"And you think you dodged my attack?" "Battousai!" "Kenshin!" "but..." "I can move into a wide slash attack with no pause." "Hirazuki has no blind spot... a military genius Toshizo Hijikata." "Especially if the Gatotsu is mine." "That stance..." "Another Gatotsu?" "That's enough!" "saved me... before and after the Revolution." "And my technique... you can't scratch either of them." "This guy..." "His strength is a class above..." "Kenshin!" "Ken" "Stand up!" "You're in the way!" "Although he has a deep wound in his chest area he responded faster to the second strike than to the first." "Just as I had suspected... he gradually... but surely..." "Battousai the Manslayer." "Here goes." "He's gotten even faster." "What was that?" "That move far surpassed my expectations..." "His breathing... and his body can't keep up... you turn back to the Battousai..." "Then..." "I will attack with the true Gatotsu!" "No holding back!" "H-He was holding back before?" "Amazing..." "He did away with the Gatotsu so easily..." "Back then..." "In Kyoto..." "Everyone needed an attack which could defeat any foe in one strike." "Gatotsu is your attack which does this." "ifyou'regoingtoshow itto me fourtimes I'll easily think of a few ways to fight back." "Stand up!" "This would be a pathetic ending for our first duel in ten years!" "An ending..." "I wasn't planning on that..." "But I now change my mind." "I will kill you now." "I will kill you now?" "That's my line." "Kaoru?" "It's the same..." "It's exactly the same as the time with Jinei..." "Stop him!" "Someone..." "If this keeps up..." "Kenshin..." "Kenshin will disappear..." "Next strike..." "Your head will fly..." "Stop them!" "please stop the two of them!" "Missie." "Sanosuke!" "Sanosuke!" "We can't stop them... in Tokyo or even in the Meiji era..." "They're fighting in Kyoto during the Revolution." "Our voices can no longer reach them!" "Only someone who lived through the chaos of the Revolution could stop this." "Someone who tasted the events in Kyoto!" "Mr. Kawaji." "What is it?" "How long has it been since Mr. Saito entered that dojo?" "Four and one half hours." "I see..." "The fate of this nation rides on the two of them." "before it becomes too late..." "Yes!" "his sword is already broken..." "Another Gatotsu..." "Those of the Shinsengumi don't know when to retreat." "shun that which opposes the way of the samurai." "Fleeing from an enemy before you is such a thing!" "Bare handed?" "he'd be wide open." "You choose pride over your life..." "A good sentiment." "The match is over!" "Even he can't defend against Kenshin's sword with his fist..." "His uniform..." "A belt?" "Dear Ken!" "Kenshin has no chance of winning!" "This is the end." "A strangle hold." "He's trying to suffocate him!" "It's not that merciful..." "He's trying to snap the bones in his neck." "This is how they fought in the Revolution..." "Neither of them has any strength." "The next attack will be the last." "or will they kill each other?" "Shall we end this?" "Very well..." "Stop that!" "Saito!" "Your mission was only to test the strength of the Battousai!" "We're in the middle of something good." "even if you are the police commissioner." "The police commissioner?" "Test the strength..." "What does that mean?" "Mr. Saito..." "I know your pride as a member of the Shinsengumi." "to waste your lives here." "I see..." "The true mastermind behind all this was you..." "An old imperialist from Satsuma..." "Toshimichi Okubo." "Toshimichi..." "Okubo?" "I don't understand." "He just came outta nowhere." "Who is this bearded guy?" "Sheesh..." "You're just a kid who doesn't read the newspaper..." "The three men who did the most during the Meiji Restoration are called the Three Great lmperialists." "the only one still alive..." "Okubo?" "Now he's the Secretary of the lnterior for the Meiji government the minister who basically runs the Japanese government." "I'm sorry to have been rough on you." "we desperately needed to know just how strong you were... right?" "fill us in." "This can't be..." "Okubo..." "To think someone so huge would be involved..." "I gotta inform Mr. Shibumi..." "The great duel we had going has been ruined." "The score will be settled some other day." "Your life has been spared." "yours has." "Saito!" "Mission report." "Kenshin Himura is no good whatsoever." "Himura Battousai will do relatively well." "That is all." "that guy..." "He's the most skilled undercover agent in the police..." "But I never have any idea what he's thinking." "I have a carriage waiting outside." "Come with me." "You will tell your story right here." "You think I am the only one involved?" "that I am not." "That tone... that we will." "Kenshin!" "Miss Megumi!" "fool!" "the medicine box and bandages!" "Hurry!" "Right!" "don't