Dead Souls is a non-canonical side story set during April 2011, one year after the events of Yakuza 4. A sudden zombie outbreak spreads throughout Kamurocho, and is slowly quarantined as the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force is called in to contain the infection. In the wake of the outbreak, four men seek to help the people of Kamurocho and find the source of the disease: Shun Akiyama, a moneylender attempting to rescue his secretary Hana; Goro Majima, a feared yakuza and construction boss trying to stave off his own infection; Ryuji Goda, who has survived his wounds at the end of Yakuza 2 and is working as a takoyaki chef; and Kazuma Kiryu, an orphanage caretaker and former yakuza forced to return to Kamurocho when his adopted daughter Haruka is kidnapped. The game is split in four parts, each focusing on a particular character.