Chapter 18

"Kenshin, what was that pale blue crescent-shaped attack you used when you fought with Sano a few days ago?" A few days later, at the Kamiya dojo, after practicing swordsmanship, Yahiko pulled Kenshin to ask.

"That's right, Kenshin. I've heard that you have a technique in your legend that can kill from a distance. It must be that one, right?" Kamiya Kaoru, who was standing nearby, walked over and guessed.

"That technique is called the Ki Ame no Ken's Ki Blade Slash, a secret skill of my second master." Kenshin explained to the two while washing clothes.

"Second master? Right, I haven't heard you talk about your masters before. And a second master? You have more than one master, Kenshin?" Kaoru was surprised.

"Yes, it's been a long time. My first master, Hiko Seijuro, and my second master, Tenshin, saved me and taught me swordsmanship with all their heart, but I left on a whim..." Thinking about the past, Kenshin fell into a reverie...

At noon, Sano came over to freeload, as he had no money since he no longer fought for a living. However, today Kaoru was cooking, and it was terrible. Sano almost spat out his first bite. The others, except for Kenshin, also ate with painful expressions.

"It's so bad, I might as well go to Tenshin's tofu shop for something to eat."

The others also commented on how bad it was, but Kenshin didn't say it was bad and thought each time Kaoru's cooking had a different flavor. Kaoru, angry, threw a bunch of radishes, a bucket, and firewood at Sano. Poor Kenshin was used as a shield by Sano and ended up with a head full of bumps.

At this moment, the local police chief found Kenshin and asked for his help. It turned out that a killer named Kurokasa had been rampant recently and was now targeting a famous reformer. The police chief believed that with Kenshin's help, there was a good chance of protecting this official. After carefully inquiring about the matter, Kenshin decided to help that night, and Sano also said he would go, but before that...

"I think I'll go to Tenshin's tofu shop for something to eat first. Just eating your cooking, little girl... I feel like I have no strength at all."

Before Kaoru could get angry, Sano had already run far away, and Kenshin once again became Kaoru's punching bag...

On the other side.

"Ah, Uncle Tenshin, another bowl, please."

Sano handed the bowl to Tenshin, who filled it for him. Tenshin smiled as he watched Sano swallow the food.

"Sano, why are you here today?"

"Ah... Because I ran into something, so I need to eat first before going. I have to stay up all night tonight."

"By the way, I feel a bad vibe today." Tenshin frowned.

"Bad vibe?" Sano stopped his chopsticks and looked at Tenshin, "What do you mean, Uncle Tenshin?"

"Since this morning, I've felt a strong killing intent. I'm not sure what it will lead to." Tenshin placed new tofu on the counter.

"Uncle Tenshin, you..."

Sano paused and continued,

"Today, my friend Kenshin received a request from the police. A killer named Kurokasa, who is addicted to killing, has left a message at the police station saying he will kill a high official at midnight tonight. Kenshin is going to protect that official."

"Kurokasa, huh..." Tenshin thought for a moment, "Probably a killer sent by other high-ranking officials to gain power..."

"Eh?" Sano was surprised, "No way, Kurokasa could be..."

"Some people from the end of the Bakumatsu period couldn't change their nature even in the Meiji era. After living in a world of blood and violence for a long time, they treat killing as a daily routine, and few can give it up. The government, due to the law, cannot easily kill, so the interests of such killers and the government align. This is probably the origin of Kurokasa..."

Hearing Tenshin's words, Sano was unusually silent. Tenshin went inside, took out a pair of special gloves made of a material that exposed half the fingers, and threw them to Sano. "Take these. Don't underestimate these gloves; they can withstand blades. I think you will definitely go to help Kenshin, and with these, you will be safer when facing opponents with weapons."

"Uncle Tenshin..."

That night, there were many police patrolling around the villa where the high official lived, and there were over ten people guarding the room where the official was. Kenshin and Sano were among them. Since Kurokasa's message stated he would come at midnight, the two were playing shogi to pass the time...

"Kenshin, do you have any impression of this Kurokasa?" Sano asked.

"Probably, I have some guesses about Kurokasa's identity." Kenshin moved a piece.

"Really!" Sano was very excited and pressed for more, but before he could get an answer, the惨叫声 of the patrolling police officer downstairs interrupted their conversation. Everyone in the room picked up their weapons and took defensive positions. Kenshin and Sano stood closest to the door to protect the ordinary guards who had little fighting ability.

But neither Kenshin nor Sano expected Kurokasa to not enter through the door but to burst into the room through the window. The guards standing by the window immediately reacted, raising their swords to strike Kurokasa. However, a man-slayer like Kurokasa was not someone a few hired guards could injure. Within ten rounds, he had cut down these guards.

The high official, standing at the back of the crowd, was so frightened by the sight of the guards' deaths that he trembled like a sieve. He quickly shouted that he would give money and positions to anyone who killed Kurokasa. The guards, thinking they could overwhelm Kurokasa with numbers, charged at him for the reward and power, ignoring Kenshin and Sano's warnings.

Seeing the large number of people, Kurokasa immediately used the Niten Ichi-ryu's secret technique, Shin no Ichi. Shin no Ichi is a mental battle, using sword qi to intimidate and paralyze the opponent. It is more like a hypnotic technique than a sword technique, and its effectiveness depends on the mental strength of both parties. Although it can be broken with concentration, most of the people present were just drunkards and could not break Kurokasa's Shin no Ichi, and could only watch as Kurokasa approached with his sword.

"What kind of black magic are you using?" Sano could not completely break free from Shin no Ichi's control but could still speak and move slightly.

Seeing that Sano could speak under the control of Shin no Ichi, Kurokasa became interested: "Oh, you're not just a commoner. Should I cut off your head or your arm first?" Kurokasa slowly approached Sano, planning to deal with this threat first.

