"Lord Shishio, we have gotten a new report from our men..." "Himura, Saito, and Sagara have left Aoiya..." "Right..." "Houji, gather the Juppongatana." "So this means we're finally fighting them face-to-face?" "But before that I have one plan to implement." "A plan?" "Houji, what the hell are you thinking?" "I am always thinking of only one thing." "That is the ultimate victory of Lord Shishio." "The ultimate victory is it?" "Yes." "This battle is against Himura, Saito, and Sagara..." "The three of them against ten, plus Lord Shishio." "You can say that there is no contest here." "That's perfectly all right." "It means you don't need to butt in, right?" "However, the enemy is the cream of the crop as well." "if we fight them as is, we are sure to lose the Juppongatana who are lacking in skill." "Then we should use only the best of our men as well and cut the Juppongatana's numbers down for a fight of three against three." "And use the other six to kill off all of the remaining forces at the Aoiya." "I see." "I think we can safely say the Kyoto Grand Inferno was prevented by the Oniwaban group." "They became a valuable source of information for the Battousai and have been backing him up." "In other words, the fact we didn't kill them off was the first step in the downfall of our plan." "So that's why we're doing this ambush?" "Please don't forget that our ultimate goal is to take control of the country." "That is the ultimate victory for our Lord Shishio." "For that, tricking our enemies is a reasonable thing!" "Right now, our best bet is to kill off Himura the Battousai along with his allies in one shot!" "Houji..." "Since when have you been wise enough to give me suggestions?" "I told Battousai that we were going to have a duel." "Under no circumstance could a swordsman like me violate that!" "I won't change anything about the duel!" "You hurry up and bring the other Juppongatana!" "After I received confirmation of the chaos in your hands, Lord Shishio..." "I made a secret vow about one thing..." "That I will plot with all my heart and soul, and see my plans through to make Lord Shishio the ultimate winner." "If we win, we'll be a new lmperial Army!" "History is written by the victor!" "Now that we've lost the Purgatory, the Juppongatana are all we have left." "I, Houji, cannot agree to a plan that wastes such valuable commodities no matter what happens to me!" "I swore that I would provide Lord Shishio with the ultimate victory." "For that, no matter how cruel and unfair tactics I use..." "Even if I were to be loathed by my comrades, or even you, Lord Shishio..." "I..." "I don't mind at all..." "This is the first time any of my pets fought back so much..." "No more..." "Sojiro." "Yes?" "Bring the Juppongatana here." "In a while, the duel will begin." "But before that, I want to tell you something about the Purgatory." "I wanted to ask about that as well." "I heard the Kyoto Grand Inferno was a decoy then, we were basically pawns to waste?" "I see, so what does all that mean, Lord Shishio?" "I do apologize about that." "Actually..." "I was going to set sail to Tokyo with all of you on the Purgatory..." "But Houji here said that decoys should be noticeable and he changed the plans at the last minute." "Isn't that right, Houji?" "Y-Yes..." "It is all my responsibility." "Please, I apologize, I beg your forgiveness..." "Oh, I see!" "I was shocked because I was thinking that Lord Shishio might have left us out of his plan!" "I'm so glad!" "I see, so that's how it was..." "We can't dismiss this behavior, though..." "Tell us the truth, Houji." "I don't know what you mean..." "No lies work against my Eye of the Heart." "If you tell the truth..." "Then, you won't feel any pain." "Now, do you want to tell us?" "I only speak the truth..." "Betraying you seven Juppongatana was a decision I made by myself!" "To make up for that and the resulting ill will felt toward Shishio..." "I will repent with this punishment!" "Therefore..." "P-Please let it go..." "These are my orders!" "Sojiro, Usui and Anji, stay here to fight against the Battousai's group!" "The others will head over immediately to the Aoiya!" "I want you to take the heads of everyone there!" "All the heads?" "I'm looking forward to that!" "Although I, Saizuchi, could do it alone..." "I have seen your determination." "I will leave the dirty work to you from now on." "However, I will let you taste victory before anyone else in return right beside me!" "Yes!" "The shrine of six archways..." "This must be it, that it is." "Going into enemy territory, I'm trembling from excitement!" "Welcome." "We've been waiting for you." "Inside is a maze that denies access to the living." "I am your humble guide, Yumi Komagata so you will not lose your way inside..." "Catching people off guard using women..." "It's a common trick, be careful." "You're about the only one that would fall for such a cheap trick." "Shishio wouldn't try anything so clumsy..." "Then, follow me..." "This