#enishi arc please

[fistfuloflightning]

Kenshin’s garden never went untended.

Another illustration for Two Roads Diverged by @frostyemma. Enishi suffering through weeding while Hiko ‘supervises’

[gone-forever-bye]

[scarbladed-archive]

Speaking of the live action movies, I there anything you are worried about in the jinchuu arc adaptation? All adaptations are adaptations and changes are abound, especially since the whole fake out kaoru death thing was lightly touched on already.

Honestly the biggest thing is that they try to utterly water down how terrifying the entire arc is. Jinchu is the most horrifying arc in Kenshin in my complete and honest opinion. I’ve elaborated on it here , but I think they will likely completely avoid having Emi Takei brutalized, which is understandable, but give a heavy implication, such as lots of blood, the scent of Tomoe and Kaoru’s hair ribbon / or clip so to speak, in the adaptations. 

Once again watering down Sanosuke’s character + his reaction is the strongest to Kenshin’s complete shut-down, ‘temporary death of himself’. 

Deleting the existence of Rakinmura for something like, him being heavily injured or unconscious instead, although they did that in the second arc of Inferno so Rakinmura may be possible. 

Katsura being a manipulative politician.

Tsubame waking Kenshin up in Rakinmura. 

Take out most of if the majority of Enishi’s henchmen.

Erase something imperative, Tomoe’s smiling flashbacks which are always a big indicator to me of Enishi’s sanity and status. 

Enishi seeing Tomoe in Kaoru when he tries to choke her, likely to be taken out.

Watering down the fight scenes to one big fight instead of multiple. 

I feel the first will cover Tsuiokuhen a great deal primarily, while the second may rush and cram as much of Jinchu accurately as possible.

Taking out Kaoru and Megumi’s decision of Tomoe. The contrast of one willing to die for Kenshin (Megumi) and Kaoru wanting to (live) for him really showed good kinship between the two women and contrast of ideals. 

The confession scene. I think this is unavoidable honestly, and should be, but they may cram that in or rush it when it’s one of the most arguably poignant scenes in the franchise both as Kenshin / Kaoru closing the distance and Kenshin finally acknowledging he has a home, only for Jinchu Arc to rip it away from him. 

The funeral, Aoshi is confirmed last I checked, but the whole finding the doll in the ‘corpse’ might also be too squicky for the audience. I think a lot of the really crucial but brutal parts are likely to be omitted, as well as the stack on fight scenes on the attack on the dojo.

Also we aren’t certain if they won’t completely omit the burning of the Akabeko.

In regards to the part of Jinchu which is ‘Reminisce’, honestly keeping Tomoe’s blunt and unafraid analysis of Kenshin’s mind-state is imperative. It builds her character and her growth with the little scenes such as their talk after the children leave and Kenshin smiling at her, or the scene with the diary, Enishi being present at her death, Tomoe dealing the fatal blow to the Yaminobu leader, and the heavy foreshadowing of someone’s death, (hers) are things I’m legitimately concerned about. 

I will be really disappointed if they don’t have the scenes where Kenshin and Tomoe build up their intimacy or newer audiences might not buy if if they rush it, it’s such a beautiful and tragic relationship and as they’ve done with Kaoru and Kenshin’s romance, should be also done accordingly. Both ships could be rushed here. 

KENSHIN ADMITTING HE CANNOT SAVE ALL BUT ONE BY ONE IF THEY TAKE THAT OUT OR PUT IT IN WITHOUT HIM ACKNOWLEDGING TOMOE HELPING HIM FIND HIS NEW PURPOSE TO NOT KILL AFTER THE BAKUMATSU I WILL BE FRUSTRATED.

The entirety of the cast coming to the island to rescue Kaoru. Yahiko’s fight, Misao crying at the well…all of that, all the emotional but little details the build on the greater ones? Need to be seen. Jinchu is meant to emotionally destroy us, not make us smile for two movies worth until the end . 

Also I’d like Tomoe’s ghost to visit Kenshin as a symbol of him taking as he says, ‘one step forward stronger than before’. That’s key. Putting the past in his heart and taking the future into account. That’s what the story is about to me and ignoring that little visit from his wife in the dream-snow will just be..too sad.

PUT IN TOMOE’S FATHER PLEASE IN RAKINMURA. 

Honestly there’s a LOT I’m worried about, and I just hope they keep the most crucial points in the present day in-tact. Really there’s a whole list in my head that’s way longer than this but at the TOP of my head this is the best I can give you, Slow! Let’s just hope they don’t mess it up since it’s the most impactful part alongside the Kyoto arc, IMO, if not the top. We’ve waited a long time, so I’d say be patient and we’ll see if they can remember what’s true to Rurouni Kenshin’s message as a whole and take hopefully intel from sources as to what defined the chapters as a whole. 

So yes I’m also anxious, but I don’t feel any pessimism but trepidation because the alternative was the nonsense of Seishouhen ( dumbest thing I’ve ever watched ) and it’s far better than it not being made in some context at all, so I’m trying to keep a positive mind!

[gabriel-gabdiel]

【Draft】Youtou Shinnoken Chapter 58: Living Sin (Part 10)

The final chapter of the Okushiri Arc. Tenro finally makes an appearance.

The original source of this idea comes from Chad Yang. I continued his story idea found here.

The rest of the chapters of my Yuyu Hakusho and Rurouni Kenshin crossover fan fiction are available here and here. Enjoy.

About a hundred years or so ago...

In 1878, after fighting Kenshin "Battousai" Himura to a draw, Makoto Shishio died in a literal blaze of glory (through his own spontaneous combustion when his overheating body broke its limits) and went to Hell.

When he got there, he ended up right before the imposing gigantic figure of Enma Daio, who asked him, "What are you doing here, mortal? Go back to the Gates of Judgment in order to be judged."

Shishio then replied, "Get out of my throne. I'm the new King of Hell."

***

Youtou Shinnoken: Demon Sword

A Rurouni Kenshin/Yuyu Hakusho Crossover Fan Fiction Story by Chester Castañeda

Original Concept by Chad Yang

Tenro has finally arrived in Okushiri. How will the Reikai Senshi answer his challenge, especially after learning the truth about him?

Disclaimer: Yuyu Hakusho is the rightful property of Yoshihiro Togashi, Shueisha, Fuji TV, and Studio Pierrot. Rurouni Kenshin is the rightful property of Nobuhiro Watsuki, Shueisha, Shonen Jump, Viz, Sony Studios, Fuji TV, Studio Gallop, Studio Deen, and ADV. This disclaimer also covers all the other copyrighted materials that are far too many to mention here. Don't sue me please, I'm very poor.

***

Chapter 58: Living Sin (Part 10)

***

Back at the Okushiri Military Base...

A shouting, crying Yahiko kneeled in front of Botan's unmoving body, seeing the huge hole in Botan's person. In the shinigami who somehow (he didn't quite understand it) was also his kendo master from a former life, Kaoru Kamiya.

Had he failed again? Like before, when Enishi Yukishiro...?

No. He would not let Kaoru down again. Not after what the Kenshingumi had been through right after Kenshin Himura's death...!

"Bloody Rain," said Yumi Komagata, who again made it rain blood mixed with what seemed like scalpels.

Right above the dark clouds filled with the scarlet liquid were Houji Sadojima's shikigami (familiars) that looked like grim reapers in and of themselves due to their ragged clothes, faceless voids for heads, and long scythes.

And beyond them was Gatekeeper Itsuki, who had a mini-gun at the ready in order to test the limits of a solidified ghost body before it became incorporeal once more. Knowing that gunpowder had no spirit energy to neutralize.

"DOU GAMI! (GOD ON EARTH!)" Yahiko's earth-shattering technique blasted away the razor-sharp squall and Itsuki's suppressive fire into oblivion, allowing him to dissipate the slicing rain bullets around him and the soul-crushing pressure of the borrowed aura of the Onmyouji (Occult Priest).

"Insolent welp...!" Houji said the thing.

"TEN GAMI! (GOD IN HEAVEN!)" Myojin shouted as he did a much more powerful version of the God on Earth that shot up high up into the heavens. Even the nimbus clouds parted from the strength of his slash.

This rocked and shook the military base like an earthquake while the Tokyo Samurai Descendant himself approached the Onmyouji like the resulting tsunami of such an earthquake.

"INGA GAMI! (KARMIC GOD!)"

It was this technique that suddenly turned the poisonous miasma of the Overfiend into something else. Something filled with positive energy and life-giving, nourishing soul power.

Sanosuke Sagara then noticed how the crimson, purple, and black miasma of jaki surrounding them started changing in color, texture, and volume. Flickering back and forth from a cool blue wave to a scarlet mess.

He then checked on Botan, only to gasp in surprise despite being a ghost that didn't need to breathe or have sudden oxygen intakes.

The hole in her chest caused by one of Itsuki's black holes had started healing. The jaki surrounding them, as Sano suspected, was slowly being purified into reiki, which in turn the ferry-girl used to heal herself.

Not only herself, actually. She shared the wealth by beaming the spirit energy she absorbed unto Kazuma Kuwabara and Sanosuke too. Replenishing their depleted spiritual power and increasing their health at the same time.

A full restore for all her allies, if you would.

'What's going on here? Is this Yahiko's doing? Or hers?'

It was actually both. Yahiko provided the reiki by purifying the jaki. Botan used that reiki to heal herself and the others while also powering them up, as though she was the Onmyouji of the Reikai Senshi (Spirit World Warriors).

Meanwhile, Kuwabara and Botan exchanged knowing glances.

They'd gone through this incident before. To be more specific, they witnessed firsthand Yusuke do the same thing Yahiko was attempting to do now.

It was when Urameshi got a hold of the Meikai Crystal and attempted to use it against the last Meikai God standing, Yakumo. The negative energy almost consumed him before his sheer willpower (and at the time hidden demonic lineage) turned the jaki into reiki instead.

Yahiko had decided it was easier to transform the Chojin's overwhelming negative energy to positive (spirit) energy instead of attempting to neutralize or seal it all at once. Break it down to its core components first, bit by bit.

The samurai boy then said, "BANZEN GAMI. (PERFECT GOD.)"

***

'Great fighters refuse to lose, but you refuse to win just to get back that feeling and exhilaration of conquering something greater than you. So what do you do now that you're in a world where nothing is greater than you?'

Those were the Younger Toguro's words even as Yusuke Urameshi effortlessly tanked through and walked down his offense while blasting him to nigh-oblivion with the Renshya Rei-Gan (Rapid-Fire Spirit Gun).

'What the hell was that supposed to mean?!' Yusuke thought.

Was Toguro Ototo right? Had Urameshi become too powerful? Was he holding back his power level in order to drag out fights he would've easily won, thus endangering the lives of those he protected with his great strength?

Ha. As if.

If that were true, he would've already hunted and killed the Chojin himself. He wasn't even the most powerful being in Makai (Demon World), let alone all three worlds. He was a level below the likes of Mukuro and Yomi as well as his deceased ancestor/father figure Raizen.

Not to mention Raizen's old comrades having power levels so high they could band together and conquer both the Human and Spirit Worlds if they so chose.

Those words truly did sound deep. They'd sound even deeper and more meaningful if said by a guy who wasn't getting his ass kicked care of him.

No, instead of it being a case of Yusuke growing too ridiculously powerful, it was rather a matter of Toguro remaining stagnant and weak.

The martial artist who belonged to the "baby boomer" generation might've been powerful for a demon not trapped in Makai and blocked off by the Spirit World Barrier, but he was a pissant compared to the likes of monsters Urameshi eventually faced in the Demon World Unification Tournament.

On top of all that, he didn't want to hear that nonsense from the King of Holding Back. The Emperor of Power Percentages.

"Rando's Kugai (World of Suffering) is a low-level technique by monks used to empathically feel the pain and suffering of others around them. The fact that you're still suffering from its effects isn't because of its curse but because of how you reacted to it."

Yusuke frowned. Indeed, for quite sometime since his fight with Rando, every punch he threw at his opponents, he also felt. For once, he found out what it was like to get punched by himself.

However, it also served as his training. The more he felt his own punches, the more resistant he became of his own power, thus raising his threshold of pain and his ability to take a punch. He could dish it out and take it.

He wasn't sure he could say the same about Toguro.

His ripcord muscles strained to their utmost, the Younger Toguro ended up having them ripped apart, crack, and shatter like pottery. The anabolism he used to grow his muscles to absurd sizes was completely wasted because he couldn't handle A-Level to S-Level blasts of power.

He'd give Toguro this. He did miss staking his life and limb to defeat an enemy, using all his strength to defend his friends and family.

He hadn't really done so lately. Not really. The last time he had a satisfying fight was with his match against Yomi.

Ever since then, his enemies mainly resorted to trickery reminiscent of Kido Asato freezing his movements with his shadow powers or Hiei kidnapping Keiko Yukimura.

All of them ended up as weaklings. Each and every one of them. To go against them with his full powers would be a waste of effort.

Like lighting a candle with a flamethrower or cutting grass with a chainsaw. Complete overkill.

Then again, wasn't this also the reason why Toguro, even though he was only B-Level, tended to hide his power level or only use a percentage of his power?

Huh.

***

Botan smiled in spite of herself. Or rather, her lips moved on their own and then said things not of her own volition due to her astral body's second inhabitant: Kaoru Kamiya.

"There it is. The Perfect God. That's Yahiko's answer to mastering the Mujinken."

A hundred years or so ago, Kaoru originally taught Yahiko the Tenchijinken (forethought-based techniques involving the prediction of an opponent's moves) while taught Yutaro Tsukayama the Mujinken (reflex-based techniques that reacted to whatever the opponent did in the heat of the moment) to fill in their respective weaknesses.

The two were actually more suited for each other's techniques, since Yahiko fought more off-the-cuff while Yutaro fought more methodically.

She intentionally sealed away the techniques that played to the two's strengths so that they could overcome their weaknesses more, believing that someday they'd figure out each other's ultimate attacks down the line anyway.

While the Inga Gami (Karmic God) showed Yahiko's version of methodical fighting, with him focusing hard enough on every strike to unleash the perfect counters without any wasted movement or energy, it was the Banzen Gami where he relied more on instinct instead of forethought showed his fullest potential.

He was more of a natural with the Perfect God than the Karmic God, while it was the opposite for the more thoughtful Yutaro (who now went by the name and identity of Natsuki Shinkai/Xinhai).

"INSECT!" said Houji, his wide eyes glowing red, his voice booming like thunder as he produced what seemed like an endless stream of shikigami. Only for Yahiko to seemingly cut and disintegrate them with a couple of reflexive waves of his sakabatou.

He wasn't even looking at the reapers as every reflexive slice of his blunt sword blew them apart and sent them to oblivion, his gaze aimed solely at Sadojima

The miasma of black jaki turned into white and blue shining reiki as Myojin passed by it. Once he reached Houji, their respective weapons clashed, the entire area split between the morning light colors from behind Yahiko and the pitch-black darkness from behind Sadojima.

It was like the clash of day and night, with the point of impact serving as their dusk or dawn. Twilight or daybreak.

To Houji's alarm, his scythe then started to crack and break. 'What the HELL is with this stupid kid!? I thought only the Youkiri Battousai and Urameshi Yusuke are our only real threats!  Chojin-sama, HELP!'

***

Instead of going down from the barrage of Rei-Gan, Toguro merely said, "Stop wasting energy," as though Yusuke left the light or electric fan turned on or something.

To Yusuke's surprise (or perhaps disappointment), the B-Class Toguro reacted to the Mega Spirit Gun bombardment the exact same way as he did during the Ankoku Bujutsukai (Dark Martial Arts Tournament): By attempting to charge at the growing spirit energy bullets and stop them with his bare hands and feet as well as his purely anabolic, hugely muscular body.

And just like that, it was over. With Toguro face down on the ground, his body shattered and torn from his exploded musculature. His body a tall, lean husk of its former self.

Another one bit the dust. Like the rest of Yusuke's revived enemies that came back stronger because of the Chojin but not quite strong enough to take him on.

To Yusuke's mild surprise, Toguro was still "alive".  Or this revived zombie version of himself made by Chojin's necromancer priest and his own personal Dr. Frankenstein was still moving.

The muscleman mercenary also said, "I'm merely at B-Level and I was able to push you this far? Your fighting senses have dulled, Urameshi Yusuke."

"Oh really? Well, I've discovered that at this point, no one could beat me but myself. You're welcome to prove me wrong, though," said Yusuke.

...Shit. Maybe Toguro and he were more alike than Urameshi realized. Right down to looking down on people who weren't on their level.

Toguro looked up at the night sky, which rekindled his memories. The Shichousei (Death Omen Star, also known as the Lifespan Star, Jumyoboshi, Alcor, or 80 Ursae Majoris) wasn't present near the Big Dipper.

Legend had it that when two warriors fought to the death under the Star of Death and it shone upon one of them, that person would die.

Was the star missing because he was already dead? Or because this wasn't much of a death match.

On the other hand, other Japanese myths and legends alleged that when one couldn't see the Lifespan Star, he'd pass away within a year. That was appropriate since Toguro himself was not alive anymore.

Fine. He'd turn it into a death match. Then, for once, he and Genkai would be looking at the same star. A fatal attraction to a fatalist's heavenly body.

Thusly, every broken bone from his body healed, but instead of going back to normal, they formed sharp calcified bone spurs that protruded right out of his rock-hared craggy body like horns or thorns.

He also got a power boost from the way his body decided to recover from his injuries, punching back a Chou Rei-Gan right into Yusuke's face before punching him as well with his bone spur claws on his fist right at the moment of impact, quadrupling its impact.

He just jumped from Class-B to Class-A in a mere second.

"Ooof!" The punch emptied the air from Yusuke's lungs.

"My former 100% has actually become less than 1% of my power, but for the sake of giving you a point of reference, I'll base my power increases on what was 100% of my power."

He grew about as big as his 100% of 100% form, perhaps even a little bigger, but this time the demonized behemoth's black hair turned as grey as steel along with the rest of his vascular body that was covered with huge bony protrusions.

"So you can call this form of mine me at 500% of my power."

Appropriately enough, the attack Yusuke used in response to Toguro's transformation was one he saw on T.V. From his favorite anime show, as a child of the 1980s, "Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star)".

"HYAKU RETSU-KEN! (HUNDRED RENDING FISTS!)"

The Shichousei or Death Omen Star was, after all, also referenced by the same program.

Honestly, it was just Urameshi going ham on an opponent by randomly striking his heavy-handed punches at every opening available to him, with him naming the "technique" after the fact.

***

The devastation of the Okushiri Military base extended outward, with the pairs of Kazuma and Yumi as well as Sanosuke and Itsuki traveling eastward in a trail of devastation that followed Yahiko's own blaze of glory.

The green comet that was the Tokyo Samurai Descendant clashed and burned through the spherical cloud of miasma protecting Sadojima, like a shooting star entering the atmosphere.

The two pairs of enemies fought tooth and nail for proper positioning. The Reikai Senshi pushed the Chojin's forces back to protect Myojin from their interference.

Sanosuke punched through everything Itsuki threw at him through his hyperdimensional portals and busted portal gun, dodging the dense scattershot black holes and throwing pavement debris at the Gatekeeper in turn.  

