Bronson Lee, a Japanese-American raised by his grandma in the harsh, poverty-stricken desert Southwest, returns to Japan to demonstrate his mastery of karate by entering the tournament that will determine the first World Karate Champion.

This is the third and final film of the ZA KARATE trilogy. Tadashi Yamashita reprises his role as the Karate World Champion. Local Japanese karate schools are not happy that a Chinese master will take over the Japanese karate organization and will do everything they can to prevent it.