John Peter McCallister (Lee Van Cleef) settled in Japan after the Korean War, where he mastered the Ninjitsu art of disciplined combat and was the only occidental American ever to become a Ninja.
Thirty years later, John receives a letter from a daughter he never knew he had named Terry McCallister.
The letter contains a picture of Terry next to an aeroplane and a postmark from a US city called Ellerston. With these clues, John leaves Japan and begins a quest to find Terry.
His decision to leave Japan means he is sentenced to die by the members of his Ninja sect, who fear he may reveal their secrets). Okasa (Sho Kosugi), a former student of John’s who is now a Ninja master, has sworn to find John and kill him.
In Ellerston, John is harassed by the local sheriff for carrying a concealed weapon (his Samurai sword).; A young drifter named Max Keller (Timothy Van Patten) helps John fight off the sheriff, and the pair escape in Max’s customized van.
Max travels with his pet hamster, Henry, and earns money competing in motorcycle races and doing odd jobs. He is impulsive and plunges headfirst into situations to help people in trouble (especially beautiful girls).
When he learns of John’s quest, he volunteers to help, asking only that John teach him the art of the Ninja.
Together, they begin a quest to help people threatened by unscrupulous characters while searching for John’s long-lost and elusive daughter (it is never explained why Terry – who is never seen – keeps moving from city to city, always leaving moments before John arrives or is about to find her).
John Peter McCallister
Lee Van Cleef Max Keller/Narrator
Timothy Van Patten Okasa
Sho Kosugi
Thirty years later, John receives a letter from a daughter he never knew he had named Terry McCallister.
Max travels with his pet hamster, Henry, and earns money competing in motorcycle races and doing odd jobs. He is impulsive and plunges headfirst into situations to help people in trouble (especially beautiful girls).
