Rurouni Kenshin Manga Translations
Volume Fourteen--The Promised Time is Now
Part 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 . . .
The Promised Time is Now--End