"Kenshin?" "Kenshin?" "Kenshin?" "Oh, Miss Kaoru, Yahiko." "It's a fine morning, that it is." "What kinda easygoing comment is that?" "That fighter-for-hire might come to fight you at any time!" "You shouldn't seriously go up against someone like that!" "Got that, Kenshin?" "I agree, but it seems that Zanza has quite a reason to do this, that is..." "Kenshin, surely you aren't going to go up against him?" "Oh, all right!" "If you have to, I'll practice with you, Kenshin!" "You don't have to do extra training!" "What do you mean extra, you ugly woman!" "Ugly?" "I'm your assistant master!" "You little!" "Ow!" "I give up!" "Ow, ow, ow!" "I just want to defeat the legendary manslayer said to be the strongest of the Imperialists from the bottom of my heart!" "Why does he hate the Imperialists so much?" "What happened in his past?" "Hey Kenshin, why are you spaced out like that?" "No time for that now." "Good morning, little Kaoru." "Dr. Gensai." "Hello, little Ayame, little Suzume." "Ken!" "Big brother!" "Let's play!" "Let's play!" "There now..." "What shall we play, that is?" "Sheesh..." "Here we are, all worried, and Kenshin is so..." "Captain Sagara..." "Watch closely, Sanosuke." "Soon 300 years of Tokugawa rule will end, and a new era will begin." "The time of the weak being oppressed and crying in their sleep will end and a time where all people are equal, with no high or low, will begin." "We of the Sekihoutai are taking the lead." "So we should do our best to create a new world as soon as we can, right?" "I've heard that so many times!" "Hey, Captain, when everyone is equal, can I have a last name too?" "Yeah." "Then can I take yours, Captain, and make my last name Sagara?" "Can I, Captain?" "Sanosuke Sagara, huh?" "You shouldn't, that name sounds too weird." "I take it you're the captain of Sekihoutai troop one, Sagara." "I am Tatewaki Shindou, staff officer for the government army!" "From our main camp at Shimosuwa I bring you orders from the government-general!" "From the government-general?" "C-Captain?" "W-What are you doing, Zanza?" "What about you?" "What are you doing sneaking around like a thieving cat?" "l-I was only thinking about how you were going to finish that fight..." "I'll tell you one thing." "Now that I've taken it on, this fight is my fight." "I won't allow anything to get in my way." "l-I understand." "It's not that I didn't trust you." "I know it won't be a normal fight, since you know he is the Battousai." "Considering that you were one of the Sekihoutai..." "In any case, I have no complaints if the Battousai bites it." "I don't care if you have a complaint or not!" "I, Zanza, will be sure to defeat that guy!" "Hop, jump, hop, jump!" "Whoa..." "What's wrong, Ken?" "Oh, rumors about that guy?" "A patient I visited today knew about that fighter-for-hire." "Apparently, he's a survivor from the Sekihoutai." "Is the Sekihoutai like a bunch of hooligans or something?" "No, it was a fake government army." "A fake government army?" "The Sekihoutai was a group formed during the Revolution from normal people like farmers and traders." "It was the vanguard for the government army." "However, the group lied to many farmers, saying they would halve taxes causing confusion among the people." "The Imperialist government punished them for that crime." "I see." "That's why he's picking a fight with Kenshin, an Imperialist to get back at them." "They were the ones who did wrong!" "That is unjust resentment!" "And he whips around that Zanbatou, too!" "So dangerous!" "That's it, I'm going to do anything to stop Kenshin!" "Snack!" "No fair!" "Little Ayame, where is Kenshin?" "Kenshin went with that spiky-haired man from yesterday." "Yup, spiky-hair!" "Kaoru!" "Kenshin went with the fighter-for-hire!" "Let's go!" "Hey!" "So, shall we begin now, mister Battousai?" "Kenshin Himura, the wanderer will fight you with this sword." "Really, where did Kenshin go?" "Kaoru!" "Someone saw Kenshin and the fighter for-hire going towards the river!" "Let's go!" "A reverse-blade sword..." "You've seen the power of this Zanbatou once before." "And yet, you still think something silly like not killing will work now?" "Well, you're the one who decides if someone dies." "It has nothing to do with