Back in Akasaka, Minato Ward...
Even Hajime Saito (also known as Lieutenant Goro Fujita in the Modern Heisei Era), who was a lot more durable than a regular human (and even Suzaku was beginning to have doubts about whether the Miburo was still human at that point) couldn't take the heat and microwaves radiating from the Crimson Sparrow's body.
So the copper pulled his sword out before its steel ended up either melted, disintegrated, or sublimated by the full electromagnetic spectrum flowing through the Master of Electromagnetism while he backed away and made a tactical retreat, for once.
At his fullest power, the Railgunner could microwave the surrounding air and raise its temperature up to 538 degrees Celsius or 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit in an instant, which in turn allowed him to vaporize skin, boil brains, and blow skulls up in less than two-tenths of a second. From within his victims' own bodies.
Gamma ray poisoning was deadly in its own right (and, contrary to claims of certain Western comics, it didn't give people superpowers), but cellular mutation, radiation sickness, and cancer didn't nearly produce as fast of an impact as microwaving one's insides did.
Seeing the supernatural happenings surrounding a policeman with a katana and what appeared to be a blond Yankee sporting hair bangs with frosted tips and a bizarre Arabian-Nights-themed outfit, the surviving passersby of the Red Slope district fled in terror.
This allowed Suzaku to pick off the humans one by one with electromagnetic pulses to their organs, resulting in organ failure, from the lungs to the heart. The others, he simply electrocuted.
"Run sheep. Run and hide." The youkai then sneered at his designated opponent in disdain. "At least they know their place... unlike you, Saito Hajime."
"You're acting just like Usui from the original Juppon Gatana. Now that you have your back against the wall, you've resorted to bullying those weaker than you in order to feel better about yourself... like the coward that you are," Saito rebuked.
Grinning, the Saint Beast mocked, "What's the matter, officer? Are you... upset? Does seeing me kill all your fellow humans frustrate you? Does it open your eyes to how helpless you really are?"
"Knowing him, all you're doing is angering Battousai. He hates cowards like you." Saito stared at his superheated, red-hot steel blade and waited for it to cool down. He shrugged. "But I have no problem with that. It's your funeral, after all."
"There you go again with your obsession with the Battousai. You sound as obsessed with battling that overhyped swordsman as Udo Jine is!" said a smiling (or perhaps smirking) and chuckling Suzaku, confident that as long as he had his electromagnetic field superheating his surroundings, Fujita couldn't touch him.
"Why should I care about some human swordsman who had vowed not to kill ever again? Why would any demon be afraid of him?"
"You have nothing to worry about as far as the vagabond or maybe even Battousai the Manslayer is concerned. Battousai the Demon-Slayer, on the other hand, now that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish. Hell, you're even borrowing his powers to reach S-Level in the first place. A mere fraction of his powers, at that."
Suzaku snorted. "The powers of the Demon Sword are not his to covet. They're mine to keep."
"...For now."
"No. For good."
Youtou Shinnoken
A Rurouni Kenshin/Yuyu Hakusho Crossover Fan Fiction Story by Chester Castañeda
Original Concept by Chad Yang
Hajime Saito versus Suzaku is underway! Or is it Hajime Saito versus someone else...?
Disclaimer: Yuyu Hakusho is the rightful property of Yoshihiro Togashi, Shueisha, Fuji TV, and Studio Pierrot. Rurouni Kenshin is the rightful property of Nobuhiro Watsuki, Shueisha, Shonen Jump, Viz, Sony Studios, Fuji TV, Studio Gallup, Studio Deen, and ADV. This disclaimer also covers all the other copyrighted material that are far too many to mention here. Don't sue me please, I'm very poor.
Chapter 42: The Other Side of Bloodlust (Part 10)
The Master of Electromagnetism's glowing electric aura... a plasma field and magnetic bubble full of electrical discharges that branched out like cracks made out of light... intensified while sparks danced on the steel surface of the Youtou Shinnoken.
'If he really is coating that blade with his reiki, then all I need to do is absorb all that spirit energy or destroy his sword altogether to win against him,' thought the Crimson Sparrow.
The demon then created a huge electromagnetic field around him in order to house a vast amount of overwhelming power that made his hairs stand on end and turn into sharp spikes due to the rising amount of static.
He shone like a star or some other heavenly body; he became the blacked-out Akasaka's strongest and primary source of light.
After he transformed himself into the one true Lightning Lord, all the light particles and electricity around the area was absorbed unto him, up to the point of him summoning a lightning storm with billions of volts of electricity, granting him limitless power.
From there, a vast amount of plasma orbs from his electromagnetic field started forming, superheating the whole area and killing almost all life around them save for the ever-tenacious Fujita.
From gamma rays to electromagnetic radiation, Suzaku's body emanated all sorts of different energies, waves, and rays while he turned the curved blade of the Youtou Shinnoken into the spine of his Ankoku-Raiko-Ha bow before shooting irradiated lightspeed arrows with millions with huge voltage that could power entire cities.
The Wolf of Mibu charged again, this time with his low-angled, downward-thrust Second-Style Gatotsu. This allowed him to attack from below while avoiding the Lightning Storms of Torment shooting straight from Suzaku's Demon Sword bow.
Suzaku harrumphed before he adjusted his aim. 'Even if Saito Hajime somehow manages to get through, he'll still be microwaved to death by my electromagnetic radiation bubble.'
Indeed, once the super cop came within range of the superheated air and plasma, red steam flowed through his pores just as, unbeknownst to the demon, the boiling blood of Makoto Shishio evaporated after the would-be dictator went beyond his own human limits in his battle with Kenshin Himura.
Or it would've remained unbeknownst to the Saint Beast had Himura not shared his memory with the demon. 'Stop giving me those flashbacks and memories I've never made, Battousai! I don't need them! Get them out of my head!'
A sudden burst of speed... a supersonic speed that resulted in a sonic boom after Saito's katana pierced right through mounting air pressure and the sound barrier... allowed the policeman to shove his sword's tip at Suzaku's calf.
Like a wolf whose fangs have bitten through his prey's legs to immobilize it.
"GATOTSU NISHIKI!"
"!?"
"I forgot to mention, but maybe you've already figured it out: Killing helpless civilians is one thing. Killing me is also a whole 'nother kettle of fish altogether," drawled Fujita, whose numerous injuries healed while his body resisted the heat wave that could melt flesh, evaporate blood, and make heads explode.
Once more, even the full electromagnetic spectrum within Suzaku's control was not enough to keep the Immortal One of the Shinsengumi down.
"ANKOKU-RAIJIN-KEN!"
In panic, the Phoenix King stabbed Saito in the chest with the Demon-Sword-assisted Storm of Torment Fist and electrocuted the human with blood-vaporizing electric shocks powered by repeated lightning strikes from above before the copper could do his signature "GATOTSU ZEROSHIKI!"
