Original subtitles

DAIEI FILMS LTD. Presents

MISSION: IRON CASTLE (ShinobinoShu)

Planning by KUBODERAIkuro Screenplay by YAMADATakayuki (From the original story by SHIBA Ryutaro)

Photography by MOR'TA Fujio Sound by OTANI Iwao Lighting by YAMAASHITA Reijiro Art Direction by SHIMOISHIZAKA Shigenori

Music by KKABURRAGI Soh Film Editor TANIGUCHI Toshio Fight Choreography by KUSUMOTO Eiichi

Cast

HONGO Kojiro, MINEGISHI Ryuno8uke, MATSUKARA Hiroki

FUJIMURA Shiho, NAMIKAWAYoko, YASUDA Michiyo

NAAITO Taketoshi TOURRA Rokko DATE Takeshi UCHIDA Asao

Directed by MOR' Issei

-Stop! Stop! Yoshiro!

How long have you been following me?

-Ever since you Ieft the Iga hideout.

Haven't you noticed me?

-Damn it!

Why don't you let me do my job?

-You're corrupted.

The skills we've been perfecting since childhood

are not to be used for thievery.

-Oh, is that so?

-Onikobu, if you use your skill for some bad deed, you'll be

destroying yourself.

-I'm just being a ninja!

Yoshiro... I... am just doing my job!

Something strange is going on!

-All the men I sent completely disappeared.

Twenty ninja in all.

-When do you plan to battle Echizen's Shibata Katsuie-dono of Kitanosho

in order to win over the county?

-I ordered 2O of my best Iga ninja to

conduct a secret mission at Kitanosho .

However, they stopped contacting me around the Shizugaa region.

A month later, and not one has come back.

What do you think of it?

-They probably all got killed.

-All got killed? - By whom?

-Would you please let me know

what was the secret mission you gave 2O of your Iga ninja?

-come!

If you complete this mission, I'll give you land.

How about 1000 koku?

Then how about 3000 koku?

-We of Iga don't bargain with clients.

We work for those who really appreciate our skills.

-Very well! I accept.

I'll give you as much gold as you want.

Take half to start with.

No... why don't you take them all?

See, look at me.

I, Hideyoshi, beg you from my heart.

Please, please, accomplish the mission.

-There was still snow at Nagahama.

-You've been to Nagahama?

- Yoshiro! - Onikobu!

You're ordered to go to

Kitanosho in Echizen and kidnap Shibata Katsuie's wife,

Lady Oichi, and bring her to the Buddhist temple Niidera in Otsu.

- Lady Oichi... - One thing!

You can't cause even a scratch on her.

- Yoshiro, this is...

a tough job. Stealing!

You see...

-How soon? -Right away!

-Yoshiro...

-My father said the castle in Kitanosho is also called ''The Iron Castle''.

Even ninja like us have to be very careful in order to get inside.

Apparently there are a lot of iron ninja traps all over the castle.

-But my father didn't tell us about them.

-We don't have any more details.

-Yoshiro..

I have a bad feeling about this mission.

-My father said that the castle's inner court is specially built of iron.

If it's true, Lady Oichi must be

in one of the small rooms inside the court.

The point is, how do we do it...?

-Even if you get inside the castle,

how can you possibly escape with her

through all the intense security measures,

with war brewing soon?

If she screams once, you're finished.

Why don't you ask my father to cancel this mission?

-We'll be real Iga ninja when we have a mission.

We'll no longer be peasants.

-From morning to night we work hard in the fields.

From night to morning, we practice our skills.

Those are the rules of Iga.

We live and die like dogs!

How did your father die?

You should follow the same path as your father!

I'm withdrawing from this mission. If you want to go, go by yourself.

I know you want to say that by our rules we must obey an order from our leader.

But I really can't stand the rules anymore!

If he said to kill Lady Oichi, it would be a different story.

But it's totally impossible for us to kidnap her alive!

That's impossible!

I don't want to go just for dying. - Onikobu...

Our lives are controlled by our Ieader like puppets on a string.

That's not a real human life!

It's like a dog!

I've decided I'm going to enjoy living my life by my own choice.

In Kyoto.

-I see.

-You see!

I understood why Yoshiro wanted to work on this mission.

It's revenge! It's revenge on Oda Nobunaga.

What a horrible thing Nobunaga did to us!

His 46,000 troops took Iga and burned everyone to death,

including women and children.

September of 1581...

It seems like a bad dream you had a long time ago,

but it's been only a year since the incident.

His father, mother, and younger sister were killed.

Even worse, his younger sister was brutally assaulted.

-I guess he wanted to be killed by them, too...

