sugiwara, a small post town along the Kiso Road, a bedridden old man pleads with Monjirō to take him to see a golden Buddhist statue he once stole. As Monjirō, who knows the statue's location, sets out, he encounters a web of intrigue—a gang member claiming to be the old man’s follower, a servant posing as the man’s daughter, and a woman determined to prevent the old man from ever laying eyes on the statue.

In a farming village torn apart by disputes over water, a series of murders casts a dark shadow. A young woman worries for the safety of her farmer lover, while Monjirō witnesses the gangsters of a powerful family committing atrocities against the farmers. Now targeted, Monjirō finds himself drawn into the deadly conflict.

A man in the household where Monjirō takes shelter is attacked, leaving him with a dying wish: to ransom his lover from servitude using a gold bar entrusted to Monjirō. Meanwhile, a married band of thieves, disguised as local farmers, plots to steal the gold for themselves.

In a destitute mountain village, a young boy begins to follow Monjirō, claiming him as his father. Monjirō is baffled, as the village elders say otherwise. The boy’s foster father, a loan shark and former drifter, views Monjirō's presence with hostility, stirring up a storm of hidden tensions.

Monjirō mistakenly gives false directions to a man, leading him to be ambushed. The perpetrator, a robber cowed by his domineering mother, longs to reunite with his lover but lacks the courage. Manipulated by his mother, he descends further into crime, with devastating consequences.

In a fishing village on the Bōsō Peninsula, a young woman, once the heir to a fishing family, now finds herself in love with the son of her family’s rival. Meanwhile, her relatives exploit Monjirō’s name to further their schemes of revenge and power.

In a village haunted by the legend of a fire-summoning ox, a woman grieves the loss of her sister in last year’s blaze, while her husband lives in exile under suspicion of arson. Monjirō uncovers the truth: the fires were set to conceal a wealthy merchant’s misdeeds, placing him in the merchant’s crosshairs.

A young woman, unable to endure the advances of her employer’s son, flees and seeks solace in Monjirō’s company. Torn between her feelings for Monjirō and a desire to return to her kind-hearted masters, she learns too late of their cruel plans to sell her into servitude. The tragedy that ensues awakens Monjirō's righteous fury.

At a mountain tea house, a band of thieves takes a woman hostage. A man begs Monjirō to save her, stirring his emotions when he learns the woman shares the same name as his late sister. But the man’s true identity as the thieves’ leader complicates the rescue, leading to unforeseen betrayal and violence.

The wife of a prominent moneylender in Annaka disappears under cover of night. Though the man is respected in public, he secretly facilitates illegal crossings of the checkpoint. His wife, forced into the marriage to protect her father from smuggling accusations, finally decides to escape. Pursued relentlessly by the moneylender's men, she swaps places with a close friend to gain precious time. Together, they nearly reach Kainyu Temple, but treachery and tragedy await them at the final steps.

A man whose employers were killed by bandits entrusts Monjiro with gold meant for his master's orphaned daughter. On his journey, Monjiro is captured by the gang's leader—a woman revealed to be the long-lost half-sister of the orphan. Aided by the daughter's lover, Monjiro escapes, only to find the woman orchestrating a scheme to destroy the gang from within. Driven by vengeance, she uses even her lover as a pawn in her deadly game.

Legends of vengeful spirits haunt the Ghost Slope, the site of a past massacre. A frightened woman claims to have seen apparitions, but the village headman's wife dismisses her tales. A young man sets out to uncover the truth, driven by his desire to prove himself. Learning the woman is his estranged sister, Monjiro offers to help. Together, they venture into the ominous slope, where dark secrets of the past lie in wait.

A wandering ronin and his sister are hired by a local boss. Soon, their adversaries begin to die mysteriously, yet the ronin's violent nature keeps others from confronting him. Fearless in the face of his blade, Monjiro becomes his target. The ronin's obsession with besting Monjiro only deepens the web of crime and vengeance surrounding them.

Once saved from illness by a local boss, Monjiro witnesses the boss's family member in a clandestine meeting with the wife of a rival. Beneath his saintly guise, the boss plans to kill his rival using his wife, expanding his territory with ruthless cunning. Everyone, including his own kin, is but a pawn in his game. When Monjiro warns a low-ranking henchman of the plot, a desperate bid to save his boss and earn merit ensues.

On an autumn night, a lowly thug is murdered by a village headman's servant, mistaken for someone who knew a terrible secret: the headman's childless wife had conspired with a maid to bear him a daughter. The servant seeks to protect this dark truth but sparks a chain of tragedy. Monjiro becomes entangled when the maid’s true lover seeks to reveal the truth on the eve of the daughter’s wedding.

Monjiro, indebted to a boss who saved his life, declines the offer to marry the boss's daughter. On the road, he meets a man willing to take his place until Monjiro recovers. Yet, this man harbors schemes to destroy a rival family while the daughter uses him to prove her worth to her father. Bonds of friendship grow between Monjiro and the man, but the clash of ambition and loyalty culminates in betrayal.

A woman raising her late sister’s child finds herself drawn to Monjiro. Unbeknownst to her, a malicious plot by local youths sets her on a path of tragedy. Mistaking a planted note for Monjiro's, she walks into a trap while away from home. Meanwhile, a thief hides stolen gold in her house, killing the child. The thief's dark secret as the child's father only deepens the unfolding tragedy.

Mistaking Monjiro for the enemy who killed his father and stole his betrothed, a young samurai becomes entangled in a fateful encounter. Along with Monjiro and three women, he is trapped in a mountain hut by an avalanche. As fear and suspicion grip the group, death claims one after another. In the end, the surviving woman reveals herself to be the samurai's long-lost fiancée, her life now forever changed.

Awakening after being struck by lightning, Monjiro finds himself in his hometown. Taken in by a wanderer who carves memorial statues and his granddaughter, he learns of a gang planning to steal funds meant for an irrigation project. Witnessing the heist, Monjiro intervenes, defending the funds and confronting the gang’s ruthless leader in a climactic showdown.