Five powerful death row inmates break free from their respective prisons in America, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Russia. Each convict flees to Tokyo to achieve his one goal: to suffer defeat at the hands of the world's strongest fighters.

Seventeen-year-old fighting champion Baki Hanma continues to train his body beyond its limits in order to one day challenge his monstrous father, Yuujirou Hanma, to a battle. Baki grows bored with his obligatory high school studies but finds comfort and strength in his budding relationship with Kozue Matsumoto. The quiet stasis of his life is disrupted by the arrival of the death row convicts as each criminal proves his might in displays of lethal force across Tokyo.

To combat this growing threat, Baki bands together with yakuza Kaoru Hanayama, rival Retsu Kaiou, mentor Doppo Orochi, and elderly jujitsu master Gouki Shibukawa. Together the five warriors agree to seek out and defeat their criminal opponents. But Baki faces the added burden of protecting Kozue from his evil new enemies, and he must fight to prove himself worthy under the watchful eye of his father, Yuujirou.