-Hey, attention please, everyone!

Attention please, everyone!

I'll make rain! Rain!

-If you show your sexy leg,

maybe a mountain hermit will come down for you.

But I'm not sure you can make it rain.

-Hey! Look at that!

Look to the north...

Don't be a fool! Not the mountain.

Above the mountain... Can you see the sky and clouds?

A shape like this...

A cloud that's shaped like this...

See...

You can see it.

Little by little you can see it.

Little by little you can see the cloud.

See...

A shape like this...

A cloud that's shaped like this...

See... A shape like this...

A shape like this... A shape like this...

See...

No, no, no, no.

Don't take your eyes off of the cloud...

The cloud becomes bigger little by little...

The cloud becomes black as night and spreads little by little...

-Oh, it's raining! -yes!

-Oh, rain! -Rain! -It's rain!- It's rain!

-You see! I did it!

Now! Why don't you pay me!

-There isn't any rain.

-Witch! -She used magic!

-Give us our money back!

-Wait! Nabari-no-Sukedayu!

-But it's been so long.

I thought you died the day Nobunaga attacked Iga.

-Tell me why... Tell me the reason...

You stopped me from doing my job out there.

-At the battle with Nobunaga, almost half of the people of Iga were killed.

The rest of Iga had to flee and scattered around the county.

But...

Even though we became fugitives,

Hojiro no Orin, you should not act like a beggar on the street.

-It's none of your business!

I do whatever I want to!

Iga's skills are good for business, anyway!

-You've failed as an Iga ninja by selling your skills as a street performer.

Nobunaga in heaven will be very happy to see the results of his victoy.

-Damn!

-Orin! A mission!

A mission from Leader Otowa.

-If you say stealing is wrong, then your revenge is also wrong.

Using your skill for personal purposes.

-My revenge?

-Nobunaga's attack was so vicious.

He chased the women and children into the valley, built a wall around them, and burned them to death.

Your mother was among them.

Your father charged the enemy,

cursing Nobunaga with rage and was cut down by them!

But the most tragic thing was...

-Stop! Don't talk about my younger sister.

-She was 18, and had not yet had a boyfriend.

Nobunaga's soldiers took her into a dugout shed and raped her many times.

After she escaped from the shed,

she was wandering around among the dead looking for you.

When she finally found you,

she cut her throat and died in front of you...!

What did she tell you?

-That's something else. A job is a job.

-Then I'll avenge your sister!

I'll get Lady Oichi, take her to a dugout and rape her...

over and over again!

-I'm crossing Shizugatake Pass tonight.

-Then I will, too.

-I smell blood.

-I know his face. It's Sakuma no Genjiro.

-Onikobu.

-H..H..his face... too.

I know him.

Hey! her there!

-Kunoichi (A female ninja).

They were killed recently.

-A total of 2O dead bodies. All of them were Iga ninja.

-Their feet were marked after they were killed.

Cut to the bone.

-What's the reason for these wounds?

Yoshiro...

Hey!

-Onikobu! Don't kill me! It's me!

-What? Orin...?

-Why did you come here?

I got the same mission from the leader. Sukedayu is here, too.

-The mission was supposed to be for just Onikobu and me.

-Damn! What a nasty leader he is!

He didn't trust us.

-I heard it was an Iga myth, but they used to put these marks

on corpses after killing them to ward of the spirits of the dead.

-Was this done by an Iga ninja, like us?

-That was in the old days. We don't do it now.

If somebody is still doing an old myth ritual, he should be

as old as 100 years. -100 years oId?

-Who could be...?

-There is no one as old as that in Iga.

-I can think of one person.

Aizen Myo-Oh!

Aizen Myo-Oh is the oldest of the Iga ninja.

But nobody knows what he looks like. No one has ever seen his face.

He has the powerful skill of being able to change his figure into that of anybody.

So, we never know where he is.

We can only find traces of him from the sites of his brutal killings.

-We'll be stuck unless we do something about him.

-I'll kill Aizen Myo-Oh.

-I feel like someone is watching us.

-This place is indefensible.

-I wonder how Leader Otowa will handle this matter.

-They live in the world of our shadows. We shouldn't expect

so much from him.

-It's been said at Ayakuri Shrine in Iga he tried to assassinate Nobunaga

with a cannon.

There's also a rumor that he had a secret role in the incident at Honno-ji.

-I feel like he deceived us in order to get money.

-If he just wanted money,

he could have taken the whole box of gold... But he didn't.

More than money is involved for him to take this mission. There's a hatred toward Nobunaga.

-Are you saying that his hatred toward Nobunaga will enable him to kidnap Lady Oichi?