me!" "There!" "There they are!" "Kenshin..." "Kenshin!" "Dammit!" "Serves you right!" "Even if his Zanbatou is powerful, it's meaningless if he keeps missing!" "Major victory for Kenshin!" "Kenshin?" "He got up after a hit from Kenshin!" "His strong point isn't raw strength, or even the power of his Zanbatou." "He takes punishment much better than most also!" "You really are strong." "It figures that you would become a legend..." "Kenshin's Hiten Mitsurugi Style has put each enemy down with one blow but that one blow won't work against this guy!" "Hey, mister Battousai..." "A fight, unlike a duel, isn't won by the guy with better swordsmanship." "The guy who doesn't drop wins!" "Say that if you are the one standing in the end, that you should." "Shut up!" "All right, round two!" "Here we go!" "I win this round!" "Over here." "The Zanbatou has limited usage due to its sheer weight and size." "Either it is swung down, or to the side." "One in two." "Extremely easy to predict." "And this will be the end, that it will!" "One blow won't work against you." "Then..." "Successive strikes!" "The Hiten Mitsurugi Style..." "Ryu-son-sen." "He's strong..." "I do not want to point my sword at you any longer, that I don't." "Calmly accept your defeat, that you should." "I'm going to lose against an Imperialist..." "W-What?" "We Sekihoutai are impersonating a government army?" "What do you mean by that, Mr. Shindou?" "You went rogue to inform people that taxes will be halved making people severely confused." "The Imperialist government has lost faith in you." "Therefore, your crime has been deemed inexcusable." "We've decided that you face execution for impersonating a government army." "That's ridiculous!" "We were spreading the word just like the government-general told us!" "I get it now..." "Captain?" "To the Imperialist government the news of low taxes we Sekihoutai have been spreading is problematic." "They promised to halve taxes, getting many farmers on their side." "But the Imperialists, who are having financial problems, cannot afford it." "Therefore, they decided to brand us so they'd have a scapegoat and pretend that nothing had happened..." "Is that right, Mr. Shindou?" "What are you going to do if it is?" "We fought valiantly, believing that the Imperialist government was just and that it would help the weak." "Dreaming of a new era..." "Such talk is idle in times of war." "The winners in war are just, and the losers are evil." "That is all." "Even if a group itself is good, it will lose and become evil if it is weak." "Just like you guys." "What?" "Your work is now done." "I thank you for it." "Captain!" "Fire." "Captain!" "There he is!" "Leave me here and run, Sanosuke." "What are you saying, Captain?" "Sanosuke..." "Go..." "Just go." "S-Sagara..." "Captain Sagara..." "The Imperialists blamed the Sekihoutai for everything, and then killed them..." "They're filthy..." "Too damn filthy..." "I won't forgive them..." "Sekihoutai..." "Yes." "Apparently he's one of the surviving members." "Zanza..." "That's it, I have to kill him with my own hands..." "Die, Battousai!" "No!" "Kenshin!" "T-This can't be!" "Kenshin!" "Battousai!" "If you take even one step, I'll cut these guys' throats out!" "Gohei Hiruma..." "I thought you were apprehended by the police..." "So long, Battousai!" "I thought I told you." "This is my fight." "And I won't let anyone to interfere!" "Zanza..." "I will not lose!" "I can't let myself lose!" "Gohei..." "He really is a soul that cannot be saved." "Shut up!" "You can't defend from this distance!" "Hiten Mitsurugi Style." "Do-ryu-sen!" "Sanosuke Sagara." "To think that you are a survivor from the Sekihoutai..." "Let's settle this once and for all against the one called the strongest Imperialist!" "That's enough!" "Aren't you, the Sekihoutai, the ones who are evil?" "Yeah!" "You guys are the bad guys!" "You're barking up the wrong tree if you have a grudge against Kenshin!" "Such happy people..." "Normal society honestly believes that the Imperialists are a force for justice." "Those filthy guys." "They sure got us, saying we would be in the government army if we won." "What are you saying?" "It isn't like that, Miss Kaoru, Yahiko." "The Sekihoutai were used by the