Part 202: An Old Story

From the thirteenth to eighteenth century, the coasts of Japan, especially the straits, were overrun with pirates. They finally crossed the Sea of Japan and arrived on the coasts of China. The Ming called them "Wakou." Those who fought against them were unable to contain the terrible force of their Japanese swords in close-quarters combat. Tei Sou Yuu, a general from the Shaolin warrior monks, noticed these swords and their kenjutsu and studied them. He gathered what he learned in a book called Tantou Housen and distributed it to the armies. Another general, Seki Keikou, adopted the Japanese sword as part of his soldier's equipment. These were not only imported but actually produced on the continent. Thus, the Japanese sword was taken out of narrow Japan and perfected in China, along with the continental-style kenjutsu, Watoujutsu!

Kenshin: The speed and keen edge of the Japanese sword, and kenjutsu fused with the flexible movements of continental techniques...

Enishi (smiling): It's not quite that simple.

Saitou: Of course not. That wouldn't be enough to climb to the top of a crime organization.

Sanosuke: Yeah, but the whitehair knows his kenjutsu.

Enishi: Warm-up is over. The time has come for the sword that soars the heavens, don't you think?

Kenshin: Before that, you really should take off your dark glasses. One misstep and you could be blinded.

Enishi: You think so little of me? Or is it you think so much of yourself?

Kenshin: Neither. I'm not doing this to hurt you. I'm fighting to stop you.

(A pause.)

Enishi: You're slow to catch fire, but once you burn, you burn. This time it will take some doing to set you ablaze. Very well. Until you're serious, I'll divert you with some conversation.

(He strikes; Kenshin blocks; the fight resumes once more.)

Enishi: Once upon a time--there was a young boy whose sister was killed by a Hitokiri. This poor boy, who was left all alone, renounced Japan and went to Shanghai on the continent. But Shanghai, the demon city of the east, was a harsh place for the powerless to live. Within a month, the boy was no more than skin and bone.

Kenshin: Stop it. I told you I don't want to hear this story.

Enishi: You're not ready to fight me seriously yet, are you? Then I'd better go on. I have to while away the spare moments somehow.

(Off on the sidelines)

Sanosuke: They're talking again. Can you hear what they're saying?

Kaoru: Yes... a little. Just now when the wind changed I caught a little. It sounded like a fairy tale.

Enishi: Hunger and exhaustion. Sickness and pain. The boy collapsed and could move no further. Just then--

(A well-dressed couple discover Enishi collapsed in the street.)

Hey, are you all right? How could a Japanese boy--quickly, bring him medicine. This couple was Japanese, on an extended stay in Shanghai to study Chinese books. From their speech, one could tell they were upper class.