Rurouni Kenshin Manga Translations
Volume Twenty-Three--Consciousness of Crime and Punishment
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.
You don't have to explain anything. We don't need to know what happened, just try to rest.
We're Japanese too. Don't worry about a thing.
With nourishing food and devoted care, they saved the boy's life.
Sanosuke: So they were his guardians in Shanghai.
Megumi: Of course. A child couldn't survive in Shanghai all alone.
Enishi: Though it was out of character, the boy thanked God in his heart. For sending him such easy prey.
(Enishi stands in a room surrounded by the slaughtered corpses of the family.)
Enishi: After that, money was never a problem.
Megumi: How could he--
Sanosuke: So he was twisted from the start!
Enishi: What he needed next were strong weapons.
(The young Enishi searches the house, turning up swords and the book Tantou Housen.)
Enishi: Thus the boy was introduced to Watoujutsu. He studied alone, so perhaps he incorporated something of his own style into it, but as he grew he became a practitioner of Watoujutsu that none could best. Now, here's a problem for you. Why was the boy not content to simply rob them, but had to murder the entire family?
Kenshin: That's enough . . .
Enishi: One. It was out of defiance towards the family. Two. The boy was simply a psychopath. Three. Since all happiness had been stolen from the boy, whose dear sister had been killed by the cruel Hitokiri, he could not bear to see such a happy family.
Kenshin: Don't say another word, Enishi!
Enishi: I hardly need say that the correct answer is three.
Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuukansen!
Enishi: So the fire is set. But flames like these will be blown back by the winds of the continent--you'll be the one to get burned!
Watoujutsu Kaishitousei!
(He blocks Kenshin's slash with the hilt of his sword, then whips it around his body to stab Kenshin just below the left arm.)
Sanosuke: Kenshin!
Megumi: Ken-san!
Saitou: Fool. The Ryuukansen works best as a return technique. As a first blow it leaves you open to a counterattack.
Kaoru: Kenshin!
(Enishi glares at Kaoru, and takes a few steps towards her.)
Enishi: So after ten years, the boy found the Hitokiri that had killed his sister. The Hitokiri had changed his name, and had found a new happiness. This, the boy could not bear.
(Kenshin holds his sword between them.)
Kenshin: This is a fight between you and me. It concerns no one else. I'll stop you here.
Enishi: Very well. Then I think I've talked enough. From now it's the real thing.
translations by maigo-chan
last updated 17 nov 2000