Release Date: 1964-12-30
Released by: Daiei Films
Directed by: Ikehiro Kazuo
Plot Summary: On May 8, 1615 the summer campaign of Osaka has reached the climax.
This film takes place immediately following Kirigakure Saizou.
After Yukimura escapes, Ieyasu orders everyone to be killed. He gets a report after the battle that they are unable to find Yukimura’s body. He offers a big reward for the body. Hanzo reports that a small boat escaped from the castle with 3 men in it. Tokugawa Ieyasu deduces that it must have been Kirigakure Saizou and Yukimura and that they will go to Satsuma.
Hanzo orders his ninja to wait until night before attacking the boat. That night as Saizou guides the boat to land through thick fog, he detects that they are being followed by several boats. Saizou enters the water and swims back to see Hanzo’s men following them. He manages to dispatch several of his opponents using shuko (hand claws), but Yukimura’s son Daisuke is struck with shuriken and collapses before Saizou can return to their boat. Pouring oil into the water and lighting it as a distraction, Saizou and Yukimura manage to escape.
At Satsuma, Yukimura explains that the way to win wars from now on is to use guns, but it’s difficult to find high quality firearms like the ones made at Tanegashima (an island in southern Japan renown for its firearms production). He explains that they must determine the secret of the Tanegashima.
A merchant stops by to show off his new gun that will shoot 3 rounds at once.
Lord Shimazu orders Iehisa to send a message to their allies that the revolution is near. They assume that Ieyasu will be appointed as Dajo Cabinet Minister and when he is, he will stop by Kyoto to accept the position. That is when they must make their move.
At Sunpu, Tokugawa checks the quality of some Tanegashima products. In an audience with Ieyasu, Iehisa is told that they know that someone named Minami Hirayuki (Yukimura) is staying at their castle.
Iehisa is not sure who told him about that since there were only 3 people around when they discussed the plans for rebellion.
Saizou intercepts a messenger who is carrying a message that reads “Iehisa is in secret discussions with Yoshihiro.” Saizou also eavesdrops on the conversation between a young girl and one of the messengers who used to be her gardener. The man gives her a bird that he shot near the border and she returns to a kenjutsu dojo where she presents the bird to her father who is the instructor. He asks her if he shot it near the border and she verifies this. Isaikan is the kenjutsu instructor for the Shimazu clan.
Saizou watches as the priest who served tea while the discussion took place plants a note in the garden. Both the priest and Isaikan are brought before the Shimazu. He orders them to be executed as traitors. The Shimazu thank Saizou for rooting out the spies. They make the decision that a new plan must be drawn up since the old one has been compromised. They also decide that Yukimura should hide at a hot springs area called Ibusuki.
Saizou stops the daughter of Isaikan from committing suicide by explaining that her father kept his actions a secret because he didn’t want her to get involved. He tells her that she must live in order to find happiness. At that point, troops come to take her away but Saizou helps her escape by using metsubushi (blinding powder). During their escape, she stabs herself.
In Tanegashima, Saizou is followed by a couple of samurai. He manages to evade them in an inn where he is approached by a woman named Akemi who asks where he is going. He replies that he is going to Satsuma to make some money. He then breaks up a little scuffle as Manazuru is grabbed by a Chinese ruffian. The Chinese man uses his whip to attack Saizou, but the strike is easily evaded and the Chinese take off. The two women thank the ninja for his help and he tells them his name is Teruzo. Akemi follows after him as he leaves and says that someday she would like to return to Satsuma.
Kirigakure sneaks through the tight defenses of the gun factory and observes the manufacturing process of the Tanegashima weapons. He creates a distraction and escapes safely from the area to send a message by bird to Yukimura. The message reads “I snuck into the gun factory today. It has security as tight as that of a fortress. The blast furnace is especially well protected. I believe that’s clear evidence of secret use of the blast furnace. Besides, the Chinaman named Ryuhi needs to be investigated.”
Back at the inn, Ryuhi and his men all get up to go in another room as Saizou enters the inn. A man speaks with the Chinese pointing out that the suspicious Saizou might be a spy for the Shimazu. Meanwhile, Kirigakure gives Akemi some money for her and her sister to return to Shimazu. She asks him to come with her and when he refuses, she says she will stay until he is ready to leave. He tells her to just go and find some happiness.
