* Rurouni Kenshin Manga Translation * * Volume 11: The final curtain * * Chapter ninety-three: Blind swordsman Usui * (a shadow grabs a guard and slashes him. He walks into the hallway leading to Shishio's hideout) Chou: (voice over) To have been able to assasinate 50 expert swordsmen in one night, only two of the ten Juppongatana can achieve that. Sano: Two? Just only two? Chou: To leave no eyewitnesses in one night... and to finish off so many at the same time, it takes about two to three hours. If there weren't all these time limits, such lollipop snatching deals I can perform just as well. Sano: So that means everyone in the Juppongatana can achieve it. Chou: Why? Sano: 'Coz you're the lousiest in the lot. Chou: Got a bone to pick against me? I'll defeat you this time! Rooster tail head! Sano: Great! 'Coz I was just about to do it! You dirty little broom head! Saitou: You can fight after you finish talking. Chou: One of those is Tenken Soujirou, the guy who can't stop smiling. Saitou: *Indeed it is him...* (picture of Soujirou) Chou: (voice over) He may be young, but the oldest in experience compared to all the rest. I hear he was with Shishio-sama ever since Shishio-sama was burnt down by the Ishin government. Because of this too, Shishio-sama trusts him most in the Juppongatana, and even Okubo Toshimichi's assassination was entirely entrusted to him. (Saitou smokes his cigarette) Chou: But he can't be the one do have done it. After the assassination of Okubo Toshimichi, he should have reflected back to Kyoto with the Juppongatana in Eastern Japan, so he couldn't have flown over to Kobe, west of Kyoto to do off with your 50 men. Saitou: ... that's reasonable. Sano: So who did it? Cut the nonsense and out with it! Or I'll just have to beat you up again! Chou: (exploding) Eaarr... ccihiii... Saitou: You keep quiet. (stubs his cigarette on Sano's right temple) Watsuki: This action involves high risk of danger, good children will not imitate it! Saitou: So you mean there's someone of equal calibre as Soujirou in the Juppongatana, and he's the one to have done it? Chou: That's right, somewhere there. (picture of Shishio) Chou: (voice over) While however much Shishio-sama knows about him, is just like how much the Juppongatana does. Man: No shadow of the attacker! We lost his locations! Another man: Neither here either! The intruder's gone! Hoji: Shishio-sama, forgive your subordinate here. Yumi: Really! Every time something important happens, that little fellow (Soujirou) is always missing! Hoji: The Juppongatana is in full strength now. This intruder shall not escape our claws. Shishio: There is no need for an internal strife within the Juppongatana. And if I'm not wrong, the opponent has already been hiding here for long. Hoji: ! Internal strife... opponent... can it be... Shishio: ! Yumi: Shishio-sama! (a sound from above) (both of them draw swords and meet in a flash) Shishio: Your skills have improved. Hoji: So it's really you, USUI! Saitou: (voice over) Blind swordsman? Usui... Chou: (voice over) Hired by the shogunate to finish off the assasinators of the Ishinshishis... a really powerful kenkaku. Those famous hitokiris of the past had many died under his blade. Yet in a freak battle with Shishio- sama, his eyes were scratched through by Shishio, and lost his eyesight thereafter. In order to seek his revenge he went under countless trainings, ultimately acquiring the 'heart eye'. Usui: What're you yelping for about, little fellow? As long as I create an opportunity and space, I shall attack Shishio as and when I like. I joined this organization too because of this promise wasn't it? (turns to Shishio) Usui: Am I right? Shishio: Umm. Hoji: I know that! What I cannot accept is your breaking through into this terrain by killing so many of your colleagues! Usui: Once I'm in form no one is my match. Why mind so much those little nothings' lives? Speaking of nothings, I met an entire group of sneaky looking fellows in Kobe, and in a fit of joy tried my sword on them. Hoji: You... ! I told you never to act on your own... Shishio: Usui, there could not have been a man with a cross scar on his left cheek and one who has the build of a preying wolf in those 50? Usui: ! Shishio: You're right. I don't care about those little nothings at all. But those two are the biggest threat to the Juppongatana. Usui: Ho ho... so that means if I finished you with the both of them off at the same time I