"Kariya." "My goodness, to what do I owe the honor, Councilor?" "I take it that you know why I'm here?" "I believe I have a good idea." "We are in a race against time." "They say that criminal from the Ryukyus and that ronin who betrayed the Muju dojo are both swordsmen of considerable skill." "So I have heard." "They also say that they will make contact with Seizo Kasumi any day now." "It will prove problematic if they meet up with him before we eliminate the remnants of the Shimabara Rebellion." "Councilor." "Since you have come all this way, would you care to take in the flowers of my garden?" "I don't have time for flowers at a time like this." "Do you know the proper method of eliminating weeds, sir?" "Weeds leech away nutrients that the flowers need, causing them to wither and die." "That being said, if you uproot the weeds, you also kill the flowers that are growing in the same patch of soil." "How do you go about it?" "You should plant flowers that will also use the weeds as nourishment." "Flowers such as this one, whose beautiful exterior belies its brutality." "I've been told that Sara was killed." "If they are skilled enough to kill someone of her caliber, perhaps this merits drawing my own sword for the first time in ages." "Excuse me?" "I shall see to this personally." "Councilor, begging your pardon, but..." "But what?" "Master Kariya does nothing but admire his flowers." "No one I know has ever seen him draw his sword." "Pardon my saying so, but I'm not confident that he is capable of carrying out such an important task." "I see." "You're young." "It's not surprising that you don't know about him." "Sir?" "You ask why he doesn't draw his sword?" "It's because there are no opponents worthy of him." "Kagetoki Kariya is the kenjutsu master who was once known as the Hand of the Gods." "He is...?" "!" "There probably isn't anyone in this world who is capable of killing that man." "" Evanescent Encounter (Part 1 ) (The Cycle of Death and Rebirth, Part 1 ) "" "Ikitsuki Island is a little to the north of Nagasaki." "Once we cross this mountain, it will be a stone's throw away." "What the hell?" "We've been busting our asses all this time, and we made it without even knowing it." "We're here, huh?" "It doesn't seem real." "It seemed like we'd never arrive, but we're finally about to get there..." "Maybe, but even if we get to that Whatchamacallit Island place, that doesn't mean that we're gonna find your Sunflower Samurai." "Well, yeah..." "I guess it doesn't." "Hey, doesn't it seem a little strange?" "What does?" "I mean, we've been traveling together all this time, but we don't know anything at all about each other." "Like what we were doing before we set out, that sort of thing." "I suppose that's true." "In that case, why don't we take turns and reveal one thing that we've kept secret about our pasts?" "'Cause we might not get a chance to talk about it later..." "What's gotten into her?" "She's being " centimeter. "" ""Centimeter"?" "It's a female emotion that they discovered in Western Europe." "I suspect that she's emotionally worked up." "Are you even listening?" "Okay, Mugen, you're first." "Me?" "I don't really have any secrets or anything." "I've been up to no good my whole life." "We already know that." "Also, I like chicks with big hooters." "We know that, too." "Hey, I know." "There was one time when I got into a fight while I was on the road." "I ended up killing some weird old geezer." "Weird?" "Weird how?" "He said something like, " Can you not see this box with the Shogun's crest?"" "So I went, " No, I can't, " and I killed the dude." "Hey, now..." "Wasn't that dangerous?" "" Dangerous" is hardly what I would call it." "It's a wonder that you're still alive." "Okay, Jin, you go next." "Begin!" "What were you doing before you met the two of us?" "I had been traveling for a long time." "I lost my parents while I was still a child, and was left in the care of the Muju Shin Kenjutsu dojo." "However..." "Ever since I was a child, I had done nothing but train in kenjutsu day in and day out." "I had always been alone." "None of the other children were a match for me." "They all feared me, were jealous of me, and shunned me." "Your eyes see too much." "Your strength has no grounding." "That means that your strength is strength that exists for no one but yourself." "Eventually, I was made to bear the shame of killing my master and was driven from the dojo." "I was on the road ever since that day, traveling in search of something." "But even I had no idea what it was that I was searching for." "It may be that I was simply running away." "Now it's your turn." "Ever since I was little, my mother and I lived by ourselves." "I had always thought that my father had died a long time earlier." "But as my mother lay sick and dying, she told me the truth." "She said that she was certain that my father was still alive somewhere." "He had left my mother and me a long time ago and gone somewhere." "Mother didn't sound all that mad at him, but I couldn't forgive him." "So I was gonna find him no matter what and slug him one for my mother." "That's what I decided to do." "But I could never work up the courage to set out on the journey." "And then I met you two at that tea house." "That's when it hit me." "I thought, "Something tells me that if I go with these two, I might just be able to pull it off. "" "Thanks, you two." "Thanks for coming all this way with me." "Is something the matter?" "No, it's nothing." "It's nothing..." "Fuu." "Once you find the Sunflower Samurai, what do you intend to do after that?" "That's a good question." "I really ought to give that some thought." "If I should" "You know, I don't really want to think about stuff like that." "If you did, that jerk Mugen would..." "Sorry..." "I'm sorry." "Well?" "I-It's them, all right..." "I see." "I wanna kill 'em!" "I wanna kill 'em soon!" "Don't be so hasty." "Hang in there for a little longer." "You there!" "Do you know who set this campfire here yesterday?" "No idea." "We don't take kindly to outsiders, so go away." "Hey!" "Forget that you saw us, all right?" "I guess that just saying that won't do any good." ""Time Flies Like an Arrow"" "" In Times of Need, You Learn Who Your Friends Are"" "Wow, look at