The story is set in Hokkaido around 1880, the start of the Meiji period following the collapse of the Edo shogunate, at a time when the Japanese government is attempting to open the land (then named Ezo) populated by the indigenous Ainu people.

In the shogunate's waning days, Jubei Kamata (Watanabe), a former swordsman of the shogunate, slaughters countless rebels under orders, earning a fearsome reputation in Kyoto. Following the government's collapse, he takes part in a succession of bloody battles culminating in the decisive battle at Goryokaku, then vanishes without a trace, eluding the determined efforts of the new government to capture him.

More than a decade later, Jubei lives on in desolate isolation as a frugal rancher with an Ainu woman as his wife and their children. His wife — who alone transformed a man whose only reason for existence was to kill — dies, leaving him to guard over her grave with their children in sparse austerity.

However, the man who vowed never to take sword again finds himself driven by poverty to once again join battle as a bounty hunter. Together with a former comrade, he faces those convinced in their own justice. Another cycle of violence starts anew in another new era.