"Niten Ichi-ryu's Shin no Ichi has another name: the Shrink Technique." A voice came from behind Sano. Hearing this voice, Kurokasa's eyes widened instantly. A red figure flew out from behind Sano, and the sakabatou was drawn. Kurokasa quickly raised his katana to meet the sakabatou. The two swords clashed, and both landed. Kurokasa's hat was split in two and fell to the ground.

"Indeed, it's you, Tenshin. I've heard that there was a man at the end of the Bakumatsu period who could emit sword qi from his eyes to intimidate opponents. That was you, right?" Kenshin said, holding the sakabatou.

"Ha ha ha..." Kurokasa let out a terrifying laugh and turned around: "I've also heard of the legendary man-slayer among the reformers who uses the Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu and Ki Ame no Ken, the Battosai of the Himura clan." As he spoke, Kurokasa's eyes emitted sword qi, trying to control Kenshin, but...

The sword qi had not even touched Kenshin when the sword qi around Kenshin had already repelled Shin no Ichi. "No, Tenshin. The Ki Ame no Ken I practice is skilled in using sword qi, so your Shin no Ichi has no effect on me."

Seeing that his Shin no Ichi had no effect on Kenshin, Kurokasa did not show fear but became even more excited.

"Fighting the Battosai feels like I'm back in the Bakumatsu period, but..." Kurokasa ran towards the high official's position,

"The job isn't finished yet."

Although Kenshin shouted for the high official to concentrate and break free from Shin no Ichi, the high official, immersed in power, had a very low chance of overcoming his fear and breaking free. Fortunately, Sano concentrated, shouted, and broke free from Shin no Ichi's control, picking up a nearby sculpture and breaking Kurokasa's sword. Just as Sano was happy, Kurokasa thrust the broken sword at Sano. Realizing he couldn't avoid it, Sano quickly raised his arm to meet the sword.

"Stupid." Kurokasa said, but the next moment, he was stunned. The broken sword hit Sano's glove but did not penetrate, as if it had hit something solid. Seizing the opportunity, Sano punched Kurokasa in the face.

A straight punch naturally had little power, even if it was a full-force strike from a fighting expert. Kurokasa only took a few steps back and regained his balance, but Kenshin, who was nearby, did not miss this chance. Taking advantage of Kurokasa's unsteady stance, Kenshin quickly leaped and slashed at Kurokasa. Kurokasa's skill was still good, and he barely managed to block the attack.

Using the impact of the sword clash, Kenshin jumped to the ceiling and kicked it, using the reaction force to rush down at high speed.

"Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu: Ryu Tsui Sen."

Kurokasa quickly moved, but it was too late. The Ryu Tsui Sen grazed Kurokasa's face, knocking out a few of his front teeth. After being hit by the Ryu Tsui Sen, Kurokasa could no longer maintain Shin no Ichi, and the others also broke free from its control. Kurokasa fled to the window and turned to look at Kenshin:

"My next target is you, the Choshu reformer, the Battosai of the Himura clan. I will appear before you again in a few days. Before then, change the sakabatou in your hand..."

With that, Kurokasa jumped out of the window...

Kenshin ran to the window, but realized he couldn't catch up to Kurokasa and slowly walked to Sano. "Sano, is your hand okay?"

Sano showed Kenshin his undamaged glove: "Don't worry, I'm fine. Luckily, Uncle Tenshin from Tenshin's tofu shop gave me this pair of gloves, or I might have been injured this time."

Sano thought everything was fine, but Kenshin's expression suddenly changed, "The owner of Tenshin's tofu shop is named Tenshin... Sano, is the owner of Tenshin's tofu shop named Tenshin Tenshin?"

"Of course, what's with the sudden excitement, Kenshin?" Seeing Kenshin's expression, Sano couldn't help but ask.

"... Sano, one of my masters is named Tenshin Tenshin." Kenshin was now very excited but also a bit hesitant, unsure whether he should meet his master.

Sano was stunned, never expecting that the place he often freeloaded from had such a person. The master of the legendary man-slayer Battosai was running a tofu shop. Could this be what they called a great master hiding in the city?

(Reason for Tenshin's shop: In my impression, hidden grandmasters should usually run a small shop in a city, waiting for a destined person...)

"Kenshin, are you sure? How can the owner of a tofu shop be your master?"

Kenshin calmed down: "Sano, I plan to visit the owner of Tenshin's tofu shop tomorrow to confirm his identity."

Sano naturally wanted to accompany Kenshin, as he needed to return the gloves to Tenshin...

Physical condition:

Number of Heart Coins: 880

Rurouni Kenshin world

Name: Tenshin (Liu Tianyin)

Gender: Male

Physical attributes

Physical strength is about nine times that of an average person.

Detailed situation

Strength 89 (10) affects burst strength, pure strength, and strength beyond limits

Agility 96 (10) affects speed, reaction, and intuition

Endurance 92 (10) affects endurance, recovery speed, and the ability to withstand certain techniques

Skill: Ki Ame no Ken

No-sword style (consumes 10 Heart Coins)

Mastery of all cold weapons (consumes 200 Heart Coins)

Mastery of all firearms (consumes 200 Heart Coins)

Martial arts master (consumes 10 Heart Coins)

Acquired Heart Powers:

Killing Heart Level 2: Does not waver when killing others in most situations, has resistance to some illusions, and gains a small amount of recovery from killing.

Mercy Heart Level 1: Mercy is a necessary heart for a strong person, has resistance to some illusions, and gains a small amount of recovery from helping others.

Ordinary Heart Level 1: Daily life can cultivate one's character, has resistance to some illusions, and can gain the favor of ordinary people.

Other powers not yet activated

ps: Request for recommendations, favorites, and reviews.

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