"GUAGHH!"
However, electrocuting the cop did nothing to stop his Gatotsu. If he were anything like Kazuma Kuwabara, then perhaps shooting electricity through him like with a cattle prod or even an electric chair empowered him instead of hurt him.
At any rate, maybe it was survival instincts that prompted Suzaku to resort to another superpower of his that he only recently discovered.
The Zero Form Gatotsu stopped short of its target, but this time not because of magnetic forces (since Hajime did something to his steel sword that prevented Suzaku from gaining complete control over it); instead, it was through galvanism or electric-current-induced muscle contraction.
The Railgunner had his opponent on the ropes once more, turning him into his own personal puppet using electrical currents that the copper was supposedly immune to in order to control his nerves and muscles.
"You've used your trump card twice already. Are you getting desperate, Saito Hajime?"
In biology, galvanism (at present referred to as electrophysiology) was muscle contraction stimulated by electricity. This effect... named after scientist Luigi Galvani who researched the effects of electrical currents on dissected animals during the Sixteenth Century... inspired Mary Shelley's Frankenstein after people at the time mistook it as a means to bring organisms to life.
Regardless, this ability granted the Lightning Lord the power to turn the ex-Shinsengumi squad leader into his own personal puppet. "Let's see you use that pointblank stab of yours on yourself for once."
Instead of following the Master of Electromagnetism's mental orders, Saito stood his ground while the electricity that traveled through his veins converged into the gaping, bleeding hole in the Miburo's chest where the Demon Sword pierced him.
'What the HELL?'
Soon enough, the temporary paralysis on Hajime's body had worn off. He then aimed his magnetism-proof sword at the Phoenix King's head.
It was only through a combination of his electromagnetic shield, what little control he had left on the steel of Saito's blade, a ball of plasma, partial galvanism, the full electromagnetic spectrum of energy, the Storm of Torment Fist (Ankoku-Raijin-Ken), and an electromagnetic shockwave that Suzaku escaped the third Zeroshiki with his head intact.
The Wolf of Mibu's lanky frame flew back, juggled by the pillars of light, the hole in his chest spewing blood all over for a few seconds before stopping altogether and mending itself then and there.
It was as if Suzaku were fighting against the Elder Toguro, who was another perfect candidate for immortality.
Halfway through his unceremonious flight, the tumbling Mibu no Okami landed on his antelope-like legs, assumed his "southpaw" Gatotsu stance, and attacked the midway-finished shockwave with his own supersonic charge.
The sonic boom canceled out the remaining electromagnetic pillars of light after the pinpoint tip of his sword again acted like a singularity that sucked out all the energy around it.
"GATOTSU ISHIKI!"
Another flashback from Battousai assaulted Suzaku's senses, particularly Himura's supersonic attacks not piercing through Saito's impregnable guard no matter how fast he got or how quick his reflexes were, as though the Miburo could read the ex-hitokiri's mind or could see into the future.
Dammit. What the hell did it take to defeat Hajime? Why was nothing Suzaku did working?
As if he really could read minds, Fujita answered Suzaku's unsaid questions. "If you want to beat me, then you need to awaken Himura Battousai... no, the Youkiri Battousai... to stand a chance. Anything less than the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu will not work against me."
"I DON'T NEED THE BATTOUSAI TO KILL YOU, HUMAN! I NEVER DID!" shouted Suzaku.
Goro raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh really? Then let go of the Demon Sword. Let's see how far you'll get in your attempt to defeat me without it."
"RAARGH! DIE! ANKOKU-RAIKO-HA!"
The lightspeed thunderbolts (or at least approaching lightspeed, since the air slowed them down a little) flew all over Akasaka, which resulted in widespread damage while also electrocuting or even outright sublimating, liquefying, or vaporizing organic and inorganic matter.
As this happened and the death toll rose, jaki or negative energy further tainted the blade of the Demon Sword.
Suzaku couldn't accept it. Even if he were aware of his folly, his pride would nonetheless not let him be defeated by a human. Again. At least with Yusuke Urameshi, it was "posthumously" revealed that the "ningen" was a "mazoku".
A half-demon. To be defeated by a "full" human who possessed "four moves of doom" was something the youkai wouldn't put up with.
The electromagnetic master hovered above Saito in his bubble that looked like an oversized plasma dome.
His hovering body itself served as this plasma dome's electrode, while his electromagnetic field contained all his electric might. He became death from the heavens, like Zeus or Jupiter hurling thunderbolts from Mount Olympus, forged by Hephaestus or Vulcan himself.
"GATOTSU SANSHIKI!"
Saito aimed his sword upwards at a 45-degree angle and lunged forward with his strong, horse-like legs. Apparently, like Superman, the super cop could leap tall buildings in a single bound, but he already showcased as much (or more so) when he launched himself and Suzaku high up the stratosphere.
Misjudging Hajime's speed in an eye blink, the Lightning Lord ended up face-to-face with the business end of Lieutenant Fujita's katana.
The fight would've ended then and there, with Suzaku's head pierced open like a grapefruit, had the Demon Sword not swarmed Goro with supersonic slashes that scourged and lacerated the copper, allowing the demon to escape.
"RYU SOU SEN!"
That was another one of Battousai's technique that Suzaku deployed to survive. He didn't intend to do it, but he ended up following Hajime's advice regardless.
"No. You can't trick me, Battousai! I will defeat Saito Hajime by myself. I will kill him with my own hands and in my own terms, not yours. I, Suzaku, will prevail and prove myself the one and only worthy successor of the Demon Sword!" the Shisejyu Leader raved and ranted.
This time around, like an electric Spider-Man, the Railgunner made a tactical retreat, swinging from (steel) building to building using lightning bolts as his "rope" or "webbing".
After Suzaku escaped and formulated a new battle plan, letting Hajime's follow-up thrust miss him by a mile, he saw the cop stop in midair, fall, somersault, scale the side of a nearby building, do a horizontal pounce that broke the windows due to its sheer impact, and continued his forward charge.
The Crimson Sparrow also noticed that his Dark Lightning Waves nearest the flying policeman bent and distorted around the tip of his sword, as though the plasma sparks and bolts were drawn right into the weapon or even the lieutenant himself.
Curious.
This had Suzaku thinking. At this juncture of his duel with Saito, he'd already received radio wave "transmissions" from the rest of his six clones, particularly the ones fighting against the Reikai Warrior named Yahiko Myojin.
Initially, they were winning easily against the boy because he was foolish enough to use a steel blade against them.
Come to think of it, wasn't that the same thing Hajime was doing right now? In any case, for whatever reason, the boy found a way to neutralize electromagnetism, thus allowing him to use a blunt metal sword against the clones of a Master of Electromagnetism.
Didn't Fujita have the same power to neutralize Suzaku's abilities every time?