Kazuma, meanwhile, fought from the distance, using his blade that can literally cut through anything and anywhere in order to turn every attempt of the wind vampire Yumi to blast tornadoes and energy-absorbing jaki apart.

Finally, Myojin himself struck the Chojin's (and at this point, it was the Chojin controlling the Onmyouji) scythe hard, the blade covered in miasma and dark energy.

The tides of battle then turned.

Using the jaki Kaoru purified into reiki, Yahiko's green aura became denser and denser, creating a white shining void at the center of his body that sucked the dark of the Chojin away. Acting like a reverse black hole or even "white" hole that absorbed all of the Overfiend's darkness into his pure light.

'This is it, Botan,' thought Kaoru "telepathically". 'This is the power of Mu (Void). The power of emptiness.'

'Emptiness...?' repeated the ferry-girl.

'Yes. A true martial artist is able to fight with instinct, freeing his mind of all thought and distractions, leading to a Zen State. Yahiko manifested this Zen State into his unique skill: Neutralizing spirit energy.'

A second later, all energy from everyone dissipated, and from there Houji's scythe shattered like glass as both he and Yahiko plummeted into the docks of the Okushiri Pier.  

The samurai spirit fell into Ryu Tsui Sen (Dragon Hammer Flash) stance and slammed Sadojima into one of the metal crates of the pier below them with an emphatic crash.  

"You stupid kid! I'll show you! ETERNAL...! Wait, what?! My powers are gone!"

Yumi Komagata attempted to do the Hi-Ougi (Hidden Art) of Vampire Martial Arts—a move stronger than the energy-sapping Blood Wind—but nothing of the sort manifested before her. Her aura, the energy she gathered from sucking many a soldier's blood, was now gone.

The same happened to Itsuki, who couldn't summon his Reverse-Man or escape into his pocket dimension any longer.

Yahiko's reiki had also went out, which normally was dangerous for a ghost but he somehow reached homeostasis with the way he absorbed and purified the Chojin's jaki.

His dense green aura had now completely neutralized the powers of everyone near him instead of merely mitigating their flow, including the now unconscious Onmyouji.

Like how no light could escape the event horizon of a black hole, not one shadow of the Chojin's dark energy could exist amidst the blinding white light of Yahiko's converging green spiritual aura.

However, as a consequence, even Yahiko's allies lost their powers as well, as though he was acting as the reverse version of the Onmyouji. Instead of boosting the powers of those in his vicinity, he nullified them.

Regardless, Sanosuke and Kuwabara immediately took advantage of the loss of powers from Itsuki and Yumi with their physical strength, with the former beating Itsuki to a pulp and Kuwabara breaking the umbrella and fan of Komagata before tackling and pinning her down.

"Give up, lady. You lost," said Kuwabara. "You can't cheat your way out of this one by resurrecting your goons every time we defeat them. The Onmyouji's down for the count."

Yahiko "heaved" a sigh of relief despite being a solidified ghost who didn't need to breathe. "It's finally over."

Botan giggled in glee. "We did it! You did it! The number one pupil of Kamiya Kasshin! I'm so proud of you, Yahiko!" The last part of that statement was Kaoru talking.  

Sano looked at his own bloody fists and winced. 'We've won, but why do I feel like it's not yet over? Like there's still something afoot.'

Even though the blood from his right fist wasn't his own but Itsuki's, it burned and ached something fierce. Like he broke it or something.

'What's going on? I have a bad feeling about this.'

Sanosuke's bad feeling then turned into reality.

***

At Class-A, Yusuke Urameshi's Hyaku Retsu-Ken would've turned the B-Plus Toguro into mince meat. Or roadkill.

At Class-S, his Hyaku Retsu-Ken would've turned mountains like Mt. Kannon, Mt. Kamui, and even Mt. Fuji into molehills, plains, or even outright trenches and canyons as deep as the United States of America's Grand Canyon.

Like he was a pint-sized Paul Bunyan.

The teenager harrumphed. "Really? 500%? Like I'm fighting 5 Toguros at the same time? So what? That's still nothing compared to the demons I've faced since defeating you, Toguro...!"

The bone-breaking punches cracked the shell of Toguro's chitinous muscle armor bit by bit. However, in turn, Toguro let his fists fly as well but in a more methodical manner.

Targeting his punches to Yusuke's openings rather than punching randomly. Using his martial arts experience to take down the stronger foe.  

His bony yet muscular fists pounded on Yusuke's smaller body, breaking bones here and there. He was approaching the same level as the one who killed him after every punch.

Yusuke's fists ached from every punch he did on the rock-solid body of Toguro, the multitude of Spirit Cuffs holding his power back also being pushed to their breaking point without him opening them up with his Jyu-Rei-Jyou Ante (Luminescent Spirit Ante) password.

The restraining cuffs and seals he placed upon himself were at their near breaking point from him merely flexing his immense power.

Thank goodness the likes of Yomi, Mukuro, Enki, and the rest of Raizen's friends (as well as Raizen himself when he was alive) put him in his place early on regarding what real power looked like, or else he'd be full of himself right about now.

The Toguro with chitinous bone spurs and keratinous tusks and horns all over his muscle-bound body ended up breaking each and every one of his thick, calcified bones from the impact of Yusuke's punches.

Toguro's bones rattled as micro-tears appeared all over his muscles and tendons. Despite this, he pushed forward. Like his older brother, he healed quickly, which notified Urameshi that he still had something in his sleeve.

"All right. Then how about this? TAKO NAGURI!"

The Octopus Assault—Yusuke's version of the Kuzu Ryu Sen (Nine-Dragon Flash) that hit 8 times instead of 9 times in an instant—hammered the horned gray body of the zombified and demonized Toguro before he could get the chance to stab, gore, or spear Yusuke with his many protruding bone spurs.

Urameshi once heard that it took either 23,034 slaps to cook or a slap traveling at 1,665.65 meters per second to cook a chicken.

He wasn't sure about the math, but he cooked Toguro's goose at a rate of 8-16 punches a second with every punch traveling at 1,000-2,000 meters per second, so it would've took about 20 minutes of non-stop Tako Naguri to get to around 20,000 punches or 2,500 super-powered Tako Naguri.

Or he would've cooked/burned 20,000 whole chickens at around the time it took to cook a chicken in the oven.

However, it was at the second minute that Urameshi broke his hand. He hit a hard shell reminiscent of the healing turtle shell that was Usui's shield.

From the pile of minced meat, torn muscle cords, and viscera emerged yet another Toguro.

What stood before him wasn't the spurred behemoth Toguro but instead a fully armored Toguro, with every inch of his body covered in craggy white bone.

As though his shattered bones healed wrong and ended up calcifying right on top of his pulsating muscles. The parts where his joints were, he simply muscled to existence, breaking the calcified armor in sections.

"This is 1,000% of my power. 100 times the power of my 100% self."

It also made him look like a white lobster man, thought Yusuke in chagrin.

***

At the Okushiri Pier, around 9:47 PM...

The mangled remains of a man landed right in front of Reikai's finest from out of the shadows of the dark harbor.

The Reikai Senshi (and their accompanying shinigami) then felt goose bumps form at the napes of their necks, including the ghostly ones that didn't even have tangible skin, blood, or hair to make such a sensation possible.

Even Itsuki, whom Sano beat from pillar to post with bare-knuckle fisticuffs, looked none the worse for wear compared to the person before them.

He was bathed in blood and his torn clothes were dyed crimson because of it. He looked like he'd been ravaged by a pack of wolves.

The only thing recognizable about him was that he was male.  Probably.

Sanosuke was the first one to try and poke at the figure to see who it was. If he had a ten-foot pole, he'd prod the man with it. As it was, thanks to Yahiko manifesting his full neutralization powers, Sano couldn't even summon one zanbatou from the ether.

The street fighter then stumbled back, which made Kazuma ask, "What's wrong? Who is it? Is that one of the Chojin's Shin Ju or whatever?"

Botan gulped, hoping against hope that the man before them was the injured body of one of the New Ten Swords instead of one of the Spirit World Warriors.

Before Sano could answer, someone else answered for him.

"That's what remains of Hajime Saito. The former captain of the Shinsengumi's Third Unit."

"...What? Who said that?" asked Yahiko.

The Reikai Tantei, the shinigami, and the Kenshingumi then turned in time to see the silhouette of a pony-tailed person from the distance.

There stood a human(?) of about S-Level power with sleeked-back hair, a lengthy ponytail, and a half-undone kimono that showed off his rippling swimmer's muscles on his long build.

As realization dawned on them one by one, their mouths went agape, practically unhinged from their upper jaw.

The blood drained from Kuwabara's face while the three spiritual beings' faces (Botan/Kaoru, Sano, and Yahiko) looked more transparent than usual.

The ghosts all looked like they'd seen a ghost, forgetting they were ghosts themselves. Gasping for air they couldn't breathe anymore.

Even Kuwabara, who was alive, looked like he'd seen a ghost himself or even turned into one.

The man, who himself was a bloody mess with stabs and cuts at every inch of his body, held something in his arms.

It was his trophy. His prize after a hard day's battle.

It was the head of his enemy. It was the head of Hajime Saito.

Botan screamed. Or rather, Kaoru did.

The Kamiya Kasshin Master couldn't believe that Kenshin's greatest rival who was so famous he became a Japanese historical figure later on, had been defeated.

On the other hand, Botan, through centuries of being a death goddess, had seen worse things before, so she was desensitized enough to not scream. Her own feeling of dread was around the same level as Kaoru's, though.

The pony-tailed assassin then took one look at the Kenshingumi sans Kenshin and their shinigami babysitter and sighed.

"Oh, no one but weaklings left? Pathetic. Imagine, after such a delicious meal, I'm left with leftovers and expired food."

The new arrival then placed Saito's head beside the rest of his body. Almost reverently. "Rest in peace, Saito Hajime. You were truly a worthy rival. I acknowledge you."

"You killed Officer Fujita! You BASTARD!" screamed Kuwabara, a knife-sized Rei-Ken ablaze with reiki and righteous indignation in his grip.

Kazuma would've produced a full-length Jigen Tou with the rage he felt, but Yahiko's neutralizing presence kept his powers in check.

"Wait. Boke (Fool), he's...!" Sano trailed off, moving in front of Kuwabara to block him from doing anything hasty.

'If anyone's going to do something hasty, it was going to be me!' thought Sagara.

"Who are you?" demanded Yahiko as he pointed his sakabatou at the stranger.

"I'm Youkiri Tenro (Tenro the Demon-Slayer). Remember that name before I send you back to Heaven."

***

Yusuke quickly checked his Spirit Detector. Toguro was now at A-Level with his Bone Armor form. Around the same power level as the most powerful members of the Reikai Tokubetsu Bouetai (Spirit World Special Forces).

This turn of events definitely piqued his interest. Somewhat. Maybe this time, he'd get the battle he so craved from this new version of Toguro since being defeated by Yomi in the Makai Tournament.

However, the extra layer of bone armor made it harder for Yusuke to break apart Toguro's muscle armor with mere punches, no matter what velocity he reached.

Also, in turn, the Class-A Toguro Ototo pummeled and stabbed Yusuke in turn with earth-shattering strikes from his bony fists, horns, and claws as well as shattered pieces of his bone armor that kept calcifying and growing over and over. Layer by layer. Like samurai armor or shingles on the roof.

Stubbornly, the bloody and bruised Yusuke kept on punching the armored demon to push him away and give him breathing room.

The bony yet muscle-bound contradiction of a monster that looked ridiculously gigantic yet unencumbered by his musculature having an extra layer of armor unto him, turning him into a veritable tank with the speed of a Mack truck. He even hit like a truck.

Alas, as his wounds healed in Toguro Ani fashion, Urameshi realized that he had long ago surpassed the version of him that could get killed by being hit by a car. Or a truck. Or a tank. Or perhaps even a nuclear warhead. Maybe.

"Rei-Kou-Dan (Spirit Light Wave Bullet)."

One of his Spirit Cuffs broke as he put his hip into his punches and imbued his fists with actual spiritual power. They were already harder than steel because of the spirit energy contained within his body. Put when he emanates reiki from inside and outside himself, his punches also become explosive.

One reiki-imbued punch was all it took for him to crack the bone armor of Toguro at 1,000%. However, he wasn't done.

Perhaps he might have gone overboard, but he decided to punch Toguro 20,000 times in 3 minutes rather than 20 minutes. But it sure felt like 20 minutes.

Also, these weren't just physical punches. His fists were on fire with spirit energy this time. 20,000 Rei-Kou-Dan blasts, to be exact.

Every supersonic punch had the impact of a blockbuster bomb, with it breaking the sound barrier and sending extra shockwaves to Toguro and all. Perhaps even more explosive than that.

Perhaps he'd become a teenaged warhead himself.

However, out of the mangled mess of bone armor emerged yet another Toguro. The armor that should've served as his coffin ended up becoming his cocoon for his newest metamorphosis. Which, to Yusuke's surprise, made him breathe a sigh in relief.

He could still push himself even further.

Was this excited feeling what Toguro felt when, just a few years prior, Yusuke was able to withstand the might of 80% of his power when he killed Genkai in cold blood?

Regardless, a bronze-skinned, taller, and four-armed Toguro emerged from all that mush and burnt flesh he'd become earlier, impossibly towering even higher over Yusuke. His current form made his former seven-foot form look normal-sized in comparison.

His muscles were like taut steel cords now, like those used in heavy-duty tires and conveyer belts. Perhaps even harder. They were definitely harder than the pieces of thick calcified bone armor that they crushed like egg shells with a simple collective body flex.

"This is 100,000% of my power. This is what fighting 10,000 clones of my 100% self looks like."

Yusuke thought for a second what Toguro meant by that, only for him to test the theory out with an additional 20,000 Rei-Kou-Dan blasts in one minute.

20,000 palm blocks later and Urameshi now had a better idea of what his nemesis meant, followed by 20,000 counterpunches in between those blocks. All in a minute's time.

'100,000% Toguro? He didn't even bother going to 10,000%? Jeez!' Urameshi thought as he got hit with a two-armed lariat that dragged his body across the landscape and river like a cow or trailer home in a tornado.

This was it. This was the A-Plus version of Toguro.

Yusuke couldn't even hide the grin from his face even as this newest form of Toguro beat him to the punch every time.

Toguro at 100,000% had even tighter and tauter musculature with enough strength and torque behind in them to break apart from his bone cocoon or calcified eggshell. His ripcord muscles could handle punching velocities similar or even faster than Yusuke's.

It also didn't help that Toguro now had a body that could accommodate four arms, thus giving him twice the hand speed and arm speed due to his literal extra limbs.

***

"...SHISHIO!" screamed Sanosuke at Tenro, his blood (ectoplasm) boiling. His right fist, whom Makoto Shishio broke, pulsating like a second heart.

Even though he wasn't wearing his bandages and his skin wasn't burned to a crisp, Sano could recognize that voice and that demeanor anywhere.

''Shishio?' thought Kuwabara. So this is the man who founded the original Juppon Gatana? Kenshin's greatest rival? The man who ultimately led to the demise of the samurai spirit? The man who might actually be the alter ego of the Chojin himself?

The guy who not only pushed Hiei to his limits, but also possibly two of the Demon World's three kings, Yomi and Mukuro?

Before they knew it, they were suddenly faced with the final boss of the game.

The fighting spirit of Sano rose high enough for him to defy the nullifying presence of Yahiko and form half of a zanbatou in his hands, which he swung at the (presumably) non-burned version or reincarnation of the ex-hitokiri and Meiji rebel known as Shishio.

With one swing of Tenro's Mugen Jin (Unlimited Blade) sword, Sagara's suspicions were confirmed.

"Secret Sword One: HOMURA DAMA!"

Shishio's signature Homura Dama (Burning Soul) technique where his sword burst into flame clashed hard against the 6-foot (normally 12-foot) horse-chopping sword, smelting it in the process like a blacksmith's forge in a shower of sparks.

"A weakling like usual, Sagara Sanosuke," sneered Tenro. "It's been a while, though."

"I don't understand. Wasn't Shishio supposed to look like a mummy or something? He's some guy who was burnt to a crisp and covered in bandages!" said Kazuma.

Sano answered, "Yeah, but obviously it's been 100 years. He must've found a way to get a new body, ended up with a solidified soul, or he got reincarnated as this Tenro clown."

Myojin gulped. He considered deactivating his powers to allow either Kuwabara or Sanosuke to attack the youkiri.

However, if Tenro was this powerful with his spiritual power nullified, how much more powerful could he get when Yahiko's powers ceased working?

The disheveled Yumi then cackled in the background, the hole in her chest throbbing with a ghostly heart whom the man before her had stolen from her.

"It's about time you got here, Tenro. What took you so long? Don't tell me the Miburo (Mibu's Wolf) gave you all that you can handle and then some."

Tenro harrumphed. "Perish the thought, Yumi. I merely gave my respects first to the Shinsengumi in the Battle of Hakodate Monument, and guess who I also found there? That's right, our favorite Shinsengumi Captain, Saito Hajime."

'Hakodate?!' thought Yahiko. 'That's four hours away from Okushiri! All the way on the other side of Hokkaido, at that!'

Sanosuke himself snarled at Tenro, his fist burning with pain and fire, as though it remembered how Makoto had shattered it when they'd faced each other back at Mt. Hiei.

'Hakodate is the place that served as the Shinsengumi's last stand. What was Saito doing there? Was he paying his respects to his squad? It's not like him to be so sentimental.'

The street fighter spared a glance at the remains of Saito. Unbelievable. Just earlier, he pushed several of the Shin Juppon Gatana to their limits, and now he ended up as dead as the rest of the Shinsengumi?

Well, he was already originally dead and buried in the first place, but this time around he got killed off for real by Shishio. Or Tenro, which was probably the reincarnation of Shishio (the same way Aoshi was reincarnated as a copper).

Kuwabara turned towards Yahiko and said, "Kid, turn off your powers! I'm going to face off with the final boss one-on-one!"

"But...!" the ghost kid trailed off before Botan filled in the rest.

"Kuwabara-kun, he can't. He's the only one sealing Tenro's immense power. If he was able to do that to Saito, imagine what he could do to us! Let Yahiko seal his power for now until either Kenshin or Yusuke arrives!" said the ferry-girl.

"I DON'T CARE!" shouted Kuwabara. "Let us face him at his full strength while we're also at full strength! As a real man, I won't back down!"

Tenro smirked. "Fine. If you're not bluffing then come at me. In this world and beyond it, the same rules of nature apply. Only the strongest survive and the weak serve as food for the strong."

Sano's eyes narrowed. He was definitely sure this was Shishio before him now. That was totally a Shishio line. 'It's now or never. We just have to keep him here until either Kenshin or that gangster best friend of Boke arrives!'

***

"REI-KOU-DAN!" shouted Urameshi, his Spirit Wave Light Bullets bursting through his fist like bolts of lightning from a Railgun.

The 100,000% Toguro blocked the punch with his elbow, shattering Yusuke's hand bones in the process. "Is this the power of an S-Level? Don't make me laugh. Me at 100,000% of my power is enough for you."

