Katsugeki: Touken Ranbu (活撃 刀剣乱舞)

Everyone did a fine job.

This marks the end of the current mission.

Not bad for the Second Unit's fresh start, huh?

Hey, Mutsunokami?

Sakamoto Ryoma got away this time.

But two years from now, he'll get attacked again, and dies, right?

You sure say some harsh things.

Oh, I’m sorry.

But when you met with Ryoma, didn't you want to tell him?

About what his end would look like?

Episode 10 Where Loyalty Leads

So regarding your question

of me wanting to tell him about his death when I met with him...

I thought, "Hey, what a nostalgic smell."

Since I was always by his side.

There's no way I'd ever forget.

Mutsunokami.

I bet he still wanted to go all over the world.

But, in two years...

With the Restoration of Imperial Rule, Ryoma's job will be done.

If you're asking if I want to tell him, or not tell him...

Well, of course I want to tell him.

If I were to meet Hijikata-san, I don't know if I could keep quiet or not.

Still, what's taking so long?

You put in a request for return, right?

Konnosuke, is there some kind of malfunction?

No, I've received no such notifications.

I've just received a directive from the master!

He says he wants everyone to stay here for now.

Stay in this era?

What's going on?

The master says he'll tell us later.

A fire?

That's weird.

Konnosuke, did a fire break out after the Teradaya Incident?

No. According to history, there was never any fire.

No fire?

An incident?

Yes. An assassination.

I've cross-checked the victim's face with my data,

and it was Toranosuke Sumiya of the Mito clan who got killed.

Historical records show that he was assassinated on June 13th.

June?

Kane-san!

So history's off here, as well.

The Time Retrograde Army is lying low somewhere?

According to the master’s analysis,

the amount of time-space noise approaching January 23, 1866...

In other words, the number of Time Retrograde Army units

and the units we repulsed don’t match up.

Don’t match up? By how much?

Three units, so about twenty.

Twenty of them?

Admittedly, it’s a little too much to have slipped through the cracks.

Just as the master determined, we should assume that they’re hiding out.

What do those bastards want so badly that they’d hide themselves?

The pursuit to capture Sakamoto Ryoma must still be going on, right?

Yes. The master thinks so, too.

Meaning that Sakamoto Ryoma's movements will be key.

At Saigou Takamori's urging, Sakamoto Ryoma decides

to heal his wounds at a hot spring in Satsuma,

and flees Kyoto on a Satsuma clan ship along with Narasaki Ryo.

Narasaki Ryo?

That's Ryoma's wife.

What was Sakamoto Ryoma doing until he set off for Satsuma?

He was laid up at the Satsuma residence.

Since those slashes on his hands were more severe than he thought.

Then, unless the Time Retrograde Army

drags him out of the Satsuma residence by force, Sakamoto Ryoma

will never be taken captive by the magistrates.

You'd think, but there's no guarantee.

Because that guy had a habit of sneaking out of the Satsuma residence.

What? Even though he might get captured if he went outside?

Man, what a troublemaker.

At any rate!

Starting now, for the next month or so,

we'll take turns staking out the Satsuma residence,

and protect Sakamoto Ryoma from getting captured by the magistrates.

That will be the Second Unit's mission for the time being.

Also, one more thing from the master.

Due to the effects of having traveled to this time axis multiple times,

it seems that the Bakumatsu time-space has grown unstable.

Is that also why we're spotting all these historical deviations?

It's highly likely.

That fire breaking out, too.

Once again, innocent people are getting hurt.

Please, hold still for a minute.

But I am holding still.

My, my.

If Ryoma had gotten assassinated at Teradaya,

then maybe the Restoration of Imperial Rule never would've happened.

Who knows?

Since it didn't turn out that way, no one can ever know the real answer.

If the Restoration of Imperial Rule never happened,

and the Shogunate continued to survive...

If it had survived?

When you think about Hijikata-san's life,

our protection of Ryoma would steer Hijikata-san towards a future with no happiness.

Ryoma was able to achieve it, yet Hijikata-san...

Don't talk like that about our former master.

Yeah. I guess you're right.

Yeah, I'm right.

Sorry.

Captain? It's time for us to relieve you.

I'm counting on you. We didn't spot anything out of the ordinary.

Thank you!

It's a swordfight!

It's the Shinsengumi! They're fighting with some roushi!

The unruly roushi who dared to oppose the government

have been brought to justice by the Shinsengumi!

Okita-san! That's Okita-san, Kane-san!

Hey, Kane-san.

If we saw Okita-san...

then maybe Hijikata-san is close by.

Hey, Kunihiro.

I think I already mentioned this the other day,

but we try not to run into our former masters, or get involved with them, if we can help it.

Kane-san.

You said so yourself to Mutsunokami.

That if you met with Hijikata-san, you weren't sure if you can keep quiet or not.

The same goes for us all.

Kane-san, have you ever wished that you could see Hijikata-san?

Who, me?

I wouldn't want to see him.

On top of that, our mission this time is to protect Sakamoto Ryoma.

And that will lead us to drive Hijikata-san's life into suffering.

If I saw him, it would only be painful.

Nothing out of the ordinary in town.

Is something wrong?

It's the plums!

Izuminokami! Horikawa!

What's going on, Mutsunokami?