Azumi 2: Death or Love 2005

Azumi and her only remaining colleague Nagara find themselves hunted by ninjas hired by General Kanbei Inoue for the assassinations they have carried out, including the killing of his master. They hide temporarily in a temple so Nagara can heal his wounds sustained from their recent encounter. The danger closes in as their pursuers grow more determined, and the two fugitives must move with caution while weighing the price of their ongoing mission.

Azumi encounters a band of outlaws led by Ginkaku, a young bandit who bears a striking resemblance to Azumi’s former friend Nachi. The fraught tension between their past and present calls into question Azumi’s feelings as she confronts a blade-for-hire world that has shaped her own path. The confrontation is brutal, but it’s only the beginning of a larger chess game in which loyalties shift and old bonds are tested.

Soon after, Azumi and Nagara are discovered by the allied ninjas working for the priest Tenkai. After a tense conversation with Tenkai, Azumi and Nagara press on to seek their final target, Masayuki Sanada, a formidable warlord whose forces promise a climactic clash. Accompanying them on this dangerous journey is a government ninja, a young woman named Kozue, whose presence adds both skill and mystery to their mission.

Back on the front lines, Kanbei Inoue raises a massive army—mercenaries, ninjas, and bandits—seeking vengeance for the death of his master. Among the ranks are Ginkaku and his brother, Kinkaku, who fight with a relentless, almost fanatical loyalty. The escalating conflict drives Azumi and her companions back toward Ginkaku’s village, where they are met with distrust and scorn for the line of work they have chosen. Azumi feels the pull of a complicated attachment to Ginkaku, but Nagara insists they part ways and follow their own paths for the greater good.

As they travel, Kozue convinces Nagara that Azumi no longer wishes to carry out the mission and should be talked into walking away from the grim fate that awaits them all. Nagara admits he is ready to abandon the path they have walked together and longs to start anew with Kozue, urging Azumi to seek safety with Ginkaku. The trio parts ways, and Azumi, still determined to complete the mission, continues alone to Masayuki’s mountain temple. She discovers that Masayuki has already departed with his army to pursue Gessai, leaving a dangerous trail in his wake.

The pursuit tightens when the brutal giant Roppa—a fearsome killer from the Uenokagashu ninja clan allied with Masayuki—arrives to finish what his allies started. Roppa’s fierce onslaught decimates most of Gessai’s guards, and Azumi returns just in time with Ginkaku and his men trailing closely behind. Roppa is slain by his own weapon in a striking turn of events, but the violence continues as Kinkaku and several of Ginkaku’s band fall, along with most of Kasumi’s ninja squad.

In a cruel twist of fate, Kozue reveals her true allegiance to the Uenokagashu and betrays Nagara, killing him in cold blood. When Azumi later confronts Kozue, the two clash and Azumi emerges victorious, ending Kozue’s treachery. With Nagara gone and the mission heavier than ever, Azumi resolves to pursue Masayuki alone.

Her pursuit leads her to a deadly encounter with the enemy ninja Tsuchigumo, whose razor-sharp poisoned wires threaten to end her life. Azumi manages to disrupt the deadly traps, but she is seriously wounded and slips into a paralyzing sleep. The true leader of the Uenokagashu, Kunyo, steps forward from the shadows to speak of life and loss, clearly moved by the bloodshed around her. Kunyo’s words sting, and despite her own peril, she presses a fatal strike before collapsing, mortally wounded by Ginkaku’s timely intervention, who sacrifices himself to save Azumi. Kunyo dies in Sanada’s arms, leaving a heavy silence in the wake of the battle’s chaos.

Azumi awakens to a battlefield where the next stage of the conflict unfolds. She climbs a distant hill, where she must face Sanada himself in single combat. As they clash, Yukimura Sanada Yukimura Sanada and Gessai arrive with urgent pleas for Sanada to retreat and end the bloodshed. Sanada, however, accepts the duel and declares that, regardless of its outcome, the Tokugawa shogunate will not be bothered any longer, hoping to end the war with one decisive blow. The duel begins, and Azumi defeats Sanada, a victory that comes at a heavy cost and raises questions about the path she has walked and the manipulations that shaped her choices.

With the duel won and the threat of retribution fading, Yukimura calls for restraint, and Kanbei is persuaded to back off, granting Azumi a chance to depart unharmed. After receiving confirmation from Tenkai that the war is over and her mission has reached its end, Azumi leaves the battlefield behind, walking toward an uncertain future and parts unknown, her resolve as tested as it has ever been, ready to forge a new life beyond the shadows of war.