Hyottoko quickly refuels
his supply of oil with the keg on his back. Sanosuke stands
before him, ready the take the giant of a man on himself,
despite his injuries. An inescapable wave of fire is hurled
out by Hyottoko, but even so, Sanosuke darts straight
through the flames and manages to pull the bag of oil
that was hidden, literally inside of his opponent, through
his mouth. With just one swift kick following, Sanosuke
is declared the victor.
Beshimi, the scrawny man
who had encountered Kenshin and Sanosuke at the gambling,
cannot believe their strength. For him, it is unrealistic
to defeat Hyottoko so easily. The defeat of his fellow
Oniwa Banshuu comrade is blamed upon Megumi. Without concern
of the intended goal, Beshimi flicks a rasenbyou at the
direction of Kanryuu's golden goose. Just in the nick
of time, Yahiko jumps in to take the hit of the poisoned
spiral dart. Shortly thereafter, he collapses with dilated
eyes.
Kenshin goes up into the
trees and after Beshimi. Although he strikes his target,
the rurouni discovers that he had been fooled by a ninja
technique known as kawarimi, a deceiving skill which replaces
an object with another object. The person who had rescued
the runt of the Oniwa Banshuu group, wearing a frightening
demon-like mask, stands face-to-face with Kenshin. The
aura the masked man gives off is so fierce that even the
greatest hitokiri of them all has to acknowledge his strength.