-Lady Oichi is Nobunaga's real sister.

If he successfully brings her to me,

he'll earn a greater reputation than any ninja ever has!

That's why Shibata Katsuie is guarding his castle with 3,000 soldiers.

Besides, Lady Oichi is famous for her beauty.

I really love her.

I really love her from my heart.

-My sandal. Please go ahead.

It wasn't him! Aizen Myo-Oh isn't supposed to be that young.

-Then where is the real Aizen Myo-Oh?

-Somewhere... Hey!

-Shall I wash it for you?

You don't want my smell on your clothes, do you?

-Hey, he finally came home.

-It was a long break, wasn't it?

Where were you for the last three days?

-Hey, gather around. -Yeah.

-We can't wait anymore.

However, in order to successfully cary out the mission,

we must know more about the castle's structure. Especially

the secret iron rooms in the main court.

-Let's go! To the castle!

-Four of us together will be easy to spot.

That's probably what Aizen Myo-Oh wants us to do.

So, someone... Yoshiro!

If Yoshiro doesn't come back within three days,

we'll assume he's dead.

Then, Onikobu, you'll be the second to go to the castle.

If Onikobu doesn't come back either

then we have to contact Leader Otowa and he'll send more men.

-Yes.

-Yoshiro!

Why did you let Sukedayu order you around?

He should go himself.

-This is a perfect mission for me, Kijiro no Yoshiro.

-Damn it! Yoshiro.

You said stealing is bad, but you're always stealing women's hearts!

-You be quiet!

You eat like a mouse! Munch, munch, munch! All you do is eat!

-This is my skill.

I can work without eating or drinking for ten days.

I'm preparing for my mission.

-Yoshiro will return!

He will...

ECHIZEN - KITANOSHO CAASTLE

-Shift change. -Sir!

-Hey! Check over thatway.

-Hey! Stealing is my specialty.

I don't want to give you this mission.

-Nobunaga put Katsuie at Kitanosho Castle so he could prevent

revolts by peasants.

Katsuie's nickname is ''Demon Shibata''.

He's an excellent soldier and a good politician.

He confiscated the peasants' weapons, and partofthose

he made into new farm tools for them.

The rest he used for Kitanosho Castle's iron construction.

-Damn it!

Onikobu must have gotten scared and run aaway!

What a piece of trash Onikobu is! But so are you, too!

Why did you let Yoshiro go like prey in front of a tiger?

How can you keep so calm?

Yoshiro poisoned the tip of his sword, not for the enemy.

It was for himself to die instead of being captured.

-Orin, you're in love with Yoshiro, aren't you?

-If so, it's nobody's business.

-Women ninja can't fall in love! It will destroy you!

Not just women, but no ninja can ever fall in love with anything.

-You're not human!

A ninja must trust only one thing.

One's own skills.

-It must be a secret room with Lady Oichi staying behind that door.

-Stay back, Yoshiro! I'll go first.

-Take a look there! -Sir!

-All forts are garrisoned and the soldiers

are ready in their positions, right? -yes sir,

We are just waiting for your command.

-Thank you.

Go back to Fort Kiyoichiyama and be ready to move.

Don't change the troops' positions.

If they are in position, we'll win this war... Wewill.

-But... -lisbn, Morimasa!

You must not let your anger cause you to make a move.

I'll tell you again. Understand?

-Yes sir. Now, I'm going back to Fort Kiyoichiyama.

-His Excellency is here.

-My lady, I'll be going to Fort Uchiyamanaka tomorrow.

-It's time for a war.

-Hunting wild monkeys. Wild monkeys are out there.

I'll be back soon.

-Thank you for saving me.

But why are you here? Areyou alone?

-My father sent me here. And I stole the map of this castle.

-We can find all of the ninja traps and secret rooms.

Lady Oichi is in a secret room built of iron.

This is great.

-How are we going to kidnap Lady Oichi?

-Koyumi!

-I wasn't sure if I could find this hideout.

I like it a lot! -New informatijn?

-Everything is alright?

-The mission... I want to help it.

-Did you come here under orders?

-Yoshiro? Where is Yoshiro?

-Did you come here under orders?!

Go back to Iga!

We don't need a melodrama here. Human emotions...

are always an obstacle to a mission!

-Hideyoshi has 67,OOO troops.

Now we know everything.

-Koyumi?

What is wrong? What's the matter?

-I don't need you anymore,

And your skiIIs are

no Ionger of any use either,

this pIace wiII be your grave!

-Koyumi!

- your skiIIs are far from perfect

I have to put a sign on your feet. A sign of my victory,

I'II burn the sign on your feet.

