Hitokiri
by crosstrigger333
Previously: A swordsman who had died over a century ago named Shishio Makoto has returned to challenge Yusuke to a fight. The ex-Spirit Detective, itching for a worthy opponent, accepted his challenge, and the brawl commenced. However, despite Yusuke's powerful attacks and his Mazoku form, Shishio managed to catch him off guard. Yusuke's strength did take its toll on Shishio, who was forced to run before he could kill Yusuke. Can our heroes find a way to defeat their new enemy, who was strong enough to defeat Yusuke in his full strength?
Chapter 2: The Millenium Tournament
"Farewell, my worthy opponent. I plan to fight you again when I fully come back to life in one and a half years. I will be a much better challenge then."
"Damn it...Shishio, get back here!"
"Another day, Yusuke. Another day."
"SHISHIO!!!!"
"NO!" Yusuke sat straight up in a bed, breathing heavily. He took a moment to take in his surroundings: a queen-sized bed, a television, a cupboard, a plant next to a table with a writing pad and a pen, and a window overlooking Kyoto. "I'm back at the hotel," Yusuke realized. "Wonder how long it's been."
"Actually, you've been unconscious for about two days," a voice came from outside the door. A brown haired young man wearing a suit and a red headband on his forehead walked in. "How are you feeling?"
"Not too bad, Koenma," Yusuke answered. "He didn't cut me very much."
"You were stabbed," Koenma told him. "It wasn't fatal, thank goodness, but Shishio obviously isn't an opponent that you should underestimate."
"Tell me about it," said Yusuke. "Wait...TWO DAYS?! That means..."
"LET ME AT HIM! LET GO OF ME!" a loud feminine voice emanated from outside the room.
"Calm down, Keiko, please..." A dissheveled looking Keiko burst into the room, with a helpless looking Botan holding on to her trying to keep her from getting her anger out.
"YUSUKE, YOU JERK! YOU COULDN'T GO A DAY WITHOUT GETTING IN A FIGHT AND GETTING HURT, COULD YOU?!"
"Now, Keiko, please," Koenma began, but it was obvious she didn't hear him, because she broke free of Botan's grasp and slapped her husband across the face.
"Keiko, it wasn't like that..." said Yusuke, rubbing his cheek. "After you left Botan came and told me Koenma had been kidnapped. I had to go and save him."
"Botan filled me in already..." said Keiko, seemingly calmed down a little, like the slap she gave him released all of the anger she had built up inside her and there was none left. "But it still doesn't change the fact that I was worried sick about you."
"I'm sorry," the young husband apologized, sighing.
"Well look who's up," another voice came from the door. In walked a familiar tall orange-haired man and a shorter, effeminate-looking red-haired man.
"Kuwabara," Yusuke smiled at the orange-haired one. "Good to see you're okay."
"Yeah, that Shishio guy was way tougher than I thought," said Kuwabara. "He said the only reason he was letting me live was to tell you to come, right before he knocked me out."
"How are you feeling, Yusuke?" asked the red-haired man.
"Not bad considering I got stabbed," the ex-Spirit Detective chuckled. "I guess Botan relayed the message to you too, Kurama?"
"Bingo," smiled Botan, closing the door. "Koenma told us all to meet here, and we just happened to come when you woke up."
"Yes, now that we're all here, we can get down to business," said Koenma. "Yusuke and Kuwabara, you saw firsthand how strong our enemy is. Shishio Makoto is not an enemy that we can underestimate. He is dangerous and, in one and a half years, very much alive."
"Alive, sir?" asked Botan. "What do you mean?"
"I did some research after we got back to Spirit World," said Koenma. "Evidently there is a way for the dead to come back to the living, even if they all have places set up for them. It's called the Millenium Tournament."
"The what?" asked Keiko. "Another Tournament?"
"Yes," Koenma told her. "It's a fighting tournament for human spirits, similar to the Makai Tournament that Yusuke founded a few years ago. My father set it up about two thousand years ago, to prevent a revolt of the spirits of some of the strongest human warriors that ever lived. You see, death in the Living World is the beginning of an afterlife for human spirits. Two thousand years ago, many of the strongest human spirits from the darkest sector of Hell staged a revolt, hoping that they would be allowed to return to the living. My father set up this tournament every one thousand years to pit the fighters against each other, allowing the winners an even greater prize than simply returning to life. They are allowed to return forever."
