Kiryu Kazama is born to a middle class family in Tokyo.
Kiryu's mother calls on her ancestor dragon to protect her during Kazama's attack. Ryuki arrives too late to save her, and so instead binds herself to Kiryu, her last living decendant, in order to protect him.
Kiryu finds Nishiki crying in secret due to his worry over Yuko. Not wanting to be seen in a moment of weakness, Nishiki turns into a fox to avoid him, but when this doesn't frighten Kiryu away, as Nishiki had expected, he allows him to comfort him, and they become friends.
Kiryu follows Kazama to Tokyo, and witnesses him killing the Jingweon Mafia, although he does not accurately remember what he saw until adulthood.
Kiryu and Nishiki try to join the Kazama Family, Kiryu out of admiration for Kazama and Nishiki because he feels indebted to him for paying Yuko's medical bills, but Kazama rejects them, stating that he doesn't want them to join the Yakuza.
A man Kiryu had beaten up in order to recover money owed to a Dojima-affiliated money-lender is murdered.
Due to his being a suspect in the murder investigation, Kiryu quits the Dojima family, both to keep the heat off them, and so he's free to investigate who within the Family is the real killer.
As he leaves Dojima HQ, Kiryu is picked up by Tachibana, who reveals that he works with Kazama, and offers Kiryu a job.
While Kiryu is drinking with Nishiki, Awano delivers a badly beaten Oda, and tells Kiryu he has 24 hours to hand over Tachibana.
Nishiki drives Kiryu out into the woods, intending to kill him to prevent him from being sent to Anagura, but he can't go through with it.
Tachibana sends Kiryu to the Camelia Grove to collect Makoto. When she learns he works with her brother, she agrees to go with him to Tokyo.
Oda attempts to grab Makoto, but she recognises him as the man with the bat tattoo, and stabs him. Kiryu takes her and they leave, only for Shibusawa's men to arrive and kill him.
Kiryu and Nishiki are ambushed by Shibusawa men. They order Nishiki to kill Kiryu, to prove he's loyal to Dojima, but he refuses, and the brothers beat all the Shibusawa men.
Tachibana is tortured by Kuze's captain. Kiryu and Nishiki rescue him, but he succumbs to his illness moments later, just as Makoto arrives to reunite with him.
At Makoto's request, Kiryu and Nishiki bury Tachibana in the empty lot. While they are digging, Makoto slips away.
Majima, driven by grief and rage, snaps and goes on a rampage through Dojima HQ, battling Awano and the assassin Lao Gui. But before he can kill them, Sera arrives to reveal Makoto is alive, and has sold the Empty Lot to him.
Shibusawa launches an attack the Wharf, where Sera is keeping Makoto on Kazama's yacht. A battle ensues between the Shibusawa family and the Nikkyio/Kazama alliance. Kiryu beats Shibusawa, and goes to kill him, but is stopped by Nishiki, who talks him down.
The acting second Chairman steps down due to old age, and is replaced by the Tojo Clan Captain, Sera.
During a meeting at Tojo HQ, Kiryu gets into an argument with Shimano's Captain. However, when the argument turns into a fight, Majima is impressed by his strength and immediately decides they're going to be friends.
Dojima rapes Yumi, and Nishiki, arriving too late to prevent it, shoots him to protect her. Kiryu arrives shortly afterwards, and decides to take the fall, as Yuko is on the waiting list for major surgery and will need Nishiki there to support her.
Following the death of his father and dissolution of the Dojima Family, Daigo joins the Kazama Family.
Kiryu returns to Kamurocho after being released from prison, and the first person he meets is Majima.
Kiryu gate-crashes Sera's funeral in order to meet with Kazama. However, while you are talking, Kazama is shot by a sniper. Before Kiryu can leave, he is made, and is forced to fight Shimano on his way out of the building.
Kiryu visits Ares, looking for Yumi's sister Mizuki. However he finds her missing and the bar covered in blood, and Yumi's daughter Haruka hiding there. They are attacked by the Nishiki family as they leave, but Kiryu protects Haruka.
Majima throws Kiryu a 'welcome home' party at a strip club, and demonstrates his skill at pole dancing before they fight.
Majima kidnaps Haruka to lure Kiryu to the batting cages for a fight on Shimano's orders. Kiryu wins, but finds Haruka has already been rescued by Terada.
Goromi swaps out with Rina to talk to Kiryu, and figure out how pissed he is about the Haruka kidnapping.
Haruka runs away, convinced she's putting Kiryu in danger, but is immediately kidnapped by MIA agents and held at Stardust. She is rescued by Kiryu and Ryuki.
Kiryu and Haruka go to Shangri-La, where Shinji had hidden Kazama with his girlfriend, but Majima drives a bulldozer through the side of the building and initiates a fight.
On his yacht at the docks, Kazama finally reveals the truth about Yumi, Mizuki, and the 10 million yen theft.
The Shimano family attack, resulting in a pitched battle between them and the Kazama family at the wharf.
Kazama throws himself in front of the grenade to protect Haruka, saving her. He dies of his injuries in Kiryu's arms, but not before entrusting him with Sera's will and admitting the truth about the death of Kiryu's parents.
After being defeated by Kiryu, Shimano throws a grenade at Kazama, and is shot by Terada in retaliation.
Kiryu and Haruka go to millennium tower and are reunited with Yumi, but are attacked by Jingu and the MIA.
Jingu tries to shoot Kiryu, and Haruka puts herself between them, believing Jingu won't kill his own daughter. Yumi knows better, jumping in front of the bullet, but then reveals she had foreseen this, and is wearing a bullet-proof vest.
