Long ago, a war ravaged the Earth. Mankind nearly destroyed itself through the use of nuclear weapons.

In an instant, millions of people were dead. Cities were destroyed, most of the oceans dried up and mankind was on the brink of extinction. However, several years passed and humanity did not perish. But in this new world, a new order was coming to pass: the strong would rule over the weak.

In this age, the strong tend to team up in large gangs and go out to claim whatever they want. One gang is on the move and as they cross a desert on their bikes, we see that they are all armed.

Nearby, a group of people from a place known as Freedom Village have gotten together to try and find some uncontaminated water. They've created a well and several of them have gone down. As they dig, they eventually find the blue stuff they were after and Tobi immediately takes a sip of it, despite warnings from his friends. But it turns out he's OK so that means one thing: the water is safe to drink. Everyone is happy about this as it means they've got fresh water for their village.

Everyone returns to the top and the villages start to celebrate, as it means they won't have to trade their food or women for clean water any more. They want to know how Tobi knew there would be water out here but he just brings out a map and says that it was thanks to that. He still intends to charge them for the info though, as it's the way he makes a living in this world. He suggests that he gets to marry one of the pretty ladies in their village, which everyone laughs at.

The laughter soon stops when one village suddenly gets an arrow in the head: they are under attack! The gang seen earlier has arrived. A few other villagers are killed as the gang leader, a large man with claws, rides up with the rest of his men.

Tobi has hidden himself under his truck and knows the name of the large man: Geese, a Captain who works for the leader of "Last Land". Geese tells the villagers that by tapping into the water veil, they are taking water from Last Land -in other words, they are stealing water from God! He says that their is only one fitting punishment for this theft: death. The villagers start to run, but get shot with arrows.

Tobi also runs but gets hit through the arm with one arrow. He makes it to the edge of a cliff, but one of Geese's men fires again. The shot nearly hits him in the back of his head when someone all too familiar grabs the arrow at the last moment.

Geese says that what the man just did was impressive, but not enough to stop the army of God! He sends some of his men to attack the man, but as they charge at him...

...but each of them is hit by an attack so fast they don't even realise it. Each man is hit just once and knocked down, but as they get back up their heads swell up and explode! Kenshiro has returned.

Geese puts himself forward and says that whilst Kenshiro may practice a martial art, nothing is better than the style he himself has mastered: Hokuto Shinken! He has no idea that Kenshiro is also a master of Hokuto Shinken, but he removes his claws and starts to attack him with a series of rapid punches. Kenshiro casually avoids all of them.

Kenshiro loses his headgear but strikes back and with one finger, he hits Geese on his forehead. Geese asks if Kenshiro honestly thinks he can win with an attack like that, but Ken reveals that he has just hit his "Gakuchu" pressure point. And that means one thing: Geese is already dead. Geese laughs at this and doesn't understand what Kenshiro is on about...

...but then finds out when one of his eyes removes itself from the socket. As Geese stumbles around, Kenshiro tells him that only the heir to Hokuto Shinken is allowed to use the style... Geese finally realises who it is he is fighting, only for his head to explode a couple of seconds later.

His body stumbles around a bit before crashing right in front of his troops. The troops don't want to take on Ken now and all of them get on their bikes and buggies before riding away as fast as they can. Later Kenshiro gets Tobi onto his truck and the two of them head off to Freedom Village.

Tobi introduces himself but quickly finds out that Kenshiro isn't the talkative type. Instead, he gets conversation going by talking about Last Land, a fortified city which has the only water supply which is safe to drink for miles around. However, a man called Sanga is the evil ruler there, and he intends to keep all of the water for himself. More recently, Sanga announced that there is a God in Last Land. Apparently Sanga isn't satisfied with being a dictator, he'd rather be a God. We then get to see Last Land, which has a large palace in it. Outside the palace is a city, which is surrounded by a tall wall. Outside that wall are several small villages...

...and just beyond those are places where people have to work. People came to Last Land to get some of the water, but they are made to work for it. They are treated poorly, but up in the palace is Sanga, who lives his life with everything he wants, including several beautiful girls.

One soldier comes in and gives a report: Geese has died. A man using a strange martial art killed him and then left the scene. The girls leave the room as Sanga gets up and tells the soldier than nobody can oppose him. He tells him to get his force together and to go and kill Geese's murderer, and to also attack Freedom Village. He also gives another order: they must capture the "miracle women" who lives in the village. Meanwhile, Kenshiro and Tobi are still driving across the desert.

Ken notices a picture and asks Tobi who the kid with him is. Tobi says that it is his brother, Bista, who he got separated from during the nuclear war. He tried to find him but couldn't. He still believes that his younger brother is alive, and explains to Kenshiro that he was quite good with magic tricks. Ken says they will meet again and thinks back...