'No. I never lost my powers when I'm around him. Rather, whatever I used against him was rendered ineffective because he keeps absorbing everything I throw at him. He's like... a sponge for energy, or even a living black hole that even light can't escape from.'
Energy absorption. Black hole. Was that Saito's superpower? Was he a living black hole? A void of darkness walking on two legs, faster than even the speed of light because no matter how fast light traveled, it found that the darkness had always gotten there first, waiting for it all the while?
How fitting a power for the Immortal Shinsengumi who was able to defy Father Time and Death themselves. Literally. 'Could he even be killed?'
No. This wasn't the time to panic. He was S-Level now. And conventional knowledge dictated that an S-Level demon would always trump an S-Level human every time. No exceptions. In fact, he predicted that Feng Xinhai would probably succumb to the S-Level powers of Yusuke Urameshi in the end... and he was right!
"I thought you swore you'd kill me. What's taking you so long?" said Goro, who continued absorbing lightning bolts from Suzaku as if they were water to a sponge. Like he was a Faraday Cage designed to soak up every last volt.
"What's taking you so long to kill me, Mister Kill Evil Instantly? Besides, I don't need to kill you. You're already dead, aren't you? It's only a matter of time before you rest in peace on your own, you relic of a bygone era!"
Regardless, Suzaku had to do something fast. He resorted to hurling something solider and more tangible at the cop, such as metal scrap taken from all over Akasaka flung at every possible angle or dropped using gravity (so that he could conserve his power).
A ginormous (literal) wolf(!?) then materialized from behind the (metaphorical) Wolf of Mibu and acted as his shield against the bombardment of wreckage, debris, and shrapnel.
The lupine beast stood tall and big enough to shield the airborne Ex-Captain of the Shinsengumi, who continued onward, his blade thrust forward while his back rested mere inches away from the snout and maw of his spirit animal.
'What is even going on anymore!?' thought a leering Suzaku, who looked over his shoulder, his jaw unhinged by the ridiculous... things chasing after him, hot on pursuit. How many abilities did this one human have?
Saito was almost like Rando with all the skills he possessed!
Fujita and Suzaku ended up in an open area somewhere in Akasaka far away from tall buildings and their lightning rods... to be more specific, Nogi Shrine... which allowed him direct and open access to the nimbus clouds up in the heavens and their electrical discharges without anything getting in their way.
"With all things considered equal, a demon will never be defeated by a human. Urameshi lost the Demon World Unification Tournament because he was only a half-breed mongrel. Quit your posturing and succumb to the inevitable."
Hajime rolled his eyes and smirked. "You really are Icarus. Your folly and pride will be your downfall."
"Enough. RAIL SHOTGUN!" Energized by lightning storms, the fleeing Railgunner upped the ante yet again by replacing his ineffective Ankoku-Raiko-Ha with the rapid-fire version of his Chou Denjiho or Ultra Electromagnetic Cannon, firing off the metal wreckage of varying masses and volumes he gathered after he and the lieutenant "toured" most of Akasaka.
He blasted the buckshot Railgun at a rate of eight shots per minute, which succeeded in punching through the lithe, lumbering form of Saito in a spray of red. Even his pet lobo, as huge of a target he presented, was shot and obliterated by the orange supersonic blasts that even Yusuke had to avoid for fear of their destructive power.
Indeed, to Suzaku's relief and delight, Saito's limbs ended up flying everywhere once shot after shot of the Rail Shotgun turned him into sizzling giblets and smoking "long meat" bacon.
However, to the Phoenix King's chagrin, he confirmed his suspicions earlier on. The 31-mile drop using the blade of the Youtou Shinnoken as his Railgun's projectile did completely disintegrate the former Shinsengumi member once they landed in Akasaka.
However, within minutes, the Immortal Shinsengumi regenerated his body from nothing at a rate that would make Toguro Ani proud.
Just like Saito was doing right that instant after the Rail Shotgun melted his skin and exposed his bones. What kind of creature was he?
"Who the hell are you? What the hell are you? Are you even human? ANSWER ME, SAITO HAJIME!"
Once gravity took hold of Saito... his momentum slowing due to the mounting air resistance, friction, and all the mach-three, red-hot metal cannonballs fired off by the Rail Shotgun that impeded his charge... he bounded off of his own familiar's head.
With a howl and a grunt, the burnt and bleeding gigantic okami from behind Hajime pushed the master swordsman forward with a shockwave-inducing headbutt strong enough to hurl the officer and allow him to break the sound barrier after the Saint Beast "railgunned" an entire scrap yard's worth of metal at the copper.
"I'm someone you cannot tame. The one they called immortal among the Shinsengumi. A lone surviving Mibu Wolf among what was once the Mibu Wolf Pack. You're not only fighting against me, you're fighting against everything that I and the Shinsengumi stand for: Aku Soku Zan."
"You're not really immortal. You're a dead man in denial! An earthbound ghost! A shinentai! You died long ago along with the Edo and Meiji Eras, the Bakumatsu, and the Shinsengumi!"
The massive laser beam pillar of supersonic metal traveling way further and farther than the normal 50-meter range of an arcade coin or a metal bolt hit the similarly supersonic cop right at the tip of his sword. "As long as I'm alive, the Shinsengumi will never die."
"That's only because you're the last of your kind. With your death, the Shinsengumi will finally become extinct, like the Japanese wolf!"
Under normal circumstances, the sword would've melted, disintegrated, or sublimated while the mere heat of the incoming projectile would've boiled the insides of the policeman before he himself became a vaporized silhouette along with his gigantic pet dog.
As Suzaku should already know by now, this was not the case for the supernatural policeman.
Speaking of the wolf, the gargantuan lupine shikigami turned back into spirit energy and hurled its entire formless mass of ki right into the dueling Saito and the huge laser beam that threatened to not only sublimate the super cop and his super pet, but also wipe Nogi Shrine right off Minato.
"Goodbye, Icarus. I'm going to melt your waxen wings now. GATOTSU ISHIKI!"
Goro's glowing blade reduced the projectile into a rain of sparks and molten metal after it resisted the destructive force and continued moving forward even while his regeneration went into overdrive thanks to the mind-melting, eye-popping, blood-vaporizing, and organ-bursting heat.
Just when the Crimson Sparrow thought there was nothing more the Miburo could do to shock him, the southpaw came up with another tactic that (figuratively) came out of left field (appropriately enough).
Using the strong gravitational field around him as well as the extra boost from the sentient giant animal that turned into his battle aura, the Wolf of Mibu shoved the shooting-star-like beam of orange light right back at the Shisejyu Leader, who only realized he himself was the last of his kind while his brain melted, his eyes popped out, his blood boiled and vaporized, and his organs exploded one after another.
The Demon Sword... the prideful Suzaku's waxen wings... slipped off the Phoenix King's grasp after he got consumed by his own flames, burning in its light. One word kept repeating inside the Railgunner's melting mind while he got obliterated by the Miburo.