Toguro then grabbed hold of Urameshi's limbs with all four of his arms in a bid to tear the teenager apart literally from limb to limb.

Yusuke considered Toguro's statement for a second and then said, "Fuck that," before flipping the four-armed monster off with his right hand.

The mere idea that someone like Feng Xinhai or The "Beautiful" Suzuki was more powerful than Toguro just didn't sit well with Urameshi. At all.

The middle finger he raised at the 100,000% Toguro then flowed with energy he'd been saving for a special occasion.

Yusuke discovered that he could actually save and store his energy as a reserve or extra Spirit Gun blast for use in case of emergencies since it usually took forever and a day to charge his Rei-Gan.

Also, in order for him to not mistakenly fire off his reserve Rei-Gan, he had this bullet stored in his middle finger. This was how his technique that he developed when facing off against the S-Level Xinhai.

This was his "Fuck You!" Gun. Also known as the "FAKKU GAN! (FUCK GUN!)"

The 100,000% Toguro let go of Yusuke to bring distance between him and the spiritual projectile then punted the Fuck Gun towards the teenager.

However, by instinct borne from his hundreds of fights against spiritually powerful humans and demons, Yusuke jumped away from the Fakku Gan, grabbed Toguro by the ankle, dragged him towards the ball of plasma fire, and then threw him back into its path.

From there, as the 100,000% Toguro braced himself for impact, Urameshi emerged from behind him. Attacking him from the rear for good measure.

Toguro was now between a rock and a hard place. Or between a demon and his energy blast.

"REI-KOU-DAN! SHOT GUN!" screamed the half-demon prince.

While the Fakku Gan blasted and disintegrated the giant from the front, Yusuke attacked with his Spirit Light Wave Bullets and reiki scattershot from behind, which kept even the four-armed monstrosity from defending himself from upcoming impacts surrounding him.

The charged-up blasts of energy in particle and wave forms bore on Toguro like plasma tides or a solar wind. An endless series of reiki tidal waves from the ocean of Urameshi's power.

Thanks to the extra pressure brought about by his stored energy blast from many weeks ago, Yusuke's Rei-Kou-Dan was able to strike through this time, with him ripping the steel cord muscles of Toguro apart as they got softened by the comet of energy that cooked him alive.

Then, as Yusuke had hoped deep in his unbeating heart, the mangled Toguro changed form yet again.

The same heart that Shinobu Sensui pierced so that it'd stop beating felt like it started beating yet again in anticipation. In excitement. In nostalgia, even.

Toguro still had more forms and powers up his sleeve. Just like old times.

And from there, out of the ashes and melted muscle of the 100,000% Toguro came forth One Million Percent Toguro.

"One Million Percent. This is me at One Million Percent of my power, Urameshi Yusuke."

***

Kuwabara and Sanosuke attacked Tenro at the same time while Yahiko struggled on the spot to focus all his neutralizing powers on the Shishio reincarnation(?) alone.

Tenro frowned. His aura of jaki became fainter despite him doing damage to the Tokyo Samurai Descendant.

'Hmmm. The Shin Ju warned me about this. Even Toguro Ani couldn't heal properly thanks to this kid's neutralizing reiki.'

Botan checked her Spirit Detector again. Hope sprung in her heart. 'Yes! Tenro's power level went down to A-Level. He's still on the cusp of S-Level, but at least he's not as powerful as someone like Sensui and Xinhai! We have a chance!'

As Kuwabara and Sanosuke awoke, their energy levels went higher and higher, their auras flaring with spiritual might that was boosted by Botan's healing powers.

"JIGEN TOU!" screamed Kazuma, summoning his Dimension Sword.

"ZANBATOU!" shouted Sanosuke, producing his 12-foot long Horse-Chopping Sword.

"How appropriate. Isn't this just a reflection of today's society? The weak are using their great numbers to suppress their betters, not realizing that without the strong to lead them or the will to become strong themselves, they will end up extinct."

"SHADDAP! I don't know who you are, but all's fair in love and war," declared Kuwabara.

"Not all men are created equal. Like in the Animal Kingdom, some men are simply better than others. Equal opportunity doesn't guarantee equal results. Forcing equal results in an aberration of nature, like forcing animals to become like men, the pinnacle of evolution."

Tenro used his bare hand to grab hold of Kuwabara's Dimension Sword and used his other hand with a sword to block the full-length zanbatou coming at him with his saw-like Mugen Jin.

"Ganging up on the strong can lead to the survival of the weak temporarily. However, their own weakness will sort them out. Their celebration of mediocrity will make them food for other apex predators or any of them who decide to become rams instead of sheep."

The Youkiri then broke the Jigen Tou apart like it was made of chalk and stabbed Sanosuke's chest with it while also melting his second attempt at a half-zanbatou with his Mugen Jin's Homura Dama.

"Regardless, it is better to live one day as a lion than 100 years as a sheep. These are... THE RULES OF NATURE!"

"AUGH!" grunted Sanosuke, his recently recovered soul flickering in and out of existence, his chest spewing ectoplasm, and his aura dissipating into pinpoints of light like a disturbed nest of bioluminescent fireflies.

He felt the light inside him slowly fade all the while.

"Bastard...!" said Kazuma, who repurposed the broken shards of his Jigen Tou and shot it pointblank at Youkiri Tenro, turning them into "REI-SHURIKEN!"

He should've hit him with the projectiles from a distance, though. The first few blades bounced off of the intense jaki of Tenro, which reminded Kuwabara of the aura that Detective Matsudaira developed.

Reiatsu (Spirit pressure). Tenro's aura was dense enough to become spirit pressure reminiscent of Bui from the Toguro Team. Or Yusuke when he unleashed his full power nowadays.

So this was the Chojin's secret weapon? If not the Chojin himself altogether?

The demon-slayer then grabbed of the teenagers wrist and redirected the shuriken at Sano again. From there, he broke Kuwabara's hand then grabbed him by the collar, declaring, "Secret Sword Two: GUREN KAINA! (CRIMSON LOTUS ARM!)"

Using his Mugen Jin to ignite the gunpowder-laced glove, the youkiri blasted Kuwabara with the force of the bomb.

The gunpowder inside the glove trick that Shishio used on Kenshin was also used against Kazuma, with the explosion blowing him clear off. Makoto's hand was kept safe from the explosion using a special metal gauntlet underneath the glove full of gunpowder that resisted the impact.

Tenro somehow ended up doing an even stronger version of the Guren Kaina that was imbued with the chaotic negative energy of Tenro, which made the explosion strong enough to injure a human with the power level of Kuwabara. Yahiko's power-suppressing aura didn't help.

Tenro then shot Yahiko a look that chilled him to his "bones" or "spine". The youkiri said, "You will not drag me down to your level. Know your place, child."

However, while Tenro was preoccupied, the flickering spirit of Sanosuke stabbed the youkiri with hot molten metal or what was left of his sword in a spectacular display of sparks.

This was Sano's one chance of making a dent, so he had to make it count.

However, as he attempted to punch Tenro's heart out, his hand ended up crushed with the youkiri's elbow block.

With a harrumph, Tenro proceeded to punch Sanosuke on the forehead, just like when Sano fought Shishio. "You never learn."

"I don't understand," murmured the Kaoru inside Botan's body. "Isn't Yahiko's aura supposed to suppress Tenro's powers too? Why is he still so strong!?"

She then noticed Gatekeeper Itsuki waking up, which led her to keep her guard up.

The black-and-blue Itsuki chuckled, tracing his finger over the scar Kuwabara had made on his face back when they faced off against Shinobu Sensui. "Y-You don't understand. This is him with his power held back."

"W-What do you mean? That's impossible!" Botan checked her Spirit Detector. "His power is fluctuating between A-Level and S-Level. That can't be! How powerful is he?"

Sneering, Itsuki said, "Who knows? Rumor has it he's about as powerful as one of the Former Three Kings—Mukuro, Yomi, and even the Late Raizen. He might even reach the mythical X-Level like Kurama did when he took hold of the Demon Sword."

Botan's face went pale blue as though she was being choked. "X-Level?!"

She remembered the event like it was yesterday.

The Spirit World went on high alert when Kurama went Class-X after wielding the Youtou Shinnoken (Demon Sword). They even called the entire Reikai Bouetai in. Not that it would've done them any good, since the Special Forces were composed of Class-A agents and Class-X was a level beyond Class-S.

She couldn't even fathom how strong an X-Level was since Kurama immediately rejected the Demon Sword transforming him back into his youko self.

However, stronger than Yomi, Mukuro, or Raizen gave her a ballpark estimate of what they were dealing with. Someone as strong as or stronger than a Raizen-possessed Yusuke who ragdolled the mountain-destroying Sensui with ease.

All the same, Tenro stood victorious over the beaten figures of Sanosuke and Kuwabara.

"Will you become rams or sheep? Lions or stray cats? Wolves or mongrel dogs? Can you evolve and turn into apex predators yourselves? It's natural selection. Kill or be killed. Make your choice."

***

The peaceful Tsurikake River had now become a war zone. A swamp in one part and a desert in another.

It was Baghdad. It was bedlam.

The 1,000,000% Toguro was there at the epicenter of the devastation. A nuke all his own. An unnatural force of nature.

An over-muscled demonized human even taller than his 100,000% version. A walking contradiction of chaos and order.

He had no skin now. He was all pure, red muscle and tendons pulsating and wriggling in every which way.

He also had six arms instead of two, with him towering even higher than before because he had to elongate his torso to cartoonish levels just to accommodate his extra pair of hands and limbs.

Curious at how strong this Toguro was, Yusuke flipped the bird on Toguro with his other hand.

Yes, he also stored another Fuck Gun on his other hand, with about the same amount of potential spiritual energy gathered for weeks' on end since he fired his first Fakku Gan at Feng Xinhai.

"FAKKU GAN!"

Again, Urameshi blasted all of his pent-up "Fuck You!" energy at Toguro by flipping him off, shooting the bolt of concentrated lightning that came out with the force of a shooting star.

Again, he outran the modified Rei-Gan and came up from behind the six-armed insectoid Toguro with the intent of making sure he got hit by the Fakku Gan.

He then attacked Toguro with both hands using the Rei-Gan and Shot Gun.

"DOUBLE-BARRELED SHOT GUN! DOUBLE BERRETTA REI-GAN!"

Those extra pair of hands on an even bigger and sturdier body made all the difference.

Two of six arms grabbed and held back the charged-for-weeks Rei-Gan. Another two of the arms parried and blocked all of Yusuke's energy-laden punches as well as the projectiles blasting through them.

This freed up the Million-Percent Toguro's two remaining hands that grabbed hold of Yusuke and pummeled him into submission.

The Younger Toguro used punches that carved the landscape. Made and destroyed mountains.

The kind of unnatural force of nature (as contradictory as it sounds) that could affect plate tectonics, weather patterns, or change the area forever, like in the case of Mt. St. Helens when it exploded or the nine ghost villages of France that remain wastelands to this day thanks to the Battle of Verdun in the First World War.  

If Yusuke weren't here to absorb the blows they would've shattered and sunk Okushiri right off of the map.

Even though Urameshi was breathing through his mouth, had lost teeth, and ended up with a shattered jaw he couldn't close, he couldn't help but grin. Or at least do an open-mouthed smile.

"I'm beating you to the punch at every turn. So why is it...?" Toguro tilted his head to the side in askance. "Why do you have such a happy look on your face?"

Disturbingly, Yusuke's teeth grew back. They weren't supposed to but they did. Even accelerated human healing wouldn't allow the return of lost permanent teeth. All his bruises healed. All his broken bones mended themselves. His shut black eye's swelling subsided and went back to normal.

There he hung from Toguro's grip. Smiling. None the worse for wear.

"Come on, Toguro. You can do better than this, you son of a bitch! Gimme your best shot!"

Toguro then proceeded to smash Yusuke and his own heavenly body of a Fakku Gan together, which resulted in a mushroom cloud of pure destructive power.

Another atomic blast had hit Japan.

Toguro the Younger turned Urameshi into the atomic bomb he was afraid he had become.

***

Back at the Okushiri Pier, two things happened.

Botan, using the wealth of leftover negative energy that Kaoru purified earlier, again started shot reiki to heal the damage inflicted upon the available Reikai Senshi.

Kuwabara and Sanosuke stirred, as if shot by doses of adrenalin.

Also, when the youkiri made the move to deal with the shinigami herself to keep her from aiding her comrades, Yahiko himself confronted and attacked Tenro head on.

For all the good it did. Bless his ghostly heart.

"DOU GAMI...! (GOD ON EARTH!)" shouted Yahiko, hoping against hope it'd land on Tenro's head or at least near him so that he'd be pelted by rocks and debris.

'This is Shishio. The leader of the Juppon Gatana. Kenshin's most powerful rival,' the samurai spirit thought.

Tenro caught the reverse-edged blade between his fingers before it could make contact with his Mugen Jin. The God Hammer relied on recoil to give Yahiko enough space to consecutively strike something or someone three times fast in order to break their resistance and apply a zero-resistance strike.

No recoil meant the sword's three strikes were neutralized.

Myojin's jaw dropped. "How...!?"

"So you're the brat who can neutralize spirit energy," said Tenro with narrowed eyes that traveled from Houji's unconscious form then all the way back to Yahiko.

Readjusting his grip of the sword tight with a gloved hand that smelled of gunpowder and negative spirit energy, Tenro again did the "GUREN KAINA!" on the blade.

The explosion blasted Myojin clear away from (presumably) Shishio, the shrapnel from his own spiritual construct of a sakabatou hitting him as well like bullets. His spirit fading and dissipating with pinpoints of energy.

''YAHIKO!" both Botan and Kaoru chorused in one body, fearing the worst.

The shards of Yahiko's blade penetrated Tenro, sealing his power further away from S-Level. 'What a problematic child this is.'

Myojin got up to his feet and charged, hoping to buy Sano and Kuwabara time. Buy Kenshin and Yusuke time as well.

He was prepared to do the Banzen Gami on Tenro's head, only to revert to the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu ougi for Hadome and Hawatari when his opponent beat him to the punch and struck first with the Homura Dama.

However, as he defended against the downwards flaming strike with a cross-wrist block, Tenro grappled with him and kept him from parrying the strike. "Do you want to know how your idol, the Himura Battousai died a century ago? Like this. Guren Kaina. Homura Dama."

After the explosion from the gunpowder happened, Tenro allowed the resulting fire to flare and roast the ghost of Myojin.

"AAAHH...!" screamed the burning Yahiko.

"YAHIKO!" shouted Sanosuke.

"BRAT!" yelled Kuwabara.

Tenro himself was in the middle of the conflagration, but like with his confrontation with Hiei, he was none the worse for wear from the roaring bonfire.

"Too strong... He's too strong...!" gasped Yahiko. "Even after all this time, I'm still as weakk as I've always been."

The bright yellow flames turning blue as Yahiko's form reverted to that of a hitodama (will-o'-the-wisp).

Meanwhile, Botan shrieked, fell on her knees, and covered her eyes with her hands.

"What happened to Japan? Is this the best warriors that this new age can come up with? Pathetic," said Youkiri Tenro. "It's so sad. The United States of America turned the Empire of Japan into a whipped dog. An island full of losers."

The entirety of Okushiri started to rumble as Yahiko's neutralizing reiki ebbed away.

***

A nuke did damage in three stages.

It irradiated heat and light, it blasted everything to Kingdom Come, and it scattered radioactive materials around.

The bigger you went, the less relevant the radioactive materials become relative to the other effects as the heat irradiation had a much greater and more noticeable immediate effect. Effectively, when a nuke went off, the temperature of the resulting fireball could go up to millions of degrees, but it dissipated relatively quickly.

However, instead of having a repeat of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1993, Yusuke's dense aura (arguably reiatsu level at this point) allowed him to absorbed most of the impact of his Fakku Gan.

Yusuke collapsed on the ground, taking the brunt of his own spirit energy.

Before him was a behemoth of a demonized man. His exposed muscles bursting out of his skin. His bulging muscles wriggling and moving all over the place. His six huge arms giving him an insect-like vibe.

This was Toguro using a million percent of his power. He had become the Demigod Asura, a six-armed demon of war and destruction.

However, even in the face of this absolute unit of a monster, something else grabbed Urameshi's attention many miles away.

Over the horizon, he felt a suppressed Low S-Level power grow and pulse. Like a leaking and cracked dam ready to burst.

Once that dam burst, Yusuke broke all of his limits at once. Every last Spirit Cuff. Every last bit of hesitation he had from the Kugai curse placed upon him.

He caught even the Million-Percent Toguro by surprise at how fast his power level rose.

He summoned his version of the Sei Kou Ki, the golden aura serving as his barrier against Toguro's atomic punches.

His hair grew long and turned white for good measure before he proceeded to punch the Million-Percent Toguro a million times. A gold-glowing punch for every percentage.

"SEI-KOU-DAN!" Yusuke cried using the Sei-Kou-Ki version of the Rei-Kou-Dan.

He had to. That dark presence in the distance sounded all of his alarms and red flags.

Whichever Reikai Senshi was out there, they were fighting the final boss. The Chojin himself, even.

As though feeling the rise in power from a distance spurred him into action more than the golem before him that, quite frankly, took too long to get to S-Level and beyond.

***

Botan rushed towards Yahiko's side, doing her best to heal his hitodama form. But the damage was extensive on his human soul, the light in his spirit fading away. "Hold on, Yahiko-kun! I got you! Everything's going to be fine!"

However, no matter how much spirit energy she used to heal Yahiko's damaged soul, it never healed. His hitodama continued to remain in its fireball state, its light fading away fast.

Kuwabara was the first to get up shakily on his feet, the Rei-Ken in his hand flickering back and forth between its normal form and its Jigen Tou form.

"You talk too much, you bastard!" said the redhead, who attempted to create a portal to send Tenro to space, only for the youkiri to grab the teenager by his curly regent-style hair and put his face into the portal in an effort to suffocate him.

"Who is stronger? A wolf in sheep's clothing or a sheep in wolf's clothing?"

Kuwabara ignited Tenro's glove with a small Rei-Ken on his free hand, which made it explode in the youkiri's face and allowing him to escape. Gasping for air, the redhead attempted another blind swing at the would-be dictator, only for him to end up stabbed in the lung.

He coughed blood as his eyes watered. He was drowning in his blood.

"Sheep will always be sheep. Wolves will always be wolves. A hitokiri will always be a hitokiri. A youkiri will always be youkiri. It's an aberration of nature to be one thing and claim to be another."

Ignoring the throbbing pain from his right fist that somehow trumped the ectoplasmic bleeding he got from the Rei-Shuriken, Sagara did the Futae no Kiwami and aimed it right into the chest of Shishio.

Or Tenro. Or the Chojin. Whoever he was or claimed to be.

Tenro tossed aside Kuwabara's quivering body like trash then blocked Sanosuke's punch with his own punch.

Last time, Sano broke his fist on Shishio's concrete face, his own Futae no Kiwami deflecting back to the bones of his hand. This time, his Douhle Extreme was enough to match Tenro's strength.

Only to match Tenro's strength though.