The sign of death!

The right or the Ieft,

Which foot do you want to be the marked one?I don't care at aII,

-Aizen Myo-Oh.

-I see. You've killed Aizen Myo-Oh!

-I'm back! Yoshiro...!

You're back!

What's wrong? It's me!

-This is the real Koyumi.

-I know it.

-What is it?

-Katsuie is keeping 3,OOO of his troops at Kitanosho Castle to guard it.

We must do something about them in order to kidnap Lady Oichi.

-There is away to do it.

We have to cause a distraction within Katsuie's position so he'll

move the 3,OOO troops out.

Orin, now is the time for a woman ninja to do her job.

Go to Fort Kiyoichiyama and sleep with commander Sakuma Morimasa.

That's your job!

-How can I get to Morimasa?

-I know that Yamaji Shogen will defect from Hideyoshi and join Katsuie.

Why not use that?

-We were told that he would join Lord Katsuie instead of Lord Hideyoshi

and ordered to escape by boat from Nagahama Port upon getting this letter,

by Our Lord Shogen, himself.

On ourway, we were caught by Hideyoshi's soldiers.

It was awful.

It was brutal!

Hideyoshi is really evil!

They put not only our Lady,

but her children on crosses and executed them.

-It cannot be helped.

Those are the rules ofwar.

-Please understand how I feel

after seeing my lady, who treated me...

as her own daughter...

even though I'm a servant...

dying like that on...

the cross.!

Please understand my sadness and anger...

I have to avenge her in anyway...

ButI can't do anything since I'm awoman.

Please, lord...

Move your soldiers right now.

-Please wait for the right moment! The right moment.

What's wrong? Don't you want to?

-It's not that at all...

Not at all...

-Then what is it?

-Hideyoshi took 2O,OOO of his soldiers

and went to Gifu Castle with them...

-So what about it?

-Please, listen to me, my lord.

Why don't you take your own victory

by a surprise attack right now?

-Well... I can't break my position under any circumstances.

-What!

Morimasa has moved already? -yes, sii!

-What a great warrior Lord Morimasa is!

He chased the enemy aaway

and took over Fort Oiwayama.

What a victory!

-Damnfool!

Tell him to go back to Fort Kiyoichiyama rightaaway.

Right away! -Sir!

-What about Fort Oiwayama? -No,,!

I don't care about that fort.

Tell him to resume his original position at Fort Kiyoichiyama.

-Permission to report? -yes,

-A messenger from our lord!

-What? Another messenger from him?

Tell my lord that none of my soldiers have slept since yesterday.

I'll give them and their horses a rest and we'll be back at Fort Kiyoichiyama tomorrow.

Got it? -Yes,

-I don't understand what you're thinking.

-oh..?

-I thought you'd be headed to Nagahama with your soldiers.

-Nagahama?

-Even if Hideyoshi hurries back from Gifu, he can't be here until tomorrow night.

This is your opportunity...

Nagahama Castle.

If you get Nagahama Castle, it's the same as taking the whole county.

Why go back to Kiyoichiyama?

-The whole county.

-Yes.

-Orin! The whole county?

For me? The whole county?

The county...

-Hideyoshi!

-Hideyoshi's coming!

-Take your positions!

-Lord! Hideyoshi is coming!

-You! You tricked me!

-If you keep doing this until morning, you'll each get one gold coin!

Lord Hideyoshi gave his word!

Keep it burning! Keep it burning!

Gold coins! Gold coins!

-Gold coins! Gold coins!

-Gold coins! Gold coins!

-Morimasa's army is

badly damaged and can no Ionger function on the battlefield.

-Are you sure that the surprise attack was done by Hideyoshi's army?

-Yes.

We can see a thousand torches across the lake.

-I can't believe that Hideyoshi has come back from Gifu

in such a short time!

-My lord!

A large new army has just now reached Nagahama Castle!

-A new army? -Yes,

There were thousands of torches coming down along the Mino road!

-That must be Hideyoshi!

Get ready for war!

Bring a force from Kitanosho Castle as well!

-From ''Iron Castle''? -Bring it here!

Now we have to fight to the death!

-I've been waiting for you!

-You're alive!

-Of course!

I've been digging and digging.

I thought I'd die when the hunger kicked in.

Why don't you go in? You'll see skeletons down there.

-You're immortal!

-Yes. That's right.

-Yoshiro killed Aizen Myo-Oh by himself.

-What?

Then I'll kidnap Lady Oichi by myself!

Hey! I'll take care of this job!

Why don't you stay with the baby?

-Don't be a fool!