"Forever?" asked Kuwabara. "Dang, that's a pretty good deal."
"Yes, it is," Koenma continued. "And very difficult. Immortality is a bit more complicated than simply returning to life, as Yusuke had done some years ago. It involves a contract, making sure that no matter what happens, the soul will remain within the body, and the body remain strong to protect the soul, meaning that age, disease, injuries, and everything else that could possibly harm a normal human body will not. In other words, the human is beyond eternal life, they are invincible. This can only be effective if both the contractor and the signer agree to return to life forever. The Millenium Tournament promises the competitors that Spirit World is agreeing to allow passage to the living world for eternity."
"But these fighters are very strong, are they not?" asked Kurama. "What is to keep some of the more morally unsound ones from wreaking havoc on the living once they come back?"
"That's true," said Koenma. "The fighters have been incredibly strong, many reaching levels beyond Toguro at his full strength, an incredible feat for a human, as you already know. However, there have been two Millenium Tournaments so far, neither of which had a winner."
"What?" asked Yusuke. "Why?"
"That was my father's strategy," Koenma told him. "The fighters fight in teams of five, meaning that the likelihood of the strongest being defeated are much greater. Also, he placed some of the members of the Spirit Defense Force in some select teams, ensuring that the teams that come out on top have his own people, and so there is never a winning team. Normally, the strongest fighters that are not on my father's side are killed by his men."
"Killed?" asked Botan. "But they're dead already!"
"The entire tournament was set up to prevent the strongest spirits from revolting," said Koenma. "As such, to prevent any uprising, the competitors are granted bodies matching their own at the point in their lives when they were at their peak. The winners are allowed to keep the body and return to the living world as immortals. The souls of those who forfeit are sent back to where they came from at the end of the Tournament. The competitors who are killed in this tournament, however, lose the body and their soul."
"You bet your afterlife against the chance to live again for eternity," said Kurama. "That's quite a gamble, though it is ingenious that the competitors would fight for their own self-interest, and making sure that there is no second best. No warrior would disagree to this, and there would be no mass organization of fighters to overthrow the king. The tournament will naturally place the strongest fighters against each other, and if it is made certain that there is no winner, every problem is solved."
"It's very likely that there will be a winner now," said Koenma. "As I said, many fighters have risen beyond the level of Toguro at full strength. However, if you recall, Toguro at full power had the strength of an upper B-class apparition. My father's own Spirit Defense Force is classified as upper A-class. However, Yusuke in his Mazoku form is classified as upper S-class, and Shishio managed to fight on equal ground with and even defeat him. Shishio is easily the strongest competitor the Millenium Tournament has ever seen, and for any other competitor to match him is less than unlikely. Shishio did somehow return to the living for a time, unnoticed by us in Reikai, and so his spiritual body now has the strength that he had when he fought you, Yusuke."
"That means that if he wins the Tournament, he can live for eternity in the Human World with a body that closely matches Yusuke in strength," Kurama concluded. "And judging by what you've told me, Shishio's ability to read Yusuke's fighting style having never witnessed it before his fight means that he is quick and calculating. He is strong in mind as well as body, a dangerous combination, and if he were to come back to life he can not be stopped, and with immortality, he never will be."
"So you mean to tell me that Shishio needs to be beat in this Tournament?" asked Yusuke. "But we can't enter if we're alive?"
"Afraid not," said Koenma. "And you must be a human spirit. A barrier similar to the one between Ningenkai and Makai prevents anyone possessing demon energy into the arena. Strength limiters similar to the one Hokushin was wearing when you first met are required for non-competitors. They cannot be removed from inside the tournament area, meaning that you, Hiei, and Kurama will not be able to fight Shishio as long as he is in the tournament."
"So we're screwed unless we can find a human who died that can beat an S-class demon," sighed Kuwabara. "The only one I can think of is Sensui, but he never made it to Spirit World, right?"
"That's right," said Kurama. "Itsuki took him to that alternate dimension so his soul would not be judged. Unfortunately, this means that Sensui's spirit is not able to participate in this Tournament."
"Wait, his name is Shishio Makoto, right?" asked Keiko. "He was the man who tried to overthrow the Meiji government about ten years after the Bakumatsu, am I right?"
"That's right," Koenma told her. "But history texts say nothing about him because all records of his existence were destroyed by the Meiji government. How do you know about him?"
