Ninja: Shadow of a Tear

Casey, now a settled husband to Namiko and expecting his first child, thought he had left the world of danger behind at the Kōga ninja dojo. However, his tranquility was shattered when he stumbled upon two would-be assailants wielding knives in town. As he effortlessly dispatched the attackers, little did he know that this encounter would soon become a harbinger of doom. That night, Casey's grocery shopping trip took an unsettling turn as he rushed home only to find Namiko brutally slain, her neck bearing the unmistakable markings of a barbed wire weapon. The funeral procession seemed like a macabre ritual, as the dojo was visited by Nakabara, a former student who offered Casey a chance to train at his Thailand-based dojo to ease the pain. But Casey remained resolute in his grief, instead opting to track down the muggers and exacting a deadly revenge.

Days passed, and Casey's anguish still lingered when Nakabara's words of wisdom finally sank in. He traveled to Bangkok, seeking solace in the ancient art of ninjutsu. During sparring sessions with Lucas, one of Nakabara's students, Casey's emotions suddenly boiled over, and he brutally attacked his opponent with a bokken. Nakabara intervened, guiding Casey through the fire walk practice to master his emotions. However, memories of Namiko haunted him, causing Casey to abandon the ritual mid-way. His anguish soon gave way to a night of reckless revelry at a local bar, culminating in a brawl with drunken patrons. The next morning, Lucas lay lifeless on the floor, his neck also bearing the telltale signs of barbed wire strangulation.

As Nakabara revealed the dark history behind Casey's tragedy, the true extent of his predicament became clear. His father-in-law, Sensei Takeda, and Isamu, a man from Nagoya, were once the top students at Kōga dojo. When their sensei passed away, Isamu challenged Takeda for control, only to meet a brutal demise at his hands. This act of betrayal sparked a vow of vengeance in Isamu's younger brother Goro, who would stop at nothing to exact revenge over three generations. Years later, Goro rose to become the head of Myanmar's largest drug cartel, with Casey's connection to Takeda making him a prime target.

Nakabara urged Casey to return to the United States, citing his marriage to Namiko and her father's bloodline as reasons for his vulnerability. But Casey refused, opting instead to seek out Goro and exact justice. Nakabara provided him with an ancient map of Burma, inherited from his father during World War II, which bore markings indicating the locations of valuable ninja weapons. As Casey set his sights on Goro, he embarked on a perilous journey, driven by a burning desire for retribution.

As Casey ventures into Myanmar, he forges an unexpected camaraderie with Mike, a resourceful Indian cab driver. Under the cover of night, Casey's restless spirit drives him to confront a group of drug dealers in a seedy bar, resulting in a brutal and intense brawl. Weary from his ordeal, Casey retires to his hotel room, only to be rousted by the State Peace and Development Council, who misconstrue him as an American spy and subject him to brutal torture. With a mix of cunning and force, Casey manages to escape from his cell and extract vital information about Goro's whereabouts from SPDC General Sung. Mike then provides Casey with safe passage into the jungle, where he stumbles upon a haunting cemetery of Japanese soldiers, their final resting place marked by the Nakabara clan symbol. Empowered by this discovery, Casey equips himself with an arsenal of ninja weapons buried beneath a wooden gravemarker and sets his sights on infiltrating Goro's stronghold. As he navigates the complex, Casey sets off a chain reaction of flames before engaging Myat, Goro's ruthless right-hand man, in a vicious battle. With a swift and merciless strike, Casey claims victory over Myat, then confronts Goro himself. The fight rages on, with Casey delivering a decisive blow to Goro's midsection before turning the tables and decapitating his foe.

Upon returning to Nakabara's dojo, Casey is met with a shocking revelation: Nakabara was the mastermind behind Namiko and Lucas' brutal murder. This treacherous truth reveals that Nakabara had been manipulating events from the shadows, using Casey as a pawn in his quest to monopolize the Southeast Asian drug trade by eliminating Goro's cartel. Now a marked man, Nakabara presents Casey with an impossible choice: join him or face extinction. The two engage in a frenzied fight, their movements a blur of steel and sweat as they clash within the dojo's walls. As the battle reaches its climax, Casey finds himself impaled by Nakabara's wakizashi, his left shoulder ravaged. Undeterred, Casey seizes the initiative, wrapping a manriki around Nakabara's neck to deliver the fatal blow.

In the aftermath of this violent confrontation, Casey shares Nakabara's sinister motives with Hiroshi, a sympathetic student at the dojo. Horrified by the truth, Hiroshi decides that the incident never occurred and bids Casey a solemn farewell. With his quest for vengeance finally sated, Casey returns to Japan, where he pays homage to Namiko's memory by releasing her pendant into a serene pond, finding solace in the closure it brings.