-You can't do it by yourself.

-You don't think so!

Follow me. I'll show you.

-That's the main keep. Let's spread out as planned.

-Very well.

-Hey! I said this mission is mine!

-I'll do it for myself.

Kidnapping Lady Oichi is not for my revenge.

I thought that way in the beginning.

But I really want to test myself, to see if I'm a worthy human being.

-My lady,

Hideyoshi's army has surrounded us.

-You'll be under siege?

-I've chosen this castle as my grave.

-I'd like to die with you.

-Would you die with me? -yes,

-I want to die with you, too. Then, let's die together!

-No! That's forbidden of lord's daughters.

-Escape from the castle, and go see Hideyoshi.

It has been only a short time since we became a family.

Even though we're family, you don't have to die at Kitanosho .

Your real father was the late Asai Nagamasa.

And your mother is a relative to Hideyoshi's former lord.

Hideyoshi would like to take good care of you.

You don't have to worry about anything.

-I don't like Hideyoshi!

He makes my hair stand on end!

-I don't want to...

I don't want to give them...

-Are you telling these innocent girls to die?

-I prefer them to die rather than to live a sad life.

I understand very well.

Because I have lived in a place

surrounded by iron walls.

That's why I can see the future!

-I did it because I was worried about you.

-I really appreciate what you did for me.

However...

my misery as a woman was unbearable,

to have to leave my soul behind and mary the Odani lord,

and then at Kitanosho ...

-Let's die together!

-No.

You should live.

And have a totally different life than mine!

-Don't do it.

-Don't tell me what to do! Stealing is my specialty.

See!

I'll steal Lady Oichi, too.

-Is Miss Chacha's luggage ready?

-Yes. -We'II take it.

-This is the secret iron room.

-It's impossible to break into it.

-My lady, why don't you go with the girls?

Chacha said she doesn't like Hideyoshi.

-She said he makes her hair stand on end.

-If he also makes your hair stand on end, why not

go elsewhere?

How about Ieyasu?

-I'd like to write my last poem.

''Early summer evening... yetI hear a cuckoo...

''teIIing me it's aImost time to say... Good-bye,''

-''Summer night... the broken dream...

''take my souI to the sky... Cuckoo,''

My lady, please listen.

-I'll have a party at the castle tower

with the loyal retainers who will die with me.

It will be the best and last one!

Will you join me?

-No, I'll not go anywhere anymore.

AAs I did at the fall of the Odani clan

I don't want to miss my chance to die.

-Hey,

how can we take the woman without even laying a scratch on her?

-I can do it.

-I don't think so.

-I can!

-I brought a plate for our lady.

A special plate for tonight from our lord.

-His lordship?

-I knew you'd be gone...

Lady Oichi.

-Hey! Where are you going?

-Yes! My lady Oichi told me

to deliver this chest to her daughters who Ieft a little while ago.

-I've not heard! -BuC,,

-Let me check it!

Hey!

-I'll get the boat!

-Yoshiro!

I'll take her as revenge for your sister.

And for Orin who was wounded by Morimasa!

-Who are you...? -Who are you!

I'll shame the hell out of you!

Then throw you to that monkey Hideyoshi!

-No, don't!

What are...

What are you going to do?

-Orin!

-Is this Lady Oichi?

The face... Let me see her face!

-Do you work for Hideyoshi?

-Take a good look at my wound.

You probably have no idea how painful it is,

since you've never before suffered like we have!

-Maybe you can't see mine.

But I have a very deep wound myself, too.

By my brother Nobunaga's order,

I had to mary Lord Nagamasa of Odani!

When my brother killed Nagamasa,

I wasn't allowed to die with him, and was brought back to Kiyosu byforce!

My soul really has a deep wound!

Next I was forced to re-mary, this time to Lord Katsuie.

Although my wounds can only be healed by death,

I have failed again...

-Shut up!

-A huge force that can't see, always pushes me down to hell.

The power called authority has taken me this time

by force to Hideyoshi-dono!

Am I right?

However...

I don't want to go anywhere anymore..!

No... Not at all...

-Like us.

So we can accomplish somebody else's goal, we must deceive others

and ourselves as well.

She is just like one of us.

-Let me have your sword, please!

Let me have it!

-Take her to the boat!

What are you doing?

-We shouldn't take her to Hideyoshi!

-What are you talking about? If we fail our mission

we'll be worse than petty thieves!

-I wanted to complete this mission perfectly! In a perfect way!

So it would make me a perfect human being!

-Let me go! Let's just take her to the boat!

Stop!

DON'T LET HER DIE!

-Let's take her back to Kitanosho .

THE END