As Tenro again attempted to punch and crack Sanosuke's skull open, something unexpected happened.

"...SANJO NO KIWAMI!"

Sano blew Tenro's fist away with the Triple Extreme, which opened up his chest to a direct heart punch.

The coup de grace.

"FUTAE NO KIWAMI! AHHH...!"

Sanosuke landed the Futae no Kiwami right into Shishio's heart. Or Tenro's heart.

A second passed. The youkiri cackled.

"Congratulations. You're a little bit stronger now than before."

As the fading, transparent visage of Sanosuke let out a soundless scream, his pupils constricted into tiny dots on a white expanse, Tenro finally attacked the street fighter with his flame-producing weapon, the Homura Dama splitting Sano's head apart in a spectacular spray of ectoplasm.

"S-Sano..." choked out Kuwabara, his own vision fading along with Sanosuke's soul.

All that time, even in his will-o'-the-wisp form, the soul of Yahiko kept sealing the power of Youkiri Tenro.

However, he couldn't contain the immense power of the Shishio reincarnation(?) any longer.

His soul finally succumbed, turning dark before shattering into a thousand pinpoints of light.

"Yahiko, no! No! NOOO!" cried Botan. "Dammit, come back! Oh no, what's going on? Why is everything going wrong?!"

Okushiri rumbled as the unleashed power of Tenro began to expand into a tall pillar of darkness and miasma. His jaki shot up into the sky, which gathered nimbus clouds all around them.

The localized quakes grew stronger and stronger. It felt like the world was about to split apart. This was the power of an Upper Class-S being somehow ending up in the Human World.

He felt like power made flesh. A walking disaster area. A humanoid cyclone.

Tenro smirked as he surveyed the horizon. He felt their presence. They were coming. He felt their desperate presence travel towards him.

One was on land, on foot, going faster than a cheetah. The other in the air, presumably ferried by one of Reikai's shinigami.

First, there was the one half-demon, half-human mazoku descendant of Raizen, Makai's God of War, who was able to harness his demonic power and lineage. Raizen's true son. The Last Son of the Mazoku.

Yusuke Urameshi.

Second, there was the man who "defeated" Makoto Shishio to a suicidal draw.  The Hitokiri Battousai who died and then became the Youkiri Battousai, the Guardian of the Demon Sword.

Kenshin Himura.

"Come forth. Show me the best and most powerful champions that this era has to offer. I'll defeat them all!" declared Tenro the Demon-Slayer to his upcoming opponents.

He could feel their strong presences, spirit energy, sword energy, and aura even from miles away.

However, before Tenro knew it, his chest tightened. His heart stopped beating.

His negative energy wasn't able to heal the damage in time. He stood there, frozen. His time had stopped care of Sanosuke's efforts.

It was a combination of the Futae no Kiwami damaging his heart with the shards of Yahiko's neutralizing reiki. It kept him from manifesting the full breadth of his power that managed to take down even Hajime Saito.

The Kenshingumi's curse, if you would.

"Before challenging the champions of this era, watch out behind you first. The past has a way of catching up with you, Shishio Makoto!"

Speaking of Saito, it was then and there that the headless corpse of Saito began moving on its own, with his one arm cradling his decapitated head.

As though he were the Headless Horseman. Or a Dullahan of Irish folklore.

That bastard. He was playing possum all this time!

Tenro willed himself to move, but couldn't. He felt his left arm go numb. The shards of Yahiko's sakabatou might've reached all the way to his coronary arteries.

There was no telling how much cardiovascular damage Sanosuke's punch had done to his heart.

Dammit.

He began to sweat hard while clutching his chest. "Damn you, Saito Hajime."

"I've never seen you so sweaty before," the head of Saito said before charging with his Gatotsu Ishiki from behind Tenro. "Then again, your sweat glands did get all burned up in a past life."

Instead of aiming at Tenro's head like with his encounter with Shishio, Saito instead aimed his sword right at Tenro's stopped heart while he was in the middle of a heart attack.

Appropriately enough, instead of being defeated by someone stronger than him, it was the desperate alliance of those weaker than Tenro that ultimately dragged him towards his ultimate defeat.

The ultimate irony.

"Go back to Hell, Shishio...!"

"No, I will make this world Hell and feel right at home!"

No. This was the same method Hajime used to "kill" Usui (temporarily). He took advantage of other people's hard work then opportunistically struck.

There was no way Youkiri Tenro would go down like a punk. Like Usui, of all people. An outsmarted weakling.

Tenro willed himself to move to block the strike.

His Homura Dama melted right through Saito's sword. Apparently, the Shinsengumi Captain was already using the last of his soul's strength to even make the strike, leading to a vulnerable blade with barely any spirit energy to protect it.

Nevertheless, the rest of the hot blade plunged right into one of Tenro's lungs, spraying his blood all over.

Saito smirked and closed his eyes.  Instead of a soul, Shishio really was reincarnated into an extra powerful human being. But a human being nonetheless. A mortal that could be killed.

Tenro awaited the Gatotsu Zeroshiki that never came.

However, Saito already spent most of his energy fighting a full-powered X-Level Tenro earlier, with him sacrificing his very life force to just injure him now.

"I win again, Saito Hajime," hissed Tenro, coughing blood. "I survived your attack while you're already as good as dead. I can easily heal through this and finish off the rest of the Reikai Senshi."

"That's my parting gift," said Saito, his own spirit fading. "You won't be able to reach X-Level in time now."

Before Tenro could wonder any further what Saito meant by his words, a gigaton punch shattered his face from out of the blue.

"Wha...?! GUAAAAH!!!"

Again, the wolf outfoxed him at every turn.

The youkiri realized that he'd just been punched by Raizen's "Son". The Mazoku Descendant. The hanyou (half-demon) that scared Enma Daio himself.

His brain sloshed inside his broken skull, leading to a concussion.

Any other impact from a weaker opponent wouldn't have even registered. But a punch from an S-Level mazoku? That was a punch that could tear apart entire continents.

He also spotted from behind the long-haired, tattooed, and angry Mazoku Yusuke a warp portal that Kazuma Kuwabara probably made to shorten his best friend's travel time.

This was bad.

His compromised heart and lungs hadn't recovered yet. Even though his energy levels were rising, his mortal damage kept him from manifesting his full power. He wasn't healing fast enough.

But this was also exciting.

Tenro missed out on slaying one of the greatest, oldest, and most powerful demons of the Demon World, Raizen. Fighting his distant half-breed offspring was the next best thing to it.

With Yusuke's white hair and boundless energy, he looked to be at the cusp of X-Level himself.

"Far more important than your power level, you've upended the natural order of things in both the Spirit World and the Demon World."

Yusuke picked up the pace, his nuclear-powered punches reaching speeds so impossibly, superhumanly fast that they came with their own eardrum-obliterating sonic booms.

However, the tough-as-nails Tenro absorbed every punch with his hard body, so his mountain-obliterating punches "merely" made the pier shake and quake like a scared child.

"When Raizen died, you took over and found a way to keep the warring factions of Mukuro and Yomi from leading Makai into another millennia-long war for power."

Tenro gurgled but laughed with what sounded like a death rattle. Knocking at death's store with the sea of punches he had to wade through while punching and slashing at the elusive demon spawn in turn.

"You even helped expose the corruption within Reikai and had Koenma Daio depose his father, Enma Daio. Then you saved the Human World again from a Spirit World terrorist group. Imagine that."

The constant battery of kicks, punches, knees, elbosws, and headbutts that barely gave Tenro any breathing room took their toll, making him cough and spew blood from many of his body's orifices, like his ears, eyes, nose, and mouth.

"The Chojin views you as a threat not because of your power level but instead of how you affect everyone and everything around you. You're a spanner in the works. Someone who can defy fate itself."

The threat of death made Tenro feel alive. His flight or fight instincts were on high alert.

After the thousands of demon hunts he'd participated in for the sake of turning his reincarnated yakuza boss self into someone worthy of housing Makoto Shishio's soul, this was the first time he actually, remotely felt threatened.

It was as he had imagined facing Yomi, Mukuro, or Raizen would've been like when they were still the Three Kings of Makai at the peak of their power.

"We're cut from the same cloth, Urameshi Yusuke." Tenro sneered, wiping the blood from his nose. "From one lion to another, I will fight fate itself to write my own destiny. Just like you have."

"What are you blathering about?" said Yusuke, who kept up his endless barrage of Sei Kou Ki punches and kicks in order to pummel Tenro to submission.

Although he was winning the exchange, Toushin Yusuke's fists were aching and bleeding.

They might've even been broken by the dense thickness of Tenro's own reiatsu of negative energy serving as a barrier from inside and outside him that kept his human body intact.

Regardless, the human-demon spawn had to finish Tenro off immediately.

Even though Urameshi was able to best Toguro by going all out, he could still feel his old enemy's presence. If he could heal, then he could possibly go beyond a million percent of his power. Perhaps a billion or a trillion even.

"Let's end this, Tenro. Or Shishio. Or Chojin. Whoever you are.  I'll finish you and your Shin Juppon Gatana off! SEI-KOU-GAN!"

A black-and-blue Tenro grinned as he felt a meteor-sized blast of purest Sei Kou Ki grow bigger and bigger from Yusuke's pointer finger. A miniature sun that glowed gold instead of bright blue.

This was the correct move. In order to finally penetrate through Tenro's reiatsu, Yusuke had to use his ultimate, ultimate move. A Rei-Gan powered by Sei-Kou-Ki shot by his white-haired demonic form.

However, the Chojin foresaw all this. This was why he gave (back) Tenro his original Mugen Jin.

When Yahiko still had his neutralizing reiki activated, the Mugen Jin could only be used the way it originally was made for, which was to use body fat and human oils to constantly ignite flames unto it.

However, a hundred years later, the sword itself became a cursed sword with supernatural powers like the Youtou Shinnoken. It gained an extra property.

Without Yahiko's powers sealing its supernatural abilities away, it could absorb, steal, and store energy.

Thus, Tenro's Mugen Jin absorbed every last bit of the Sei-Kou-Gan from Mazoku Yusuke, only for him to do the third secret sword on him powered by  Urameshi's own Sacred Light Spirit Energy against him.

"Secret Sword Three: KAGUZUCHI! (FIRE-BEARING SPIRIT GOD!)"

A fire tornado that mixed Tenro's demonic negative energy reiatsu with Yusuke's angelic sacred energy tossed the teenage warhead around in a maelstrom of discontent (since jaki was basically just energy let off from humanity's hatred and grudges).

If the mixture of volatile energy didn't kill the demonized Urameshi, then the centrifugal force of an F5 hurricane that would normally turn any normal human being into liquefied butter would.

"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu Ougi: AMAKAKERU RYU NO HIRAMEKI! (HEAVENS GLIDING DRAGON FLASH!)"

The void created by the ultimate attack of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu destroyed the red, black, and gold wind funnel that had threatened to rage against Okushiri like a seasonal typhoon.

As a battered Yusuke fell to the sky, an erstwhile Kenshin jumped and caught him in midair before he crash into one of the many cargo containers, if not outright fall into the hard concrete below.

They landed safely on ground zero of Yusuke's fight with Tenro, which was filled with craters and debris. From a distance, they could hear the blaring siren of an ambulance.

"I came here as fast as I could with Ayame-dono's help," said Kenshin.

"K-Kenshin. S-Sorry. I-I almost had him, but he still had a trick up his sleeve," rasped Yusuke, who had transformed back to his human form, with most of his long hair burned away by Tenro's Kaguzuchi.

"Don't worry, Yusuke. I will finish off what you've started. What everyone had started, that I will," said Himura.

Tenro harrumphed, clutching his side. His chest still ached, his heart beating so fast it felt like it could explode. His brain throbbed and pounded inside his skull.

However, his adrenalin and his thrill for the fight soared, making him ignore every bit of pain he felt. He was about to pass the point of no return, after all.

"The fates conspired against me and denied me my destiny to rule. I write my own destiny  now," said the youkiri to his fellow demon-slayer. Fellow manslayer, even.

"Time has already chosen. You were meant to lose," rebutted Kenshin. In the corner of his eye, he saw Botan stare at him with glistening eyes.

He heard the bad news from her. She reported that the souls of Sanosuke, Yahiko, and Saito were no more. Also, Kuwabara and Yusuke were in critical condition.

They all fell against the hands of the man... the monster... before him. The wannabe dictator that he should've defeated a hundred years ago.

"I also look forward to seeing you again after all this time, Battousai. Come and die in my hands once more. The only law I follow is Survival of the Fittest. Only the strongest survive!"

"Survival of the Fittest, eh?" asked Kenshin. "Do you know what is the first sign of civilization?"

"...What?" asked Tenro in turn. "What are you talking about, Battousai?"

"I believe that the first sign of civilization is a femur that's been broken and then healed," said Himura. "In nature, a broken leg meant death. Kill or killed, right? Humans became the dominant species against stronger animals because of our cooperation and compassion. Helping someone else through difficulty is where civilization starts. We are at our best when we serve others. Be civilized."

"No. Nonsense," said Tenro. "Humanity stands on the shoulders of giants. Without the strong, the weak shall die unless they too can become strong. Otherwise, humanity will decline. Don't let the weak punish the strong for being strong while celebrating their own mediocrity. Civilization or progress came about because of the strong. The best. The intellectuals. The Superman. The Overman. The Ubermensch. The Chojin."

"Chojin..." said Himura. While it could be translated as "Overfiend", the name "Chojin" could also be translated as "Superman" or "Overman". "Fate and time have already decided that you will not emerge victorious."

Tenro cackled. "Fate and time have chosen poorly, hence the pathetic state of Japan. The state of the world that's being led by sheep in wolves' clothing. Let me correct that century-old mistake. Even now, the weak are depending on your strength to protect them. Let the Ubermensch show the world what it's truly like to be strong! I will show them how to win!"

Kenshin fell into his battoujutsu stance. He had to attack now, while Tenro was injured and recuperating. As soon as he healed and achieved X-Level, it was all over for them.

"AMAKAKERU RYU NO HIRAMEKI!"

"KAGUZUCHI!"

Kenshin and Tenro... or rather, Kenshin and Shishio... finally clashed swords, the Youtou Shinnoken glowing bright-blue against the bright-red Mugen Jin. They picked up where they left off.

In one timeline, Kenshin found the strength and will to live to block Shishio's strike before he spontaneously combusted and died from overheating. Soon after, Shishio became the new King of Hell.

In another timeline, Shishio finished Battousai off then murdered Saito, Shinomori, Sagara, and the rest of the Oniwabanshu and Shinsengumi before forming a New Juppon Gatana and leading a coup d'etat against the Meiji Government. A second Bakumatsu. Afterwards, when he died, he came back to the Human World with his New Juppon Gatana.

In the timeline they were in, Kenshin and Shishio fought to a draw, with Kenshin dying along with Shishio in a blaze of glory. A hundred years after their battle, and Shishio ended up forming a New Juppon Gatana in order to lead a coup d'etat against the Spirit World.

In nearly all timelines, Shishio woke up from beyond the grave and ended up with an army of the undead, leading the charge towards world domination. Like a phoenix reborn from the ashes. Again and again.

Even after his death, he was inevitable.

Would Kenshin falter like a hundred years ago or would he rise up and correct his century-old mistake?

On one hand, Yusuke's leftover sacred energy powered up the Kaguzuchi overwhelmed the initial strike of the Hirameki. On the other hand, the resulting void still formed, which multiplied the power of Kenshin's second strike many times over.

Tenro learned from his mistake, understanding that there was a void formed after blocking the first strike of the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki. He sunk his stance low and pierced his Mugen Jin in the eye of the maelstrom so that his technique could be magnified in power instead of Kenshin's.

Kenshin hesitated, his soul remembering how Shishio snatched a draw from the jaws of defeat. He willed himself to slash upward regardless as an image of Kaoru filled his mind. Followed by all his friends and comrades.

He wished the same image had filled his mind a hundred years ago too. Then he wouldn't have died. Then he wouldn't have turned into the Guardian of the Demon Sword.

Then, in the Second World War, he wouldn't have...!

A shining star of a whirling, converging afterimages happened afterwards, followed by a huge explosion far into the distance. Right into the Sea of Japan.

Reality seemed to split from the lightspeed slash Kenshin did that clashed hard against Tenro's... no, Shishio's... red-hot cursed sword Mugen Jin. On Kenshin's left was one timeline and on his right was another.

A 7.8 earthquake then rocked the west coast of Hokkaido.  

On Monday, July 12, 1993, at 10:17 PM, a tsunami had formed off of the coast of Okushiri, leading to the loss of many lives.

***

To Be Continued...

Oh god, finally it's done. This took years to finish due to real-life things cropping up. Regardless, the arc that's been decades in the making is at last over.

Next up, the Spirit World deals with the aftermath of the failed Okushiri mission. Also, the first sign of civilization speech was taken from a quote from Anthropologist Margaret Mead.

Ciao, Abdiel

[fizzingwizard]

If you were to list your personal 10 favorite girls in anime what would it be?

Please note that this list is In no particular order - though I do think these girls constitute my top ten.

Izumi, FMA - She was just so… unexpected? Yet so perfectly suited? Both to the manga itself and as the boys’ teacher… I can never get over how she’s tough as nails, yet vulnerable and maternal, and so relentless… Arakawa was just excellent to her female characters. It’s no wonder I love every single one of them.

Utena, RG Utena - Some people have reacted tbh kinda rudely when I’ve said I like RG Utena?? lol? I know it’s a weird show but I don’t really get why liking it gets me “OMG whaaaa?” type reactions. Anyway, Utena is my beloved. She’s full of naivety and passion and confusion and sadness, but most of all love and strength, and it doesn’t matter how many wtf moments there are in that series, I still always die in the climactic battle during that last scene between her and Anthy.

Kaoru, Ruroken - Kaoru is cooler to me now as an adult than I gave her credit for as a kid. The scene early on where she runs down to the river and gives Kenshin her ribbon; when she defends him to Okubo and then is left in tears when Kenshin leaves for Kyoto; when her first (or kinda first? can’t remember) words to Kenshin onupontheir reunion are “Are you mad?”; when she calmly and quietly confesses to Kenshin on the sunlit road; when she commiserates with Tomoe; when she throws herself between Kenshin and Enishi… Kaoru’s role is that of the MC’s love interest, yes, but tbh I rarely, if ever, felt while reading the manga that she was ever just that. She may not be a superhero, but that’s another part of her charm. It’s her warmth and her kindness and steadfastness that puts the wind in Kenshin’s sails, so to speak. Sometimes, shonen love stories treat the MC’s emotions like they’re the only ones important to the narrative. Ruroken keeps us in the dark about Kenshin’s (although not really; once you know the outcome it’s easy to see the hints along the way) and is open about Kaoru’s, and I always felt that Kaoru’s emotions towards Kenshin in the manga were cherished. They weren’t silly or sexy or shallow. They just were, and Kaoru just was, if that makes sense.

Kagura, Gintama - What is there not to love about this girl. She’s made of awesome. Childish and wise, fierce and kind, tough and hurt, wild and full of love. The way she brings out Dadtoki in Gintoki is one of my favorite things, and the way she, a super strong alien, gets all clingy and just wants to chew sukonbu under the kotatsu, is pretty much the Gintama aesthetic. 

