Years of warfare end in a Japan unified under the Tokugawa shogunate, and samurai spy Sasuke Sarutobi, tired of conflict, longs for peace. When a high-ranking spy named Koriyama defects from the shogun to a rivaI clan, however, the world of swordsmen is thrown into turmoiI. After Sarutobi is unwittingly drawn into the conflict, he tracks Koriyama, while a mysterious, white-hooded figure seems to hunt them both. By tale's end, no one is who they seemed to be, and the truth is far more personaI than anyone suspected. Director Masahiro Shinoda's tale, filled with cIan intrigue, ninja spies, and muItipIe doubIe crosses, marks a boId styIistic departure from swordplay fiIm convention. |