The two women receive a visit from an old man who reminds them that they are kunoichi (female ninja) and that a man called Saizou killed their father, Yotoji, at the battle of Osaka castle. When they learn of the name he is using and realize it’s the same man they are shocked. The old man tells them they must use their feminine wiles to kill the enemy ninja using poisonous snake venom.
Yukimura reads another message from Saizou stating that there is no doubt that the Tanegashima are trading with China. Shimazu reports that they have gained considerable support in their war against Ieyasu.
Ieyasu orders the priest Konchin-Suden to Satsuma to convince the various daimyo not to join the rebellion and to convince the Shimazu to give up Hirayuki.
Manazuru slips some poison into sake that she brings to “Teruzo”. He drinks it and falls to the floor just as Akemi enters the room. Akemi slaps her sister and asks what she has done. Manazaru says she has avenged her father. Suddenly, Saizou spits out the poison and stands up before the two women! Manazaru attacks him with her dagger, but Saizou throws her onto the table. She cuts her neck on the dishes and some of the poison drips into her wound. She dies and Akemi reveals her identity to Saizou and tells him that someday he will die just like her father did. After Saizou leaves, the old man returns to tell Akemi that she must kill Saizou.
The Tanegashima gun makers meet with Ryuhi. They complain about the price of Chinese iron going up. Ryuhi threatens to cut off the supplies of iron if the price is not paid. The Tanegashima merchants agree to the price and begin to sign the new contract. Saizou, hidden in the rafters, blows sleeping gas down into the room. After all 3 men are asleep, he takes the contract and escapes into the night. He is spotted but manages to evade the multitude of flaming shuriken thrown at him. He counterattacks and Akemi tosses an explosive. Still, Saizou manages to escape.
Akemi later admits that she betrayed the old man and let Kirigakure escape. She is stabbed and thrown off a cliff by the old man’s men. As he looks out at the water, the old man removes his beard and long hair to reveal Hattori Hanzo!!
The priest tries to convince the Shimazu clan to hand over Hiruyiki. Lord Shimazu agrees and the priest promises that the clan will not be punished if they hand him over quietly. As the priest leaves, Iehisa is outraged that his father has agreed to turn Yukimura over to the Tokugawa.
As Saizou returns to Shimazu, he sees Ieyasu’s priest. He questions Yukimura about it and confirms that Tanegashima are secretly trading with China. He shows the daimyo the contracts he stole and points out that with this evidence, the Tanegashima guns will fall into the hands of the Shimazu.Yukimura explains that the struggle against Ieyasu is over because Shimazu agreed to hand him over the next day. Saizou begs his lord to fight back and when he refuses, the ninja declares that he will kill Ieyasu himself.
The next day Yukimura turns himself over to Ieyasu’s men. As they transport him in a palanquin through a mountain pass, rocks fall from the mountainside and shuriken fly through the air as Saizou takes on the whole group. In order to stop the continuing bloodshed, Yukimura takes one of the shuriken and cuts his own throat with it. Even after the ninja discovers his lord has taken his own life, he announces that he will still kill Ieyasu.
Ieyasu admonishes Hanzo for letting Kirigakure make a fool of him and tells the ninja not to show his face anymore. In order to save face, Hanzo orders his men to kill Saizou no matter what and places them strategically throughout the castle.
In a really cool series of scenes, Saizou slips stealthily into the castle and past the defenses Hanzo has prepared. Looking through a tiny hole he has drilled into the ceiling above Ieyasu’s bedroom, Saizou prepares a poison dart to kill the daimyo. The dart strikes Ieyasu in the neck but is knocked free. Some of the poison takes effect and Saizou watches for several days from above the lord’s sickbed as he lingers in and out of consciousness. Ieyasu one day gives his orders for what should take place after his death and he receives the news that he has been appointed dajo daijin (supreme Cabinet Master). Sometime later, when Ieyasu is alone, Saizou reveals himself to the dying lord. After a short conversation, the daimyo dies and Saizou excitedly leaves the castle repeating to himself that he finally did it and that Yukimura can rest in peace.
One April 17, 1616 Tokugawa Ieyasu died. The news has spread all across the nation, but there is no disturbance at all.
Cast:
ICHIKAWA Raizo as Saizo Kirigakure
FUJI Yukiko as Akemi
FUJIMURA Shiho as Shino
DATE Saburo
OZAWA Eitaro
KOBAYASHI Katsuhiko
WAKAYAMA Tomisaburo as Sanada Yukimura (as Jo Kenzaburo)