would've completed my mission. Chou: Tenken Soujirou and Blind swordsman Usui... the duo at the forefront of the Juppongatana. But unless Shishio-sama orders, Soujirou will not move. So on a distorted point of view, his threat is not as large. (he lifts his finger) Chou: You don't look too poorly skilled yourself. But Usui's kenjutsu is definitely of a higher grade than yours. Saitou: Ho... We shall see soon. I have one more question. I received news of Shishio's plan to destroy Kyoto, but the precise details are unknown to me. What does he intend to do to Kyoto? Chou and Saitou: ... Chou: ... Incident of 'the house of Pooled Fields (okay okay, this is corny, but as long as it sounds like a meaning, who cares!)'. I believe you know about this matter. (Saitou's eyes widen [not very much though, his eyes aren't very big anyway]) Saitou: Yes. I have heard about it. (picture of fighting people) Chou: (voice over) June A.D. 1864, the Ishinshishis gathered in the lodging in the house of Pooled Fields to secure a plan. They intend to incinerate Kyoto and throw everyone into chaos, then take the opportunity to assasinate the important characters in the Shogunate empire, then escort the Emperor to Choshuu. While they were discussing, the Shinsengumi sneaked in to do off with all those involved, sprinkling a blood bath, and curing Kyoto of an incoming inferno disease, which history termed as 'Incident of the house of Pooled Fields'. (pause) Chou: (voice over) Shinsengumi was known to one and all as Mibu's Wolf's assasination sydicate, their ability to stop this disaster from happening helped the commoners to finally clear up the misunderstanding of their outward impression and proved to all the great battling powress of the Shinsengumi. Due to the Shinsengumi the Kyoto Inferno plan was never carried out, and this is what Shishio-sama wants to fulfill as of now. (scene of a fire) Chou: (voice over) 500 of Shishio's men will be stationed throughout the important points of Kyoto and light it up, the the Juppongatana will sneak in through the chaos and murder the important men now... (picture of a burning roof) Chou: (voice over) Shishio-sama will now fulfill what those Ishinshishis who had burnt him left behind, a plan without carried on success. This is the results of Shishio-sama's sharp senses in battle strategies' chronological records! (he stares) Chou: The original plan was to initiate this action when the Jupopngatana has congregated in Kyoto. And that time is near. Saitou: That's a great move indeed, though the Emperor's lodging is no longer in Kyoto but Tokyo, however as long as the edict has not been officially announced, Kyoto shall still be the capital and not Tokyo... (he stares too) Saitou: Kyoto is known to many affectionately as 'the thousand year empire', it's place in the hearts of many Japanese cannot be underestimated. If they can't even protect this capital, then the government shall lose a great many points in it's favor with the commoners. Sano: That's the government's business, not mine. Chou: Why haven't you gone out yet? Sano: Crap! To set Kyoto ablaze just like that, the government wouldn't suffer, but the people would! Ten years of cold blood lived through after a turmoiled Bakumatsu... it wasn't easy for the people to finally get the peaceful new era they craved for, but must it disappear into a puff of smoke along with the fire just like that? (he slams his fist hard on the floor) Sano: Shishio and the Ishin government aren't any different! Don't think us commoners got no value in our lives! I swear before the 'evil' on my back, that I shall never allow Kyoto to burst into flames! Saitou! Let's settle our accounts another time and channel all our energies for finding Kenshin instead! Saitou: Settle it whenever you want. But we truly must find Kenshin out now. To allow those of the inverted triangle (shinsengumi) to rest in peace, Kyoto must never be reduced to ashes. (he looks at Sano) Saitou: ... Never expected. Sano: That's right, even you and I can see a day when our views compromise. Not even in dreams can it be expected. Saitou: ... Humph! Don't you stand there lazing away! Go find Kenshin out now! AHO! (Saitou's nickname for Sano) Sano: Wait a minute! You've got no right to order me around! I'M NOT YOUR SUBORDINATE! (the prison door closes) END TRANSLATION (c) Nobuhiro Watsuki Translation: ruroken@geocities.com Please press your browser's back button to go back.