Tae, Gintama - She’s just??? so funny???? I literally consider her the Gintama queen. Like she’s literally the next Otose of Kabukicho, I swear. She’s hilarious and I love her authoritative airs and the way Kyuubei worships the ground she walks on. Tae is one of the best things about Gintama, tbh. Underrated character by far. To the point that I wouldn’t have minded it if GinTae had become a Thing, although I didn’t particularly ship them.

Nobume, Gintama - She’s one that knocked me right out of the air. I never saw her coming. Her and Isaburou’s story, that is. She was cute and intriguing at first, but just that… now, knowing her history, and the decisions she and Isaburou made in relation to each other, and the whole thing with the emails… I was so heartbroken. Nobume is one of my favs in a different way than the others on this list. It’s her story, more than her character itself, which I love, but since she is inextricable from that story, it pretty much is her. I feel like this list would be incomplete without her.

Sora, Digimon - The Sora I love is a little different than the original Sora, I think. She’s a mix of US dub!Sora and the Japanese original. Because I really and truly loved US dub!Sora. She’s not that dramatically different from the Japanese, in the end, but at least, the way I envision both versions is pretty different. Whether that’s right or wrong. Anyway, I loved Sora in Adventure. I loved that she was strong and independent, hesitant about love and attachment, in spite of being really good at it. And she’s glue for Taichi and Yamato, and she’s always looking out for everyone else. I love how her kindness mingles with a tendency towards self-doubt and self-pity. She’s very maternal, which makes it so wicked that her Digimon partner gets skyscraper huge and a six pack at the Ultimate level! Honestly, Sora is the best.

Sailor Mars, Sailor Moon - I’ve never read the Sailor Moon manga. Can only go by the anime here. I’ve heard that the friendsip betwene Mars & Venus is really strong in the manga, but in the anime it’s definitely between Mars & Moon, and that was what I loved about Sailor Moon. The way Rei and Usagi always bickered, but grew to really rely on each other - seriously, the first arc of Sailor Moon is classic, I can still rewatch it and enjoy it, unlike a lot of the other arcs. When the Scouts are being polished off one by one, and it’s down to just Rei and Usagi… the way Rei doesn’t even look behind her while she drags Usagi away from the battle and tells her how she really feels… Classic episode. Always gets me. I like a lot of her other scenes but for me Sailor Moon was best in the very first arc.

Rukia, Bleach - Rukia was the reason I got into Bleach. I loved her design, but more than anything, I loved that she was a female sidekick whose story seemed to actually matter (well… let’s not get into the shit show that is Bleach, but it seemed to). And I loved that she didn’t have a high-pitched squeaky voice in spite of being so tiny, and that she was tough and elegant while also hilarious without being cutesy. That was sooooo refreshing. I adore her and Ichigo, both as friends and as a couple. The separation and reunion scenes between her and Ichigo are all awesome, especially the one after the two year gap. That one - the look on Ichigo’s face when he saw her - really, really smacked me around. So good. Ahhh, I miss those days.

Yoruichi, Bleach - Kind of like Tae, she’s just so GOOD and awesome to have around, and hilarious, and essentially Queen. I love her history with Urahara and Suifeng. I still don’t understand what tf went down in her unfortunate final scenes in the manga :/ but whatever, she is awesome in spite of all that. Also she teased Byakuya. So that always earns extra points.

Special mention: All the other Digimon ladies (I sort of chose Sora to stand for all), Winry Rockbell, and Takani Megumi. It was hard to leave them out.

[riverswillow]

DO PEOPLE UNDERSTAND? THAT WE JUST LIKE. GET MARRIED KENSHIN AND KAORU NOW? -LIKE DO YOU UNDRSTAND- That this is a fucking series that is billed as a romance, this is known as being on of the great romances in anime, and yet had like two or three romantic things happen? Naruto has shit tons more romantic shit and no one counts it as a romance. People count RK but all we got was the goodbye hug, the “I want to stay with you forever” sunset watching (which come on Watsuki, should have been a kiss, except you suck at drawing kisses. That’s one of only like,2, changes I’m okay Seishouhen did. .... Like two.) The “I’m home” hand grab. Obviously Kenshin’s total and complete meltdown at Kaoru dying (except that was actually about him losing his identity more than it was about her actual ’death’)/ Him falling into her arms at the end cus of the Enishi fight cus you know, bleeding profusely and shit. I mean that’s a bit but there’s not even a fucking kiss in there. AND NOW WE GET CASUAL CHEEK TOUCHING AND MARRIED LIIIFFEEE. And I was too busy worrying the series would suck cus Kenshin has shi emotional shit figureed out so it’d be uninteresting cus either that wouldn’t be compelling or he’d go back on his emotional progress which also would suck that I forgot to worry about if Kaoru and Kenji would be left at home. BUT NOPEEEEEE. NOPE KAORU IS THE DRIVE FOR THEM TO GO OUT THERE. (Which is hilarious as if the arc was drawn 20 years ago like it was supposed to be she would have been actually dead at that point but, alas.) And this means we can revolve the emotional progress around her and her dad and also what that’ll mean to Kenshin. Which means the focus will be their relationship. I’m happy I didn’t realize I should be worried about him leaving them behind. WHICH ALSO SUCK IT SEISHOUHEN, YET ANOTHER PIECE OF PROOF YOU’RE AN OUT OF CHARACTER PIECE OF SHIT. Help I need friends who care I’ve been out of the fandom for almost 10 years or something people come to me people who care please come to me I’ve cared for so long this is why I’m a Japanese history major for fucks sake. AND THE ART WAS SO GOOOOOOOOOOD. AND THIS’LL MEAN EVENTUALLY WE’LL GET JINCHUU ANIMATED AND IT (probably). And I’m still holding out hope for a live action Jinchuu arc too cus omg those movies. I just wanna tell 13 year old me it’ll all be okay. All I wanted from life at that point, the two things I wanted the most, was true love and Jinchuu animated (yes I did realize my priorities were stupid). And like yeah still need a healthy relationship, and okay no Jinchuu yet, BUT BETTER THAN JINCHUU ANIMATED, NEW HOKKAIDO ARC WITH SO MUCH K/K AND AMAZING LIVE ACTION MOVIES AND AND AND

[recentanimenews]

Mackenyu Joins Live-Action Rurouni Kenshin Films as The Series' Strongest Enemy, Enishi

    The official website for the forthcoming two-part "Final Chapter" of the live-action film series inspired by Nobuhiro Watsuki's action jidaigeki manga series Rurouni Kenshin announced today that 23-year-old Mackenyu Arata/Mackenyu is cast as Enishi Yukishiro, the younger brother of Kenshin Himura's wife Tomoe Yukishiro.

  The character introduced as "a mysterious arms dealer who controls the underworld of the Chinese continent, and a man who sent weapons and warships to have manipulated Makoto Shishio. He has a strong grudge against Kenshin, and sets up the 'Jinchu' to destroy not only Kenshin but everything related to Kenshin, and the new era he has created!"

  Mackenyu is a son of the internationally acclaimed Japanese action star Shinichi Chiba / Sonny Chiba. After receiving the 40th Japan Academy Film Prize's Newcomer of the Year award for his portrayal as Arata Wataya in the Chihayafuru live-action films in 2017, he joined the 2018 film Pacific Rim: Uprising as one of the Jaeger pilots, Cadet Ryoichi.

  He says, "There is a great action from the beginning. And I want you to watch the encounter and fight scenes between Kenshin and Enishi, which we filmed with great effort. As a fan, I've watched all three of the previous films, and I think this one becomes very exciting, so please look forward to it, including Enishi."

  The "Final Chapter" tells two stories based on the manga's final "Jinchu" arc and the 1999 OVA "Tsuioku-hen/Trust & Betrayal." They focus on the past story of Kenshin as Hitokiri Battousai during the final years of the Bakumatsu era, and Kenshin's final confrontation against the strongest enemy, Enishi. The first part "The Final" will hit Japanese theaters on July 3, 2020, then the second and final part "The Beginning" will follow on August 7.

    【シリーズ史上最恐の敵、遂に解禁！】 中国裏社会を牛耳る武器商人で、あの志々雄真実に軍艦などを送り操っていた、剣心の”十字傷”の謎を知る男・縁（えにし）役は…#新田真剣佑 さん！ 剣心へ強い”恨み”を持ち、 剣心に関わるすべてを破壊するため＜人誅＞を仕掛けます―!!#るろうに剣心最終章 pic.twitter.com/LMiwkFvA62

— 映画『るろうに剣心』公式アカウント (@ruroken_movie) February 12, 2020

      Teaser poster visual featuring Kenshin (Takeu Sato):

    Sourece: "Rurouni Kenshin" live-action film official website / Twitter

  ©Nobuhiro Watsuki/SHUEISHA

©2020 "Rurouni Kenshin Final Chapter The Final/The Beginnng" Production Committee 

  By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[gabriel-gabdiel]

【Draft】Youtou Shinnoken Chapter 57: Living Sin (Part 9)

Kenshin’s long-awaited match against Enishi Yukushiro is a hundred years in the making.

The original source of this idea comes from Chad Yang. I continued his story idea found here.

The rest of the chapters of my Yuyu Hakusho and Rurouni Kenshin crossover fan fiction are available here and here. Enjoy.

Up above the Okushiri Military Base....

The flying fortress made of solidified reiatsu (spiritual pressure or pressurized spirit energy) care of the Quest-Class powers of Detective Daiji Matsudaira (the reincarnation of Aoshi Shinomori) landed on the helipad of the base, startling the soldiers there.

Yahiko had earlier requested Botan to fly even higher up than the flying castle with purple beams of light shooting out of it in order to get the drop on it. Literally.

From 50 kilometers above the earth, Yahiko descended straight towards the moving castle, its concentrated jaki beams dissipating against the ghostly human missile.

He first skydived from the ferry-girl's oar (much to her surprise and chagrin) the stratosphere and did his imitation of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu's "RYU TSUI SEN! (DRAGON HAMMER FLASH!)" for starters, which cracked the topmost outer shell of the dense fortress.

A trickle of reiatsu leaked off of the spiritual construct, like scattering fireflies in the night.

He then did one of his own Revisal Techniques of the Kamiya Kasshin School, named, "DOU GAMI! (GOD ON EARTH!)", which rocked the castle at its core and spread cracks all over its very foundations.

Daiji's solidified reiatsu then turned into a shower of outright sparks, the solidified energy sublimating and ionizing into spirit energy.

Finally, the Tokyo Samurai Spirit did a "TEN GAMI! (GOD IN HEAVEN!)" that started the downward descent of the moving building, the cracks turning into outright crags and debris as the teenaged ghost flew high above even the stratosphere, reaching instead all the way to the mesosphere.

"INGA GAMI! (KARMIC GOD!)"

He this time reached a height that could've resulted in a 70 kilometer drop back to earth.

The young samurai kid traversed that whole distance from heaven to earth with a strike that shook the sky itself, or at least sent cloudy shockwaves as they broke through the speed barrier.  

Yahiko's first of two ultimate attacks had enough jaki-neutralizing power to drive that huge structure right into the middle of the military base like a comet.

The sublimated gaseous mix of reiki (spirit energy) and jaki (negative energy) then ionized into their base forms, the kenki (swordsman energy) binding them fading away into the ether.

All of which were neutralized by Yahiko's own strange spirit energy. His own reiatsu or mixture of reiki and kenki.

His strike from his self-made sakabatou (reverse-edged sword) was powerful enough to warp time and space itself. Like a blunt version of the Jigen Tou.

Only a single helipad-sized spire of the huge fortress was left by the time it crash landed into the base.

***

Youtou Shinnoken: Demon Sword

A Rurouni Kenshin/Yuyu Hakusho Crossover Fan Fiction Story by Chester Castañeda

Original Concept by Chad Yang

The Kenshingumi will now take care of their loose ends before fighting the final boss of this arc. This battle is about to explode! FIGHT!

Disclaimer: Yuyu Hakusho is the rightful property of Yoshihiro Togashi, Shueisha, Fuji TV, and Studio Pierrot. Rurouni Kenshin is the rightful property of Nobuhiro Watsuki, Shueisha, Shonen Jump, Viz, Sony Studios, Fuji TV, Studio Gallop, Studio Deen, and ADV. This disclaimer also covers all the other copyrighted materials that are far too many to mention here. Don't sue me please, I'm very poor.

***

Chapter 57: Living Sin (Part 9)

***

Back at Kitaoimisaki Park...

Usui Uonuma shook his head. The newbie member of the New Ten Swords, Kuronue, was outwitted by the legendary demon fox Youko Kurama as well.

If you wanted something done right, do it yourself.

Amidst the burned shadows and silhouettes that were once Kuronue stood Usui, his previously broken Tinbe practically whole now.

Capable of withstanding the heat and impact of multiple Jaou-En-Satsu Kokuryuha (Dragons of Darkness Flames) from Jaganshi (Evil Eye User) Hiei, the black serpentine flames unable to affect the turtle shell one way or another.

But he knew that Jaganshi Hiei had one more ace up his sleeve. The Chojin's spies had briefed him about the fire demon and his ability to absorb the power of the fiery dragon beings unto himself.

As expected, Hiei boosted his speed and power tremendously by absorbing the flame dragons of the Kokuryuha into his body, his youki (demon energy) rising to astonishing levels. To S-Level and beyond.

'His name is Hiei, huh?' thought the blind man, waxing nostalgic. That was also the name of the mountain where their old stronghold was.

What a curious demon. He had the speed of Souiro "Heaven Sword" Seta and the strength (or even firepower) of Makoto Shishio.

Under the old Reikai rules, Hiei's presence there would be considered outright illegal. A demon that powerful shouldn't be in the Ningenkai (Human World).

A demon that powerful was on par with one of the Chojin's Ten Swords.

If Usui could conquer such a demon, then he was yet another step closer to standing as equals with the Youkiri (Demon-Slayer) Tenro.

To sit at the right hand of an unborn god. To be able to challenge an unborn god and become one himself.

Nah, perhaps the last one was still a bridge too far for him. But this, defeating the fire demon, wasn't.

The dragons roared and gnawed against the Tinbe but like a mountain standing above the ocean and clouds, it wouldn't yield.

His Tinbe was now complete, but there was a gap the side of a sword slash on its upper top left corner.

That was where Hiei focused his attack, sticking the tip of his Jaou-En-Satsu Ken (Sword of Darkness Flame) right into it, forcing its way in.

Hiei learned from Kurama's little trick earlier, with the Demon World Moss growing roots at small cracks and gaps on the shield before it could heal or strengthen it, thus compromising its integrity.

This time around, the jaganshi found a weak point before the shield was able to fully heal or reconstitute itself.

Hiei's aura of youki and black flames flared to life, increasing the pressure on that one crack, like a pressure cooker about to burst.

More cracks appeared on the shield as the pressure built up further and further. It reached the boiling point and then went beyond it. Through this one weakness, Hiei was able to bust through.

It then cracked apart into two then into a million pieces, and from there Hiei released all of the Dragons of Darkness Flame unto Usui's form.

However, that was actually a ruse.

The blind swordsman and spearman had actually activated a second illusion from Jine Udo's Jagan as Hiei attacked with the power of the Kokuryuha inside of him, knowing full well that his Tinbe wasn't complete yet.

However, by making him dream that he had broken the false Tinbe, this bought Usui enough time to completely manifest his real Tinbe with the small crack or gap finally filled in.

It was this shield that stopped the Dragons of Darkness Flames cold.

He baited Hiei into wasting his one shot at him and it worked. Hook, line, and sinker.

Every last one of the flame dragons crashed uselessly against the reinforced complete Tinbe, like the waves of the ocean crashing against the sea wall or dam. The tides turning but the wall remained unperturbed.

Hiei's Jagan was now his...!

However, as he began his counter Rochin stab that he intended to pin both Hiei and Kurama into the wall like twin butterflies, something felt amiss.

His body then literally fell apart into a fine rest mist and tiny pieces of meat cubes.

He was able to seal the crack on his Tinbe, but the gap of time he needed to do his counterstrike was all Hiei needed to strike back.

In that fraction of a fraction of a second, the super-powered fire demon slashed at him at the rate of a hundred times per second. Or more.

Before he could block one strike with his shield. Or counter with a thrown spear to his heart or face.  Or even activate Jine's Jagan at the last second and create another illusion to fool Hiei with.

Moving faster than his sensitive hearing could detect. Or predict.

Moving faster than his mind could fathom.

Moving faster than sound itself.

***

About a hundred years ago, around the 1870s, inside Shishio's hidden fortress within Mount Hiei...

One day, from out of the blue, Usui Uonuma asked Makoto Shishio a simple question.

"Between and the Ten Ken (Heaven Sword) and myself, who is more powerful?" he had asked out of whimsy. "Who would win in a fight?"

Shishio chuckled, swirling the wine inside his wineglass as he considered Uonuma's unusual query. He decided to humor his former hitokiri (manslayer) rival.

"You can keep up with Sou-kun probably until he uses the Shun Ten Satsu (Instant Heaven Kill), which is him using both battoujutsu (sword-drawing techniques) and the Shukuchi (Reduced Earth) at the same time. If you're able to disable him before that, then you will win."

"Shun Ten Satsu, huh?" repeated Usui. "Why do you think that?"

Makoto drunk his drink in one shot and then gave the glass back to his courtesan and lover, Yumi Komagata.

"It's simple. You can counter anything you can hear, smell, sense, and react to, right? Sou-kun's Shun Ten Satsu is faster than sound. Your Shingan won't even hear him coming."

***

Back in 1993, at Mount Kannon...

Kenshin Himura sighed as he trudged on foot back to Mt. Kannon within the Hidaka Mountain Range of Hokkaido.

He had Kazuma Kuwabara place him near the mountain care of the trusty Jigen Tou (Dimension Sword).

Like in the case of the battle at Mount Kamui, Mount Kannon was outside of Okushiri.

He had absorbed enough spirit energy from all the Reikai Tantei (Spirit Detectives) earlier to manifest himself and his spiritual body on his own, without being wielded by any of the Reikai Senshi (Spirit World Warriors).

Although he was kind of curious what sort of powers would manifest if his sword were held by the likes of Yahiko Myojin, Natsuki Shinkai, Likka Ikumi, or Daiji Matsudaira.

Perhaps another time, they'd find out.

Most of the energy he soaked up came from Yusuke Urameshi, in fact. It should last him until the rest of the battle.

The fact that Yusuke's reiki was that immense was both reassuring and worrying. Reassuring in that they had the big guns against the Shin Ju (New Ten). Worrying in that he wasn't sure if it was Rando's Kugai (World of Suffering) curse or Urameshi's own developing powers that led to him having this energy surplus.

Without all those multiple seals in his power, he might still suffer from power incontinence. He might still be unable to control his immeasurable strength.

Regardless, he had other concerns to deal with. He was busy taking care of this Chinese warrior earlier, who wounded him in battle that made it difficult for him to save Hajime Saito from Feng Xinhai's schemes.

A Chinese warrior that ended up related to him and his dark past after all.

