The events take place in 1932 in Japanese-occupied Manchuria, in which the corrupt leaders of the Japanese army are trying to take over all the Karate dojos for their own personal benefit. Amidst these circumstances the master of one of these dojos (Yosuke Natsuki) dies before passing on the Kuroobi to his successor, leaving three of his pupils (Taikan (Tatsuya Naka), Giryu (Akihito Yagi) and Choei (Yuji Suzuki)) the task of deciding amongst themselves who deserves it most. After they bury their master, they are forced to leave the dojo and join the Japanese army. At this point, their journey leads them on rather different paths both in life and in the understanding of their master's teachings of martial arts, only to reunite them at the end.