Rating: ****
Cast: Tomisaburo Wakayama, Akihiro Tomikawa
A marked improvement in style and quality, this may be the best film in the series, with a more captivating story and a little less outrageous bloodshed (although there's still plenty). Ogami Itto is hired by the Kuroda Clan to kill their master and his illegitimate daughter. The assignment comes in multiple pieces, with each messenger challenging, losing, and uttering more details as he dies. Daigoro is continuing to grow and suffers a public flogging by refusing to break a promise he made to a notorious pick-pocket, making his father very proud indeed. By the end of the film, Daigoro's blank and stone cold expression matches his dad's. Retsudo Yagyu is back as yet another actor, with one less eye, but doesn't see any action.