is..." "More like a labyrinth than just a maze, that it is..." "I assume that if we make one false step, we will end up buried by traps..." "Even if it's to prevent enemies from invading it's complicated structurally..." "About the upcoming fighting..." "Each duel will be one on one." "We will have one man waiting in each room." "We would like you to offer one challenger and the other two may not interfere in the duel." "Is it all right?" "That's fine." "One on one fighting is best!" "That's fine, but moving bit by bit is rather tedious." "Can you bring up all of my opponents at once?" "What about you, Mr. Himura?" "That is fine by me, that is." "However, I cannot allow for anyone to finish off their opponents after the victory is clear." "I have agreed to the duel, but I refuse to fight in deathmatches." "You're too kind..." "You know, Lord Shishio..." "Maybe I don't need to say this, but using the Monk Anji as Sanosuke Sagara's opponent doesn't that worry you?" "Because, wasn't it the Monk Anji himself who taught that man the Futae no Kiwami?" "It might be the case that he pities his opponent, and will go easy on him..." "No need to worry about it." "Even as a monk who lost his faith, he once walked the path of Buddha." "He is the most merciful of the Juppongatana." "However!" "His wrath is driving him now, and that supercedes even his mercy!" "Anji the Myouou is merciless when something gets in the way of salvation..." "That to stay cheerful?" "It's to keep me awake." "Although I prefer the sweet scent of a woman's blood." "You still are one strange fellow..." "How about it, Anji?" "Why don't we pair up right now?" "We get rid of Shishio, and divide his kingdom in two..." "Not a bad idea, right?" "It is a waste of time to be talking with you..." "Damn monks." "Then, will the first person please enter?" "Anji..." "You know that man?" "Yeah..." "He's the fallen monk who taught me the Futae no Kiwami!" "Anji the Myouou!" "The first of the Juppongatana!" "This one monk who has strayed from his path to become a Juppongatana." "I have something I want to ask him." "For our side I'll be going first." "That is the third-ranked Juppongatana, who rescued Miss Misao..." "Anji the Myouou..." "I don't know what went on between you two, but be careful, Sano." "He has an aura that is far from normal." "Yo, it's been about a month..." "I was thinking that I wanted to see you again." "But I didn't think it would be like this..." "I didn't think so, either." "So what you said in Shimosuwa about never forgiving the Meiji government was just a lie." "Honestly, I've lost faith in you." "I'm the one who lost faith in you, you stinky monk!" "To help Shishio with his plans for destruction..." "What happened to that salvation you were talking about?" "Nothing happened to it." "Destruction is the first step to salvation." "What?" "Listen!" "You think that salvation is saving every living being in this world from pain?" "I was like that once as well." "I thought so from the bottom of my heart, and wished it so." "However, truth is different!" "In this world, there are those who are not worthy of salvation and they live as if the world was theirs." "And, those people with hearts of beasts are abducting the future from those who really need to be saved the pure at heart." "That is reality." "Now is the time when we must to punish those who cannot be saved." "To do that, I know I must be Anji the Myouou, of the Juppongatana..." "I must become the god of fire a being of wrath who brings punishments to destroy everything in this world, and return everything to nothing." "Then, save those worthy of saving and punish those who need to be punished to recreate this world starting with human hearts." "That is salvation in its true form." "Do you understand, Sanosuke Sagara?" "I don't get it, idiot." "Unlike you, I've always been dumb when it came to religion." "But I do know one thing now." "That is..." "I'm not satisfied with your idea of salvation!" "That is what he showed us by the Purgatory..." "That makes it a third time." "He's not just a conceded fool now." "What about the god of fire?" "I didn't want to hear something like that from your mouth." "After I left Shimosuwa, until I got to Kyoto I practiced on one hundred rocks to completely master the Futae no Kiwami." "Give up, Anji." "I don't want to hit you with what you taught me." "Mastered?" "Don't be conceited, boy!" "I only taught you the most rudimentary of techniques..." "This is what mastery is!" "Futae no Kiwami with both arms and both legs..." "And the left arm strike was with the elbow..." "The difference in ability is obvious." "Sano!" "If you're not satisfied with my notion of salvation, that is fine with me." "But I will not show mercy to those who stand against me." "There is no doubt not only can he use both arms and legs but he could use the Futae no Kiwami with a headbutt if he wanted..." "And I only have my right hand, and only with a fist..." "Do you want to switch with me?" "Shut