"The time has come, Ryu. I have nothing left to teach you now. You must become a master through fighting your own, real battles. And in time, the blood of your father, Raoh, will lead you to the path you should take. We will meet again someday, and then it will be time to name you as the new successor to Hokuto Shinken. Farewell, Ryu."

Back in the present, the pair finally make it to the village and everyone recognises Tobi. They also realise that he is the only villager to return and he explains that soldiers from Last Land killed everyone else. Ken finds out that Freedom Village is a small village for people who hate Last Land can go. They want to make the village larger so they can eventually take on Last Land. A little girl called Mayne then walks up and asks where her Daddy is. Due to her not drinking enough healthy water, she cannot walk without the aid of a crutch and has several other problems, such as speaking in third person.

None of the villagers want to explain what happened to her father but Kenshiro tells her that her Daddy was a hero who went in search of water for others. He was brave to fight for others and that she must believe in him. A woman then walks up and Mayne recognises her straight away: Sara. Sara tells Mayne that she will wait with her as her father goes on his journey, but it will be a very long wait.

Later on, Sara is trying to patch up Tobi. She introduces herself to Kenshiro and tells him that she is the village's doctor. Ken watches her and sees that she seems to strike a point on Tobi's neck to make him stop feeling pain, before she asks Ken to push a lodged arrow through. The arrow is removed, so Sara then treats the wound just be putting her hands on Tobi's shoulder.

Kenshiro notices how Sara's healing techniques seem to use the same pressure point methods of Hokuto Shinken, and he asks her about where she learnt it. She says that it is a family skill, which is passed down from generation to generation. She finishes healing Tobi and moves on to her other patients, which she has a lot of. Tobi tells Kenshiro that he really likes Sara, but they should go and check out his place now.

Tobi doesn't live in the village itself, but at a small place nearby to it. He and Kenshiro get into the truck and leave. However, as day turns to night, Sanga's force are moving out and head towards Freedom Village.

At Tobi's place, Ken reveals that he thinks Sara must be related to the Hokuto bloodline, somehow. He explains to Tobi about how there can only be one master of the Hokuto Shinken style and that people who fail in the art are meant to have their fists destroyed or their memories wiped. But somewhere down the line it seems that some knowledge was passed on, which is how Sara has picked up the healing techniques. It is kind of like what happened to an old friend of Kenshiro's...

...Toki, someone else who trained in Hokuto Shinken. Toki wanted to use the style as a way to help others through healing. Ken remembers the time Toki told him this.

Back at the village, an alarm sounds: Last Land's forces are heading their way! However there isn't much they can do as by the time they've mobilized, their enemies have knocked down the main gate to the village and begin to tear everything apart. They've also got much more advanced weapons such as flame throwers and grenades.

The villagers can't handle the attack and Sanga's force proceed to kill everyone and capture Sara. They then leave the ruined village just as Kenshiro and Tobi return, but they are too late to do anything.

They find one barely alive villager who tells them that Sara has been captured and taken to Last Land. Kenshiro also finds Mayne's burnt corpse and Tobi knows that if she had been drinking clean water, she would have been able to run away from the attackers, but she had no chance how she was. Ken swears he won't let her death be in vain.

The next morning, Sara is taken to Sanga. Her stocks are removed and she asks why she has been taken to this place. Sanga tells her she will soon find out and she sees a boy being carried into the room.

Sanga gets up and then kneels, asking Lord Doha for his blessing. Doha gets up but just stares at him, before going outside and appearing in front of a massive crowd who are chanting his name.

A few floors down, Sanga and Sara are watching. Sanga explains that the use of violence to control people has limitations. True domination comes from getting the body and soul of a God. Just then, Doha clenches his fist and water sprays out of it everywhere, all over the crowds below. They love him for it and as Sanga watches, he tells Sara that Doha has the souls of the people, but it isn't enough. He needs another God who can show the people miracles -he needs Sara.

Elsewhere Ken and Tobi head towards Last Land and they soon see it. It doesn't take long for the duo to get inside, and with Ken's powers no guards can stand in their way. Ken finds one guard who knows where Sara is being held, but he refuses to talk and attacks him. However Ken easily counters and his a pressure point inside his mouth.

Ken tells him that he'll now tell him what he needs to know and sure enough, the guard cannot control his mouth and reveals that Sara is being held in a certain tower. Ken and Tobi head out and find themselves in a large crowd. The crowd suddenly starts to charge forward when someone shouts out that a new God has appeared.

Tobi asks a villager about what is going on, but he just says that a new God is here. They follow the crowd and see that up in a tower is Sara, who looks extremely nervous. Sanga is with her, and he has a man brought out.