No.
He survived four whole centuries of demons attempting to best him and was reborn again and again thanks to his Restoration or Kaifuku powers. He was a born survivor, such that even after Urameshi killed him for real, he still found a way to resurrect himself.
The demon refused to die. He was every bit more an immortal than this wannabe immortal human was, living multiple human lifetimes longer than him.
Suzaku didn't remember using his Kaifuku, but for whatever reason, after he magnetically summoned back the sword, grabbed hold of it, and magnified his powers to S-Level once more, he ended up with his brain, organs, and body fully intact.
Saito turned around after punching right through the exploding, burning, and screaming Suzaku, only to see him completely revived a minute later. Without questioning anything or even reacting, the policeman charged again to finish the job.
The stone pavement from the courtyard crumbling to powder underneath his feet, Hajime again delivered his piston-strong, full-body stabbing technique at the Saint Beast.
Suzaku dodged to the side, but the Hirazuki master had a counter for that, delivering a sideward slash to his opponent in case he missed (in fencing terms, that was a Reprise).
The Master of Electromagnetism blocked the katana with his black iron sand blade on his free hand, his electromagnetic field turning the dirty metal particles into the form of a whip sword.
The youkai twirled around and moved right into the southpaw swordsman's blind spot in order to deliver an attack from out of right field with the Youtou Shinnoken.
"RYU KAN SEN!"
"...GATOTSU ZEROSHIKI!"
The Dragon Wrap Flash counterattack that Kenshin deployed against Saito in their duel in the Kamiya Dojo (after ten years of losing contact with each other) would've decapitated the policeman outright this time around had it landed (since the Demon Sword wasn't a reverse-edged blade).
However, the Zero-Style Gatotsu allowed him to anticipate, draw out, and counter the counterattack (in fencing terms, a Counter Time) even after his sideward slash failed. This resulted in a clash of swords that separated the two in opposite directions, a spray of blood wafting between them.
Fujita snarled at the laceration Suzaku gave him that he couldn't, for some reason, heal up, remembering the same unhealable cuts that the hitokiri delivered against the monster Iehog, who also had regeneration powers.
It wasn't totally unhealable, though. Not for the policeman.
Goro inwardly smirked. 'Finally. An opponent with the power to kill immortals.' To Suzaku, he rebuked, "Whatever happened to using your own powers to defeat me?"
Suzaku growled back, "Even if I have to forsake my pride and use the Battousai's powers along with mine, I'm willing to do so as long as I can defeat you! I'll do whatever it takes to win!"
The Shin Ju member's floating iron sand then traveled from one hand to the other before covering the sharp blade of the magical sword with a black, jagged, and coarse swarm of vibrating metallic particles that could skin people alive, peel off paint from a car like a sandblaster, cut lumber, and grind metal and bones to dust.
The Saint Beast had his guard up, because according to Himura's living memories, the decapitating Ryu Kan Sen counterattack that had landed against Saito a century ago wasn't able to do so now, even with the Battousai's present supernatural form.
Despite Kenshin's help, the policeman might already have the former hitokiri's number, thus rendering the assistance moot. 'He's been using his Gatotsu Zeroshiki to block every one of my strikes. That's why none of my attacks could break through his defense.'
And indeed, as the Master of Electromagnetism resumed battle with the Wolf of Mibu and his sharp fangs, the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu moves he used, from the two Ryu Kan Sen aerial variants... Tsumuji and Kogarashi... to the double-hitting, sword-and-scabbard Sou Ryu Sen were all parried, block, or otherwise dodged by the implacable ex-Shinsegumi swordsman.
'It wouldn't matter if you can hit him anyway, since he can regenerate at will and absorb energy. Nothing I do seems to work,' telepathically conversed Kenshin before Suzaku rebuffed, 'Go back to sleep or... whatever! I'm only borrowing your powers! I don't want you to take over!'
It was at that point that Suzaku noticed from what little strikes he did make, it took longer than before for Saito to heal his wounds. In fact, that Demon Sword stab the demon did when he tried to use galvanism on the copper was still there, a gaping red sore, even after he regenerated his whole body.
Furthermore, even though the Railgun-blasted blade of the Youtou Shinnoken was something Hajime could survive from, the crescent-shaped burn scar from the attack that made his chest look like beef jerky proved he couldn't heal everything immediately.
The Demon Sword was wounding him in a way that made it difficult to heal!
Emboldened by this window of opportunity, Suzaku delivered more and more of Kenshin's Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu moves, his iron sand whip sword aiding the cutting power of the blade to the point that he might as well have been wielding a katana chainsaw.
Fujita chuckled to himself after he missed more and more of his numerous counterstrike Gatotsu while little nicks and scratches that healed slower than usual started to form all over his body.
The appearance of these injuries even after Saito had his guard up was something the A-Class Kenshin couldn't even manage in their first encounter in over a century.
Goro thought, 'That's more like it. With every strike of the Demon Sword, he becomes more and more like the Battousai I knew.'
"RYU KAN SEN: ARASHI! TSUI...!" Like with Kenshin's momentous battle with the megalomaniac Shishio, Suzaku combined the Dragon Wrap Flash: Storm with the Dragon Hammer Flash in order to minimize openings and keep Saito from capitalizing on any gaps in his defense.
After the copper reeled, the Lightning Lord crouched down then jumped forward, his magical sword (and the vibrating black iron swarm surrounding) it held perpendicularly above his head and aimed directly at Hajime's throat.
"...SHO SEN!"
Before Suzaku decapitated the immortal Shinsengumi like how Hercules cut off the immortal head of the Hydra in order to defeat it, the battle-hardened Saito ducked low and jumped back, leaving the Crimson Sparrow wide open.
From there, something curious (or rather, curiouser) happened to Lieutenant Fujita. His clothes changed.
While his aura turned into a gigantic wolf from behind him, howling at the sky, his standard-issue cop uniform changed into another wardrobe altogether. He now wore a light blue (asagi-iro) haori with "white mountain stripes" trim and hakama over a kimono, plus a white cord (tasuki) crossed over the chest and tied at the back.
In other words, the Miburo literally turned into one of the Miburo, otherwise known as the Shinsengumi, his flashy Edo Era outfit reemerging. Most importantly, to Suzaku's chagrin, Saito's slow-healing wounds closed up in an instant, as though the officer's second wind gave him a new burst of energy.
"GATOTSU NISHIKI!"
"RAIL...!"
Before the Railgunner again turned the blade of the Youtou Shinnoken into a laser beam of supersonic, ultra-electromagnetic might, he got lanced from a downward angle, the toe-curling pain from the Second-Style Fang Thrust driving him to the ground so hard his black iron whip sword dissipated right then and there.
A red geyser painted Akasaka redder than its name suggested.
