The Outsider

In Osaka prison, Nick Lowell, the only non-Japanese inmate, saves fellow prisoner Kiyoshi from being hanged. The Shiromatsu yakuza repay their debt by arranging Nick's early release. Afterward, he is brought to the Shiromatsu headquarters and offered a job.

Nick arrives at the Shiromatsu HQ; Panetti refuses to negotiate with the Shiromatsu, preferring to deal with the Seizu. In response, Nick shatters Panetti's resistance with a forceful strike using a typewriter, pushing him to reconsider. The confrontation underlines Nick's willingness to use violence to secure his position.

A Seizu delegation arrives to pressure the Shiromatsu at their Osaka nightclub. Nick attacks one of the Seizu men with a bottle, triggering a near-shootout that the Shiromatsu manage to weather. The incident strengthens Nick's ties to Kiyoshi and the clan.

Kiyoshi rewards Nick with a luxury apartment and a suit, signaling his growing trust. Nick drives Miyu home after a party, spends the night with her, and begins a deeper involvement with the Shiromatsu. He also receives an irezumi tattoo on his back to match Miyu's.

As pressure mounts from rival clans and aging leadership, Kiyoshi sends Nick on a mission to secure a black-market weapons deal at a harbor. Nick arrives to find a dead body, is ambushed by Seizu, and fights back, killing two Seizu members and preserving the money.

To forestall a full-blown war with the Seizu, Nick and Kiyoshi perform yubitsume as an apology to the Seizu patriarch. They send the severed fingertips to the patriarch, who accepts the gesture.

Nick is taken to a countryside temple for an initiation ceremony and becomes a full member of the Shiromatsu. This formalizes his status within the clan and deepens his commitment.

During a sumo contest, the Shiromatsu and Seizu hold a meeting in which the Seizu patriarch offers to retire by absorbing the Shiromatsu. The Shiromatsu patriarch refuses and threatens war if forced to relinquish control.

On the walk home, Lt. Paulie Bowers, a US Marine on leave, tries to blackmail Nick. Bowers lures him to his apartment and slashes his neck, killing him.

The next morning Nick learns Miyu was assaulted by Orochi, and she is pregnant. Nick informs Kiyoshi of the relationship and pregnancy, and Kiyoshi gives him a daishō and tasks him with Miyu's protection, then they bury Bowers' body.

A few days later, Nick and Kiyoshi accompany the Shiromatsu patriarch to a tailor; the patriarch is strangled by an intruder. Kiyoshi shoots the attacker, but Seizu ambushes them and Kiyoshi is killed during their escape.

It becomes clear that a fifth of the Shiromatsu, including Orochi, has defected to the Seizu. Nick convinces the patriarch that war is the only option and participates in the assassinations of Seizu members.

The Seizu patriarch calls for peace talks at a local harbor, which turns out to be a trap. Orochi kills the Shiromatsu patriarch by stabbing him in the back, and a sniper wounds Nick.

Police burn down the Shiromatsu club in the wake of the clashes, scattering the remaining members and marking a turning point in the clan's power.

Nick confronts Orochi at the Seizu dojo, where Orochi refuses to fight and Nick cuts his throat. He then moves Miyu to a secure apartment and is reverently bowed to as the new head of the Shiromatsu.