The story tells of a group of samurai who were left leaderless (becoming "ronin") after their daimyo (lord) Asano Naganori had to kill himself by committing "seppuku" (ritual suicide). He had to do this because he assaulted a court official named Kira Yoshinaka. The "ronin" waited and planned almost two years, and then killed Kira to avenge their master's honour. They delivered Kira's head to Asano's grave. After that, the "ronin" had to kill themselves by committing "seppuku" as they had committed the crime of murder.