To add more injury to injury (as opposed to mere insult), the lean, mean, and Shinsengumi-uniformed fighting machine didn't stop there.
After Suzaku crashed to the ground, vomiting blood all the while, the Former Captain of the Third Shinsengumi Unit dragged him across the temple courtyard like a plow, beating him from pillar to post, the demon's entrails spilling across the stone floor.
Dammit. He was so close. So goddamn close. Those were the last thoughts within the dying Phoenix King's mind before his mind blanked out from the torture of his body getting chopped up in four separate pieces.
Suzaku's eyes opened, his pupils glowing like amber orbs. Perhaps they even shimmered like gold. Or shone like sunshine.
In an eye blink, the demonic entrails, guts, giblets, internal organs, and intestines strewn all over the blood-covered ground (the disemboweled, emasculated, and beheaded Suzaku was a hanging short of being hanged, drawn, and quartered) disappeared.
Like they were an illusion.
'What...?'
In a second eye blink, Saito saw the Phoenix King revived, if a bit of a bloody mess regardless (but at least he was intact instead of quartered), the Demon Sword's blade right in front of the youkai, who assumed the basic kenjutsu Water Stance.
However, there was something different about the demon. Over his shoulder, like a specter that haunted him, was the transparent astral projection of Himura Battousai, clothed in his deep blue, Edo Era kimono and white hakama, like when he was still Battousai the Manslayer.
Strangely enough, the ghostly Kenshin's characteristic cross-shaped scar was missing from his cheek. He also looked a lot younger than he was in his "normal" form: Like a thirteen-year-old boy that looked like an eleven-year-old girl.
Suzaku was no longer there. There was only... the Battousai.
As showcased again and again in the past, the super-powered "Id" of the Guardian of the Demon Sword had emerged once more. Anyone who used too much the power of the Youtou Shinnoken would eventually succumb to being possessed by its caretaker's dark side.
It happened with Yusuke. It happened with Kurama. And now it happened with Suzaku as well. Whether it was by staining the Demon Sword with the blood of the innocents or by becoming drunk with the Youtou Shinnoken's power, the demon-slayer would eventually emerge and control his latest host's body. Like a parasite.
'Your failure is now absolute, demon; you've eaten your own words. In the end, you were devoured by the power you so foolishly thought you'd be able to contain. You flew too close to the sun, Icarus.'
Regardless of the transformation, the Wolf of Mibu was still able to read Kenshin's bloodlust (the only one who had the natural ability to hide it was Soujiro Seta, after all) and react to his supersonic charge with his own.
"GATOTSU ISHIKI!"
"KUZU RYU SEN!"
It was said that the Nine-Headed Dragon Flash was the one Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu technique that had about equal stabbing strength as the Gatotsu.
However, a stab was only one of many features of the all-in-one attack that would've served as the succession technique of Kenshin's sword school had the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki not existed.
And just like that, blood stained the newly made uniform of the Newly Selected Corps member, the wounds he'd earlier healed up with a power boost reopening, becoming lacerations that reached all the way to the bone that were many times worse than they were before.
The Nine-Headed Dragon Flash almost chopped him up in eight instead of merely four pieces, with a final ninth stab that would've crushed his spine and rendered him permanently paralyzed had he missed his window of opportunity to counterattack.
"GATOTSU ZEROSHIKI!"
The split-second opening was all Hajime required in order to again skewer Battousai... or rather, his puppet, Suzaku... on the same place where the Gatotsu Nishiki landed earlier. It hadn't healed completely; it still bled a red stain on Suzaku's top that served as his target for his Zero-Style Fang Thrust.
Both combatants bid their time, waiting for their injuries to heal completely in order for them to deliver their final attacks... or, in boxing terms, their Sunday punches... unimpeded.
"The Hitokiri Battousai, I presume? No, wait... You're actually the Youkiri Battousai, aren't you?" Saito chuckled despite receiving serious bodily injuries that limited his mobility and took him a while for him to heal.
Battousai the Demon-Slayer and the demon he possessed spoke as one, resulting in an eerie chorus of voices. "You've got what you wanted, Saito Hajime. Here I am. What now?"
"It's been a while, Battousai. Or maybe this is the first time we've met? How different are you exactly from the vagabond or even the manslayer version of Himura Kenshin? Are you the same man or are you a different person altogether?" were the piercing questions Saito asked Himura.
"What do you mean?" Battousai the Demon-Slayer queried in kind.
"How much more of a monster are you than the Hitokiri Battousai? From what I've investigated, the reason why the Demon Sword ended up in the Shrine of the Sword was because Koenma Daio banished you there, with your most recent memories removed."
"..."
"To be more specific, you almost broke the Spirit World Barrier separating the Demon World from the Human World long before the Black Black Club or Sensui Shinobu attempted to do the same thing... all because the U.S. dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki about 50 years ago. Why is that?" asked Saito.
"Humanity had committed a great crime against nature back then. Had I succeeded, it would've rectified the destruction of the Natural Order. A portal to the Demon World would've led to America's Tenchu. Even now, because of the United States' folly, all that awaits the sinful masses of this world is mutual assured destruction from the cruel bombs of their own making: Mass suicide at the press of a button."
Tenchu. Heavenly Retribution. Even in his most demented, perverse, and instinctual form, the Id of Kenshin Himura still grabbed hold of his Code of Honor and Ethics.
That was why the redhead ended up becoming the Legendary Hitokiri Battousai in the first place, despite his master's protests about the abuse of power and the true nature of the Way of the Sword.
"If you believe in Tenchu, then I believe in Aku Soku Zan. You're malice and madness wrapped in a package of good intentions. So come at me. I've been waiting for a long, long time... beyond a lifetime... to cross swords with you."
"The feeling is not mutual." The Youkiri Battousai made Suzaku sheathe the Demon Sword before they went into Battoujutsu Stance. "I have bigger fish to fry, whether it's the Chojin, the Ningenkai's reckoning, or the Reikai's interference. Balance must be restored. My justice won't be undermined by anything or anyone, including you."
In turn, the Miburo went into Gatotsu Stance. "Your justice? Restoring balance? Listen to yourself. You sound as deluded as the Chojin. I liked you better when you were the vagabond who refused to kill! So what, are you going to plunge this world into darkness for the sake of a war that was already over almost half a century ago?"
"No. I'm only here to punish crimes past and present in order to cleanse Ningenkai of its filth and restore the Natural Order. Humanity has become a nest of evil because they were separated from what represented evil for them in the past: The demons. They lacked a yang to their yin, so they became their own yang to compensate."
"Oh really? So let me get this straight. You're going to potentially destroy the world with demons in order to keep it from destroying itself with nukes?" Saito guffawed. "I'm almost glad you've become this completely insane. I was afraid for a minute there that we'd end up on the same side yet again. That would've been... disappointing."
