Rurouni Kenshin (るろうに剣心 明治剣客浪漫譚)

Hmph.

Don't worry.

I can handle this.

I mean, after all,

I'm the Captain of the Shinsengumi First Unit.

- I know, but your lungs are ailing now, aren't they?

Stay back.

This one's mine.

I am Captain of the Shinsengumi Third Unit,

Hajime Saito.

Get ready...

Hitokiri Battosai!

Hitokiri Battosai!

I finally found you!

Your killing spree comes to an end

right here and now!

Oro?

Come on!

Who else would walk around at night armed with a sword

when swords have been strictly forbidden?!

Huh?

How disappointing.

You're the great Hitokiri Battosai?

A rurouni.

Eh?

I'm only a rurouni,

a lone, wandering swordsman, that I am.

I have just arrived in this town,

and I surely don't know anything about any killing spree.

Then what's that at your hip?

Even a swordsman's not allowed to carry around a blade!

Eh?

It's reversed?

A sakabato?

- Could you even kill someone with this blade?

N-No, you couldn't.

There are no nicks at all on this reverse blade,

nor any traces of blood or clouding.

It's as good as new.

I guess you are what you say you are.

A rurouni, I am.

- But why do you carry such a useless sword?

The police!

They must have found him!

- It seems like something is going on here, that it does.

- - Weak!

Weak!

Weak! Weak! Weak!

You're too weak, the whole lot of you!

He's too strong!

His power is indeed that of...

the Hitokiri Battosai!

Hold it, Battosai!

- -

- You are a reckless one, that you are.

Rurouni.

- Over here! The villain is over here!

Hah!

I am the Battosai!

Himura Battosai of the Kamiya Kasshin-ryu!

People call me Hitokiri Battosai!

Wait!

Eh? Wha?!

What are you doing?! Put me down!

Pursuing him when wounded

could prove fatal, that it could.

He's claiming to be of a certain sword style,

so there's no need to fret--

- Kamiya Kasshin-ryu is our sword style!

He's slaughtering people in the streets under our name!

- - Now put me down!

I've gotta get after him! Let me go!

- You won't be able to catch him now, that you won't.

But before the police start questioning us,

we should get out of here, that we should.

Put me down!

"Kamiya Kasshin-ryu."

"Acting Master, Kaoru Kamiya."

"Students..."

Oro?

- We were a very small sword style at first.

But at one time, we had 10 students,

and we were all working together really well.

Then two months ago,

he began slaughtering people in the streets

and, well, you see how it is.

All the students fled, fearing the name Battosai.

And nobody in the town

wants to even come close to our dojo.

Even now, in the Meiji era,

Hitokiri Battosai is still feared by many people.

Why does he claim to be of our sword style?

I have no idea if this man is even the real Battosai.

All I know is that I have to put a stop to him.

I get that.

But it's also not smart to go walking around alone at night,

- that it isn't. -

- That man is a lot stronger than you are, Miss Kaoru.

What?!

- An important skill of a swordsman

is to honestly weigh the abilities

of your opponent against your own.

Isn't it obvious how your next encounter will end?

- There is no sword style so important

that it's worth losing your life in defense of its honor.

The Kamiya Kasshin-ryu...

is the sword style that my father created

in the Meiji era after surviving the Bakumatsu.

My father didn't approve of murderous swords.

His ambition was to create life-giving swords,

and he devoted himself to that for ten years.

But then, during the Seinan War, he was sent to the front

as part of the Metropolitan Police's swordsman squad.

And there, in a place so distant from his own ideals,

he left this world.

That man claiming to be Hitokiri Battosai

and using the Kamiya Kasshin-ryu,

has already killed or maimed more than 10 people.

My father's sword style

was meant to idealize a life-giving sword.

But now its name is being tarnished by that murderer!

But you're just a rurouni!

You couldn't possibly understand what I'm feeling!

- Anyway, you can't be patrolling the streets

with that arm, that you can't.

Best to keep yourself safe.

For one thing, someone seeking a life-giving sword

being unable to live her own life

is no joke, that it isn't.

- Eh? - And besides...

just think of your late father.

As precious as his sword style was to him,

he wouldn't like his daughter

having to die defending it, that he wouldn't.

Excuse me.

There, that should do it.

Thank you, Kihei.

Now, Kaoru, you really shouldn't be so open

with someone like that.

A rurouni is no one,

nothing more than a failure in life.

- You're too good and too trusting of other people.

I know.

I know I am.

Stop thrashing around!

Hold still!

Oh. Was someone arrested?

Ororo...

Rurouni!

What happened, officer? What did he do?

- He's in violation of the Sword Abolishment Act.

Hmm? Hey, I know you.

Your dojo's with Hitokiri Battosai.

- No, we're not! We have nothing to do with him!

- Watch your tone! I'm an officer of the law!

- Oh, an officer. Don't act so big!

What?!

- Now, now. Let's not get carried away.

I'm sure we can settle this peacefully.

Let's go.

This is only out of respect for the old man.

Next time, you won't be so lucky.

Blehh!

- Thanks to you, I was spared, that I was.

Oh, think nothing of it.

- But you, why are you still here, anyway?

Do you have some business in town?

No, not really.

So have you found any new leads on that murderer, have you?

Yes. I think I have an idea who the perpetrator might be.

There's another swordsmanship dojo in the next town over.

Oh?

- Well, more accurately, a former dojo

that nowadays is mostly a hangout

for thugs and gamblers.