The stranger with white hair and crazed eyes that Kenshin fought was no stranger to him after all.

Kenshin remembered who the man was.

He was Enishi Yukishiro, all grown up. The younger brother of Kenshin's ex-wife, Tomoe Himura.

"...Tell me, Battousai. Is my sister smiling down on you from heaven?" so said Tomoe's brother, Enishi.

He'd somehow ended up in the Heisei Era and got himself mixed up in Kenshin's current affairs. Himura could've almost sworn that Enishi had died back in the Bakumatsu.

The boy was one of many unsettled debts Kenshin left when he died fighting against Makoto Shishio back at Mount Hiei.

Enishi even gave him the same wound that ultimately killed Tomoe.

Meanwhile, as Himura neared where he previously defeated the martial artist, the cross-shaped scar on his cheek had a twinge of pain to it. No, actually the cuts felt as painful and fresh to him as the first time they were made.

The scar somehow ached even more than the much deeper laceration on his chest that still hadn't healed.

Like a paper cut that microscopically tore through skin and thousands of nerve endings like a jagged handsaw.

As though Enishi's very presence had reactivated Tomoe's curse on him.

***

At the helipad of the Okushiri Military Base...

"Get the HELL out of THERE! Sadojima Houji!" beckoned Yahiko as he sheathed his sakabatou while Botan herself swooped down from above then behind him.

He further chided, "That strike wasn't enough to take you down, right? No, you have the Chojin's powers at your side, you dirty rat. Of course it wasn't enough...!"

"You're being too loud, Yahiko! You're bothering the military people!" was what Botan resisted from saying, inwardly reminding the Kaoru inside her, 'He's supposed to be loud, you silly goose! The Chojin and his forces are invading Okushiri, remember? If not Hokkaido altogether!'

The aforementioned military base was actually on high alert, with the supernatural beings attacking different parts of the island at once.

Many of their deployed teams not returning to the base hours after deployment.

"Stand aside, kid!" one of the soldiers said, who in Yahiko's eyes should've looked more shocked at seeing the seeming U.F.O. land in the middle of their base. "Civilians aren't allowed in here. This is official military business!"

Another private attempted to grab hold of Myojin, only for him to slip his grasp. The teenaged version of Yahiko was a ghost, after all.

The Jieitai or JSDF (Japanese Self-Defense Forces) then surrounded what was left of Daiji's solidified reiatsu structure, their guns cocked and ready to go.

What remained of Matsudaira's seal broke apart like a hatching egg.

And from there came forth the Onmyouji (Occult Priest) in all his glory, wearing a mix of a business suit with an occultist robe serving as his overcoat. The true right-hand man of the Overfiend.

With purple glowing eyes and a miasmic aura billowing all over his body like thick black and crimson smoke from a smoldering flame, Houji spoke in askance.

"Why do you want to fight me, Myojin Yahiko? Do you bear a grudge against me? Do you hate me from the bottom of your heart?"

Yahiko was taken aback by the question. "W-What...?"

"Right now, you have no such hate in your heart," said Houji the Onmyouji. "You're fighting out of a sense of duty to your friends. To your idol, Himura Battousai. Otherwise, you'd have no such quarrel against me."

Or perhaps he was merely acting as the representative speaker to one other person.

Perhaps Myojin was actually talking to the Chojin himself.

Just who the hell was the Chojin anyway?

Was he Makoto Shishio? Or someone else entirely?

His ghoulish shikigami (familiars) with their tattered robes and their own scythes flew at the soldiers, who fired at them to no avail.

"STOP!" screamed both Yahiko and Botan after the soldiers prior to the massacre that was about to take place.

None of the military men stood a chance against these supernatural beings.

***

Back in Hokkaido, far away from Okushiri, at the foot of Mt. Kannon...

Kenshin witnessed the man's strength firsthand.

The Chinese warrior was so powerful he drove Himura Battousai himself from the forests of Okushiri all the way to a whole separate mountain range in Hokkaido, far away from the island.  

Only Kenshin or maybe Yusuke could take him out one-on-one. He should not be allowed to join forces with the rest of the Shin Ju.

He was that powerful. By pure willpower and hatred, he grew to become strong enough to even give the version of Battousai with his own magical Demon Sword pause.

The Chojin (Overfiend) had indeed prepared for every last contingency. He was every bit as cunning as Youko Kurama himself.

Earlier, Kenshin's chest actually got hit by Enishi Yukishiro's ultimate attack, the Kofuku Zetsu Tou Sei or Kofuku Zettousei (Crouching Tiger Severing Sword Rush), as a counter to the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki (Heavens Gliding Dragon Flash).

Distracted by the fact that Tomoe's brother managed to find him a century later to enact his rightful revenge.

Defeated by a technique Enishi must've trained over and over again to counter all sorts of battoujutsu strikes, including the ultimate one devised for the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu.

Luckily, instead of doing the follow-up strike that would've also missed, Kenshin had the presence of mind to do a more powerful version of the Dou Ryu Sen on the ground that was enhanced by the vortex created by the succession technique.

This creative last-minute counter was what initially buried Enishi right into the heart of Mt. Kannon.

Regardless, Kenshin had arrived back at his earlier starting point.

And so there he was. Buried deep underneath Mt. Kannon itself like Son Goku the Monkey King from the literary masterpiece, "Journey to the West".

The rumbling inside the grumbling mountain roared deeper and harder. Like it was about to explode and turn into a volcano.

"...BATTOUSAI!" screamed Tomoe Yukishiro's little brother Enishi from underneath Kannon Mountain, spewing hot fire along with the brimstone and magma he was surrounded in.

His spectacles had long ago been lost and presumably burned to smoke and ash by molten rock.

Since Tomoe was Kenshin's first wife, that made Enishi his brother-in-law. A brother-in-law with a century-old grudge regarding Kenshin's murder of Tomoe Himura (nee Yukishiro).

***

Yahiko manifested his neutralizing reiki and kenki all over the military base with a sparkling blue and yellow light that mixed and turned green, which then warded off the raggedy evil spirits that served as the Onmyouji's shikigami.

It was his own form of spirit pressure. His spirit energy interacted with his swordsman presence in a way that sealed or canceled out the spiritual power of his opponents.

Botan, in turn, flickered back and forth between her original shinigami (death goddess) form and Kaoru Kamiya's form as she saved the soldiers from being reaped by Houji's soul reapers by using her floating boat oar like a bokken (wooden sword) or naginata (glaive).

The two Kamiya Kasshin Ryu practitioners made short work of the familiars before they could take one life of the JSDF military corps.

"Please evacuate from here. You're no match against him," explained Botan to one of the soldiers before swatting multiple weakened shikigami away with her boat paddle weapon.

Myojin's last shikigami-dissipating swing swiped mere inches away at Houji's face, creating a thin cut over the bridge of his nose.

"Swinging a sword mindlessly at someone out of hatred is just violence. Kenshin taught me that," said Yahiko. "My duty as the Son of Tokyo Samurai is to defeat you. That is all. I'll even stake my life on it."

Sadojima smirked. "So be it. Samurai-san."

From behind Houji teleported the ever-reliable Gatekeeper Itsuki.

Yahiko turned towards the blue-haired shinigami and told her, "Quick, call Boke (Moron) and tell him to come here right now."

"Boke...?" trailed off Botan.

"KUWABARA! Kuwabara Kazuma! We need him here now! If he needs healing, heal him up as well! He and his space sword are the only ones who can take on that green-haired yoga guy and his goddamn portals!"

"All right! I'll call him! Jeez," said Botan, who opened her Spirit Compact Communicator.

"Language, Yahiko!" reprimanded the Kaoru inside her in turn.

Afterwards, Itsuki summoned multiple warp gates, this time rectangular and doorway-shaped instead of circular and hole-shaped.

Inside each dimensional door was either the corpse, unconscious body, or even ashes of the many different Shin Juppon Gatana.

It was through these gates that the Occult Priest blasted his purple beams of negative energy. Before, they served as destructive pillars of neon plasma.

Now, they were probably used to give the killed or otherwise heavily injured Shin Ju another lease on life.

"Oh no," said Botan. "Not again. He's not going to revive all the New Ten again, is he? Jeez, we just cleaned their mess up! And cleaned house with them! Learn how to stay down and give up!"

The shining eyes of Houji the Onmyouji then dimmed and faded away, replaced with his actual eyes.

"Ah, you returned. The snotty little brat. How does it feel to go back to zero after all the effort you've spent killing the Shin Ju? Like Sisyphus and his rock, right?"

The boisterous nature of the Chojin's conduit returned. Houji was seemingly awakened from his brief slumber earlier, when actually sounded "cool" for a hot minute.

"Hey," said Yahiko. "What happened to you earlier? You weren't the one talking, were you?"

Houji raised an eyebrow at that. "What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb. It was the Chojin who was talking back then, right?" asked Myojin. "Tell it to me straight: The Chojin is Shishio Makoto, isn't he? Of course, he is! Who else would start a war the Spirit World with the so-called New Ten Swords? No one but him!"

The necromancer chuckled. "That's a... secret."

With a grunt, the samurai teen jumped and attacked the Chojin's right-hand man with a downward slash from the Jodan-no-Kamae (Fire Stance), which he blocked with his scythe.

They crossed blades, their different energies clashing against each other as arcs of lightning ripped through everywhere, like light-filled cracks that broke through reality itself.

Houji's lack of training with the weapon irrelevant due to his seemingly oceanic flow of negative energy giving his simple block the weight of the world. Or at least the huge water pressure of the ocean depths.

However, regardless, the beams of purple plasma emanating from the dark priest flickered and wavered as it interacted with the reiatsu of Yahiko.

"That's it! You can do it, Yahiko!" said the Kaoru within Botan. "Show them why I consider you the number one pupil of the Kamiya Kasshin School!"

"Can you really do it, boy?" asked Houji, smirking. "Can you seal away the overflowing, overwhelming power of the Chojin himself? The Living Sin?"

The doors leading to the Shin Ju were then shut. Or rather, slashed shut.

Gatekeeper Itsuki chuckled, his slashed eye that doubled as a dimensional portal opening. "He's here."

Sure enough, in one of the doors, the jaki beam was slashed in twain, the negative energy cut down by the spiritual might of the Jigen Tou.

It was from this door that Kazuma Kuwabara entered, the transparent ghost of a recovering Sanosuke Sagara beside hiim.

"You called, Jo-chan (Missy)?" said Sano.

"YOSHA! (HELL YEAH!) Let's get this party started, samurai boy!" shouted the rambunctious teenager with bleached regent hair.

***

Yukishiro was able to crawl out of the hot magma pits of hell, or at least the otherwise dormant mountain in an explosion of fire, smoke, molten rock, and lava flow that scarred and burned the surrounding forest.

The singes and burns on Enishi's (literally) piping hot body, however, started healing right before Kenshin's eyes.

Not quite at the level of instantaneous regeneration as the Elder Toguro, but quick enough to survive a trip down a volcano and live to tell the tale.

Besides which, he wasn't supposed to only be burned from the fires of a river of magma anyway. It must've took thousands of degrees of heat to even leave him slightly scalded at all.

His humongous amount of spirit energy kept him from suffering life-threatening injury. The same way Hiei or Yusuke Urameshi himself would've survived such a predicament.

The red-hot blade of the Chinese-styled warrior that didn't quite reach its melting point yet cooled down from the sheer blast of miasmic jaki from him.

He was one of the strongest of the Ten Swords indeed.

If allowed to run rampant like the rest of the Ten Swords, Yukishiro could very well murder every one of them. The Reikai Tantei, the Kenshingumi, and the Oniwabanshu.

All of them could die. The high-level martial artist could do what at least 8 of the 10 Shin Ju couldn't. He was a one-man army. He was like their Hajime Saito. A true wild card of sorts.

He foresaw it all through the Youtou Shinnoken.

The last thing Yahiko and the Kenshingumi needed right now while battling the Onmyouji and the Chojin's wealth of negative energy was a spanner in the works like Enishi.

***

The powers of the reincarnations or ghosts from the Meiji Era—most of Kenshin's comrades—were a result of how their reiki interacted with their kenki, creating what was known as reiatsu.

With Daiji Matsudaira (Aoshi Shinomori's reincarnation), it was the Quest-Class manifestation of objects and materials from his spirit energy.

With Natsuki Shinkai (Yutaro Tsukayama's reincarnation), it was the ability to manipulate kinetic momentum or acceleration, usually in the form of reflection or deflection.

With Likka Ikumi (Misao Makimachi's reincarnation), it was her skill to manifest her thoughts into reality, creating visual or even holographic illusions seen by all.

With Sanosuke Sagara's soul, it was his pure fighting spirit that allowed his ghost to approach Regent-Class regeneration abilities, stamina, and pure brute force that allowed him to affect the physical plain like a rampaging poltergeist.

With Kaoru Kamiya's soul, it was a mix between Botan's soul reaper powers and Kaoru's past swordsmanship skills that allowed them to heal, boost, replenish, bind, manipulate, or otherwise enhance the spirit energy within them or of those around them.

With Kenshin Himura's soul, he became one with the Demon Sword, a demon-slaying blade that could arguably injure or kill a god. His own reiki, kenki, and reiatsu interacted with anyone who wielded his blade in ways that raised their very power levels.

Finally, with Yahiko Myojin's soul, it was spirit energy that interacted with other spirit energy (whether it was human or demonic) in a way that suppressed or neutralized them into nothingness.

Yahiko's unique powers worked like how an acid and a base reacted quantitatively with each other when mixed until the acidity of the acid was gone. Or how Hiei's Jaou-En-Satsu Kokuryuha was cancelled out into nothing by Shinobu Sensui's polar opposite power of Sei Kou Ki (Saint Light Ki).

Their reiatsu was different from the reiki and youki used by Yusuke Urameshi and their comrades due to the presence of kenki within the Meiji Era reincarnations and the use of classic shinigami warrior techniques among the revived spirits.

Reiatsu was more comparable to something like Sensui's Saint Light Ki or Yusuke mixing his reiki and youki together to form something approaching Sei Kou Ki than either pure reiki or youki. Even jaki.

It was through these souls, these seeds of hope, that Koenma Daio wished to defeat the Chojin and his unnatural powers that defied death and the natural order of the Spirit World.

***

Originally, Kenshin was barely able to defeat Enishi and get back in time and save Sanosuke Sagara, Kazuma Kuwabara, and Hajime Saito from the nefarious machinations of Karasu, Feng Xinhai, Usui Uonuma, and Gatekeeper Itsuki at Mt. Kamui.

But now that his detour was over, he had to get back to his original business. He had to. Or else he would undo everything they'd done so far to suppress the Shin Juppon Gatana (New Ten Swords) from conquering the island of Okushiri as well as Hokkaido.

Meanwhile, the cross-shaped scar on Kenshin's cheek had a twinge of pain to it. No, actually the cuts felt as painful and fresh to him as the first time they were made.

"Sessha (This one) was wondering earlier why even though I thought I'd never met you, you seemed to know everything about me de gozaru (that you did)."

"'Sessha'? 'De gozaru'?" Enishi repeated with a snarl and a dismissive snort. "Are you kidding me, Battousai? Why is the most fearsome hitokiri of the Bakumatsu acting like a gentle fool? Enough of your lies!"

"This one never thought to see you again after a hundred years. I was sure you were already dead," confessed Kenshin.

"I did die. But I live again. Reincarnated in a new era," said Enishi. "I willed this weak new body that I was reborn into to become as strong as I already was before you died in the hands of Shishio Makoto."

'So he survived the Bakumatsu after all,' thought Kenshin, who believed that Enishi had died in the ensuing revolution.

"Now I will enact the revenge that I was robbed of a hundred years ago! If you've been dispensing Tenchu (Heavenly Retribution) in your time as a hitokiri, then this is Jinchu (Earthly Retribution) for all your sins! Prepare yourself, Battousai! ZETSUGI...!"  

From there, he didn't even give Himura the chance to breathe or even any breathing room as he attacked, attacked, an attacked some more.

***

Kurama's board full of chess pieces were in their proper places, which kept the Chojin in check. They were practically on the verge of a checkmate, even.

The pawns were positioned to divide and conquer the Shin Juppon Gatana, with each Reikai Senshi paired up to their appropriate members.

Their source of power, Houji, had his borrowed negative energy suppressed by Yahiko. Their means of transportation, Itsuki, was sealed off by the Reikai's own Kuwabara and his Dimensional Sword.

Botan was there to heal and replenish reiki as well as assist Myojin tactics-wise care of Kaoru. Sanosuke himself was gradually recovering his spirit energy and fighting spirit for good measure as "Jo-chan" or her shinigami she fused with healed his flickering body.

Kuwabara regained his second wind even, which allowed him to not only create portals but to close or destroy them with his twin Dimension Swords.

This kept the annoying Gatekeeper from transporting jaki to the injured/dead Shin Ju or even getting the recovered members to help Houji out—even with his use of Sensui's seven personalities and the new powers it brought him.

As for the shikigami that served as the Onmyouji's infantry, Sanosuke punched them out with the "FUTAE NO KIWAMI! (DUAL EXTREME!)" while riding shotgun on Botan's oar.  

So why did Myojin feel like something was amiss? Like he had a bad feeling about everything? Like something terrible was about to happen.

A new enemy descended from an unseen sky portal that Kuwabara noticed, slashed apart, and closed too late.

"!?" was Yahiko's reaction to the new arrival. He was distracted even as he was on the verge of disarming the untrained Houji of his scythe. "Who is that? Is it another replacement Shin Ju?"

Kuwabara said, "We've already confirmed that Toguro Ani and Kuronue replaced Suzaku and Udo Jine! It's not one of the New Ten! Must be one of the Dai Shin Kan instead!"

Sanosuke's jaw dropped. "No way...!" which made Botan and Kaoru ask in unison, "Who is that supposed to be, Sano?"

Kazuma leapt into action, intending to slash a portal and kick the newcomer into it, only for his Jigen Tou's energy to start unraveling before his eyes.

The woman in courtesan clothes smiled as she floated down using her umbrella as a parachute (like goddamn Mary Poppins, Botan realized), crimson energy emanating from her pale white skin.

"Ah, it's all coming together now," Houji cackled. "Welcome back, Komagata Yumi. Get rid of these insects for me, if you would please."  

And so the vampire version of Makoto Shishio's courtesan and lover arrived, dressed in her classic Meiji Era garb but this time there was a hole in her chest where her heart used to be.

The very place where Shishio stabbed her in order to do a surprise attack on Battousai Himura.

"Inner Blood Turmoil," Yumi said as she sapped Kuwabara of all his energy using the Kyuuketsuki Kakuto Ryu (Vampire Martial Arts) that Rando stole from her.

"SHIT! Even Shishio's girlfriend has superpowers now too?!" said Sanosuke, remembering the woman whom he did a bridal carry with as they traversed Shishio's Mt. Hiei stronghold.

"...BLOOD WIND!"

***

Tomoe's little brother had grown strong. Frighteningly strong. Ridiculously strong. Like he'd been training the last hundred years for this one moment. Empowered purely by hate.

However, one way or another, Kenshin was able to contain Yukishiro's growing threat long enough to assist Saito's rescue or allow the Kenshingumi to go through their mission of taking out Houji.