that!" "C'mon, don't answer me with your stomachs." "First things first." "Food." "Ikitsuki Island?" "You'll have to take a boat across." "Here you go." "One order of Shabu-shabu." "Whoa, what is this?" "Meat?" "It's because this area has picked up European eating habits." "Hey, is it just me, or is this stuff raw?" "Um..." "You pass it through the hot water and eat it." "It doesn't take much to cook it." "Hell, I'll try anything once." "Wait just a minute!" "Human nature comes out when you share a single pot like this." "Let me lay down the rules here." "Eat in this order." "meat, vegetables, meat, vegetables." "Keep alternating like that, and" " Hey, wait!" "Don't start without me!" "Mugen, you're eating nothing but meat!" "Bite me, pothead." "You've got to follow the-- Hey, Jin!" "You're eating nothing but meat, too!" "Delicious." "Like I care about the rules." "Survival of the fittest is the way of the world." "This is surprisingly good." "Oh, damn it!" "You two only think of yourselves!" "There's one!" "There's a boat!" "I forgot to buy souvenirs!" "Souvenirs?" "Some castella cakes." "Will you two go buy some for me?" "Now look here..." "Look, the money's right in here." "Quit your grumbling and get going!" "I'll handle the negotiations for our boat fare." "What was that all about?" "Here." "What can I get you?" "A criminal from the Ryukyus by the name of Mugen was here, right?" "Who are you?" "If you're trying to hide him, that's fine with me." "But one of my men wants to kill someone so badly that he can taste it." "I'm not too sure if I can keep him under control." "W-Wait a minute!" "Please!" "Stop!" "I-I don't know if it was him or not, but a man with a strange sword and clothes said he was going to I-Ikitsuki Island..." "Forget that you saw us come in here." "Don't tell anyone." "Got it?" "I-I understand." "I won't tell anyone." "Now that's not nice." "Didn't we tell you not to tell anyone?" "We just need to buy any damn thing, right?" "Yes, but these are rather expensive." "How much is in her purse?" "We're about to leave!" "Okay, I'll be right there!" "Is there a problem?" "No, I" "We're leaving!" "Um..." "Is your name Seizo Kasumi?" "I'm sorry." "What am I saying?" "I mistook you for someone else." "I'm sorry." "What's the deal?" "It's Fuu." "It would've been too hard to say goodbye, so I'm going by myself." "I really enjoyed the talk we had around the campfire last night." "I thought to myself, "I wish that this could go on forever. "" "But then I got scared all of a sudden." "If something happened and we were split up, what would happen?" "Maybe I'd been relying on you guys too much all this time." "Would I be able to make it on my own once this journey ended and I was on my own?" "I gave that a lot of thought." "And that's why I'm going by myself." "Just one last thing." "I know you said that you'd put off your duel until this journey ended, but I don 't want you two to kill each other." "The souvenir castella cakes are a farewell gift from me." "Please reconsider your plan while you're eating them." "Bye." "I hope we meet again someday." "I'm looking for someone." "A man by the name of Seizo Kasumi." "I heard that he was on this island!" "Do you have a death wish?" "No, sir." "I'm just looking for someone." "Long ago, this village was peaceful." "If those Christians hadn't come here, our families and homes wouldn't have been burned." "Get out." "And don't you ever speak that name again." "Come here!" "Look!" "Just come here!" "This person that you're looking for..." "Who is he to you?" "He's my father..." "Oh." "On the cape to the north, there's a house standing there by itself." "Go there." "You should hurry." "He doesn't have much longer." "Thank you so much!" "Thank you!" "Only hope can give rise to the emotion we call despair." "But it is difficult for man to live completely without hope." "In other words, man has no choice but to live with despair as his companion." "Who the hell are you?" "If you're looking for Kasumi's daughter, she's crossed over to the island." "You know him, then?" "You know Seizo Kasumi?" "He's a felon who had his soul stolen by that foreign religion and abandoned this country." "I've heard that he fled here to Kyushu and was even involved in the Shimabara Rebellion." "He's the man that the Shogunate wants eliminated more than any other." "They've also known all along that his daughter was trying to find him." "They've let her run free all this time in order to discover Kasumi's whereabouts, you see." "And now, although it pains me to say it, I will have to insist that you two die here." "Are you here by yourself?" "You got a big pair on ya." "Come." "Don't disappoint me." "Don't be in such a rush, little girl." "I know what it's like..." "Life can be such a bitch, can't it?" "You travel such a long way, and it all blows up in your face right before you reach your destination." "That's right, I want him to get a good taste of that feeling." "I want him to understand how we feel." "W-What are you talking about?" "I'm saying that this place will be your grave." "Dawn comes, and we part ways once again" "My dreams becoming distant apparitions" "I turn to the warm wind for help, the wind I felt every time you held me" "As I was bathed in the light that followed on your heels" "Spring is announced when the wild plants break out in a dance" "Summer comes to Uji, and in the fields are patterns of grass set out to dry" "The autumn moon rises, let's celebrate its fullness" "Winter passes by, and I count off the days and months again" "I can still see the too-distant blue sky when I close my eyes (It was so warm)" "As I reminisce, I take your hand as I pluck flowers and sing" "Within the memories that are now coming back to me" "I'm setting out to find my way back to you" "Spring is announced when the mountain leaves break out in dance" "Summer comes to Uji, and textiles with plains grass patterns are set out to dry" "The autumn moon rises, let's celebrate its fullness" "Winter passes by, and I count off the days and months again" "Dawn comes, and we part ways once again" "My dreams becoming distant apparitions" "I turn to the warm wind for help, the wind I felt every time you held me" "As I was bathed in the light that followed on your heels"