Scroll III: Battle in the Frozen Wastes
Tetsuo looked up as the sound of Zhang Cai's weapon slamming against the ground echoed into the mountain. "That means he's here, and he's already taken out Ukiyo," he said. "That was quick. I expected that fight to drag on longer."
Saitou looked at him over the smoldering end of a cigarette. "You've underestimated Battousai," he said. "Hardly a wise move."
"Hardly the move I made," Tetsuo retorted. He now wore a katana at his waist, which he gripped with white knuckles. "Your taunts are beginning to wear thin, Saitou-san. Perhaps you should be up after Zhang Cai instead of Kuroda."
"It makes no difference to me," Saitou said. "No matter how many men he takes down before he arrives, he will still be fighting as rurouni and not hitokiri. I have no interest in this battle, only obligation." He looked at Kamiya Kaoru, who sat stoically several feet away, hands folded in her lap. "I might even be rooting for him if it were not such a patently ridiculous notion."
Kaoru returned his gaze, briefly, before staring straight ahead again. Saitou disguised his smile by raising his hand to his mouth to take another drag on his cigarette. She was not going to take this lying down.
Little wonder why Battousai felt the way he did about her.
"Whatever," Tetsuo said, releasing his grip on his sword. "Unless he's fighting to kill, Battousai won't have gotten past Ukiyo without sustaining a wound or two. Zhang Cai will give him another. Then, if Kuroda doesn't finish him, he'll be easy pickings for you, Saitou-san."
"I'm thrilled," Saitou said. "Your plan seems to be proceeding smoothly, Tetsuo."
Tetsuo smirked. "Of course it is."
Saitou looked at Kaoru again. He was not worried.
Not if Battousai had half as much fire in him as she did right now.
Kenshin leapt out of the way of the guandao strike. The weapon cleaved an enormous furrow in the snow. If it had landed, it would have split his head clean in two.
Despite the size and weight of his weapon, his opponent moved with impressive speed, transitioning from the chop into a thrust which Kenshin took on his blade, letting it push him away and out of range. He landed lightly in the snow, ignoring the pain in his gut from Ukiyo's stab wound. "This one would know who he fights," he said, "if only for the sake of courtesy."
"My name is Zhang Cai," the man replied. "Your opponent."
He moved into a whirling, three-sixty-degree strike which would bisect Kenshin if it landed. Kenshin hurled himself into the air, raising his sword above his head in preparation for a Ryutsuisen.
He felt the air leave his lungs as something heavy struck him square in the chest. He blinked and realized it was the weighted end of a long chain which Zhang Cai had hurled from his sleeve, disrupting Kenshin's Ryutsuisen. He managed to land on his feet, but Zhang Cai lashed out with his guandao in a powerful strike Kenshin could not completely block. The edge of the guandao bit into his leg. In the same moment, Zhang Cai brought the chain around in a sweeping strike at Kenshin's neck. Kenshin brought up a hand to block it and keep the chain from strangling him if it wrapped around his throat, but Zhang Cai gave a sudden, hard yank, smashing the weighted end of the chain into the back of Kenshin's head.
Kenshin staggered forward, pain surging behind his eyes. He'd taken many such blows, but he was no longer in his prime, so his vision blurred and he wobbled, his balance thrown off. The wound on his leg also hampered him, threatening to tear further if he overexerted himself.
"Why do you fight this one?" Kenshin asked, breathing heavily. He had to buy himself a little time to let his vision stop swimming. "What were you offered? You are from the Continent. What does Japan have which the Continent does not?"
"I have no duty," Zhang Cai replied, "to tell you."
He lashed out with the chain again, this time aiming for Kenshin's sword. Kenshin knew that his trick with Akamatsu – crushing the chain between his sword and his sheath – would not work here; this chain was too thick, its wielder too skilled.
But there were other ways to deal with the chain.
Zhang Cai looked surprised when Kenshin let him wrap the chain around his sword. He was much larger and stronger, so he expected to have a natural advantage if it came to a fight for possession of Kenshin's weapon.
His surprise increased as Kenshin leapt into the air, soaring above his head in a Ryushousen. He strained against the chain, using the explosive power of the move to force Zhang Cai into a tough choice: release the chain or run the risk of it snapping from Kenshin's attack. Off-guard from Kenshin's unexpected strength, Zhang Cai chose the wrong option. He tried to pull Kenshin back down with a heave on the chain.
It snapped clean in half.
Kenshin landed smoothly well out of Zhang Cai's range. A moment later, the chain and its weighted end crashed to the ground beside him.
"I have underestimated you," Zhang Cai said. "I will not make the same mistake again."
"This one says again, he has no desire to fight!" Kenshin insisted. "Will you not lay aside your sword?"
Zhang Cai shook his head. "I cannot." He paused; Kenshin said nothing, knowing that the man's quiet resolve was weakening as he recognized Kenshin's strength. "I am here by order of Her Highness the Dowager Empress Cixi. Rebels spring up everywhere on the Continent, and it is her desire that we command a more effective secret police in order to combat them. I am here to learn from you – and to defeat you, if possible."
Rage flared up in Kenshin. He didn't know how many more men Tetsuo had, and if he kept sustaining wounds at this rate, he would never reach Kaoru. He'd hoped to avoid putting too much stress on his body before he had to face Saitou and Tetsuo, but –
"If it is your wish to learn from this one," Kenshin said, "THEN WATCH CLOSELY!"
Zhang Cai jerked in surprise as Kenshin attacked, launching straight into the Kuzu-ryūsen. The big man went flying as Kenshin's nine simultaneous strikes hit his vital points with tremendous force. Gasping with the effort of the attack, Kenshin went down on one knee for a moment, feeling both the wounds and the murkiness of his own body protest.