Himura was able to figure out how his "Wattoujutsu" (a mix of Japanese swordsmanship and Chinese kung fu) worked after only seeing a couple of techniques from it.

The Demon Sword then shone, and Kenshin's form started to change.

From a 30-year-old man he returned to his more youthful 15 to 16-year-old self.

The form he had before he developed the cross-shaped scars. When he was still known as the Hitokiri Battousai. This way, he regarded Enishi the same way he did against any other opponent. Free of bias.

Free of shame or guilt.

"SHUUGEKI TOU SEI! (KICKING SWORD RUSH!)"

This technique of Enishí's involved hitting his opponent from below then kicking the blunt side of his sword at the last second to maximize damage.

Thusly, Kenshin answered that back with, "SOU RYU SEN! (TWIN DRAGON FLASH!)"

"KAISHI TOU SEI! (BAYONET SWORD RUSH!)"

As for the Bayonet Sword, it was a follow-up whirling counterattack or riposte involving him putting the hilt of his sword against his opponent's sword to add momentum to his pivoting swing.

However, Kenshin had a similar counterstrike technique like that as well in the form of the "RYU KAN SEN! (DRAGON WRAP FLASH!)"

"SHO HA TOU SEI! (PALM BREAK SWORD RUSH!)"

From the Jodan Stance, Enishi swept his sword starting from over his head down to the ground. Afterwards, he then placed the palm of his hand on the sword's blunt side to push it forward at full force.

The answer to this move like the Dragon Hammer Flash was the "RYU SHO SEN! (RISING DRAGON FLASH!)", which was the natural Ryu Tsui Sen counter that doubled as a two-handed sword block wherein the sword was held by its handle and tip with either hand.

"CHOU TEN TOU SEI! (UP-AND-DOWN SWORD RUSH!)"

This was Wattoujutsu's version of the Ryu Sho Sen. It allowed Enishi to leap upwards using his sword as his pole vault then attack from the air by pulling his sword towards him by its hilt cord immediately after jumping.

Kenshin drew out the fearsome technique with a feinted Ryu Tsui Sen only to do the "RYU KAN SEN ARASHI! (DRAGON WRAP FLASH STORM!) at the last second, the multi-hit forward somersault sword strikes catching Yukishiro off-guard.

"Ugh!" Enishi landed bad on his ankle, his knees buckling from the force of the centrifugal strikes, the chainsaw-like windmill of blade strikes drawing a fine mist and squall of blood. "Damn you, Battousai...!"

He had a Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu answer to every one of the white-haired young man's sword techniques. He took advantage of Enishi's hateful, unfocused strikes with clinical precision.

In fairness to him, the fact that Himura didn't realize who exactly he was fighting until the last second helped him figure out the proper counters to Enishi's Wattoujutsu early on and even bury him right inside the mountain itself. Albeit temporarily.

He imagined he'd have a harder time with the kung fu master swordsman were he distracted by his guilt for killing Tomoe and knowing Enishi's identity from the start.

"Is that all you've got, Battousai?" demanded the scuffed-up, bleeding-from-the-mouth Enishi, who spat away blood as his veins—no, his very nerves themselves—hypertrophied or thickened enough to be visible under his skin with vascular density.

This was his Kyokei Myaku (Nerves of Insanity) in action.

***

It was bedlam at the Military Base of Okushiri.

Ten things were happening at once, and barely anyone could keep up.

More soldiers were deployed to rescue the fallen and suppress the invaders.

They waged war against the Onmyouji's shikigami, even though many of them couldn't even see the grim reaper familiars.

They had to use their special thermal goggles to see and shoot the enemy, but neither bullets nor grenades worked on them.

Botan had more luck dissipating the strange creatures into the ether, but that was because it was part of her job description as a shinigami.

She did double duty in casting her healing and reiki-replenishing spells on Yahiko, Sanosuke, and Kuwabara while at the same time defeating her share of scythe-wielding reapers created from wayward earthbound spirits infected with the Chojin's jaki.

Also, the bodies were really hitting the floor now. Not due to the Kenshingumi (they were basically all ghosts) or their Reikai Tantei comrade falling to a dead faint.

It was from the vampire (or perhaps succubus) Yumi biting the necks and absorbing the blood of the nearest JSDF soldiers to power her Kyuuketsuki Kakuto Ryu.

As for Gatekeeper Itsuki, he and Kuwabara were having a portal contest of sorts. He kept making portals and Yusuke's best friends kept slicing them closed.

Regardless it was taking much longer for Yahiko to seal the power of the Chojin, the borrowed jaki overflowing with immense pressure from within gleeful Sadojima.

"TSUI GAMI...!? (GOD HAMMER...!?)"

Myojin's attempt at the earth-shattering, jaki-neutralizing God on Earth was thwarted with a simple one-handed scythe swipe and belied Houji's actual physical strength.

"So you intend to beat me at this level of strength?" asked a smug Sadojima before releasing a pillar of jaki that made Yahiko kneel before him, as though bearing the weight of the world on his shoulders.

The negative energy felt like he was drowning and plunging deep underwater and feeling the oceanic water pressure increase further and further the deeper he went.

Myojin grunted, grit his teeth, and rose up against the harsh and dense waves of pure jaki that bore down on him in waves, his green aura of reiatsu resisting the crushing force of the Overfiend's distant yet overbearing presence.

Like a black sun whose rays and heat reached the earth all the way from space despite being millions of miles away.

It was a tug of war between the Chojin's power boosts and complete neutralization.

Thanks to Botan and Kaoru, the ghost of Sanosuke had healed up and reenergized himself with reiki enough to summon his signature Zanbatou (Horse-Chopping Sword) again at long last.

He had more bandages than usual, half of which were spirit seals that kept his ectoplasm within his soul.

The last thing he expected was to use that 12-foot long sword against Shishio's lover, the non-fighter known as Yumi.

"ZANBATOU ATE! (ZANBATOU DISTANCE HIT!)"

Sanosuke's Zanbatou Ate, based on Anji Yukyuzan's Tou Ate (Distance Hit), created a landslide aimed at Houji, who shielded himself with his shikigami ghouls.

"ZANKUU ZANBATOU ATE (ZANBATOU VACUUM DISTANCE HIT!)!"

As for his Zankuu Zanbatou Ate, he aimed it at the Blood Wind tornado that the courtesan in revealing attire used to gather the bodies of soldiers towards herself for her to feed on like the vampire she was.

***

Enishi crouched low again with a leg split, only to charge with an onslaught of strikes instead of doing another Zettousei when he saw Kenshin sink his stance low in kind instead of taking his bait and attacking with the Hirameki.

"SENRAN TOU SEI! (WAR SWORD RUSH!)"

"RYU SOU SEN! (DRAGON NEST FLASH!)"

Sparks flew everywhere as though they were in a steel mill or foundry as they parried and attacked each other with impunity, their swords crossing and chipping at their edges.

Blood (and/or ectoplasm) stained the ground soon afterward from both combatants.

Enishi was now moving faster than Kenshin could react. Like an unswattable fly. Or perhaps a whole swarm of such flies. Locusts. Bees. Wasps, even. A plague of wasps.

It was like dealing with Soujiro Seta's Shukuchi all over again. Himura couldn't even predict Enishi's strikes by reading his sakki (bloodlust) because he was exuding hatred and killer instinct at every second. At every waking moment.

Like the polar opposite of the Ten Ken (Heaven Sword). It was no different to deal with someone who lacked bloodlust compared to someone who always exuded bloodlust. There was no sudden spike of killer instinct you could use to read such an opponent's moves.

This forced Kenshin to take initiative and jump high into the air in order to become the aggressor for a change, even if only to draw out a counterstrike that he could then counter.

"RYU TSUI SEN! (DRAGON HAMMER FLASH!)"

Yukishiro countered by jumping high in the air before Kenshin could drop with his Dragon Hammer Flash the, at the point where his jump force was equal to the gravity, he jumped even further, thus essentially doing a double jump or what basketball players would call an airwalk.

"SHIKKU TOU SEI! (SLASHER SWORD RUSH!)"

Kenshin's youtou (demon sword) and Enishi's watou (Chinese-style katana) clashed hard against each other, their shuddering vibrations enough to break steel but their mystical swords forged from spirit energy and the life force of their very souls held true.

"KUZU RYU SEN! (NINE-HEADED DRAGON FLASH!)"

Like water crushing rock over time, the constant barrage of counters from earlier took its toll on Enishi, leading to several lapses of attention, which Battousai took advantage of to great effect.

However, Battousai or no Battousai, the scarless Kenshin realized he had to take Yukishiro out before his own feelings of despair, depression, shame, and remorse got the better of him.

For even now, he felt like he deserved to get hit by every last strike for the sin of accidentally killing his ex-wife in an attempt to rescue her from being kidnapped.

He was prepared to do a supersonic noutoujutsu (sword-sheathing technique). The same one he used to disable the super sensitive hearing of Usui Uonuma's Shingan.

"RYU MEI...! (DRAGON CRY...!)"

Kenshin stopped short of doing his high-pitched sheathing technique when he saw a familiar young woman with jet-black hair, doe eyes, a white kimono, and purple shawl appear in the half-burnt forest in a rain of white plum petals.

She brought with her a nostalgic, heartbreaking scent.

"T-Tomoe...?!" stuttered Kenshin before Enishi's Watou ended up stabbing him right in his chest, on the same wound made by the Zettousei that got him earlier.

The pair of scars on his left cheek reappearing. Bleeding fresh blood (or, in his case, ectoplasm).

***

Back at the Okushiri Military Base...

The Blood Wind dissipated by the strength of Sanosuke's vacuum slash, but Yumi herself blocked the wind pressure with her open, glowing-red umbrella serving as her shield.

Ah, yes. The Blood Wind.

The double-edged, energy-sapping red tornado created from the heat of the spirit energy it stole and the coldness of an injured body that was losing blood.

However, this woman somehow managed to do Blood Winds without the need to be injured. Or perhaps the hole in her chest served as her injury?

Sagara originally thought it was one of Rando's moves, only to remember something about him stealing techniques. So this spirit-energy-sapping technique was actually her move, wasn't it?

Regardless, what was a desperation move for Rando was a normal move for her.

It all made sense now. Or at least that part did. As for the rest:

"How the hell did you get superpowers too, lady?" demanded Sano to Yumi. "You even went so far as to change yourself into a vampire! You really are something else!"

"Stop acting so familiar with me, you boorish lout," said Komagata to Sagara with half-lidded eyes, parrying his probing zanbatou stab from 12-feet away with her closed umbrella.

She then dug her fingers deep into his sizes until it hit a vein. A ghostly vein full of ectoplasm rather than blood. Feeding on his reiki instead of his plasma.

"You should've stayed as a ghost in the Spirit World. You'll regret crossing paths with us again after a hundred years, Sagara Sanosuke. Youki Duantoutai (Spirit Guillotine)."

Sano backhanded the woman and raised his zanbatou high up his head. "Nothing personal, Neechan. We can't let your boyfriend run amok again in this era either."

"...Son of a bitch! Rando stole that from you too?!" said Yahiko before breaking the paper-thin waves of demon energy with "Men (Head)" strikes from the Fire Stance and flying skyward with the God in Heaven technique.

"Not exactly," she said. "I learned some of the moves of the Vampire Discipline from him. The Blood Wind is one of my original moves from it."

As for Sanosuke, his attempt at chopping Yumi in half led to his 12-foot zanbatou getting blasted full of huge holes on it care of Itsuki, making it look like a macroscopic slice of Swiss cheese.

Black holes that also ate up chunks of Sano's ghostly flesh whole.

"GUUAAAHH!"

It was all due to a gun attached to where Itsuki's right hand used to be that shot miniature black holes the size of pinholes but had an event horizon the size of bowling balls that ate up any type of matter near it.

It was a (literal) handgun the Gatekeeper developed through the help of Shinobu Sensui's Kazuya personality.

The Gatekeeper took advantage of Sanosuke's moment of hesitation in killing Yumi, remembering how she originally died by being stabbed by Shishio and then having her corpse burn along with him.

Meanwhile, as the flying Myojin attacked Yumi from above, Botan attacked from below, flying low on her oar before getting off her ride and using the paddle as her weapon, letting the Kaoru inside her do the rest.

Using jaki and youki together, the succubus imbued her foldable fan and her closed umbrella with enough blood-red energy to stop the oar cold with a cross-block. She then unfurled her umbrella in time to also stop Yahiko's Ryu Tsui Sen.

From this close proximity, she was able to use her Inner Blood Turmoil to absorb their spirit energy unto herself, sapping the two of their reiki and making their souls flicker and fade.

Neither the living nor the dead were safe from this vampire queen.

***

"GOU TSUI TOU SEI! (FALLING BLADE SWORD RUSH!)" screamed Enishi after impaling the distracted Kenshin in the chest.

The Falling Blade Sword Rush allowed the white-haired martial artist to pin Battousai at last, lifting him high up and over his head with his sword and upper-body strength.

"At last. At long last. You're going to die, Battousai! You scum! You criminal! You took away everything from me! Now I will return the favor and take away everything from you! This is my Jinchu!"

The Guardian of the Youtou Shinnoken reeling, his eyes unable to tear themselves away at the visage and silhouette of his ex-wife Tomoe Yukishiro.

Red tears streaming down his cheeks and bloodstained scar.

"T-Tomoe? I-Is that really you?" he mumbled in disbelief, as though not even noticing Enishi's watou inside him.

He was no longer the Hitokiri Battousai (Battousai the Manslayer). Instead, he transformed back to the Rurouni Kenshin (Kenshin the Vagabond).

"Tomoe" then told Enishi with a deep old man's voice, "My apologies. This is the best help I can give you for now. That damn Okashira stole all the jaki the Chojin gave me and sealed me and my precious Iwanbos away with it, turning it into solidified reiatsu."

"You did splendid, Gein," said Enishi, who was smiling for once. He couldn't face the reanimated corpse of his elder sister, though. "Now please take that puppet away. I don't want you to soil my sister's memory with it."

Kenshin went pale. He'd been duped by one of Gein's puppets. However, his trickery paid off. He didn't feel like hurting Tomoe's little brother any longer.

"Did you know what I went through to get to this moment, Battousai? I ate human flesh in the battlefield to survive. I was adopted by a rich couple, only for me to kill them. I ended up becoming an arms dealer for good measure. I even waited and died, only to be reborn in this era when I found out you're still in existence as the Demon Sword's guardian."

Enishi dragged Kenshin's bloody (or ectoplasmic) body all over the forest on the foot of Mt. Kannon, savoring the moment before pulling his sword out and stomping on the Battousai's bleeding wound for good measure.

"I'm not sure whether I should wield your damn sword myself or just destroy you along with the sword. Oh well. It doesn't matter. You could die a thousand deaths and it won't bring back my sister. Even after I died, I couldn't find her anymore. All that's left is to make you feel the despair I felt when you stole her away from me."

***

Back at the Okushiri Military Base...

The chaos continued. Fires broke out everywhere.  The wind howled like wolves to the moon. The base was in shambles. It was Hell on Earth. Hell in Hokkaido.

Komagata's Inner Blood Turmoil created her own version of reiatsu—her youki mixed with the Kenshingumi's reiki, the blood of the soldiers she fed on, and the Chojin's jaki—before releasing the pent-up energy towards Yahiko in the form of the "Blood Fire Wave!" projectile.

However, thinking fast on her feet, Botan purified the surplus of jaki around them then used it to replenish the reiki she and Myojin lost from being in contact with Yumi.

'Wow. She's doing the thing! The same thing Urameshi did when he got hold of the Meikai's crystal ball thingy,' thought Kuwabara. 'She's purifying jaki into reiki!'

Again, she used spirit bandages that doubled as sealing magic, acting more like a priestess than the shrine maiden Hinageshi or Houji the Onmyouji.

"Nice one, Tanuki-chan!" said Yahiko. "I mean, thank you, Botan."

Botan smiled at the samurai boy. "Go get them."

'This woman is seriously getting on my nerves,' thought Yumi while eyeing the ferry-girl whose astral body housed two souls instead of just one.

A rejuvenated Myojin then did the sword-breaking "TSUI GAMI!" to neutralize the Blood Fire Wave and the black holes that Itsuki's sneaky Kazuya personality shot right into his heart and head using the Black Hole Gun.

The samurai kid kept moving forward, practically swimming in the thick of "it", with "it" being the Chojin's ocean of jaki.

However, Houji frowned, his arms crossed. 'This goddamn brat. I swear.'

He thought that the Chojin allowing him more access to his boundless negative energy—enough jaki to, quite frankly, revive the long-dead kingdom of Meikai (Nether World)—but his output remained low and it even started dwindling.

Like opening your water main at full capacity yet still ending up with less water than you expected when filling up your bathtub.

Defying the very will of the Overfiend himself.

'The boy is starting to get better control of his neutralization powers, isn't he?' the Onmyouji thought, tapping his scythe to the ground impatiently.

To Yumi and Itsuki, he only had one command. "Kill him."

Yumi then made it rain blood like the Battousai would back in the Bakumatsu.

It was literally a rain of blood, but each droplet contained razor shape scalpels. A bloody rain that cut you apart in order to induce a bloodbath as well. It pelted the ground like suppressive fire from a machine gun.

She called technique, "Bloody Rain."

It was a bloodsucker's way of creating the energy-absorbing Blood Wind without having to sacrifice the plasma that they had already drained from their other victims.

"I don't know who you are, lady, but you leave that boy alone!" said Kuwabara.

***

Yusuke Urameshi had actually been in a punching match with Toguro Ototo all this time.

Right in the middle of Okushiri Island, in fact. Along the Tsurikake River.

Instead of playing with percentages of his power, the Younger Toguro instead went all out from the start, displaying 100% of his full strength.

'His B-Level strength,' was what Yusuke avoided in even thinking, remembering how easily he manhandled the A-Level Rando earlier, now that he wasn't faced with any distractions or dirty tactics.

In kind, Urameshi himself released his first pair of Spirit Cuffs. Just like the good ol' days, they ended up in a slugfest that turned the river in roiling rapids from the shockwaves of their punches.

"You've struggled in every encounter you've faced with the Chojin's forces yet won every time," said the Younger Toguro. "Why is that?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, man," said Yusuke before blasting the gigantic hulking grey behemoth before him with the "SHOT GUN!" technique, bombarding him with the purest reiki.

The vascular and muscular Toguro pressed on, healing the missing pieces of his flesh instantly like his older brother would.

An impressive feat a power level or two ago. Now it somehow became old hat. Any S-Level worth their salt should be able to regenerate fast enough given they have enough spirit or demon energy left in their person.

"I took on Rando, Souther (Xinhai), Suzaku, the blind guy (Usui), and the rest of the Chojin's New Ten Swords fair and square. All I'm doing now is killing time in keeping you from ruining Kurama's plans to take your whole lot out. Right until your big bad boss the Chojin shows up."

Toguro's eyes narrowed behind his glasses. 'His reiki is... overflowing. It almost reminds me of the Chojin's own jaki.'

