Strongest Opponent From the Past: Merciless Fangs Strike! is the 29th episode of the Rurouni Kenshin anime series.
Synopsis[]
After the recent incident at the Kamiya Dōjō, unease airs over the coming days. Sanosuke is beginning to recover from the wounds inflicted by Saitō, but Kenshin's mind is greatly disturbed. Knowing that out there, his nemesis lurks about and eyes his every move, Kenshin knows now that he must bring his steel to the forefront. As if heaven watches onto the earth below with the clouds overcast, and with trying times ahead, is May 7th, 1878 going to be a fateful day for Kenshin? How strong is really this new enemy targeting Kenshin?
Plot[]
The calendar showing the current date of the events
The Eleventh Year of the Meiji, May 7th, 1878. Under the cloudy skies, a taciturn, tense, and unpredictable day unfolds into the Kamiya household. As the worst of Sanosuke's fever subsists, and as Yahiko gathers new water for Megumi, he draws water near Kenshin, who dutifully does the laundry. As conversation opens of Sanosuke's recovery and healing condition by Kenshin, Yahiko further explains that he cannot fathom who is capable of defeating a man like Sanosuke. Knowing well of who, Kenshin ponders the mystery of the methods and tactics that Saitō has come to display in his carnage enacted, and especially to him blindsidingly shocking him from the sidelines than a direct confrontation. As the gloomy morning passes, Kaoru opens the door outside to the sight of the somewhat melancholy atmosphere, knowing deep down, the affair that continues by the undercurrent will inevitably resurface again.
Saitō and Akamatsu talking on a restaurant
At a soba restaurant in the middle of town, Saitō enjoys a plain bowl of soba with green tea. Not long after his order arrives, a cocky and brash Akamatsu Arundo taunts his colleague for his simple lunch. Brushing off his rudeness with but a calm demeanor and a simple smile, Mr. Fujita knows that this meeting isn't just a simple talk, and with a need to get back to his post after this quick lunch break, he asks Akamatsu what he wants. Voicing his suspicions that he originally was the main man for the job to assassinate Himura before Saitō came along, Akamatsu also whitewashes his complaints that Saitō methods of spying on his mark is slow and fastidious, and that his impatience just might have Saitō at danger at being stabbed at the back. Laughing at his cohort's steam, Saitō offers to make his uneasy ally a cooperative proposition: revealing that he left behind vague clues for Himura, Saitō offers to bait Himura for Akamatsu to finish off and to split the bounty 50/50. Saitō then furthers his claims that he is but a simple police officer in these peaceful times, letting Akamatsu have the fun of the dirty work and detracting his hawk eyed suspicions, allowing him to get back to his meal time.
Kenshin arriving at the place the challenge letter pointed at
As the afternoon arrives, Himura takes hold of a quickly written letter slipped through the door of the estate. Knowing well of who it is written by and what it entails, Kenshin leaves his afternoon duties and role of man of the house for Yahiko, and sets off for his confrontation. As he makes it to the outskirts of town, in a meadow clearing with scattered boulders about the woods, Kenshin demands for his assailant to show himself. With a single toss however, a kusarigama flying weight end first collides with a boulder, as Kenshin easily dodges it from behind.
As Yahiko finishes his run to the tofu store, Kaoru asks him where Kenshin went to. Only knowing that Kenshin wouldn't be home until later that evening, and with the only clue of theirs a letter, the conversation is fanciful, until the arrival of officer Goro Fujita at their doorstep. Letting them know of him being stationed there personally by the police chief and in possession of information that entails that someone may be after Kenshin, Kaoru offers to let Fujita in to help keep watch of Kenshin's assailant.
Kenshin is trapped by Akamatsu's chains
As Akamatsu prowls perched on a rock with Kenshin in sight, Himura demands from him a reason why he is after his life. Refusing to offer him anything until he is dead, Akamatsu makes another shot with his weighted chain, but before he can even claim to follow up with his sickle and read Kenshin's movements, Kenshin's shinsoku easily places him right behind at his back. Countering back, Akamatsu then leaps upwards in a front somersault and tosses out his chain upside down in momentum. In what could be a clear shot, Kenshin then dodges and draws his sword to then resheathe and clamp down and cut apart the kusarigama at the midsection, and as Akamatsu is helpless midair, he goes in for a flying jab at his abdomen. Drawing in the sickle portion to ensure Akamatsu is at a disadvantage, his assailant cowers on his knees, and claims that Saitō ordered him at threat of death to confront Himura, and was entirely behind the events that have been going on. As Kenshin dismisses his foe as but a wayward pawn and leaves for more pressing matters, Akamatsu reveals his feint. Tossing out two manriki kusari hidden in his sleeves, his chains surround Himura's right arm and neck, and his left arm and the sheathe of his sword. Akamatsu then lifts Kenshin up with ease and violently thrashes him onto the ground.