Sanga draws out a dagger and promptly stabs the man in his chest. He then tells Sara that she can either watch this man bleed to death, or she can save his life. Unable to watch him die, Sara hits a pressure point on the man's back...

...and he is revived. He declares that it was a miracle, which sends the crowd into a frenzy. They applaud their new God, but Sara tries to explain to them that she isn't a miracle worker. They don't listen however and then Sanga has Doha reveal himself, which gets the crowd even more excited.

Tobi looks through a pair of binoculars and realises that Doha is actually his brother, Bista! He wants to go and rescue him, but Ken stops him and says they must wait, if they try and do anything now the entire crowd will turn on them. Later, Sanga is watching Doha eat and he thinks back to how they first met...

Years ago, Sanga and a few of his troops were walking through a destroyed city when a kid came up to them. The child didn't speak, but showed them a magic trick by making a small rock vanish. They told him to do it again and he pulled out a ring...

...and also made that disappear. At that point Sanga took interest in him. In the present, Sanga tells Sara that this kid had lost his memory and the ability to talk. He was given the name of Doha and Sanga uses his magic to make it look like he can perform miracles. He does everything Sanga tells him too, as it is the way he earns his food.

In this age, there are no pleasures left in Sanga's opinion -apart from the one he desires: to rule. Sara warns him that his deception of the people he has tricked will be discovered eventually. However, Sanga simply states that he will kill Doha before that happens. Later that night, Sara manages to get inside Doha's room and wakes him up. She tells him not to be afraid and then hits a pressure point on his head.

She tells him that his memory will eventually return. However Sanga then walks in and demands to know what Sara is doing in here. When she doesn't speak, he hits her off the bed and then picks her up by her hair, telling her that she may not act of her own free will again.

One of Sanga's troops runs in and has just enough time to tell his master that their is an intruder in the palace, but then his head explodes. Kenshiro is making his way through the building, defeating any guards who and stupid enough to get in his way. Some run, but many are beaten down. Soon, Ken and Tobi come across a large door.

Upon opening it, they find Sanga inside. Tobi attacks, but gets kicked out of the way. Sanga asks Ken what his name is, but he refuses to tell filth. Sanga is amused and tosses Sara aside and then removes his cape, telling Kenshiro that he'll witness the martial arts of a God.

Sanga lunges and does a few punches followed with a kick. Ken avoids them all and sees Sanga leap up into the air. He does the same and the two collide with flying kicks. Kenshiro receives a cut to his face, whilst Sanga comes away without any damage.

Sanga tells Kenshiro that part of his style involves the ability to read every single move the opponent makes, no matter how small it is. This means that he knows what his opponent is going to do before they do it. He then resumes attacking Kenshiro but cannot lands any more hits -Kenshiro taunts him by saying that if he really has got the power to read what he is going to do, then he should be hitting him instead of missing.

Ken tells Sanga that he has become a strong man, but against him, he is slow. Sanga gets angry and charges only for Ken to kick him, then punch him again in the chest. Kenshiro then uses a classic technique: the Hokuto Hyakuretsu Ken.

Sanga lands and hardly has the strength to get back up. He sees the scars on his opponent's chest and realises that he must be Kenshiro, the successor to Hokuto Shinken! Ken tells him that the death omen star is shining above him. Just then Doha appears, but Tobi recognises him as his brother, Bista. He goes up to him...

...but before they can be reunited, Sanga carries out his plan early and impales Bista. As he falls down, Tobi and Sara see to him whilst Sanga pulls on a ring to reveal a hidden door. With everyone distracted, he makes a run for it.

Kenshiro rips his jacket off and then chases after Sanga. He arrives in a dark cave when he hears Sanga offering to make a deal: they could rule this place together and when Sanga dies, everything will belong to Kenshiro. Naturally Ken refuses and then has to jumps out of the way of a flame blast.

Sanga is armed with a flamethrower and tells Ken that he can pay for rejecting his kind offer once he's in hell. He proceeds to set fire to as much of the cave as he can whilst Ken hides behind a large rock. Ken sees the rock has begin to crack and realises that by hitting it repeatedly...

...he can cause a lot of rocks to fall right on top of Sanga. This is what happens and Sanga's flamethrower is destroyed. Sanga isn't dead yet though and has one last attempt at taking on Ken by attacking him from behind, but this backfires when Ken grabs his arm and snaps it.

Sanga begs for mercy from the Gods, but Ken tells him that no God will save him now. He then uses the Hokuto Hyakuretsu Ken again, directly on Sanga's face. The last punch hits so hard that Sanga crashes through a wall of rock before his body finally explodes, killing him for good.

Elsewhere, a young warrior walks across the desert alone. He sees what he has been looking for: Last Land. As he views the city from atop a cliff, he says that he will now take everything that belonged to Sanga.