In Tibet, 1943, a Tibetan monk is informed by his master that he has fulfilled a series of prophecies that mark him as his successor. The monk, forgoing his name, is entrusted with guarding a scroll his master protected, that contains knowledge that will make its reader powerful, young, and immune to injury. Granted its powers, the monk learns he will need to find his own successor to pass on the scroll in his future. Shortly after he receives the scroll, he is forced to flee when German soldiers, led by their officer Strucker, attack the monk's temple and kill his master. Strucker, who sought the scroll for his own desires, vows to track down the monk.