Plot

In the early 20th century in Hokkaido, Japan, a treasure hunt between various parties takes place for a hidden stash of gold.

Set in the late Meiji period in Hokkaido, Japan, Saichi Sugimoto (Kento Yamazaki) is a war hero who was known as Immortal Sugimoto during the Russo-Japanese War. He now starts a new life in Hokkaido. To raise money for his plan, he pans for gold in Hokkaido. He hears about the existence of gold nuggets that belonged to the indigenous Ainu people, but were stolen by a man known as Noppera-bo. Right before he was caught, Noppera-bo allegedly hid the gold nuggets. In prison, Noppera-bo tattooed the secret location among the bodies of 24 different prisoners. Each prisoner had a piece that would collectively reveal the location of the gold nuggets. Noppera-bo then escaped prison with those 24 prisoners. One day, Saichi Sugimoto is attacked by a wild bear. At that time, he is saved by an Ainu girl named Asirpa (Anna Yamada). Asirpa's father was killed by the man who stole the gold nuggets and she wants to take revenge on her father's killer. Saichi Sugimoto and Asirpa, for different reasons, begin to work together. More people join the chase for the hidden gold nuggets.—AsianWiki

Immortal soldier Saichi Sugimoto (Kento Yamazaki) fought in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904 at 203 Meter Hill, China. 130,000 Japanese soldiers were deployed to capture Port Arthur, the Russian naval base in China. 60,000 Japanese and 40,000 Russians died in the battle. Toraji (Yuki Izumisawa) was Saichi's friend and fellow soldier in the battle as they fought side by side. Saichi takes a direct bullet hit during battle, but still survives. Saichi breaks into Russian trenches and kills many enemy soldiers despite being stabbed and shot multiple times. Toraji was killed in battle and Saichi could not save him.

Two years later, Sugimoto says that he is after this fabled gold because his post-war life has been atrocious. He doesn't get any pension because of his disorderly conduct (he killed his own officer), and he is barely making ends meet. So, he wants to find the gold and live a better life. While searching for gold in the river, he learns from a drunken vagabond about a rumored treasure in Hokkaido. The old man told him about the Ainu tribe secretly collecting gold in preparation for a revolt against the Japanese Imperial army and to protect their sacred land. But, on one fateful night, all of the Ainu revolutionaries were murdered by a single crazy person, Noppera-Bo, who stole the gold (it was worth eight billion yen or 200 Kan) and then hid it somewhere in Hokkaido.

Soon after that, Noppera-Bo was arrested by the Imperial Army and locked up in Abashiri Prison to rot till the end of his days. Inside the prison, he was endlessly tortured so that he'd spill the truth about the location of the gold, but he didn't. He was unable to write letters to his friends and inform them about the gold because the guards wouldn't let him. So, he tattooed the coordinates on the bodies of a select few inmates (which, when seen in unison, would direct the seeker to the gold) and then ordered them to break out of the prison. Noppera-Bo promised them that the one who found it would get half of the treasure. Since then, everyone who has learned about this story, and knows that it's authentic, has been going after the tattooed convicts so that they can get rich and fulfill their dreams.

The drunken vagabond tries attack Sugimoto, but soon realizes that he is immortal and runs away. Sugimoto tracks him and finds him dead from a bear attack. Sugimoto also finds that the vagabond was one of the escaped convicts named Takechiyo Goto (Makita Sports) as he had a tattoo on his back. Sugimoto is also attacked by the bear and is saved by an Ainu, named Aspira. Sugimoto tells Aspira the story narrated by Takechiyo and asks for her help. Aspira believes the story as her own father Aca (Arata Iura) was killed in the attacked by Noppera-Bo. Aspira determines that the tattoos on Takechiyo's back are made in such a way that he has to be skinned. Which means that Noppera-Bo never meant to share the treasure with the convicts. That night, the duo are again attacked by a different bear, and are saved by a white wolf named Retar. Sugimoto says that if the gold is found, Noppera-Bo will be killed in prison, and she will get her revenge for Aca's death. Aspira agrees, but makes Sugimoto promise that he would not kill.

Asirpa and Sugimoto determine that the remaining convicts are likely to be in Hokkaido and in a city. They travel to the nearest city of Otaru and question the locals about the tattoos. They are followed by 2 convicts (Kanjiro Kasahara and Yoshitake Shiraishi) whom they trap in the mountains. As Sugimoto can't kill them, Asirpa makes a drawing of their tattoos. The group is attacked by Hyakunosuke Ogata (Gordon Maeda) who was also in the army (7th division) and is after the treasure. Ogata kills Kanjiro Kasahara. He wants the convicts and the skin of the 3rd convict to be handed over to him. In the ensuing scuffle Ogata is badly injured and left for dead.

