Chapter 10 - Gatotsu vs. Battojutsu: Duel of the Heirs

---ONE MONTH LATER---

"Grey Wolf, you are never to use this sword again, unless I say otherwise. I don't know what happened, or how you were able to stop Kanryu, but I do not want you to use the second Transdimensional sword until I am certain it has been purified." Saito told Grey Wolf, locking the second Transdimensional sword into a cabinet in his room. He owned the original Trandimensional Sword, otherwise known as the demon slayer for its ability to strike anything, even to the point that if wanted, the owner could create a rift in dimensions and appear anywhere else they chose, even in another dimension. Also, the sword had the ability to go through anything, good for striking down a demon which has harbored itself inside a human host. The second Transdimensional sword had abilities, however, that the original did not, but which were unbenounced to anyone.

"Grey Wolf, you will, from now on, use this Katana/Wakizachi pair." He held out the swords to her, and she took them, taking one last glance at the first real sword she'd ever held before Saito draped a bedsheet over the windowed cabinet.

"Yes, father..." Grey Wolf placed the swords in her belt.

"Good. Now come, let's go. There will be a meeting to decide a course of action upon the defense of Japan from Shishio."

They rushed to the dining room of Saito's home. Sitting at the table there already was Ghost, Gohan, Vejiita, Kenshin, Sano and the Oniwabanshu.

"I see all of you are here. Sorry to have kept you waiting. We must stop Shishio as quickly as possible. I have gotten intel that Shishio plans to set Kyoto aflame."

"Kyoto aflame?!" Kenshin and Sano both yelled at the same time.

"All the people there! How could he plan such a violent act?" Gohan cried out.

"No way! He's insane! How will that help him??" Beshimi, an Oniwabanshu, asked.

Aoshi answered that for Saito. "In the chaos... he plans to take over Japan, does he not?"

"Yes." Saito spoke. Again, many cried out.

"We cannot allow that to happen, that we cannot!" Kenshin yelled.

"That will absolutely not be tolerated!" Sano added.

"Burn Kyoto, then take over what's left?? What madness is this! He's got some freaking issues!" Hyottoko cried out.

"Damn right he does..." Ghost said.

"I don't believe it."

Everyone froze at Vejiita's words.

"He's not smart enough to come up with a plan like that, not from what I've heard about him, anyways. He'd need help. Lots of help. This jupongatana has ten members, right? Ten people to take down all of us, and then set Kyoto aflame? I doubt that would happen. Your intel is wrong, Saito."

"The intel me and Saito have been recieving has been from the now revived Shinsengumi."

Again, everyone froze, but this time, at Grey Wolf's words.

"And if you don't believe he can fulfill this plan, or even come up with it, chew on the fact that we only just learned that he has a rather large army at his command and one of the Jupongatana is an amazing strategist by the name of Houji Sadojima, who was most likely the one who came up with this plan." Vejiita backed his chair up as Grey wolf continued. "We're on borrowed time. We need to act now. If we wait any longer, it will be to late to prevent Shishio from succeeding. And that is something that Tokugawa and Meiji supporters must stop... together." Over the years, Grey Wolf had gained Saito's amazing ability to silence a room with only a few words.

"Thank you, Grey Wolf. Now, we must form a battle plan."

"Hai." The rest of the room spoke at Saito's words.

"Saito, we cannot be all be in two places at once, but Shishio's army and Shishio's Jupongatana will be." Kenshin spoke.

"Perhaps we should split up, then..." Saito studied the way everyone had sat. Kenshin was sitting nowhere near Ghost, which was the first thing Saito noticed. "They need separate teams, that's for damn sure..." Saito muttered under his breath. He also noticed that all of the Oniwabanshu were sitting together, and that there was one more Oniwabanshu present then there had been at Kanryu's mansion: a girl who very easily fit the ninja description. "They're all on the same team..." He again muttered under his breath. "Hmm... Me, Kenshin, Gohan, Vejiita, Sano, and Grey Wolf will go after Shishio and the Jupongatana. The Oniwabanshu and Ghost will prevent Shishio's army from setting Kyoto aflame."

"Wait, Saito. I need to train with Ghost. Could he be on our team?"

A sweatdrop appeared on Saito. "Ahh... You could be on his team..."

"Sure, but wouldn't that make the teams badly uneven? Why can't Ghost just come on our team?"

The sweatdrop, which had disappeared, reappeared quickly. "Because he doesn't want to..."

"Saito, the teams-"

"I could come." The room spun their heads to see Yahiko, donning his shinai.

"Yahiko, this one would not want you to be harmed-"

"Kenshin, I'm strong enough to help. Please, let me! Give me a chance to prove myself to you... I won't let you down. That's a promise." Grey Wolf smirked after Yahiko said this. "What? I am strong!"

"Strong yes. How strong is the question. This isn't some game, boy. Lives are at stake, and you'll only hinder your team if they have to protect you every second. Stay home. You're too weak."

Yahiko clenched his shinai tightly. "I am not weak..."

"Yes, you are. You've trained, yes. But it's not enough to train. You've never taken a life, have you? Bloodied your hands?"

"... no. But just because I don't use Satsujin ken, doesn't mean I can't help. With Katsujin ken-"

"Katsujin ken is a lie. Kenjutsu is a killing art, it cannot be properly defined in any other way. To protect one, you kill another. You make a choice that no being is justified to choose except God himself. Can you take that? Or will you back down like the child you are..." Grey Wolf drew her sword, then told Saito to take care for it momentarily. She placed her sheath in her hand.

"If you can land a hit on me, you can come. Otherwise... train for a few decades. Then you may stand a chance."

"I will not lose to you! Come at me with everything you've got!" Yahiko yelled, drawing the shinai and getting into a stance.

"Don't mess with a miburo, boy. There is no way you can hit me. No way you can win."

"I will not lose to YOU!!! AHHH!!!" He screamed out, striking at Grey Wolf's head. She blocked, then swung the sword downwards while still parrying, smashing Yahiko's skull. He fell, then got up slowly. Once he raised his sword, Grey Wolf struck again, slamming the sheath into Yahiko's right side, surely breaking a few ribs. Then, when Yahiko got up, Grey Wolf slammed the end of the sheath into Yahiko's throat. He flew into the table, then slumped to the floor.

"N-no... I will not... lose..." He stood, placing the shinai at his side, his left hand holding it. He also held it with his right hand, as he would when drawing a sword. Grey Wolf had noted the form, when, before Kenshin had abandoned her, he had defended their home.

The battojutsu stance. Yahiko's Mitori practice, similar to her own, had caught on to battojutsu.

"Strike now, so I can kill you." Yahiko whispered, the same words Battosai had whispered to Jin E before Jin E committed suicide.

"Strong words for a weak being. Time to quell this disturbance." The gatotsu stance was seen from Grey Wolf.

They flew at each other, in the exact same way Saito and Battosai had done over a decade ago.

They landed. Time froze as the heirs kept form before one slipped.

Grey Wolf fell to her knee, a slash in her shirt. She checked a wound and was surprized to see that the shinai had cut her, though slightly. Grey Wolf took on that look that screams, "I'm going to kill him NOW!" as she looked back at Yahiko. He had fallen, the last of his will power spent. He was out cold. She stood, walking to him, sheath raised. He pushed him self up, attacking as Grey Wolf did the same.

Kenshin's hand caught Yahiko's shinai as Saito's hand caught Grey Wolf's sheath.

"Enough." Both whispered, though Kenshin's voice was kinder and Saito's voice more stern. The very fight that had been fought so many years ago had been retold - and again, it was a draw.