In the fraction of a fraction of a second, at a rate way faster than bodies of their weight and size had any right of traveling, Saito and Himura delivered their ultimate attacks. Faster than the speed by which information traveled from the nerves to the spine to the brain and back.
Hajime waited for Kenshin to attack first in order to test his theory about the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki after seeing it obliterate Shishio even after he used his own ultimate attack. The supersonic slash that began on the left leg to add extra torque and to catch the opponent by surprise was so powerful that it actually left a vacuum or vortex in its wake.
"GATOTSU NISHIKI!"
By using the knowledge that the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu used the left foot as leverage for the ultimate battoujutsu, Lieutenant Fujita attacked with a Second-Style Fang Thrust in order to completely block the initial, vivisecting slice with a downward thrust.
Then, as the maelstrom of air converged at the point of impact between the two swords, Goro sunk his stance low and plunged his sword in the ground to keep himself anchored. Like a crouching wolf ready to pounce.
It wasn't as low a crouch as how, say, Enishi Yukishiro would've sunk with a combination of Chinese martial arts leg splits and Japanese swordsmanship, but it was a low enough crouch to allow the Miburo to bypass the otherwise inescapable vacuum that defeated even the ox-strong Shishio.
All that the Youkiri Battousai had now was his follow-up second strike. Because Saito's movements weren't arrested by the localized hurricane (or at least supercell) caused by the first strike, this allowed the Immortal Shinsengumi to counterattack while Kenshin's back was turned, right into the eye of the storm.
"GATOTSU ISHIKI!"
Just as he'd practiced with the Saint Beast known as Seiryu and his Fu no Senrei attack, Saito struck with precision timing, attacking through a blind spot left by Himura having to turn around to deliver his second strike.
Betrayed by his own momentum, Himura (or rather, Suzaku) ended up having his top half torn clean off, just like what happened to Uonuma Usui when he fell prey to the Zero-Style Fang Thrust.
"!?"
Wait. That wasn't what happened. Like a mirage, Saito's vision of victory faded from existence, replaced by the Youkiri Battousai substituting the second sword slash with a scabbard blow. The First-Style Gatotsu tore apart the Demon Sword's saya into an explosion of splinters.
The policeman was wide open for the third slash.
"GATOTSU ZEROSHIKI!"
Powered by centrifugal force, the final attack cut so deep into Saito's body that he ended up reverting to his police uniform and falling in a pool of his own blood, his complexion becoming as pasty as Rando's. It was only because of the last-second Zeroshiki that Hajime didn't end up bisected like Usui was after receiving his own Zeroshiki.
Just as the Hitokiri Battousai was the Strongest Hitokiri of the Bakumatsu, the Youkiri Battousai was arguably the Strongest Being of All Three Realms. Nevertheless, Kenshin's puppet, Suzaku, staggered, the Zeroshiki able to puncture a lung of his in the exchange.
"Like in the Bakumatsu, in order for things to change, the old world must make way for the new world to be born," pontificated Battousai the Demon-Slayer, who prepared to decapitate his century-old rival.
'...But what about those who only want to lead peaceful lives in today's era?' a voice at the back of the Youkiri Battousai's mind demanded.
'They're collateral damage. The consequences of a calculated risk.'
'...Don't you dare treat human life like it's just another statistic! You're doing the same thing as the Americans did that led to the Cold War! Or even the Empire of Japan did with Asia in World War II.'
'It can't be helped. Death is an inevitability of any revolution or war. You of all people should know that.'
'Saito was right. You're no better than the Chojin. Or Shishio.'
The distracted Youkiri Battousai then backed away so fast, he left an afterimage of himself after almost having his eye gauged and his brain lobotomized by another out-of-the-blue Zeroshiki stab from Fujita.
His breath ragged but his spirit unbroken, Goro's dark aura began to spread far and wide the Nogi Shrine. Instead of just one elephant-sized wolf, an entire pack (arguably, herd) of these behemoths appeared, howling, giving the unstoppable, unwoundable, and unkillable Hajime Saito renewed vigor, his deep and otherwise fatal wounds already healing.
"It's too late for you to go ahead with your plans. The Spirit World Barriers don't exist anymore, and demons are already walking among humans. Yet no apocalypse actually happened, contrary to your expectations. Your revolution was a lie," pointed out Saito.
Unfazed, the winded Battousai returned, "The apocalypse merely hasn't started yet. The Black Ships of Commodore Matthew Perry had not arrived to herald this unknown change. If what you say about the dimensional barriers is true, then the Isolationalism of Humanity has ended and the bloody revolution between the demons and the humans is about to commence. All they need now is a little push."
'The Cold War is over. The U.S.S.R. had been dissolved only two years ago. The world is turning a new leaf. Are you really going to allow these innocents to die for a revolution they never asked for? Damn you if you want that,' rebuked the Kenshin inside the Youkiri Battousai's mind.
Speaking of dimensional barriers, while the third exchange between the Kenshin-possessed Crimson Sparrow and the Immortal Former Captain of the Third Shinsengumi Unit was ready to commence, a dimensional space-time rift opened from behind the Shisejyu Leader.
Suzaku's hand was then chopped off by an invisible force before someone else grabbed hold of the Demon Sword's handle, with the youkai's fingers still clutched around it.
"Ew! Gross! You could've at least taken the sword away from the demon normally!" complained Keiko Yukimura's astral body, who hid behind the battle-worn Yusuke Urameshi while holding Puu in her bosom.
"Oh, come on! It worked, didn't it?" chided Kazuma Kuwabara, who pried Suzaku's hand loose, himself wobbly from the epic war he and Kurama waged against the Suzaku clones and Karasu, the so-called "Mad Bomber".
Kurama slapped Kazuma's back. "Good work, Kuwabara-kun. Mission accomplished."
"I didn't realize the Spirit World upgraded that old Spirit Detector wristwatch thingy I got from Botan back when I fought in Genkai's Tournament! Technology sure advances fast," marveled Yusuke.
"Oh, Fujita! Thanks for keeping Suzaku busy and distracted long enough for us to get the Demon Sword! We owe you one, buddy!" Kuwabara greeted Saito.
"..." Saito scowled, his growing aura full of giant ghostly wolves dissipating into nothingness.
While he espied Suzaku collapse on all fours, the demon's body taken to its utmost limits by the power of the Youtou Shinnoken, the copper's wolfish eyes scanned the horizon from left to right and saw many different Spirit World Warriors emerge from a multitude of opened portals care of Kuwabara.
Out emerged from the different wormholes a teenaged Yahiko Myojin (a solidified spirit), the reincarnation of Yutaro Tsukayama (who just happened to be a mob boss daughter known as Natsuki Shinkai), the detective reincarnation of Aoshi Shinomori (named Detective-Investigator Daiji Matsudaira), and Sanosuke "Rooster Head" Sagara (nee Higashidani, another solidified spirit street fighter who was once part of the Sekihoutai).
