I would have liked to have seen Hiko take on Shishio, although I know Watsuki would never have done that.  Personally, I think that Hiko would have won that one since he is just so much stronger than Kenshin.  Afterall, he grounded Fuji, no sweat, and drunk sake afterward.  Amakakeru ryu no hirameki by Hiko would have been devastating on Shishio if Kenshin's ougi managed to to do Shishio what it did.  I also think that if Saitoh's leg's weren't injured by Usui's spear, his gatotsu attack would have gone straight through that metal headband of Shishio's and finished him off.  Heck, even Shishio himself admitted that Usui had weakened Saitoh's attack, thus being useful afterall, even though he was weaker than Saitoh and died in the end.  Aku Soku Zan!

Come to think of it,the final duel wasn't really fair.Kenshin was pretty lucky to survive the FEROCIOUS Aoshi and pretty boy Soujiro who makes a cheetah look sluggish.Shishio was hampered by his time limit;but he possessed the advantage of flame,didn't he?Our poor rurouni was quite beaten up and exhausted by the time the two fought. Also, IMHO, even now Kenshin is somewhat of a wuss when compared to Battousai,who doesn't need any special technique and is armed with inhuman speed,savagery,NO conscience and NO sakabatou.Come to think of it,I really wonder what would ensure had the cocky,albeit devastating (in more ways than one)mentor of a certain former assassin take the matter into his own hands.After all,Hiko whipped Kenshin's rear end leisurely even with his hefty mantle on;and was able to recover from the wound dealt by the succession technique fast enough to save Yahiko and com.and whack Fuji in style..... 

What if Shishio Makoto killed Kenshin and taken over the world, and then HIko Seijirou got all pissed and went up to Shishio and was complaing about how stupid his pupil is for losing to Shishio. Shishio would be thinking that he could take seijiruo on and fights him. Seijirou is just dodging all of shishio's attacks and quicky finishes him off and decides he wants to take over the world with an iron gauntlet.

If the result was of that Shi-shi-o and Kenshin would fight one-on-one with no previous fights before it, I would have to side with Kenshin because I think that he would not allow Shi-shi-o to go so far as to begin his kuni-tori, eventually Kenshin would of just let himself go and revert back into the Hitokiri Battousai for everyone's sake. Yeah, I know, I'm full of crap, but that my reasons are logical. late ^_^X 

Could the self-possessed gods of anime allow Shishio, a mummified creature, win over that pathetic do-gooder, pretty boy, Himura?...I don't think so.  It's a pity that Shishio became this two-dimensional character; it's a pity that only "the distorted" becomes dispensable in the end...the cute and the "perky" are always spared. In reality, it is always the "survival of the fittest;" in that case, Shishio Makoto had the greater advantage for he was detached from any human emotions that could make him weak and vulnerable. Shishio knew what he wanted...but the self-appointed judges had decided that "goodness must always triumph over evil."  Ain't that sweet?...where's my barf bag?     

Had Kenshin been at full strength, he would have beaten Shishio into the ground.  And if Shishio got up, he'd kick his sorry ass again.  Yes, yes.  C'mon, Shishio doesn't have any real techniques, he just has good defense against people that have had the shit kicked out of them and then had to run an Olympic obsticle course just to reach him. Had they fought on the boat, it would have been the end for Shishio.  Without Soujiro, Shishio is just some goon in a good halloween costume. Besides, Hiko guranteed Kenshin's victory. And Hiko is just too cool to be wrong.

PS-  When Sano punched Shishio in the jaw, there should have been little bits of bandaged-pansy all over. No love for Shishio-ahou.  Sano forever!

What if, when Kenshin Kuzu Ryu sen'd Shisiho through the wall, he fell through, supposedly to his death. Shishio never got to see the succession technique..only a year later to come back for more!

Kenshin would've gotten the shit out of him if ShiShiO had not combusted. Kenshin was just lucky that ShiSHiO combusted. Anyway Soujiro can still beat anyone except for Hiko because he is too fast for anyone he just lost to Kenshin because he went crazy.

What if Shishio actually hit kenshin with "Tsui no Hiken, Kaguzuchi"?  I talked it over with my friends and we think Kenshin would get chopped badly ,if not in half, and whatever was left of him would blow away in a horizontal tornado of fire.  On the other hand, what if kenshing did the Amakakeru ryu no hirameki with the sakaba turned over?

Well first things first. if they were both on the same level wouldn't the fight end in a draw? but because shishio "combusted" himura won. for sheer aggresiveness shishio definitely won by a landslide, but when it came to tactics himura won. I'd say they were both good but due to the instances shishio can't fight no more so by default himura won.