When the episode begins, two lifelong pals are leaving home in search of Zatoichi. It seems that Ichi killed their yakuza boss-- and honor dictates they kill him.
In the next scene, the sister of one of these men sees Zatoichi running away from a barking puppy. While the guy's name IS Zatoichi and he's blind, she assumes this wimp cannot be the brave swordsman. Later, however, she sees him display his legendary skills when he's attacked by some of the usual thugs. She tells the pair and they go to confront Ichi. What the brothers don't realize is that whether they kill Zatoichi or not, the local boss is going to kill them! And, as usual, Ichi doesn't want to kill these two--their master was a horrible person and needed killing and these two have a misguided sense of honor towards scum. What's to come of everyone? See the show.
This is a good episode because it features a few novel ideas and themes. However, the scene involving the puppy is THE worst executed scene I've ever watched--and I've seen every movie and quite a few episodes of the TV show. Sloppy in every way. The puppy obviously is NOT barking and you hear is yapping away even when the dog's mouth is clearly CLOSED!!! It just looks like the director was interested in getting the show finished quickly and it's a bit embarrassing to watch. Otherwise, a pretty decent addition to the Zatoichi series.