In medieval Japan, the feudal lord Nobuhira reigns as an authentic tyrant over his domain, carrying out all kinds of abuses on the peasants. He kills some for fun, to test the effectiveness of his sword blade and to generate a climate of terror that drives other farmers into blind obedience. These, increasingly reduced to starvation, are forced to pay higher and higher taxes in rice, extorted from them through coercive methods, the kidnapping of women or the taking of hostages but all their attempts to revolt are suffocated in blood in the bud. One day, however, a crippled monk makes his appearance...