Yoshitake tries to escape, but Sugimoto pursues him and they both fall into a frozen river. To survive, they have to work together and end up saving each other's life. Yoshitake reveals that the boss of the convicts is Toshizo Hijikata, vice commander of the Shinsengumi and an ex-samurai who fought in the Battle of Hakodate for the Shogunate. Toshizo Hijikata (Hiroshi Tachi) is one of the 24 inmates with tattoos made by Noppera-Bo. He is the one who ordered the jailbreak and sliced up all the guards who were transferring them from Abashiri Prison. He spends the majority of his time assembling all the inmates who have been blessed by Noppera-Bo.

Tokushiro Tsurumi is the commander of the 7th division and Ogata's boss. Tsurumi finds Ogata in the mountains and learns that Sugimoto is responsible. Tsurumi's soldiers pursue Sugimoto and Asirpa. Sugimoto gives the skin to Asirpa and asks her to go a different way as he knows that the army is only after him. They manage to fight off the soldiers, regroup and Asirpa takes Sugimoto to her village. Asirpa's uncle (Debo Akibe) says that his people assembled the gold decades earlier, and it is cursed. He asks Sugimoto not to go after it. Sugimoto leaves the village in early morning while Asirpa is still sleeping. Meanwhile, Tsurumi is operating in the mountains without the permission of his unit's Captain Wada. When Wada confronts him, Tsurumi bites off Wada's finger. Tsurumi has an injury to his frontal lobe of the skull, which oozes fluid constantly. This has made Tsurumi insane.

Sugimoto is eventually captured by Tsurumi's men as he looks for more convicts in the city. Tsurumi reveals that he is angry about the way the Japanese government handled the war with the Russians. He thinks that he and his army were ordered to charge at the Russians without making sure that the enemy soldiers didn't have anything to defend themselves with. Since the Russians still had Maxim guns in their arsenal, a lot of the Japanese soldiers ended up biting the dust. To make it worse, when they returned home, they didn't get any rewards or basic help from the government. In order to take revenge against the authorities, Tsurumi intends to find the gold to fund his army. Then, he wants to use it to establish the Seventh Division as the ruling regime in Hokkaido and help the families of all those who have lost their loved ones on the battlefield. Furthermore, he wants to establish his own opium empire in order to create a stable source of income for everyone. However, his methods are wrong, immoral, and unethical.

Asirpa gives Sugimoto's socks to Retar to track him, but he reaches Yoshitake instead, as their socks got mixed up when they fell into the icy river. Asirpa forces Yoshitake to help her rescue Sugimoto. Sugimoto makes a miraculous escape from Tokushiro Tsurumi's (Hiroshi Tamaki) clutches, with the help of Asirpa (Anna Yamada), Retar and Yoshitake Shiraishi (Yuma Yamoto). Tsurumi reveals that he also possesses a few convict skins.

Sugimoto reveals his true story to Asirpa. Growing up, Sugimoto had two friends: Toraji (Yuki Izumisawa) and Ume (Mitsuki Takahata). Sugimoto and his family apparently contracted some kind of lung disease, which caused everyone to treat him like an outcast, but it was probably the reason why Sugimoto became immortal. Sugimoto burned down his house and left the village. When he returned several years later, Ume and Toraji were married to each other, and Sugimoto was happy for them. During the Russo-Japanese War, Toraji ended up sacrificing his life to save Sugimoto. While taking his last breath, Toraji said that there's gold in Hokkaido, and he ordered Sugimoto to find it and use it to heal Ume's blindness. Asirpa agrees to help Sugimoto to find the gold to fulfill his purpose.

Hijikata reveals that he is getting money and guns (from a Russian merchant) via Nagakura (Katsumi Kiba) (who is also from the Shinsengumi) to recreate the Republic of Ezo. He wants to use all the gold (20,000 Kan and not 200 Kan) to establish a nation along the lines of the feudal era of Japan. Based on Hijikata's attitude, it is evident that he isn't happy with modernization, bureaucracy, and democracy. He wants to be an autocrat and rule over Hokkaido (and maybe the rest of Japan) with an iron fist because that's what he has seen as a young soldier of the Shogunate.

Noppera-Bo is seen uttering Asirpa's name. She said that her father, Aca was killed when Noppera-Bo stole the gold from the Ainu tribe. Asirpa is one of the only people that Noppera-Bo didn't kill. Something about her stopped Noppera-Bo from spilling any more blood, and he decided to just take the gold and go away.