Kamishimoemon
chuckles at the sight of the field of beaten
men. Sanosuke looks up at his father and cracks
a grin. The two, with Outa asleep on his father's
back, head down the mountain. Kamishimoemon
explains to Sanosuke about what Outa was going
to do. Both of his children still living under
his roof had changes of attitude thanks to their
older brother. He adds in that Uki became the
worrier she is because Sanosuke left home to
join the Seikihou Tai. Uki had cried rivers
when he had left. She was so persistent to see
her brother one more time that she even wanted
to go as far as to join the Seikihou Tai herself,
but when news was heard of the group's downfall,
she cried once more. Kamishimoemon adds in that
everything would be fine if Sanosuke would settle
down. After a brief moment of silence, father
and son burst out laughing, knowing such a thing
won't ever happen.
A fork in the
road is reached. Kamishimoemon is ready to head
down one path and Sanosuke the other. Both agree
that they don't want to see each other's face
again, then head off in their own separate ways.
However, before he leaves Shinshuu once and
for all, Sanosuke wakes up Outa. He apologizes
to his younger brother for belittling him the
other day, tells him to be a nice brother to
Uki until she gets engaged, then hints at him
to join the Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu school in Tokyo
if he wishes to get stronger. With that all
said, Sanosuke sets off on the road back to
where he came from.
The next day,
word gets around town about Fudosawa's defeat
and Tani's humiliation. Rumor has it that the
politician was beaten up in his own room by
the mysterious street fighter and was left traumatized
afterwards. While no one really caught his name,
they have much thanks to give Sanosuke. The
situation will now surely be looked into by
the government and police, but since none of
the residents of Shinshuu are to blame, there
is no longer a threat that they will lose the
waystation. While Sanosuke's feats will be remembered
for years to come in the small village, there
is one person that will never forget the man
with the character of 'evil' on his back. Uki
finishes up her sewing and gives Outa his shirt,
now bearing the same symbol as his brother's
on his back.
