A hitman with crossed scythes tattooed on his back walks into a ninja compound, and the next fifty minutes don't waste a single frame explaining who he is or why you should care. The action is lean and brutal, stripped of the fantasy theater that bloated Ninja Scroll into spectacle. This is a samurai movie that trusts you to understand death when you see it, then ends before it overstays.

A masterless samurai bearing the mark of two crossed scythes on his back moves through the shadows with lethal purpose. Shurannosuke Sakaki is cold-hearted and carries a razor-sharp katana, and death tends to follow wherever that mark appears. When the Nakura Clan hires him for his exceptional swordsmanship to rescue Princess Mayu from the Seki Ninja, he takes the job. The mission pushes him to use every ounce of his skill just to survive the notorious henchmen the Seki Ninja send against him. Sword for Truth is a 1990 supernatural action thriller film built around a lone swordsman and the dangerous enemies standing between him and the princess.