From a distance, Fujita also saw multiple shinigami... the Reikai's "ferry-girls"... busy themselves gathering and ferrying all the souls of the people that Suzaku, his six other clones, and the rest of the Shin Juppon Gatana killed to the afterlife.
'So each and every one of them won against the Suzaku clones and their Shin Ju assistants, huh? Not bad, Reikai Senshi. I wonder if they got some sort of assistance...' assessed Saito before he felt the multiple dirty looks and glares of malice bore down on him like daggers. Or drills.
As expected, it was the impetuous Sano who voiced out everyone's discontent with the police officer when he grabbed hold of him by his uniform's collar.
"What's the big idea, Saito? You almost corrupted the Demon Sword and/or killed Kenshin with your stupid death match! Aren't we allies here? Are you friend or foe? Whose side are you on? Reikai's or the Chojin's?"
"Neither." Hajime pushed Sanosuke away and straightened out his ruffled wardrobe. Dammit, he needed a cigarette. "You and your Reikai Army are running blind. You don't even know half of what's going on. I suggest you don't get in my way until you have a firm grasp of the big picture."
"We know enough to figure out that the New Ten Swords were probably formed with Shishio Makoto in mind. Or by Shishio Makoto himself," said the Aoshi reincarnate. "Lieutenant Fujita Goro... no, Saito Hajime. Is it true that the Chojin and Shishio Makoto are one and the same?"
The Wolf of Mibu smirked as he shrugged, took out a stick of cigarette from his coat pocket, and lit it with a nearby piece of flaming debris.
"Who knows? But you're right about one thing. Shishio Makoto is involved in all this. Because he couldn't conquer Japan back when he was still alive, he laid out plans to conquer Hell instead after dying along with Battousai. The ambitious bastard; I wouldn't be surprised if he is the Overfiend."
"Why do you want to corrupt the Demon Sword when it could be the only thing standing in Shishio's way of conquering all three worlds?" insisted Yahiko.
Lieutenant Fujita exhaled an exhaust pipe's worth of tobacco smoke, annoyed that cigarettes in the present time had filters.
"The Demon Sword is every bit as dangerous, if not more so, than the Chojin. About 50 years ago, when Hiroshima and Nagaski were bombed, the Youkiri Battousai almost opened up the portals leading the Demon World to the Human World during a time when Yomi and Mukuro were looking for some sort of leverage to end their Cold War with Raizen. I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up the Chojin as well."
"...W-What? You're joking!" said Myojin.
"You heard me, kid. I'm not being facetious. Anyone can be the Chojin as long as they fulfill the prophecy of uniting all three worlds together," confirmed the policeman. "It might as well be a self-fulfilling prophecy, at that."
Kuwabara blinked while receiving a telepathic message from Himura. He then turned towards Yusuke and said, "Yo, Urameshi. Kenshin wants to talk. Hold onto this for a minute, will ya?"
The sleek-haired Yusuke sighed, remembering the last time he served as the host to the Demon Sword. "Ugh. Fine. Give it to me." Like a genie in a bottle, as soon as Urameshi got a hold of the Youtou Shinnoken, out popped Himura.
"Saito," said Kenshin after he retrieved his sword from Yusuke, their spirit energy synchronizing, "who is the Youkiri Battousai? Why am I able to talk to him like he's a separate entity altogether?"
The lieutenant scratched his chin. "Now isn't that a mystery? Back when we fought in the Meiji Era, the Hitokiri Battousai was nothing more than you getting serious and abandoning the silly notion that you can deal with monsters without becoming a monster yourself. He's your old self in the Edo Era, in other words."
The familiar Friedrich Nietzsche paraphrase about monsters made Keiko wince, remembering what Feng Xinhai almost dared her to do in order to save Yusuke from his clutches.
"I don't remember my 'old self' wanting to become a mass murderer by attempting genocide on an entire nation as revenge," said Kenshin.
"What are you talking about? You've always been a mass murderer. You've killed hundreds, maybe even thousands, in your wake before you reached puberty," retorted Saito.
The tall and slender policeman then moved right into the shorter, cross-scarred spirit's personal space and sneered.
"If you kill four or more people at one time, you're already considered by the American FBI as a mass murderer. To see you go off that slippery slope of killing thousands more for revenge against the atomic bombs is not that much of a stretch. If you go mad with power again, I'll put you down myself. Like a rabid dog."
"..."
Sagara then interjected, "What I want to know is why and how you're still alive in Modern-Day Japan! How were you able to survive all this time? Are you a ghost like Yahiko and I are or are you a reincarnation like Cat Eyes and Aoshi Lite?"
Before Saito could answer Rooster Head's question (not that he wished to, anyway), lightning struck from behind the multiple Spirit World Warriors, which made them jump back in unison.
Thanks to the trauma they suffered by anything related to electricity because of their seemingly endless battles with the Lightning Lord and his doppelgangers, the Reikai Senshi were already on their toes.
Revived by the healing balm of a lightning storm delivered to him by one of the last surviving Suzaku and the "nutrients" from the planet's own magnetic field, the Phoenix King was revived once more, like Lazarus rising from his supposed untimely death.
Then, with glowing eyes and a demented grin, he shouted, "KAIFUKU!" and his missing hand was replaced with a new one.
"Aw, shit! He's still alive? We should've finished him off!" said Yusuke, who wasn't nearly as averse to killing as Kenshin was, especially when it came to the demon that could revive himself repeatedly.
The souls of the Suzaku clones that had been killed so far (and even those who weren't quite dead yet) traveled all the way from different parts of Minato Ward straight into the Phoenix King. Doing so raised up his energy levels so high, he became...
"Dammit. He's S-Level! He has reached S-Level without using the Demon Sword!" informed Yahiko after checking his Spirit Detector.
Suzaku gave Saito a sideways glance, his head tilted at a weird angle. "You were wrong, human. I am not Icarus. Instead of waxen wings, I grew my own. And once I get a hold of the Demon Sword and magnify my already S-Level powers, I'll be able to kill each and every one of you bastards with little to no effort at all! ANKOKU-YORO...!"
"INGA GAMI!"
After Myojin, the person who first noticed the spike in the Crimson Sparrow's powers, attacked the blond with his sakabatou replica and his neutralization powers that kept the almost unkillable youkai from splitting off into seven demons, the Immortal Shinsengumi only had this to say to Suzaku: "Aho."
"Everyone! Don't let him get near the Demon Sword or use the Prism of Seven, no matter what happens! BANZEN GAMI!"
A disc slipped from Suzaku's spine from the impact of the follow-up "perfect" strike that hit upwards from below following the same trajectory as the initial downward strike. However, a truck fell directly atop Yahiko, which was something he couldn't use his neutralization powers on.
After the Master of Electromagnetism flew to the air, away from the short-range area where Myojin's power neutralization worked, he magnetically snatched away the teen's sakabatou with the intention of using it as his bullet for his Railgun.
