Tear Jerker / Sword of the Stranger

• When No-Name and Kotaro are bathing, it's revealed that No-Name dyes his red hair black. While he claims it's just to go unnoticed in Japan, it's clear that he's deeply ashamed of something he wants to forget, which goes unrevealed in this scene.
• When No-Name and Kotaro finally arrive at their destination, the monks betray Kotaro and turn him over to the people hunting him to save themselves. This is so horrible that one of the monks hangs himself for his own cowardice.
• No-Name's clear anguish when he realizes he may have sent Kotaro off to his death in his attempt to aid him.
• Kotaro being dragged up and prepared for the ritual that will kill him. It's now that it occurs to the audience just what's on the line— an innocent child is going to be killed just to satiate one man's desire for immortality and another man's lust for battle. It's arguably made worse by Luo-Lang's polite tone as he drags the boy off to die.
• The Reveal of what exactly No-Name did that caused him so much grief and brought him to atonement: He murdered children at the end of the war. Shortly after, however, No-Name changes things by undoing the Peace Knot on his blade to save Kotaro, which is a bittersweet but mostly awesome moment.
• The final duel of the film has melancholy music playing over it, and despite its sheer awesomeness, it is undeniably sad and dramatic, the fortress crumbling beneath the combatants' feet as they fight a largely meaningless last battle.
• Luo-Lang's final scene. He was an awful person, if certainly a badass one, but there's something solemn about seeing this invulnerable juggernaut of a man collapse to his knees and perish, finally having met his Worthy Opponent.
• The ending. No-Name and Kotaro are riding off together, with nowhere to go and no idea what to do. No-Name is wounded, and while it's possible that he's going to survive, Kotaro's dire expression heavily implies that No-Name's running out of time.