Chapter 120: The First Amakakeru Ryuu no Hirameki

Soujirou: Which do you think will win?

Shishio: Hard to say... They're perfectly matched.

Houji: Logically, they should destroy each other. That would save us some trouble.

Soujirou: I want Mr. Himura to win. Then, we could settle what we started on the Rengoku. But, if Mr. Shinomori wins, what are you going to do, Mr. Shishio?

Shishio (smiling): Then, if I killed Shinomori Aoshi, I'd be the strongest.

(In the library, Aoshi and Kenshin square off for the attack.)

Sanosuke (thinking): This is it, Kenshin and Aoshi's final match! Aoshi's holding the kodachis backhanded, he's going for the Kaiten Kenbu Rokuren. Six deadly-swift attacks beginning from either the left or the right. Left or right... Kenshin's already taken two cuts to the neck. A moment of indecision would cost him his life. In response he's taking a battou-jutsu stance... Since he said he's using his full strength, he's probably going to use his new techniques. If Aoshi jumps blind into an unknown attack, he's sure to lose... Whatever happens, neither of them can counterattack. It's a perfect deadlock...

Aoshi (thinking): I'm sorry... Beshimi, Hyottoko, Shikijou, Hanya. In the end, as Battousai said, for your sake my soul was lost in a blind alley. Maybe I was a fool, saying it was all because of you... But win or lose, it ends here. No... I'll finish this with a victory for your sake!

(They are motionless, watching each other.)

Sanosuke (thinking): This is taking forever... It's been ten minutes, but it feels like hours... There's gotta be a clock around here.

(He goes looking for one, and finds Yumi with her hand poised on the telegraph machine.)

Sanosuke: Watch out, Kenshin! Shishio knows all about the fight! Don't use your techniques!

(The tension breaks, and Aoshi strikes.)

Aoshi (thinking): First attack--I'll strike left! Targeting the opposite of the battou-jutsu's base point. The back of the neck! Kaiten Kenbu Rokuren!

Kenshin (drawing his sword and thinking): At the height of a duel to the death, this technique sees and separates the hair's breath between life and death.

Hiko: To overcome this, you discovered the border between life and death. The will to live is essential. Kaoru: It's not just me and Megumi. Everyone wants you to come back safe. Kenshin (thinking): So, in the end, there are no fears in my heart--

Hiten Mitsurugi-ryuu Secret Technique! AMAKAKERU RYUU NO HIRAMEKI!

(He strikes spectacularly. Aoshi goes flying.)

Aoshi (as he falls): That was... Hiten Mitsurugi-ryuu's...

Houji: Lord Shishio, a telegram from Yumi! Himura used his secret technique! It's a battou-jutsu technique with all his strength behind it that took out Aoshi in one blow! As for the details--(His face falls)--"I couldn't see."

(Soujirou starts laughing.)

Houji (ripping up the telegram): That doesn't help!!

Shishio: But it does. He struck after Aoshi began the Kaiten and still surpassed it. In other words, it's some kind of lightning-fast battou-jutsu attack. (thinking) There must be something else. But what? There's something special hidden in this...

(Aoshi is lying on the floor, barely conscious, with a huge gash across his chest.)

Kenshin:... Once again, it was by a hair's breadth...

Aoshi: That hair's breadth was pretty wide...