After his final job as a Yakuza hit man, Tetsu the Silver Fox is attached by his last victim's bodyguard. Coming to his rescue is Kenji, Tetsu's younger, peaceful brother. In the fray, Kenji kills a yakuza and the two flee to Manchuria. Hounded by the police and the yakuza, the two brothers find work with a construction firm until they can no longer hide their identities. A classic of the famed Nikkatsu action genre, "Tattooed Life" climaxes in an all-out orgy of revenge and style.