Rurouni Kenshin

A Man of Slashing Swords

Night of the full moon, where its moonlit become its radiance to dimness, the summer leaves of the immense forest are somewhat dancing under the wind of night sky. In this instance, no one can try to walk in the main road on freewill in nighttime. No one will attempt to see how beautiful the night stars are. No one can believe there some kind of Buddha to look upon them. No one will!

Because people die every day, people die for no reason… in just slash of the Swords.

           In this Tokugawa Shogunate era, perpetual problems remain. Some of those are the division in the tyranny government- Bakufu alliance with Shinsengumi and the other faction of patriots (Isshin Shishi) that are against with the Shogunate law and hoping for a new regimen which is the Meiji Era and later on, rooted for a civil wars at Toba Fushimi called the Bakumatsu War, the Boshin War andthe Seinan War.

  Fearless brute bandits in group appeared as lookout in the road at night chasing their victims and loot any valuable possessions. The poor victims die by such mass slaughter and increases by random. Even the so-called police swordsmen cannot cease the kind of these ruthless men. They’re only objectives are to honor the Emperor and defend the Togukawa beneficiaries and sole government against upcoming patriots. Nothing less, nothing more. 

So the citizens, mostly the poor become hopeless and cause them to suffer the bloodiness of un-wanting war then gave birth for many rebels/assassins/patriots/pacifists to form a clan against Bakufu group that rises up each year.

 In this period, the idealism for having a state of peace where the weak is not to be oppressed by the strong; people whom never fear crossing the road, contain fairness and equality is just a mere dream because the weak people become the food for the strong men.

As the oath goes: “If you’re weak, you die. If you’re strong, you live.”

These never ends, people just die again for nothing.

If you never learned the kenjutsu of swords, you’re defenseless then if you practice it, you can kill countless of times then branded yourself a murderer otherwise.

The story begins when Seijurou Hiko, the 13th master of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu (Flying Heaven Govern Sword-Style) showed up being a ‘Rurouni’ swordsman to save those whom unfortunate that die in a merciless way of kenjutsu of the swords.  

Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu is an ancient kenjutsu originated in Kitakata prefecture from Sengoku era in feudal Japan created by Seijurou Hiko the 1st master. The ougi is to defeat many foes single-handedly that uses a total Godspeed and agility type in order to evade attacks and then, strike back the opponents in thorough slaying. It has 16 special techniques that can practiced during trainings that will improve the apprentice’s mind, heart and body and 2 succession techniques that only passed on from Master to apprentice for 14 generations wherein the apprentice should surpassed and took his master’s life, obtain his heirloom special mantle cloak and the ‘Shirasaya Nihonto sword: Fuyutsuki’ (Winter Moon) as well as the name ‘Seijurou Hiko’. By using the superior technique, victory is assured to any political factions you’re in. So in these 14 generations, different masters followed different ideals in using the sweet principle of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu.

As Seijurou Hiko the 13th reminiscened his past as he looked upon the moon..

‘Only few apprentices in the dojo capable of mastering the technique because rumors said that years before the succession of Hiten Mitsurugi’s 1st of the final secret art – ‘Kuzu ryuuzen’ (advance attack into nine different targets of the body at the same time particularly karatake, kesagiri, sakageza, hidarinagi, medinagi, hidarikeriaga, medikeriaga, sakakaza, and tsuki) only two have survived:     Ni’itsu Kakunoshin (later on Seijurou Hiko 13th) and Hyouei Nishida, other apprentices of master Hiko the 12th have failed the test and ended up dead due to its complicated nine-strike method and blocking or dodging it is useless.