Take a Pledge! The Hidden Sword Technique, Shiden No Tachi!

Toma calls out Kenshin to the forest. With the Jinpuu Tai having targeted him, Sano plays bodyguard for Sasaki. As Kenshin washes the clothes at the Kamiya Dojo, Toma appears and walks away. Kenshin follows him to a nearby forest, where they duel. Toma recognizes Kenshin as the Battousai shortly after, but Kenshin questions Toma why he assassinates. The excuse Toma makes up is that he wants to change society, just like how the Hitokiri Battousai changed the era. When Kenshin asks the Jinpuu Tai leader who exactly is behind the scenes planning out everything, Toma refuses to answer. Instead, Toma readies himself to execute the Shiden no Tachi. However, before he charges at Kenshin, other Jinpuu Tai members arrive on the scene and tell him something. A new target has been found, and thus, Toma leaves his fight with Kenshin up in the air, for now.

The Man Behind the Jinpuu Tai, Hashizume Kaoru and Yahiko find Kenshin at the forest entrance and take him back home. There, Kenshin announces that the Jinpuu Tai has found a new target. Sasaki understands how Toma must feel. When he was the Hinoha Ittou Ryuu teacher, Sasaki looked up to as a hero because he was fighting to save the Edo Dynasty. Sometime during that time, Toma must have accepted the same philosophy that the sword is the only way to change things. Elsewhere, plans of Yamagata's assassination are made. The Jinpuu Tai will assassinate Yamagata when he is returning home from a party at Geihin Kan. The man behind the operations, a politician by the name of Hashizume, wants to kill off Yamagata for thinking that politicians don't need money. Even when Yamagata's dead, Hashizume brags to his friends that he won't let the Jinpuu Tai get the offer given to them.

Kenshin is no pushover. Didn't everyone know that? At nighttime, a few members of the Jinpuu Tai invade the Kamiya Dojo. Everyone there, Kaoru, Yahiko, Sano, and Sasaki all fend off the assassination group. Kenshin is no where to be found. In Geihin Kai, Yamagata's carriage is stopped by the rest of the Jinpuu Tai. To their surprise, out walks Kenshin. The first thing he tries to get across is that the entire Jinpuu Tai is being used, especially Toma. Before the fight from earlier resumes, Sano and Sasaki arrive on the scene after prying out the location of the next target from the other Jinpuu Tai members. Sasaki also tries to get the same point across as Kenshin, but Toma refuses to listen. The Jinpuu Tai attacks all three of their opponents. Kenshin, Sano, and Sasaki easily take care of them, but when Kenshin and Toma are left alone, Toma executes the Shiden no Tachi. Effortlessly, Kenshin is able to hit Toma's sword up as he blocks. However, quickly following up after his first strike, Toma executes yet another Shiden no Tachi. This time, Kenshin dodges Toma completely and strikes him on the back.

Finally, Toma realizes. Soon, the police arrive on the scene and arrest not only the Jinpuu Tai, but also Hashizume, who had accompanied them. The police had known Hashizume was involved with the assassinations, and Yamagata further supports their decision as he arrives on horseback. Hashizume begins to lie, saying he was framed and tries to disassociate himself with the Jinpuu Tai. In an angry rage, Toma picks up his sword and charges at Hashizume. Before he reaches his target, Kenshin steps in the way and stops Toma. Toma gets on his knees and lifts up his sword. Before dying an honorable death, Sasaki grabs Toma's sword from his hands and tells his former student that now he understands he deserves punishment. The only way Sasaki suggests to Toma is that he accepts the facts and tries to atone for his wrongdoings. As Toma bows his head in shame, Sano grabs the sword away from his teacher friend's hand and tosses it into the river, reminding Sasaki that after all, he is the one that shouldn't be holding the sword.