The Tang emperor is betrayed by one of his generals, who installs himself as emperor in the East Capital. The son of one of his slave workers escapes to the Shaolin Temple, learns kung fu, and sets out to kill the traitor who killed his father.

Wuwechimato journeys to China to learn Chinese kung fu but finds himself on board a boat filled with Japanese pirates whose only mission is plunder and pillage. When he intervenes on behalf of an adolescent Chinese girl about to be kidnapped, he is targeted by the pirates while also assumed by the Chinese villagers to be one of the pirates. Only when the girl hides him and teaches him some of her language, does he manage to convince other important villagers of his innocence.

In ancient China, Zhi Ming trains at the legendary Northern Shaolin temple to avenge the death of his father at the hands of a nefarious magistrate.