Original subtitles

Could you be...

Shogun Tokugawa Iemochi?

Th-The Shogun?!

We'll escort the Shogun to the safety of Nijo Castle with only the forces we have here.

I have an idea.

Huh? They split up.

Which way did Iemochi go?

Don't let anyone escape! After them!

There they go.

I see. Quite the stratagem.

The Shogun! The Shogun!

I love the courtly laugh.

We'll count to 30, then take the backstreets to Nijo Castle.

Right.

So both groups were decoys?

Luck really wasn't on your side.

Kikuchiyo-san!

Let's go.

One.

Two.

Three.

Go on. Run.

Blue Miburo

Blue Miburo

Blue Miburo

Blue Miburo

Blue Miburo

Blue Miburo

Blue Miburo

Blue Miburo

Blue Miburo

Blue Miburo

Blue Miburo

Blue Miburo

Blue Miburo

Blue Miburo

Blue Miburo

Blue Miburo

Halt!

Hold it!

Go inside! Circle ahead!

Don't let 'em escape!

Perfect. We've got 'em boxed in.

Say your prayers, Iemochi!

Haven't we bought enough time, Hijikata?

No.

I hate to disappoint you, but we can't surrender the Shogun.

Conquer

The Shogun. That's me.

Damn it, old woman.

Damn. He's not here.

Go after the other group!

Not so fast.

I'll take you on.

This farce was never my style.

Little shit.

Have it your way. I'll teach you how a grown man uses a sword.

First, you wear it on your left side.

Come on, draw. I ain't got all day.

You...

You'll pay for that!

Remind me. Who's teaching whom about what?

When I draw, it's already over. That's iai.

C-Cocky brat.

Retreat! Retreat!

What? You're turning tail already?

Try with your short swords! Well?

Wait, Hajime.

What's your problem, Hijikata?

Was that man there?

No. Why?

Then, as we speak—

What is it now, old woman?

I was scared stiff!

Get off! Enough, you old bat!

Hey, he dodged it!

O-Okita! Get these guys!

We promised to buy all the time we could so that Nio's group could get to Nijo Castle.

That we did.

We've already done plenty!

I am your Shogun.

When are you gonna drop that act?

This guy's a fake!

He's not Iemochi!

They caught on.

H-Hurry up and clobber these guys.

I am your Shogun. I do not brawl.

Give it a rest. You're plenty tough!

Guess I've got no choice.

I'll make them talk.

Hey, at least put down your lantern.

You think you're hot shit? Die!

I cut your tendon, so you're not going anywhere.

You see, a guy I knew in Edo always went for the lower legs.

I put my own spin on his style.

Yamanami-san told me they used to punish criminals this way.

I call it Ashigiri: "Leg Cutter."

He's a demon.

Oh, dear. Your friends ran off without you.

Not very nice of them.

Damn it all.

Oh, well. I'll get you to tell me all about who you guys are.

He just bit through his tongue.

Staunch it somehow.

It's no good. It's too late.

Wh-Who in the world are these people?

This crap's not normal.

They're all crazy. They have to be.

We're almost at Nijo Castle.

Indeed.

No! No more! I'm exhausted!

I demand a palanquin!

Didn't you just say, "Indeed"?!

Wh-What is it?

What's wrong?

I hear voices.

What?

Where's His Lordship?

Leave no stone unturned!

Yes, sir!

They're from the castle.

Thank goodness. They're here to save you.

Hey! Over here!

Is that you, My Lord?

Is Your Lordship hurt?

I am unharmed.

He's right as rain!

I don't believe it.

I'm here for your head, Iemochi.

Run for it, Kikuchiyo-san.

I do not understand.

What do you call yourself?

Naozumi.

Naozumi, what drives you to do such things?

To "expel the barbarians"?

Taking my head will not change our land's predicament.

"Expel the barbarians"?

"Expel the barbarians," he says.

Am I wrong?

I couldn't care less about them.

He doesn't want to expel the foreigners?

I do not understand.

I ask you, then: what is it that you desire?

To bring back the age of the samurai.

Bring it back?

You lot stole it from us.

You Tokugawa.

What are you talking about?

You claim the Tokugawa robbed you?

That's right.

And what did we steal?

A place to do battle.

The founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate, Ieyasu, ended the Age of Warring States.

He robbed us samurai of a place to fight.

You mean peace displeases you?

Stay still.

It does displease me.

Why shed blood if it can be avoided?

Why keep samurai around, then?

I'm strong as hell.

I was born strong.

Daily training made me stronger.

I toured the provinces, honing my skills.

What did we work ourselves to the bone strengthening body and spirit for?

To defend the people in times of crisis.

And when will that be?

I come from a long line of samurai.

My granddad and his granddad before him died

between threadbare sheets without ever getting to show what samurai are for.

For 260 years, you Tokugawa have lorded over the samurai and kept us useless.

Tell me, boy...

What's the way of the sword?

I... I don't know.

Tell me, Iemochi. What's the sword to you?

The sword...

is mere decoration.