"There was one that was missed," said Keiko. "The recordbook of Sadojima Hoji, Shishio's right-hand man and organizer of his forces. It was presented yesterday at the history conference as one of the biggest finds of the year. It had all of the plans laid out for Shishio to throw Japan in a state of chaos so he could take control. It also documents how the plans were thwarted thanks to the efforts of a few individuals, including Saito Hajime, former captain of the Shinsengumi's third squadron, and the Hitokiri Battousai."
"The Hitokiri Battousai was the man who was considered unbeatable during the Bakumatsu, am I correct?" asked Kurama. "I seem to recall that he disappeared after the revolution and there was no record of him ever returning. If there were no records of Shishio's existence, but Battousai had returned, then it's likely that he was the one who defeated him."
"Do you think he could possibly be strong enough now?" asked Botan.
"Doubtful," sighed Koenma, taking a the pen and pad from the table and writing something. "But since he defeated Shishio in life, then he is our best candidate for the tournament. Shishio's strength, cunning, and ambition make him a most dangerous opponent, and if Battousai defeated him, he would have needed to be on par with him on all of those qualities. If we can train Battousai to the level that he can face Shishio in the ring, and he is defeated again, Shishio will no longer be a threat."
"Wait, this Battousai was a killer, right?" asked Yusuke. "Then if he becomes stronger than Shishio, wouldn't we have the same problem?"
Koenma chuckled, tearing the paper he wrote on off the pad. "Don't worry, I know a bit more about Battousai than you think. You'll see what I mean when you go recruit him for the tournament."
"Recruit him?" asked Kuwabara. "B-But he's..."
"Botan, I want you to take Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama to this sector of Reikai tomorrow," said Koenma, handing her the paper. "After that, I need you to head back to the Gate of Judgment. I'll be needing you for something afterwards."
"Alright, sir," said Botan, pocketing the slip of paper. "I guess we're dismissed then?" Koenma nodded.
"Man this food looks great!" cheered Yusuke, picking up some fish with his chopsticks. He and Keiko were sitting in a restaurant later that evening. After the news from Koenma, Yusuke decided to spend the rest of the day with his wife in Kyoto before he would leave for Spirit World in the morning. However, he did notice that Keiko hadn't spoken much since everyone had left the hotel room. At that moment, she was just staring at the plates set up at the table with a thoughtful look in her eyes. "You alright, honey?" asked Yusuke.
"I thought this was all over," sighed Keiko. "I know you miss fighting, Yusuke. I could see it in your eyes every time I came home. I just thought that it would be a few more years before anyone could seriously hurt you anymore."
"Surprised me, too. But I'm fine now," smiled Yusuke.
"Yeah, yeah," Keiko smiled back. "I guess I was secretly hoping that your fighting days were over, and that I didn't need to worry about you anymore. I didn't need to wonder if you were safe every night. I guess that was wishful thinking on my part."
"Hey, hey, no more being depressed," said Yusuke, picking up a piece of tofu with his chopsticks and putting it on her rice. "I'll find Battousai tomorrow. If he's as strong as you all say he is, then I'm sure Shishio's going to hard pressed to come back. Until then, I'm not gonna be doing any fighting, alright?"
"I won't hold you to that promise, because I know how hard it will be for you to keep," laughed Keiko. "Alright, but you better not tell me to wait for three years this time." She held her right arm up like she was firing a Spirit Gun. "Or I'll head to Reikai and hunt you down myself. Bang." To that, Yusuke smiled and gave her a thumbs up.
NARRATOR VOICE: Our heroes now know exactly how their enemy plans to come back to life, and now Yusuke and his friends must recruit a new ally, the legendary Hitokiri Battousai, who originally defeated Shishio. But will the legendary assassin of the Bakumatsu be able to defeat Shishio in the Millenium Tournament, and if he does, will he pose an even bigger threat?
A/N: All fans of Rurouni Kenshin should know the answer to the last part of that last question, haha.
Okay, enough of that. This chapter was here to introduce the Millenium Tournament, which I had made in the first YYH/RK crossover I wrote. One thing I didn't explain in the first story that was actually bothering me was that there was this tournament for absolutely no reason whatsoever, and Kenshin and everyone was going to participate. This chapter gives a bit of insight into the the Millenium Tournament and the reason for its existence, and gives much better depth to the story.
The Kenshingumi will come in next chapter, so until then, give me some reviews!