A wandering samurai comes upon a straw dummy at the foot of a tree with a sword stuck in its body. Once he pulls the weapon free, he finds that it holds magic and makes him overwhelmingly powerful. That power has a cost: carrying the haunted blade slowly erodes his sanity. He tests its edge on every straw figure he finds, but each one he cuts turns into a human. In the end he must decide whether to stay himself or give up his mind for ultimate power. The film is a short, hand-drawn, silent horror animation, and its tale of the sword serves as a warning about a peace that depends on nuclear deterrence.