In the evening, Kenshin meets
with Jin'e in Chinshu Forest before the old temple, where
Kaoru is tied up. His eyes are different. No longer is he
the peaceful rurouni, but is gradually reverting into the
Hitokiri Battousai. Kenshin is only mad at the fact that
Jin'e involved Kaoru and that he couldn't protect her. The
conversation is cut short as battle begins.
Kenshin and Jin'e clash their
swords. Kenshin unleashes his Ryu Sou Sen, but Jin'e blocks
all of Kenshin's attempted hits. Jin'e tries the Shin no
Ippou, but Kenshin is immune to such a technique. After
clashing for quite a few rounds, Kenshin is able to predict
all of his opponent's moves. Jin'e is caught off balance
when Kenshin almost knocks him off of his feet, but Jin'e
rebounds and stabs Kenshin in the left shoulder.
The battle pauses for a brief
moment. Jin'e feels that Kenshin isn't fighting with his
full potential, so, to make the rurouni even angrier, he
hits Kaoru with a powerful Shin no Ippou. Unlike the regular
Shin no Ippou which causes paralysis, the more powerful
version can cause its target to suffocate. In just a matter
of minutes, Kaoru will be dead unless Kenshin does something
about it. When Kenshin strikes the Kurogasa in the nose,
Jin'e mentions out loud that he could not see where his
adversary was coming from. Reverting into the Hitokiri Battousai
is causing Kenshin to become both more powerful and quicker.
The battle between the two hitokiris has only begun.