Kenshin apparently defeated by Akamatsu's hits
As Kenshin seemingly lays still on the ground, Akamatsu takes his attack as a finishing blow, and makes good on his promise, revealing his and Saitō's employer as the one who instigated the Kurogasa Incidents, and for the more corrupt politicians to keep Kenshin silent of his days from the Bakumatsu due to him being the legendary and influential Hitokiri Battōsai. Waking up from his own feint, Kenshin immediately surprises Akamatsu, having deliberately taken the attack and used it to his own advantage, and demands more information, and in bewilderment, Akamatsu tries to finish Kenshin off by swinging him into a nearby boulder. But as Kenshin deftly positions himself to land feet first, and expertly using his mouth to unsheathe his blade, Kenshin then rebounds and flies straight ahead to a tethered Akamatsu with dead on aim.
Kenshin discovers that Saitō is waiting for him at the Dōjō
As dusk comes and the sun sets into the horizon, a worried Kaoru greets a returning Kenshin. Hurrying him into the Kamiya Dōjō, she explains to him that Kenshin is in great danger, as the same assailant who likely targeted Sanosuke is expected to make another attack. Wishing to know who tipped the household, Kaoru reveals that the police sent an officer to help protect the premises and the Kenshingumi. Introducing officer Goro Fujita to Himura, as the second door opens, Kenshin's eyes cannot mistake the visage of man sitting facing at the Dōjō's kamidana. Without error, the officer expertly deduces that Kenshin had trouble facing Akamatsu, and announces his excitement that after ten long and grueling years since the Boshin Wars and Toba Fushimi, they now again meet face to face. As Kaoru and Yahiko are left questioning Kenshin if he knows Officer Fujita, Kenshin unfailingly unveils the facade before them, that the man before them is no mere officer who specially is permitted to wield a katana, and that the threat of danger that lurks about has already found its way in. Letting the man know that he has long fallen from grace as a head on and daring samurai of the Shinsengumi who now deliberately sets up falls for his prey and baits with carnage and warnings by harming those around his mark, Kenshin's denouncement makes it clear that the man is Saitō Hajime, his archnemesis and penultimate rival from the Bakumatsu.
An image of Saitō as a former member of the Shinsengumi
Laughing in stride, Saitō returns the conversation in kind, denouncing Kenshin as a man whose will to be a rurouni that kills no more has but weakened him to a mere pathetic shell of his former self. Recanting every major battle and foe witnessed hidden from sight Kenshin has faced since his arrival into Tokyo and his residence in the Kamiya Kasshin Dōjō, Saitō's observations further object that Kenshin's will to protect the innocent and uphold his vows to never kill again only reveal a further weakness of deliberately letting those around him to be subjected to danger themselves openly, and that such foes able to even touch Himura are only further signs of his emaciation of strength since the Bakumatsu. As such, though Kenshin bears moral ground in that these ten years have made Saitō a depraved and disgraced warrior, Saitō remarks of Kenshin's failures to live up to his vows and honor them properly, and that despite his ideals, they in one way or another are but a sign of personal imbalance that make him look inconsistent and feeble in both heart and resolve; in short, to him, Kenshin is but a hypocrite, whose own ten long years have dishonored and renounced the codes and brotherhood of the ways of the warrior he and all others who call themselves samurai, regardless by any other name, accept upon making that first step and accepting carnage of all of its forms onto the battlefield, for what they believe in and are willing to fight to the death for.
Kaoru trying to stop Kenshin from fighting Saitō
Readying himself in Gatotsu stance, Saitō lets Himura know that he shall rid of the impostor that he sees before him who once held the name of Hitokiri Battōsai, and unspoken, this is a battle he cannot escape or deny. Before even making the first step, and even at the discretion of Saitō, Kaoru immediately pulls at Kenshin's sleeve, hoping to dissuade and break him free from this ominous confrontation. Fully aware of her worry and her feelings, Kenshin comforts her, that everything will be okay, and that no matter what happens or what unfolds, Saitō is only after him.
As the sun fully drops into the distance, as darkness envelops the land, and as emotions run high, Kenshin makes his way to his duel, and positions his standoff against his archnemesis. As every second sinks into the past with greater resound, and as the last of daylight fades into the clouds, upon its last sliver, the evening begins its descent into the unknown. With meteoric tension, the duel between Himura Kenshin and Saitō Hajime begins.
Saitō attacking Kenshin with a Gatotsu Sanshiki
Immediately plowing full force into the walls with a Gatotsu, Saitō misses Kenshin seconds too late, who leaps into the air, and draws his blade, to come down with a Ryu Tsui Sen. But before he can even unsheath his sakabatō in full, Saitō immediately spins and recovers, and openly goes after Kenshin with a surprise Gatotsu Second Style. Plunging his blade at the margins of his right chest, Kaoru and Yahiko can only witness in shock, of the turn of events before them. As Kenshin's blood falls like cherry blossoms outside, and at the mercy of Saitō Hajime, this death-defying battle, has only but truly begun!
Characters in Order of Appearance[]
- Takani Megumi
- Sagara Sanosuke
- Myōjin Yahiko
- Himura Kenshin
- Kamiya Kaoru
- Saitō Hajime
- Akamatsu Arundo
Anime Notes[]
- When talking to Yahiko, Saitō mentions that he has a special permission to carry a Japanese Katana, in comparison with the lighter (but weaker) sables that officers carry.
- That is why during his previous fight against Sanosuke, the sword broke in two.
Gallery[]