up!" "I can't turn back now!" "I had thought that you were slightly more intelligent..." "That was a mistake on your part." "I said, shut up!" "Sano, don't fear!" "Kenshin!" "Even if you aren't smart, you can find a way to win if you think about it." "Sheesh, each and every guy..." "In swordsmanship a man with two weapons can't necessarily win against a single sword!" "You still have a slight chance of winning!" "Come on, Mr. Himura." "The duel is one on one, you agreed not to raise a hand." "Correct." "So, I raised my voice and not my hand, that I did." "Despicable..." "You showed me hope for victory." "A hope for victory?" "Foolish." "You don't have such a thing." "Whether or not I do, is something I have to test!" "Just as I thought!" "He trained his muscles too heavily to master the Futae no Kiwami!" "Because of his heavy muscles his body can't keep up with the speed of my fists!" "That's right, Sano!" "Futae no Kiwami is a critical attack!" "Even if it's just my right arm..." "The first one to hit wins!" "Hit!" "What the?" "He struck with his fist from the other direction to cancel out the shock wave and dampen the blow..." "I will say it once again." "This is what mastery is!" "Whew, that was close." "To think that there is a way to block the Futae no Kiwami..." "Sano!" "This much damage, even on a near miss?" "It's the same Futae no Kiwami, but so different..." "Give up." "I will let you go, but just this one time." "Monk..." "What are you..." "He's given you that much..." "Why don't you accept his generous offer and switch over?" "From here on, it's not going to be a laughing matter." "Wait, Monk Anji!" "I can't believe this!" "Lord Shishio told you to kill him!" "No need to interrupt!" "I was given the privilege to decide life and death!" "So keeping me alive or killing me is all up to you, right?" "Becoming a god of fire, the right to kill or keep alive..." "You're really enjoying pretending to be a god, aren't you?" "Those rights were given to you by Shishio, weren't they?" "That means that Shishio is the most powerful of all Buddhas!" "I was not given these rights." "I agreed only to the destruction of the Meiji government." "I am only lending him my powers." "If the new world that Sir Shishio creates does not fit the image of salvation..." "I will turn against Sir Shishio, and destroy once again." "And so you intend to keep destroying forever?" "You don't get it." "You don't get it at all!" "I hate the Meiji government as well, and I don't plan on forgiving them, either." "Like you, I want to destroy them all every now and then." "But, in this same Meiji era, people live and work as hard as they can!" "And, there are people who believe in the future, and fight for those hard workers!" "If you want to look at this world and despair, that's up to you, Anji." "But as long as there are people with hope I won't allow your conceited notion of life and death!" "I absolutely will not lose!" "Is this all right?" "From now on, it will be a slow, torturous death." "When I first fought Sano, he gave me the exact same line." "But this time, his words are much heavier." "Even if he wants to even the odds that way there's little hope with that wall of muscle in front of him." "The deciding factor will be the Futae no Kiwami." "To prove that, Anji is always focusing his blows on his left arm." "Sano is fully aware of that as well." "He hasn't attacked with his right arm for a while now." "Sheesh, why are you taking so long finishing that kid?" "I'll pretend I didn't hear that problematic statement you made so just get it over with!" "Are you satisfied yet?" "It's a shame to kill someone who mastered the Futae no Kiwami in one week, even only with the right hand." "But I must, I have no choice." "The final showdown..." "Now is the time to stop him." "You sure worry a lot about Sano." "I'm just worried that your morale might go down after he dies." "It's all right." "Sano will not die, that he won't." "At least feel with your body that my notion of salvation is correct, and die!" "Watch my work of salvation from the narrow valleys of the afterlife!" "He did it!" "Rest in peace." "Wait just a minute." "It's too late to chant your prayers for me." "This is the Kiwami Hazushi!" "Impossible..." "Monk Anji..." "Well, well..." "He won, but it was a victory provided by luck." "Not true!" "I was gambling when I switched over to the Kiwami Hazushi after I saw that I couldn't match his speed..." "But, it wasn't just luck." "I knew my fist could master any part of the Futae no Kiwami as long as I risked my life to do so!" "That's impossible!" "That Futae no Kiwami went off perfectly!" "Anji the Myouou, an incarnation of wrath." "He was another victim of the Meiji Revolution." "The memorial tablet in his breast pocket, the charcoal lining his eyes and the reason why he became a god of fire." "The secret behind them is one nightmarish night in a snowy village waiting for spring to come." "Next time..." "Look forward to it, please!"