His last child, Sayaka, failing to kill Ogami Itto and Daigoro, Yagyu Retsudo turns to the Shogun's elite squad, the Black Hoods, to take revenge. Meanwhile, as wanted posters go up in towns along the Mito Road, bounty hunters gather.
The Yagyu clan significantly raise the bounty on Lone Wolf and Cub, so yet more bounty hunters converge on the port town where Ogami Itto is fulfilling his latest contract. An abused servant girl seeks to warn them of the hunters' plan.
Lone Wolf and Cub have a new bounty hunter, Ryuza the Plotter, dogging their steps, and he plans to kill them with explosive dolls. An old acquaintance, Torizo, the lady oyabun of a travelling yakuza gang, decides to aid the fugitives.
Ogami Itto is told by the dying Nozokido Kurobei, last of the active Kurokuwa ninja agents, that he must decipher the Yagyu correspondence. Yagyu Retsudo engages the 5 retired Kuruma-ken masters of the Kurokuwa to destroy father and son.
In order to pass through a new fief, Lone Wolf and Cub follow different routes, but Daigoro is seen by bounty hunters. The conscientious bailiff of the fief attempts to avoid pursuit, but outside factors converge to force a confrontation.