Nishiki grabs Jingu dragging him and the bomb into the vault, intending to blow both of them, and the money, sky high.
Nishiki blows up the bomb, but Ryuki, finally accepting what Kiryu has told her about family being more than blood, saves him.
Yumi, recognising Haruka will never be safe around the Tojo, takes her daughter and leaves. Before she goes, Kiryu says he'll come too, but she knows he's not yet done with Nishiki and the Clan. She tells Kiryu that when he's finally ready to leave the Clan behind for good, he should come find her.
Kiryu throws a New Year's party. Nishiki arrives shortly before midnight, the first time he's spoken to Kiryu since Millenium Tower.
Despite being very hungover, Nishiki and Kiryu have a fight in the backlot behind Serena, working out some of the tension, and allowing them t begin rebuilding their friendship.
Majima turns up at Serena covered in blood and asks for a drink. He and Kiryu talk life after Shimano.
Finding he is exhausted trying to run Serena and work for Majima, and also isn't great at running a bar, Kiryu hires a woman Date introduces him to, who has experience in running bars, to be the Mama.
The Go-Ryu Clan attempt to assassinate Yayoi Dojima, while she is visiting her husband's grave. However, due to her not being human, she survives.
Yayoi charges Daigo with travelling to Osaka to broker peace with the Omi, despite his objections to the strategy.
Yayoi visits Serena to ask Kiryu to accompany Daigo to Osaka to protect him. He agrees, but says there's someone else he wants to bring.
Kiryu visits Earth Angel where he knows Goromi will be, and asks her to come to Osaka with them as extra security because he has a bad feeling.
Daigo elects to go back to the hotel, while Kiryu and Majima explore Sotenbori. While walking around, they meet Nishitani, who Majima had believed to be dead.
Atsuko repeatedly murders Nishitani, the closest she can get to revenge, because the Majima parts of her are too fond of him to let her kill him permanently.
Realising he's third-wheeling Majima's date, Kiryu leaves him and Nishitani alone. After walking around Sotenbori for a while. he hears that there's something suss going on at the Grand, and decides to check it out.
Having grown bored of killing Nishitani, Majima and Nishitani join Kiryu at a bar and get drunk and catch up.
The boys go to Omi HQ so Kiryu and Daigo can negotiate a peace treaty, which Chairman God agrees to.,
Kiryu orders Majima and Daigo to get Chairman Goda out of the building while Kiryu stalls the Go-Ryu.
The treaty negotiations are interrupted by the Go-Ryu Clan, who arrive to stage a hostile take-over of the Omi.
Kiryu goes for 4 Shine, because Majima has always told him that hostesses know everything that's going on, and meets Yuki. When she realises he knows Majima, she asks him to help them out by working on the floor, which he agrees to.
Kiryu visits Nishiki to confirm he's not involved in the plot, and believes him when he says he's not, filling him in on what he's learned.
Kiryu, Sayama, and Nishiki visit the Florist to ask for information about where Daigo might be held.
Ryuji attempts to meet with Yayoi, claiming he is here to pay his respects because he's so sorry to have heard that she's been hurt. She uses a combination of stabbing and Dragon logic to get him to agree to a three day grace period.
Shindo reveals he's allied with the Omi, and leads an attempted coup against Nishiki. Kiryu wants to help, but Nishiki says it's his fight, and sends him to help Majima, but Daigo insists on helping.
Sayama begins to suspect she's a survivor of the massacre. Kiryu admits he was present and might have caused her father's death. He offers her the chance to kill him in revenge, but she leaves instead.
The gang meet with a survivor of the Jingweon Massacre who explains why they're working with the Go-Ryu. They're attacked by Jingweon assassins, who kill the survivor but are defeats by the gang. However, they take cyanide capsules before any of them can be questioned.
Nishiki takes an unconscious Kiryu back to Mama Sayama, who fixes him up. Afterwards, they agree that Nishiki will search for Sayama while Kiryu goes to rescue Mariko.
The gang meet back up at Mama Sayama's bar, only for Kiryu to get a call from the florist to tell him Date's boss has been working with the Jingweon the whole time, and has kidnapped Date.
Sawara dies of his wounds, but reveals as he dies that he is Sayama's father, not the leader of the Jingweon, as he was having an affair with her mother.
The gang face off against the Jingweon in the Florist's offices. They save Date and Sayama kills Ji, but during the battle Kawara is shot.
Sayama takes files stolen from Ji back to Osaka to begin searching for her half-brother. Nishiki offers to go with her, but she tells him to Kamurocho is going to need him.
Kazuki wakes up and reveals that the Jingweon are going to bomb Kamurocho at the same time as the Go-Ryu launch an all-out assault.
The Go-Ryu launch an assault on the Tojo. The Go-Ryu are defeated by barely, and the Tojo are left unable to survive a second assault.
Ryuji says that he's willing to settle things with a one-on-one battle rather than another all out assault, and tells Kiryu to meet him at Kamurocho Hills the following night
Sayama tells Kiryu and Date to go meet with her boss Bessho in Purgatory before Kiryu goes to the duel, to get important information. But when they arrive they instead find a message from Sayama, revealing that Ryuji is her brother, so she's gone to meet him in Kiryu's stead, because she refuses to loose more family.
Kiryu asks Majima why he didn't stop her, but he says this is family stuff and it's up to her to resolve.
Terada arrives and reveals that he's actually the Jingweon Boss who survived due to not being human, and he ordered the hit on Yayoi in order to spark a war that would destroy the Tojo, getting revenge for the massacre.