Early the next morning,
the Hiruma Brothers await for the father of the girl to
step out of his home and into the open. Armed with a bow
and arrow, Kihei fires once he sees his target, but to
his and his brother's surprise, the father catches the
arrow as it screams towards him. Attached to the arrow
is a note, which the father reads. As the Hiruma Brothers
scamper away, heads bowed in shame, Uki, the daughter,
sticks her head out and asks what's going on. The father
tells his children that he'll be stepping out for a while.
Uki argues that they have to finish up with their straw
hats, since the deadline is the following day, but the
man of the house leaves on his own free will.
Near a riverbank is where
Sanosuke waits. After some time, the father and menace
to Fudosawa, Kamishimoemon, arrives. Sanosuke gets to
his feet, but stares at his opponent in surprise. Out
of the blue, Sanosuke calls the man his father. Kamishimoemon
looks over Sanosuke a bit, then gives him a good punch.
The father explains that he did have a son named Sanosuke
at one time, but has never heard from him after he had
joined the Seikihou Tai. Sanosuke introduces himself as
Zanza, though, mentioning that his real name is Sagara
Sanosuke at the same time.
The two men go at it, fist-to-fist
all the way into the late afternoon. No winner is declared,
since neither man wishes to admit defeat. However, Kamishimoemon
gets to his feet and begins heading back home. It seems
as though the two have accepted the fact that they are
father and son. Before he goes, Sanosuke questions his
father on why a farmer like himself is getting into the
business of a man like Fudosawa. Kamishimoemon explains
that Fudosawa had destroyed their farmlands, and since
he doesn't want Uki and Outa to live in poverty, they've
been making straw hats to survive. Slowly, Fudosawa is
destroying the town that prospered because of the Meiji
Revolution. His background support is an Ishin Shishi,
so he has the ability to bring the town under his rule,
but Kamishimoemon swears that he will do all he can in
order to prevent a change in lifestyle for the people
of Shinshuu. Before he disappears out of his son's sight,
Kamishimoemon invites Sanosuke over to his home, if he
can still remember where it is. Sanosuke stays put and
doesn't follow his father, a bit upset with hearing the
name of the Ishin Shishi even in his own hometown.
