The Strength Of The God Of Thunder is the adventure of a mercenary in the deep of Japan. Emblematic places of ancient Kyoto, martial arts, Buddhism and mysticism envelope the plot, but the game of deception between the characters and the unraveling of the secrets that will lead to an uncertain ending are the core of the story.
Raul is a frivolous Spaniard who provides services of “search and retrieve” for those who are willing to pay his considerable expenses. After successfully finishing a risky job inside the very same Chinese triad’s nest in Hong Kong, Raul’s friend, the Japanese Yoshida, finds him a new contract inside the most hermetic and traditional Japan. The client is a very stiff karate school of a violent fighting style which has been yearning for years for a mythical relic that could boost their society over the other schools. The relic is a legendary katana sword set: “The Strength Of The God Of Thunder” they call it, a mysterious weapon which is even said to have magical powers. According to Raul’s client, it was stolen by an old partner and now enemy who became a priest in the countryside after hiding the artifact out of everyone’s reach.
Sakura, the wife of this school’s top fighter, is the person in charge of liasing with Raul. She is the only one who can speak some English in the clan and has old bonds with The Priest herself. Sakura is a powerful and attractive woman and catches Raul’s attention very quickly. Raul visits The Priest’s temple disguised as a casual backpacker as The Priest is very fluent in English and Raul becomes a welcomed guest in the very enemy’s house. A small temple which is also a humble karate school in contrast with the magnificent facilities of Raul’s client’s rich school.
Raul goes back to Kyoto to report in person to Sakura about the progress. The confident Spaniard has both a passion for women and for playing risky games and Sakura could fulfill both. He finds himself being shown around the beautiful Kyoto not only by Sakura, as he had planned, but also by her disturbing husband Ryosuke and a couple more of his scary training pals to Raul’s frustration. The peculiar group ends up drinking, playing dice games and having fun in a Japanese tavern. Raul is having a surprisingly nice time swimming with sharks until he realizes the Chinese triads seem to be following him after his job in Hong Kong.
Managing to arouse a fight between Ryosuke’s manipulable band and the Chinese triads, Raul can temporarily get rid of them, but things are becoming too risky in this contract and he is running out of time. Even worse, The Priest is as kind as cunning a man and seems to be ahead of him all the time. He knows about Raul’s secret intentions somehow, to the point that in an unexpected turn, The Priest himself asks Raul to take the sword: The Strength Of The God Of Thunder. The unusual deal is this: he will provide Sakura and Raul the clues to recover the long desired relic from its intricately hidden place but after they find it, Sakura must bring the sword first to him, so they can have a “talk”.The quest will run through the thousand gates in the mountains of Inari and the thousand Buddha statues of Sanjusangendo temple, turning the relic into a maelstrom of fighting between all factions. Mysticism, secrets and deception will lead to an uncertain ending in which the owner of the Strength Of The God Of Thunder will be decided.