| Shishio is one smart
cookie. He knows that to take over a nation you need an Army. Not only
did he gather one together, but he also organized an elite group of fighters
which he christened The Juppon Gatana (Ten Swords). He also knew that for
things to go smoothly his actual plans for kicking off his Kuni Tori would
have to be kept secret until the decisive moment came. Therefore, most
of the Juppon Gatana were to be kept in the dark until he was ready to
let them in on it. Shishio had been gathering his forces long before Okubo
came to plead with Kenshin to fight. The forces that the government sent
to supress Shishio all met a swift and bloody fate.
On May 14th, Meiji
11 Shishio sent Seta Soujirou, his little right hand man, to give a message
Okubo.
Soujirou:
I have a message from Mr. Shishio. "It was a good idea to send Himura Battousai
to assassinate me, but in the end it will only be struggling in vain. This
country will be mine."
Seta made his point
by stabbing Okubo. Moments later several discontent samurai converged on
the carraige to carry out their plan of assasinating Okubo. Even though
he was already dead, they acted as if they had done the deed. Shishio,
of course, had known of the attempt that was to be made thanks to his spy
network. He used it to cover his actions. Thus, he was able to have
the most important Meiji official killed without anyone even knowing he
was involved. This action insures Kenshin's involvement. He leaves the
Kamiya dojo - destination Kyoto.
Shishio's followers
have been moving all over the country. Kenshin & company find out just
how bad it's gotten when they come across the villiage of Shingetsu. It,
along with at least ten others, has been removed from the new maps after
being abandoned by the government to Shishio.
Saitou:
The village, the police, the army, the government; they're all helpless
before Shishio Makoto.
When they arive in
Shingetsu it happens to be during one of Shishio's bi-yearly visits. Lucky,
ne? Kenshin and Saitou make their way to Shishio's inn to have a little
chat. Unfortunatley, poor Shishio has to cut his bath short, but what the
heck.
The first meeting
between the battousai and his succesor was quite interesting. Shishio joked
around a bit - Kenshin took things literally, thinking Shishio would actually
occupy the village just for the hot springs. ^_^ Makoto tried to
explain his feelings to his sempai, but to no avail. After all, being
shot and torched by the government was a very enlightening experience
for Shishio. He learned some important lessons, for example "Kill or be
killed".
Shishio:
I was almost assassinated; when my wounds had finally healed and I tried
coming out, the Meiji government had succeeded in ending the violence.
Now they who tried to eliminate me won't send a single troop against me
for fear of looking weak before the Western powers. This weak government.
I cannot leave this country to such a weak government. If the violence
was ended, I'll awaken it! I'll seize control! I'll make this country strong.
Justice will be served when the country is mine.
Although he didn't
fight Kenshin himself, Shishio paid close attention to all that took place.
He took advantage of the opportunity to study Kenshin's moves so the Battousai
wouldn't be albe to use them at a later time. When Ken-san was done, Shishio
thought it looked too boring for him. He let Soujirou play with Battousai
instead. Soujirou managed to break Kenshin's sakabatou, but since Kenshin
also cracked Shishio's nifty sword the fight was considered a draw. Eep!
Soujirou recieves orders to gather the Juppon Gatana, and... Shishio did
pull out of Shingetsu. Oh well...
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