He won't like that answer.

The sword is insurance lest the worst should happen.

The way of the sword is blood.

An unbroken lineage, passed down since Genji fought Heike.

Why don't you try to fight?

Why don't you try to show off your strength?

Fighting is synonymous with dying.

I suggest you mistrust any who urge battle,

no matter what pretty phrases they dress it up in.

This is the lord of all samurai? What a joke.

When the great rot, the lesser go hungry.

There's a big war coming.

We, the Blood Risshidan, are going to start it.

"The Blood Risshidan"?

Iemochi, your head will do nicely.

It will make the perfect centerpiece for the coming festival.

Your death will throw the city into chaos and the country into violence.

The Warring States will come again.

That's when we'll find the place where we belong.

Damn it. It's hopeless. He really means it.

Listen, Naozumi.

Even so, I will not allow you to make war.

That is my verdict as leader of the samurai clans.

I will not die.

I cannot die now.

No.

You're gonna die.

Right here. Right now.

Nio?

We need to escape, Kikuchiyo-san.

Please run!

How feeble.

Playtime is over.

What's your plan?

I have an idea.

So you've dropped your sword in surrender?

Naozumi-san...

You're weak.

Where's Iemochi?

I won't...

give him up!

The man in white wasn't with the group that chased you, either?

Not a chance.

I was so relieved we didn't have to deal with that nightmare.

But nobody scares me more than Okita.

In that case, I'm worried about Nio-kun and the Shogun.

What now?

Do we head back to the dango shop?

C-Can I leave now?

Taro! You should be ashamed of yourself!

But you said I was more cut out for business!

Even shopkeepers have to stand their ground sometimes.

We'll go to Nijo Castle.

The man in white may have rallied the men who fled to beat us there.

That seems likely.

I mean, the Shogun has to go there eventually.

We'll check every likely spot for an ambush near the castle.

That's more like it!

I'll lend you a hand!

Come along, Taro. Shape up, will you?

Seriously?

Hurry.

You got it.

Sure, I'm worried about Nio, but what can I do?

Can't I just go home?

What do you say, Hijikata?

Huh? What?

Hey! Hijikata's gone!

Well, yeah. He ran on ahead. We'd better catch up.

Huh?

Ah, of all the...

No fair, Hijikata-san.

So Iemochi's through here?

By the way, unless my ears are playing tricks, I think you just called me weak.

I did.

Kikuchiyo-san is stronger than you.

A mighty man like me?

Calm down.

Don't let him see you feeling hopeless.

Did I scare you out of your wits?

I've watched the Miburo enough to tell...

just how terribly strong and dangerous he is.

I came into this with only one goal:

to fight with the weapons I have!

You say you want to fight a war.

You say that's what samurai do.

That's right. Samurai fight and die on the battlefield.

That's why you're weak.

I don't follow.

Don't you think it's selfish? What about the people who get dragged into your war?

The women? The elderly? The invalids?

The children?

Kikuchiyo-san is putting himself in all of their shoes,

and wondering what he can do to make things better.

He's looking at the bigger picture.

Clinging to your samurai status makes you weaker than he is.

You can't beat him!

That's enough chitchat.

A counterweight? Don't tell me he has a chain and sickle.

He's bluffing. No kid could handle one of those.

Still, he did throw away his sword.

It makes sense to assume he has a better weapon.

He has been hiding his left side ever since I caught up to him.

And it's too dark to get a good look.

Of course, none of that matters.

My sword can reach him.

And kill him.

Now!

A rock?

A rock? A rock, huh?

Bluffing to buy time, are you?

I admire your guts.

And you know, it's not so easy to swing my long sword in this narrow alley.

You've really thought this through.

But I don't have to swing it.

How do you like this?

I've been waiting for this!

I've got you!

Now you can't use your sword!

What's your game?

Kikuchiyo-san is stronger than you!

What'd you say?

I barely felt that.

It... It won't work.

Looks like it's working to me.

Will you die by my fist? Or let go and die by my sword?

I'll never let go. Never.

I'll knock you out for good.

I'll never let go.

I'll never let go!

You'll never beat me!

You're still saying that?

You really...

are strong.

I could never beat you.

But...

If I let go now,

I won't be able to prove...

She's tough.

I guess the sword isn't the only way to be strong.

I know, right?

Hajime-kun, I feel the same way.

But I believe there are steps only a powerless, incompetent Shogun can take.

Something tells me...

that deep down, Kikuchiyo-san's strength is a lot like Granny's.

Even so, I will not allow you to make war.

That is my verdict as leader of the samurai clans.

I have to prove that.

Prove the truly strong one...

is Kikuchiyo-san!

True Strength

Next time

Hijikata Toshizo here.

We managed to drive off the assassins on our tails,

but that man in white wasn't with them.

I don't like leaving Lord Iemochi in Nio's charge.

Making for Nijo Castle is our best move now.

That said...

Sorry, Soji. My mind's made up.

Next time: "Eight Heads."

Watch. That's all.

Eight Heads