The Samurai and the Prisoner: Who Decides Who Lives?

Winter, 1578. An envoy rides into Arioka Castle to tell its lord that his rebellion is arithmetic, and that he has done the arithmetic wrong. Custom offers Araki Murashige (Masahiro Motoki) two replies: send the man home with an answer, or take his head. He does neither. He drops Kuroda Kanbei (Masaki Suda) into a pit beneath the castle and gives an order his retainers cannot understand.

Keep him alive.