In the Iga province, a certain kokezaru pot has been passed down for generations. Lord of the Yagyu region, Yagyu Tsushimanokami is told by his elderly retainer that this pot has a secret: under its glaze is a map detailing the location of 1 million ryo. However, he hears of this too late. Thinking it was a simple, worn-out pot, Tsushimanokami gifted it to his younger brother Genzaburo when he married into his wife's family and moved to Shiranui dojo. In an act of desperation, Tsushimanokami sends his favored vessal Ko Dainoshin to Edo to recover the pot. Acting as a messenger for Tsushimanokami, he urges Genzaburo to return the kokezaru pot, a request Genzaburo immediately refuses out of spite for his brother. His wife Hagino then orders Yokichi to sell the pot to a junk dealer. Ko Dainoshin returns a second time to buy the pot for 100 ryo. Suspicious that his stingy elder brother would spend such an amount, he orders Dainoshin beaten, thus discovering the pot's secret. But by this time, the pot has already exchanged many hands and has become a goldfish pot for Shichibee's son, Chobi-yasu. Smitten with the proprietress of an archery range, Shichibee visits the range every night. That is, until he's killed by local yakuza members over a trivial dispute. The shop's bodyguard Tange Sazen and the child-detesting Ofuji find themselves caring for Shichibee's orphaned son, Chobi-yasu. Tired of searching for the pot, Genzaburo begins visiting the archery range, where he meets Sazen and Chobi-yasu.