Sanada is an alcoholic doctor in postwar Japan who treats a young, small-time hood named Matsunaga, after a gunfight with a rival syndicate. The doctor diagnoses the young gangster with tuberculosis, and convinces him to begin treatment and quit boozing and womanizing. The two enjoy an uneasy friendship until the gangster's former boss, Okada, who is also the former abusive boyfriend of the doctor's female assistant, is released from prison and seeks
