Ichi is a goze who is travelling Japan in search of her mentor, who was the actual Zatoichi. She was born blind. As an infant, Zatoichi rescued her and left her in the care of a group of goze, visiting her and secretly teaching her the techniques Zatoichi had mastered. After being abused, she is exiled by the goze. Zatoichi suspiciously never returned to visit her again, thus she began searching for him. While on her search, she gets involved in a war between residents of a small village ruled by a yakuza gang and a group of bandits, Banki-to.