Yusuke dodged the Shi Dan (Finger Flip Bullets) by reflex even though he had the feeling he could survive direct hits from Toguro's finger flicks at this point in time.

They were even more powerful than the strongest human punches, capable of blasting through concrete, but against Urameshi's wealth of spirit energy, he doubted that they'd even faze him.

Even with his powers sealed like this, he teetered from a high A-Level to low S-Level.

'Are you hiding your power level, Toguro?' he thought. There was just no way that the likes of Rando, Xinhai, Usui, Saito, or Suzaku would end up stronger than the Toguro Ototo himself.

Then again, while it took Toguro 50 years to reach B-Level, it took only 10 years for Sensui to reach S-Level.

Meanwhile, it took less than 3 years for Yusuke to surpass them both and take a centuries-old archdemon, Yomi, to the brink of defeat.

To Toguro, Urameshi asked, "What happened to you deciding to stay in Hell for 100 million years to atone for all the crimes you've committed? Where you plucked from Hell by the Chojin and forced to work for him? Answer me, Toguro!"

"...We're not so different, you and I."

"OH, COME ON! Not this tired cliché again, Toguro!" the teenaged living warhead told off the mountain of a demonized human in between bone-crushing punches.

He didn't want to hear such things from someone much weaker than him.

***

The veiny (actually nervy) Enishi got talkative all of a sudden, Kenshin realized. His life story was as pathetic as the vagabond expected. Maybe even more so. He even killed a family after he was given a new lease in life? How much of a monster did he become?

This was a lot for Himura to take in. He could barely breathe right now, much less digest Yukishiro's words.

Meanwhile, Enishi snarled in remembrance of the things he'd been through. The people he killed. The opportunities of happiness he turned his back on.

The innocents he murdered in order to harden his heart enough to take on a monster like Battousai. When he died, he resisted the reincarnation cycle for so long, hoping against hope he'd find Himura's soul and drag him to Hell along with him, torturing him for a million years.

However, his chance had finally arrived only a few decades ago. He reentered the reincarnation cycle and avoided becoming an insect or a slug, getting instead the body of a Chinese boy with his memories of the past as a Japanese man.

He trained his body in martial arts, went to prison more than a few times, became a career criminal, and climbed the ranks of organized Chinese crime known as The Triad (what the Shanghai Arms Dealers eventually developed into a hundred years down the line).

In fact, until a few couple of years ago, he occupied the position of Dragon Head that his protégé, Feng Xinhai, currently occupied. He had a Chinese name himself, but he long ago abandoned that identity as well to become Enishi Yukishiro.

Under the guidance of the Chojin and his reformed Shin Juppon Gatana, he also learned how to use his spiritual powers on top of reviving the lost martial arts of Wattoujutsu. He studied Japanese. He began slaying demons himself by helping fund technology that linked the Demon World with the Human World.

And now, while serving under Tenro the Demon-Slayer's Yakuza Family as one of his enforcers, he finally crossed paths with the man who stole his happiness a hundred years ago.

His revenge, his Jinchu, was literally a hundred years in the making.

"I will kill you now and take away the rest of your friends afterwards. I'll break apart the Demon Sword or steal it for myself. Become its new guardian. From there, in the Spirit World, I will also hunt you and your friends down and kill you again until all memory of you is erased. Suffer like I did. Suffer for eternity, Battousai!"

Something stirred inside Kenshin when he heard those words. It was one thing for Enishi to swear to kill him. However, what did the rest of his comrades have to do with him? Was he really going to kill the Kenshingumi or even the Reikai Tantei and the Oniwabanshu all in the name of his Jinchu?

Just as Enishi prepared to finish Kenshin off, a shinigami flew between them like a bolt from the blue.

The woman who sported a black kimono and raven hair zeroed in not on Enishi and Kenshin but instead on the Tomoe puppet of the Puppet Master.

'Ah, I remember her,' thought the Guardian of the Demon Sword. He met that death goddess before while assisting the training of Sanosuke and Yahiko when they first arrived in the Human World.

From his limited interactions with the shinigami, Kenshin surmised that she mainly did research work for Koenma Daio, not unlike the child inspector Sayaka.

'Ayame, was it? She's the shinigami that Kurama assigned to the Southeast Quadrant of Okushiri. Did she follow us all the way here?'

***

Yusuke wanted to end the fight with one gigaton punch or one Chou Rei-Gan (Mega Spirit Gun) on the gigantic muscle-bound freak of nature before him, but he held back.

Kept his cool. He wanted to bet on a "maybe".  As in, "Maybe Toguro is holding back and is about to show me something more amazing than 100% of his power".

Otherwise, Urameshi would've blasted him back to Hell where he belonged and has a 100 million year sentence in and waited for the Chojin or someone to arrive and force him use 100% of his power instead.

Finishing this fight early presented too much of a risk. Like eating an unripe fruit or something.

But maybe he could go all out and wipe the map out of several mountain ranges and riverbanks. So far, none of his attacks fazed Toguro in turn.

Or maybe he was risking hundreds of thousands of lives over his own selfish whims.

'Fine. I'll push a little harder, then.'

The "REI-KOU-DAN! (SPIRIT WAVE BULLET!)" that fissured the surrounding ground and threatened to break the world was all absorbed by Younger Toguro's beefy body.

His 100% form before might instead be his 000.1% now. Maybe he'd been training all this time in Hell. A Training from Hell.

Or maybe it was all wishful thinking and Urameshi had outgrown his boogeyman from his past.

He put his hip into his last punch, manhandling the "ultimate" form of Toguro that earlier on threw him around like a rag doll the first time he saw it.

"You want to rise to your greatest potential, but unfortunately you've already been there and done that and more. You've become too powerful," Toguro said after fixing his twisted neck that had his head staring straight behind him.

"You're not begging for mercy now! Are you?" asked Yusuke with an bone-crushing uppercut to Toguro's jaw.

"...Nothing challenges you anymore, but you don't want to sever your attachment to this world of weaklings."

Toguro flexed and did a full-powered tackling punch with enough force to move or even obliterate mountains. Alas, Yusuke ate mountains for breakfast ever since achieving S-Level in his fight against Sensui.

This was nothing to him. Drop a building on him, and he'd wonder if it was raining.

He hated to think this, but fighting Toguro now at this point was akin to fighting Kuwabara.

"You honestly sound pathetic now, Toguro. What happened to you? Keiko can hit harder than that. Put your hips into it."

But nothing major really happened to Toguro after dying back in the Ankoku Bujutsukai (Dark Martial Arts Tournament). It was Urameshi who had changed.

Toguro's form doubled or even tripled in size. He was now doing his "100% of 100%" technique that had him stake even his very soul's life force in order to unleash his fullest potential.

Any of the current roster of Roku Youkai (Six Demons) could take him on and turn him into roadkill, to be honest.

However, his fullest potential ended up just B-Level in the end. Not even at A-Level.

'Quit messing around and go 1,000% power or something already, Toguro!' Yusuke inwardly begged. But that never happened. He kept dealing with a Toguro who could barely make him flinch.

"In order to continue to live the lie you call your life, you're someone strong pretending to be weak so you could fit in with the rest of the weaklings."

"You're still talking, huh? I'm more impressed with that fact than any of your punches."

Yusuke did his signature finger gun pose and focused his ocean of reiki at a single point of his finger, gathering all that limitless energy into one concentrated shot.

"Great fighters refuse to lose, but you refuse to win just to get back that feeling and exhilaration of conquering something greater than you. So what do you do now that you're in a world where nothing is greater than you?"

Yusuke sighed. If Toguro really was going to unleash a new power on him, he would've done so by now. Meanwhile, he himself hadn't even worked up a sweat yet.

Was this some sort of long-con, Sun Tzu's Art of War deal? Was Toguro hiding his power level like he always had, using only a small percentage of his power? Or was this indeed his limits after his defeat in the Dark Tournament?

"Maybe you're right. Maybe I have been a little careless in my fights lately. However, in the end, I keep winning anyway, so who cares? It's my curse, I know. REI-GAN!"

***

Back at the foot of Mt. Kannon...

Ayame the Shinigami grabbed hold of the corpse puppet of Gein and cut off its spiritual connection with the mad scientist using her reaper powers.

She then said to Enishi, "There's no way your sister is smiling down on you in heaven! Not while you're doing something as terrible as this, stalking Himura-san for decades! A century!"

Enishi scowled at the impudent ferry-girl. How dare she say such things to him.

"What do you know? How can you possibly know the pain I've been through? The pain that my sister and her fiancé suffered from? You're nothing but a stranger! You have nothing to do with this!"

Kenshin tried standing up, but Enishi kicked his chest wound and pinned him down with a foot stomp. "And as for you, stay down! I'm not done with you yet!"

Enishi was about to punch Koenma's ferry-girl away when she chanted an incantation that led to the body double of his sister Tomoe to frown at him and cry tears of blood.

"Don't you hear it? Don't you hear the cries of despair of your dearly departed sister Tomoe from a hundred years ago? The last thing she wants to see is see you suffer or make everyone suffer along with you!"

Enishi shook and shuddered before he himself screamed in anguish, screaming until his throat was ragged. Clutching his chest at that baleful look that rocked him to his very core.

"Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up, SHUT UP! Enough of your lies, Reikai! I don't believe it for a second!

However, like with Kaoru Kamiya, he couldn't for the life of him kill even a puppet of his sister. Any young woman who reminded him of his sister, he couldn't kill.

He damn well tried to, though, his hatred rising. His cognitive dissonance assuring him these were all lies. That his sister had wanted to kill Battousai all along to avenge her fiancé's death.

That the rumor how Battousai pledged to not kill ever since he killed his sister was just a rumor.

That he hadn't wasted his multiple chances at a new life all for nothing.

He slashed the Tomoe corpse puppet apart with the Sho Ha Tou Sei, his own tears flowing down as he did so. Nauseated by the act, he moved away and puked soon after.

Even though she wasn't the real Tomoe.

'I have to do this. I have to destroy all lies!' He had waited so long and come so far. In the end, it should matter. If it didn't matter then what was the point of all this.

It was all Battousai's fault. He was the one who ruined his life. He was the one who forced him to suffer like this. Everything was perfect until he came along.

Even in the afterlife, Himura haunted him even though he was the one who was ghost at the time."

"Himura Battousai must die! Suffer! Die a thousand deaths! A million deaths! I won't rest until he has suffered as much as I have and MORE!"

Enishi prepared to do his ultimate attack on Kenshin, only for Ayame to get in his way.

This looked mighty familiar.

He hesitated for a split-second in cleaving the shinigami in half. Here was another woman the same age as his sister. Everywhere he looked, maidens like her kept reminding him of what he lost.

A split-second was an eternity in a fight, though.

Kenshin rose up and blocked Enishi's sword strike even though, unbeknownst to him, his brother-in-law intended to miss Ayame by a mile anyway.

His heart swelled at doing so. Here and now, he was able to do the sword block that he failed to do against Shishio.

Had he done the same block against his hitokiri successor, would he have survived their assured mutual destruction? Had he not given up back then and decided to fight on, would he have been able to come back to Tokyo with the rest of the Kenshingumi? With Miss Kaoru?

He really wished he had fought on instead of gave up and died along with Shishio. That he did.

"...I will fight to the end to protect those I hold dear! That is my truth!"

Himura's resolve in defeating Enishi finally hardened after wavering for so long, his cross-shaped scar seemingly glowing with a red light.

The crouching tiger faced off against the hidden dragon one more time.

"KOFUKU ZETTOUSEI! (CROUCHING TIGER SEVERING SWORD RUSH!)"

"AMAKAKERU RYU NO HIRAMEKI! (HEAVENS GLIDING DRAGON FLASH!)"

Last time, the tiger was able to cut deep wounds into the flying serpent even as it was buried into deep underground.

Would the tiger finish what it had started? Or did the dragon have something hidden behind its sharp claws?

***

Kazuma attempted to create a portal to serve as an shield over Yahiko, only for Itsuki to seal that portal for a change with Kazuya's Black Hole Gun, the twin rends in space-time canceling each other out.

However, Kuwabara expected this and teleported right in front of Itsuki in order to slash apart the firearm at pointblank range with the Jigen Tou.

"Motherfucker...!" shouted the foul-mouthed Kazuya, grasping his damaged handgun.

Itsuki then awoken Sensui's George personality in order to gain access to a hyperdimensional gun vault filled with Tommy guns, pistols, Desert Eagles, mini guns, shotguns, AK-47 rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers, and bazookas.

He had actually restocked his guns by stealing many of the armaments and ammunition available in the very military base they were invading right then and there.

Knowing full well that ordinary guns were more useful against living, fleesh-and-blood beings like Kuwabara versus the solidified souls of shinigami and ghosts from the past.

In retrospect, this made Houji's efforts to shoot Yahiko, a ghost, with a gun moot, but at least he had a backup plan.

"I'll kill you all!" said Hitoshi. "I will purify the Human World by getting rid of all the humans...!"

However, before he could use one magazine or clip from his guns, he got pummeled to submission by a revived and teleported Sanosuke Sagara.

Botan had healed up his wounds yet again with purified jaki turned into reiki, which allowed him to get the jump on the green-haired youkai through brute strength instead of fancy teleportation techniques.

'Her again?' thought Houji, noticing how Battousai's woman had again served the same function as he did with the rest of the Shin Ju by supporting the Reikai Senshi. 'That Reikai shinigami is making this mission needlessly difficult.'

Furthermore, every attempt Itsuki made to get away was blocked by Kuwabara, who himself punched the demon back to portals that redirected him towards Sano's waiting fists and "FUTAE NO KIWAMI! AHHH!"

"All right, enough of this!" declared Yumi, who instead of targeting Yahiko now instead aimed her Spirit Guillotines and Blood Fire Waves at the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu kendoist turned shinigami Botan/Kaoru Kamiya.

Kaoru assisted Botan in deploying evasive maneuvers against the succubus, with her using the reiki-imbued boat paddle to bat and parry away the projectiles headed towards her before flying away from the bloodsucker.

She then ended up blocking the scythe of the unskilled but jaki-empowered Houji, which kept her from taking flight and escaping. "Keep still like a good girl."

Finally, a hole where her chest to be appeared as a portal sucked all that ghostly flesh and ectoplasm away.

Gatekeeper Itsuki closed the portal that created the cavity in Botan's person with a wave of his hand.

The ferry-girl's jaw opened, clenched, and froze at a soundless shriek, her red eyes rolling upwards until only her eye whites were visible.

"KAORUUU! BOTAAAAAN! NOOOO!" said Yahiko with an anguished, bloodcurdling scream of his own.

Itsuki mouth curved upwards in curiosity. 'What will you do now, Samurai-san? Is this enough to break you into pieces like what happened to my dearest Shinobu (Sensui) when he saw the Black Chapter Tapes?'

***

Back at the foot of Mt. Kannon...

As Enishi Yukishiro's heart wavered, Kenshin Himura's resolve hardened. Tempered by his will to protect those around him.

The Kofuku Zetsu Tou Sei should've countered the Heavens Gliding Dragon Flash by avoiding the first slash completely and countering the second slash with a well-time riposte, unfazed or even aided by the void created by the first slash.

The Zettousei was seemingly designed to break the Hirameki, as demonstrated earlier with Kenshin barely surviving it the first time it was used.

It should've halved the effectiveness of the second slash, but by Kenshin drawing the sword low and weakening the ground-based leverage of his crouch, Enishi stood no chance.

Kenshin's much faster and stronger Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki (Heavens Gliding Dragon Flash) hit low to loosen Enishi's crouch then hit high with the multiplied centrifugal force of the follow-up second strike of his ougi, his Kofugi Zettousei (Crouching Tiger Severing Sword Rush) buckled under pressure.

Enishi's counter was ultimately overpowered by the much stronger and better applied succession technique.

However, like before, even after his counter was countered by a more experienced, worldlier version of Battousai guarding a powerful demonic sword, he still kept standing.

Sure, he was shaking like a leaf and heaved belabored breaths because his double-edged, hypertrophied Nerves of Insanity multiplied his pain to the point where an ordinary man would've blacked out from the pain in a dead faint.

But he wouldn't go down. He refused to go down. He'd rather die than go down.

Whether he was thrown into magma at the center of the earth or cut down to oblivion with the Legendary Youtou Shinnoken (Demon Sword: The True Blade), his willpower continued to defy fate and destiny itself.

He braced himself for Battousai to deliver the finishing blow, relying on his twitch reflexes and his thick pulsating nerves that were practically on fire at this point to launch another counter.

Instead, Kenshin told him, "You didn't really mean to raise your sword at Miss Ayame, did you? Cutting down the fake Tomoe puppet to you was like ripping your heart out."

He spat, "What of it, Battousai?! That's just a puppet I tore apart, not my real sister! My sister that you killed!"

"It doesn't matter if the puppet was fake or not. Ripping her apart hurt you at your core. The pain you felt is real."

"DAMN YOU TO HELL! Push me any further, and I'll do the same to the shinigami (death goddess)!"

Himura replied, "Even though you've murdered others because you couldn't stand how happy they were, you hesitated in killing Ayame-dono. She reminded you too much of Tomoe to go through with it, didn't she?"

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY HER NAME, BASTARD! Her murderer has no right to do so!"

"...In the end, what stopped you was your sister. So I ask you the same question you asked me. Is your sister smiling down on you from heaven?"

Delirious, he started having visions.

Visions of his sister taking care of him when he was sick with the flu, sleeping in his bedside. Cooking for him. Taking care of him. Serving as the only family and mother that he ever knew.

His revenge against Kenshin was all he had. All that mattered. His only reason for being, since Battousai robbed him of the original reason for his being. Without this one goal, he'd be nothing.

He could do anything as long as his sister was smiling back at him.

He closed his eyes. All he could see, the face he claimed was a lie made by the Spirit World, was his sister frowning at him with sad eyes full of pity.

The things he'd ignored earlier that bothered him also started making sense.

Why his sister threw herself in between Battousai and the leader of the Yaminobu.

Why Battousai vowed never to kill after "easily" killing so many people for such a long time.

'He did that because he's guilty of killing my sister! And everyone around him! He's a criminal who's celebrated as a hero because he killed during a war when it's 'legal' to do so!'

Why his sister stayed with Battousai for so long and even became his wife (being a deep cover agent wasn't enough to explain that away).

He opened his eyes. The image of his unhappy, melancholic sister coalesced into Shinigami Ayame's face while bearing the same grim expression with her mouth.

He fell to his knees and broke down, bawling. A broken man.

It wasn't the strike from a mystical demonic blade or the most powerful technique of a ghostly guardian from the Bakumatsu that brought him to his knees.

No. It was him realizing his sister's disapproval of his Jinchu that unraveled his single-minded determination to kill Kenshin and/or make him suffer for eternity.

Only sheer willpower kept Enishi standing. So when Kenshin broke even that, he had nothing left.

His will to fight was gone. All that was left was anguish, despair, and hopelessness.

"Neesan... Neesan...! (Big sis... Big sis...!)"

What was he supposed to do now?

***

To Be Continued...

The main event is about to start, and it's a doozy. Tenro will finally make his appearance to complete the Okushiri Arc!

Ciao, Abdiel