過去何百人もの命を奪った「鯨神」と呼ばれる巨大鯨。祖父、父、兄を殺された九州和田浦のシャキは自らの手で鯨神を倒さんとする。そこに紀州男も名乗りを挙げた。男たちは鯨神と猛烈な死闘を繰り広げるが…。神殺しをめぐる村民たちの異様な雰囲気と、本郷・勝のエネルギッシュな演技に目を見張る、田中監督お気に入りの一本。

Zatoichi comes upon a dying man who asks him to give a bag of money to "Taichi". Zatoichi has no idea who this is but when he comes upon a small town harassed by gangsters, he finds that "Taichi" was the man's young son. Along his travels he also met a blind monk who makes Zatoichi question his murderous lifestyle. In trying to help the town, Zatoichi kills some gangsters and becomes a hero to the boy. He must make a choice of whether to use non-violence and set a good example, or violence and set the boy on the wrong path in life.

Wishing to find peace, Zatoichi travels to his old village but only finds trouble when he ends up in a love triangle and finds old scores have followed him home.