A Giant versus Superman! Saving Grace at the Edge of Despair.

A giant versus superman indeed. Fuji, Saizuchi's partner, begins tearing apart the area by the Aoiya with his large sword. The massive size of Fuji frightens all, bringing down their hopes of ever winning. Out of the bunch, Yahiko seems to be the one with the must faith. He knows Kenshin will return, so he stands before Fuji, almost as though he is sacrificing himself, calling out Kenshin's name. As Fuji raises his sword at Saizuchi's command and brings it down with much force, mysteriously, Yahiko had been saved. When the dusk clears, Yahiko finds his savior, Hiko, blocking Fuji's attack with his own sword.

Fuji's rage is released. Hiko explains he would have come much earlier, but Kenshin gave him bad directions. For someone who just saved another from death, Hiko seems very arrogant and cocky. Kenshin's master tells everyone to stand back as he converses with Fuji. Hiko begins praising Fuji for mastering his weapon for his size and shortly after, starts telling Fuji that he's being manipulated by Saizuchi. For his entire life, Fuji was looked at as a monster, no one accepted him. For the first time in his life, he has been accepted by someone, Hiko. Saizuchi warns Fuji not to listen to Hiko because he was the one that saved him when he was dying. Even with those words spoken, Fuji breaks out of his armor at Hiko's request to fight.

Hiko hits the Kuzu Ryu Sen on the giant Fuji. Tears of joy run down Fuji's face as he reveals his face and puts down Saizuchi. With two arms clenched on his sword raised in the air, Fuji prepares for the duel in his stance. Hiko and Fuji size up each other for quite some time until Fuji breaks his sword down. The force from the impact is so great that it blows away most of the onlookers, but it never did touch Hiko. With Fuji left wide open, Hiko hits the large warrior with the Kuzu Ryu Sen, taking him out with that one technique. Lucky for Fuji, Hiko had reversed his sword so he would not kill his worthy opponent.

What kind of battle is in store for Kenshin this time? When word of the Aoiya attack being a complete failure reaches Shishio's base, Hoji throws a fit. Kenshin, Sano, and Yumi arrive in front of the final room that lies before Shishio himself. Behind it awaits Soujirou. For some reason, Kenshin believes he has heard Kaoru's voice, so he takes it as a sign that everything at the Aoiya is fine. The doors of the room open up. Kenshin versus Soujirou, the rematch from the Shingetsu Village is about to commence. For Kenshin, he must win this battle in order to reach Shishio and get some revenge for Okubo. For Soujirou, it's a battle where only the strong survive and the weak just die.