Crush! Futae No Kiwami. Pain of Sanosuke's Fist!

Igh... a broken finger for Hoji, courtesy of Usui. With his Rengoku gone, Shishio calls for the Juppon Gatana to assemble at his base. However, Hoji interrupts, suggesting to his leader that they have Soujirou, Usui, and Anji fight Kenshin, Saitou, and Sanosuke while the other members of the Juppon Gatana go to the Aoiya and battle there. In Hoji's mind, he feels as though having the entire Juppon Gatana fight the three approaching visitors would be a loss, because somewhere, one or two of them may be killed, so it'd be better to use the three strongest members. Shishio ignores Hoji's plan and assembles all nine members of the Juppon Gatana. At the "meeting", Shishio lies to his underlings, telling them that Hoji was in charge of the plan with the burning of Kyoto and Rengoku. Shishio says he wanted all of the Juppon Gatana to be on the Rengoku, but Hoji thought they could be expandable in Kyoto as decoys. Usui walks over to Hoji, asking him if Shishio's telling the truth. When Hoji says his master is, Usui bends back his left index finger, disgusting all. Hoji wants to prove Shishio is no liar, so he takes out a knife and stabs his now broken finger. At last, Shishio uses Hoji's plan, dismissing all Juppon Gatana except Soujirou, Usui, and Anji. Hoji has proven his worth to Shishio Makoto. In the end, Shishio promises to give Hoji the glory of suggesting the plan now in execution.

Corrupt politicians is what led Anji to Shishio. Kenshin, Saitou, and Sano arrive at Shishio's base and are led in by Yumi. She explains that all battles will be one-on-one after hearing the three all agree to the stipulations. In the first room, a temple-like room, stands the first opponent, Anji. Sano is a bit shocked to see the man who taught him the Kiwami no Futae, but volunteers to fight the fallen priest. Both men are disappointed with one another. Anji thought Sano was one who hated the government, but Sano explains that he's only doing this because currently, there are innocent people trying to build their lives and cannot have fear in their lives if Shishio comes into power. Anji once thought that he could try and protect the world, but when he found out that there were so many corrupt people leading the country, he wants to destroy everything so the world can start from scratch; that is Anji's Guze.

The True Powers of Futae no Kiwami The battle begins shortly after. Sano thinks of himself as a Futae no Kiwami master, but when Anji shows off that he can execute the technique with many more body parts than just his right fist, Sano begins to doubt his chances of winning. Kenshin encourages Sano during the fight. Anji's body is big, so he is a bit slow. Sano is able to dodge most of Anji's attacks and finally gets in his right fist's Futae no Kiwami. For Sano, he thinks the battle is over, but somehow, Anji neutralized the attack.

This doesn't look good... More blows are dodged by Sano until he is finally grazed by Anji. Although it was a weak hit, the damage was tremendous. Anji allows Sano to be replaced, but Sano isn't finished yet. He unleashes numerous punches and kicks on Anji, which do no good. Anji gets in an open shot at Sano's stomach and begins praying for him. Somehow, Sano was too able to neutralize the Futae no Kiwami. With Anji caught off guard, Sano gets in his Futae no Kiwami punch at Anji's chest, knocking the fallen priest out cold. It looks as though the battle is now finished, since Anji isn't moving. However, before Sano can begin bragging, Anji gets up with a more devilish look in his eyes and a fearsome aura surrounding his body.