Imperialists, and ruthlessly cut away." "I can see why Zanza has a grudge against the Imperialists, that is." "However, Zanza..." "Don't say it!" "Those Imperialists that pretended to be just..." "They put the character for wicked on the backs of Sagara and the Sekihoutai and then killed them." "I can't ever forgive them!" "And I will never lose to them!" "All right." "We will settle things once and for all." "He flipped the reverse-blade sword!" "Since the Sekihoutai disbanded, I became a fighter-for-hire." "Because I forgot everything while I fought!" "It has been ten years now, and I have become stronger!" "And with that strength, now I will defeat the strongest Imperialist!" "Such weak-spirited strength cannot defeat me." "Hiten Mitsurugi Style." "Ryu-tsui-sen." "You really are tough." "You're the first person to stay standing after a Ryu-tsui-sen, that is." "However, it seems you are barely able to stand, that is." "I'll call a doctor, wait a while, that you should." "Not yet!" "It's not over yet!" "I haven't fallen yet!" "I haven't lost yet!" "For Sagara and the Sekihoutai, I can't lose against an Imperialist!" "That's right, come!" "Come over here!" "Don't you think you're fighting the wrong person, that is?" "Did the Sekihoutai teach you to defeat Imperialists or complete the Revolution?" "Shut up!" "That's not something for you Imperialists to say who created a new era full of lies and are profiting from it!" "That's not true!" "Kenshin isn't an Imperialist like that!" "He Just refused an offer from a high-ranking government official!" "He's just a wanderer who protects people freely with his sword!" "You only know Kenshin as Battousai the Manslayer!" "You started this fight!" "Don't just state your arguments and be done with it!" "Don't group Kenshin with those others!" "Yeah!" "Kenshin is trying to protect everyone with just his sword!" "If you don't get it yet, then I, Yahiko Myojin, will fight in place of Kenshin!" "Zanza, the Revolution is not over yet." "It is true that in this Meiji era, the Revolution's outline has been drawn." "However, many are still part of the old world, where the weak are oppressed." "That is why I became a free wanderer and I wield this sword to protect those people." "Battousai the Manslayer is trying to protect the people..." "I believe that doing so is my atonement to the people who were sacrificed for the Meiji Revolution, that is." "Now, let's go fetch Dr. Gensai." "It's the same thing as Captain Sagara who fought for the dream of a new era..." "And he is still fighting for it..." "I could only feel despair, give up, and fool myself by fighting." "I'm sorry, Captain Sagara..." "I really lost against this guy..." "Zanza..." "I can't believe he survived." "yes, bruises all over his body and the blood loss..." "Dr. Gensai said he needs to be in the hospital for three weeks!" "He said that it was a miracle that he didn't die!" "Zanza was many times stronger than the others so I couldn't really take it easy, that is." "In any case, everything is settled now." "So why don't we have some beef hot-pot, and..." "Those men..." "It's those desperadoes for democracy from the other day." "Sheesh." "I don't care if you get drunk and pick a fight with me but do it after you become a little stronger." "Zanza!" "W-Weren't you hospitalized?" "My strong point is my stamina." "These little scratches are nothing." "It's really nothing!" "Don't play with other people's bodies!" "Sheesh!" "Zanza..." "You're not taking the wicked character off your back?" "Yeah." "The Sekihoutai is a memory I can't ignore so I can't take this wicked character off." "Besides, I can't change my prejudices now." "I'll follow you and see if you're different from the Imperialist con men with my own eyes." "And one more thing." "I'm no longer "Zanza"..." "Nor a fighter-for-hire." "Now, I'm just Sanosuke Sagara." "Just like you aren't Battousai the Manslayer anymore." "So, I won't allow you to go wandering without my permission, Kenshin!" "Oh well..." "It seems I have gained yet another weird comrade, that is..." "I don't like how you said "another"..." "You're the weirdest of all of us!" "Mr. Sanosuke!" "He didn't pay again..." "And so, we gained another comrade, by the name of Sanosuke Sagara."