die... don't die..." "We will do as he says." "We need Himura's strength more than anything right now." "I'll get straight to the point." "Himura..." "Shishio is running loose in the underworld of Kyoto." "I have no idea what that means." "who is this Shishio?" "speak more politely!" "just like me." "he took over as the manslayer in the shadows." "Shishio is another imperialist from the Choshu area and you might say that he is the successor to Battousai the Manslayer." "Battousai the Manslayer's successor..." "There was such a thing?" "almost no one knows of his existence." "Even I have never met him face-to-face." "I had heard that Shishio died in the Boshin Wars ten years ago... the truth had been snuffed out by his people." "we hoped to stay safe." "that was the only thing we could do... with swordsmanship and charisma." "longing for glory and conquest." "The reason he accepted the role of manslayer in the shadows was to display for important lmperialists his existence and talents." "some are so important... the foundation of the Meiji government could be toppled." "If he played upon that weakness..." "Shishio by himself could be able to play with the entire country of Japan." "in the chaos of the Boshin Wars..." "We killed him." "Yes..." "We even poured oil on his corpse and lit it on fire." "Makoto Shishio was alive." "he has become a demon of revenge." "He has adopted those who lust for bloodshed... one after another." "he has a huge army in the underworld of Kyoto." "Using the secret of his assassinations as a trump card he is trying to start a war of revenge to split the country in two." "All the troops sent out to defeat him have perished..." "The only hope we have left is you..." "Himura... will you go to Kyoto once again?" "That means..." "You want Kenshin to assassinate Makoto Shishio?" "It turns out this way." "we will pay more than enough in bounties." "we will specially pardon all illegal acts that we have left unpunished." "Such as acquitting Megumi Takani of opium manufacture..." "You've got to be kidding!" "and pin Dear Ken down..." "I will choose execution instead!" "That's rather dirty." "the vile stuff you did in the past is the problem." "And you want Kenshin to wipe up the mess for you?" "Kenshin chose to live as a wanderer who doesn't kill!" "you want..." "You kids stay quiet!" "The government is in danger of being overthrown!" "Bad governments perish!" "That's for everyone's benefit!" "There can be no peace without the prosperity of the Meiji government!" "That's because you guys are egotistical!" "I'll arrest you!" "baldy!" "so I don't understand it much... if things were different Kenshin might have been killed like Shishio was." "Just because of you old guys and your mistakes..." "Lord Okubo..." "I know that you need Battousai the Manslayer right now." "Kenshin is not a manslayer anymore." "We won't allow Kenshin to go to Kyoto." "That's right!" "We won't let him go!" "Kenshin is our wanderer!" "We will protect Kenshin to the end." "No matter what happens." "I-Idiots!" "The fate of the nation is riding on this!" "Mr. Kawaji." "But..." "I don't think an answer will come immediately." "Please think about it carefully." "To bring a close your own Meiji Restoration as well..." "Toshimichi Okubo?" "Mister?" "I see..." "Saito is one of Okubo's dogs..." "That's great!" "and I'll have a chance to be the Secretary of the lnterior..." "Y-You've got to be kidding!" "nine lives wouldn't be enough!" "I don't want to cross a bridge that rickety." "I think I'll hightail it to somewhere safe like Shanghai..." "That all right?" "There is a safer place to run than Shanghai..." "It's called hell." "you are wrong about one thing." "You Imperialists think you created the Meiji all by yourselves." "also risked our lives to create the Meiji." "because we lost..." "I can be an undercover agent of the Meji government and pick it clean of fleas as a Shinsengumi living in the Meiji era!" "drowns in greed and tries to bring misfortune to this country they will be slain under the law of Aku Soku Zan!" "W-Wait!" "Wait!" "If you want money... and you can raise a human with money." "no man is able to raise a wolf of Mibu!" "Back then and now..." "The Shinsengumi is the Shinsengumi." "A wolf is a wolf." "And a manslayer is a manslayer." "Battousai?" "I will come again for the answer." "on May 14." "Got that?" "May 14." "Mr. Okubo..." "You look rather worn out..." "It is far more difficult to raise a new era than to break an old one..." "That is what it means." "I am hoping for a good answer from you..." "That was the last time we saw Lord Okubo." "May 14 of the 11th year of Meiji..." "It would be a fateful day..." "It would be a day when everyone's lives would change course but we did not yet know that."