"MUGEN DAI NO HYOGO!"
As swift as a coursing river, the androgynous Natsuki snatched away Yahiko's sakabatou, crossed her wrists, and deflected the supersonic orange beam with all the force of a great typhoon and all the strength of a raging fire by crisscrossing the reverse-edged sword and her ceramic cane together.
The snaking Railgun shot blasted Suzaku into smithereens, but before his internal organs popped like a hamster inside a microwave thanks to the heat of the ray of light and disintegrating metal, he absorbed most of the brunt of the discharge since it was produced electromagnetically.
He then scourged Xinhai's daughter with a swarm of black iron sand, the particles devouring her clothes and skin like omnivorous, "pico" termites that ate anything and everything.
However, after Suzaku attempted to regain his bearings, a fist appeared from out of nowhere and smashed itself on his face, breaking his cheekbones and jaw. It was Sano's dominant fist, after he took Yahiko's advice to not let up with the offense to heart.
"FUTAE NO KIWAMI! SANJO NO KIWAMI!"
The triple-hit combo (the first impact absorbing the incoming force, the second impact dealing complete destruction since all resistance was negated by the first impact, and the third impact adding even further damage) fractured Suzaku's skull almost to the point of caving it in.
Even through the concussion and red haze, Suzaku was able to attack Sanosuke with an electromagnetic shockwave. However, before the street fighter was blown away, he was still able to summon a ceramic zanbatou and do the "ZANKUU ZANBATOU ATE!" at the youkai in retaliation, which made the demon's body twist in opposing directions.
"JIGEN TOU!" shouted Kuwabara, who slashed at Suzaku and created a portal from behind him at the same time.
"KAITEN KENBU ROKUREN!" declared Daiji after emerging from the dimensional rift Kazuma created for him.
Protecting himself with an electromagnetic tempest made of pure white metal ions stripped from all the nearby buildings he could summon, he rained white death on both the detective and the carrot-topped ex-delinquent.
Kurama delivered the vampiric Blood-Drinking Weed that killed Karasu back in the Ankoku Bujutsukai in time before Matsudaira and Kuwabara were themselves killed by the metal debris. He got shot by bullet-fast shrapnel multiple times for his trouble.
"GATOTSU ISHIKI!" Saito speared Suzaku forward, only for the copper to get blasted back by his own blade after the demon finally found the opportunity to turn the steel into a Railgun bullet.
The lower half of Suzaku's body ended up flying before him after Kenshin hit him with the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki, his blood fountaining everywhere.
He desperately clung to the sword like flotsam in the roiling seas, which then allowed him to raise his power beyond S-Level.
Suzaku then superheated the entirety of the Nogi Shrine with his electromagnetic microwave radiation, which rendered most of the gathered warriors writhing in pain while their blood pressures rose.
Because he was closest to the Phoenix King, Kenshin howled and gnashed his teeth the most while Suzaku cooked him from the inside, his ectoplasm boiling.
Meanwhile, even Yusuke felt the effects of the sudden deadly heat wave thanks to the World of Suffering and his bond with Himura.
Nevertheless, Urameshi pointed his finger gun at the recovering Suzaku, who was currently regenerating all the limbs he lost.
"Go ahead, Urameshi Yusuke. I'll just convert the energy of your Rei-Gan and absorb it as electricity. Face it, you've lost."
The heat wave then suddenly stopped and Suzaku's recovery halted, so he still ended up three-fourths to half of a man, give or take a limb.
Kenshin actually had one ace left up his sleeve: The Kanashibari sleep paralysis technique. "Now... Yusuke... dono..." the swordsman spirit rasped.
"Right, Kenshin! REI-GAN!"
Unable to do energy conversion and absorption thanks to his weakened constitution and Himura's body-freezing move, the Spirit Gun blasted what was left of the Master of Electromagnetism's body into oblivion.
His last-ditch effort to triumph against the Spirit World Warriors had ended in another loss.
"I-Is it over?" Kuwabara asked before seeing Suzaku's lifeless body roll down on the roof of the temple and flop like a fish on the temple steps, his eyes glassy, and entire parts of his body missing.
A man in a skull mask then emerged from the shadows, his eyes narrowing at the unmoving body of the last of the Saint Beasts. "Such a shame. To have someone so gifted in cellular mitosis and natural cloning defeated like this. What a loss."
"Who the hell are you?" Natsuki demanded while she favored her shoulder and raw, bleeding skin. "Are you one of the Shin Ju?"
Unnoticed by her, the trio of Yahiko, Daiji, and Sanosuke turned pale at the presence of the masked man (or demon).
'Could he be...?' the three Meiji Era fighters pondered, trailing off at the same time.
"Oh, you must be Xinhai's daughter! I've heard so much about you! You look a lot like your father when you're angry. I don't believe we've met, though. I'm Gein. Edward Gein. Yes, I am part of the New Ten Swords."
"YOU! You're the creepy-ass guy I met back in the hospital roof! You along with that super cop who saved Keiko from Seiryu! And some other creeper that looked like a cross between a mummy and a spider!" realized Urameshi.
"Yes. Quite. How do you do, Urameshi Yusuke?" Gein greeted, tipping the edge of his cowl. "Thanks to you and your friends' efforts, I've gathered quite a lot of data! I can't wait for our next encounter."
While Edward chatted with Yusuke, he hoisted the remains of Suzaku up his shoulder. He appeared quite unassuming for someone who, as Saito revealed to Yusuke long ago, was part of Japan's infamous Unit 731 who did human experiments on prisoners of war.
"Don't forget what I said to you about your girlfriend."
"Wait. Yusuke! What did that freaky skull ninja tell you about me?" Yukimura asked while Yusuke whistled and looked away. "Oh, come on! That makes you look even more suspicious!"
While Keiko argued with Urameshi, more people started coming out of the woodwork. First, there came the people the Spirit World Warriors were already familiar with, teleported to the Nogi Shrine by the Shin Ju's very own Gatekeeper, Itsuki.
There was Karasu the "Mad Bomber", Rando the "Master of Ninety-Nine Skills" (now more than a hundred with the addition of the Rei-Gan, the Jigen Tou, and potentially the Kokuryuha), and Feng "The One-Eight-Ten Killer" Xinhai. They along with Gein and Itsuki composed five of the ten New Juppon Gatana.
Then came the unfamiliar faces. Or rather, the people that the Reikai Tantei, the Oniwabanshu Okashira, and the Kenshingumi didn't realize were Shin Ju. The Reikai Warriors were about to come face-to-face with the rest of the New Ten Swords.
To Be Continued...
Next: The Doctors of Life and Death.
Yes, that "speed of light versus the speed of darkness" statement was totally a paraphrase of the famous Terry Pratchett quote.
So long! Farewell!
Abdiel