In a moment, Zhang Cai was back on his feet, still clutching his guandao. He was shaken by the attack, but not too severely wounded. "Please understand," he said. He began a charge, his intent clearly to lay Kenshin open from throat to groin with his guandao. "It is not personal."
Kenshin caught the attack on his sakabatō, turning it aside. At the same time, he pulled the sheath from his waist. Taking a cue from Ukiyo, he switched his sakabatō to a reverse grip as Zhang Cai's momentum carried the big man toward him.
He slammed the hilt of his sword and his sheath against the suigetsu on either side of Zhang Cai's torso, the same spot in which he'd struck Kujiranami during the Jinchū battle. Zhang Cai gurgled as the impacts went straight to his lungs from both sides of his body. He toppled, hitting the snow with a much louder crash than Ukiyo.
"For this one," Kenshin said, "it is personal."
He stood there, breathing heavily, for a moment.
"So the killer from the Continent falls," a mocking voice said from somewhere nearby. "I'm not surprised. There is still no match for the Japanese shinobi."
Kenshin whirled as snow crunched behind him, striking out with his sakabatō in a blow that would have taken an enemy in the gut. Nobody was there; instead, there was a small, spherical object freshly lodged in the snow, an object that was somehow familiar –
The grenade went off and sent Kenshin flying. He turned his tumble into a roll to bring him back up onto his feet, scanning the area. He felt shrapnel dig at him as he moved; the grenade had done some damage.
His danger sense flared. This was what his new opponent wanted, for him to be scanning the woods –
Without thinking, Kenshin went into a Ryumeisen, slamming his sword back into its sheath at god-speed. The explosive sound of metal on metal rang out like a gunshot, taking the man sneaking up on Kenshin by surprise. He hesitated for a crucial split second.
Kenshin didn't hesitate, spinning around into a battoujutsu draw. His new opponent, a nondescript-looking man, ducked the first strike, but ran right into the sheath, taking the second half of Kenshin's Soryusen across his face. He staggered, began to right himself, then threw up his arms as Kenshin kicked snow into his face, blinding him. Kenshin struck out with another attack, but his new opponent leapt backward out of range, brushing the snow from his eyes.
"Dirty," he laughed. "Not that I can claim I fight differently."
"You have been observing this one's moves," Kenshin said. It was not a question. "So you know this one's strength. Unless you wish to follow Ukiyo and Zhang Cai, you will desist!"
"Desist? When I have the chance to kill the legendary Hitokiri and become a legend myself?" He laughed. "Please, Battousai. Kuroda Yasuhiro is not so naïve."
Kenshin didn't wait for him to say anything more. He launched into another Kuzu-ryūsen, trying to take Kuroda down instantly.
Only the most powerful of swordsmen could dodge or block the Kuzu-ryūsen, so Kenshin was not surprised when his strikes landed. He was taken aback, however, by how Kuroda purposefully took the strikes. The sakabatō did almost no damage; he clearly had trained himself in iron-body techniques.
Worse than that, as Kenshin wobbled behind him, the effort of the attack tearing at him again, Kuroda turned, lashing out in a lightning-fast punch. Kenshin twisted, turning his body so he would take the blow on his shoulder.
The report of a gun rang out as Kuroda's fist made contact with Kenshin's shoulder. Something tore at Kenshin's skin, dealing only a grazing blow but making him stagger nonetheless. Kuroda followed up with another punch with his other hand, which Kenshin took on his sword. This time, he clearly saw what happened. From beneath Kuroda's sleeve, above the back of his hand, a hidden gun fired. This bullet sailed an inch past Kenshin's head, ripping through his hair.
Kenshin disengaged, buying himself time to reassess the situation. His shoulder was bleeding only a little; it wouldn't even bother him later. It would be bothersome, however, if one of those bullets hit.
"What do you think, Battousai?" Kuroda laughed. "You may be able to read the path of a bullet fired by a gunman, but what if that bullet is fired from a source far too close to dodge?" He pulled down the sleeve of his right arm, revealing a complex-looking mechanical device wrapped around his forearm. Kenshin recognized a barrel lying flush along Kuroda's forearm, as well as a revolving cylinder with multiple chambers set behind it. "This shadow instrument, 'Exploding Fist,' is the latest in covert weapons technology. Any sudden impact on the hand triggers the spring mechanism, which fires the gun. With the ammunition capacity and power of a revolver, a single good hit is instantly lethal!"
"So it is like Otowa Hyōko's Baika-Chusen," Kenshin said, "but far more powerful." He spread his stance, ready to react to Kuroda's attack.
"Otowa was a novice, a disgrace!" Kuroda chuckled. "I will make the world forget his name, and yours, with the power of the Exploding Fist!" Displaying impressive speed, he rushed in, fists clenched. "Everyone will instead remember the name of Kuroda Yasuhiro!"
Kenshin ducked his first strike, crushed the sakabatō against Kuroda's gut with little effect, leapt away from the second strike. Kuroda moved too quickly to be wearing more weaponry on hs legs, which explained why he was not trying any kicks. But if he got in one lucky strike, it would be the end. Kenshin needed to finish this quickly.
"Give up!" Kuroda laughed, spinning around for another charge. "You will die here in the snow, Battousai!"
One of his arms blurred. Kenshin blinked as he realized another grenade was hurtling toward his head. He sent it flying with a quick strike from his sakabatō, but the move left him open. Kuroda tried for a double hammerblow, attacking with both fists at once. Reacting on instinct, Kenshin turned his body between Kuroda's attacks, positioning himself between his arms, inches from his torso. He ducked beneath Kuroda's left arm, leaping away, but it had been close. That trick would not work again.
"And after you die," Kuroda said, "I think I'll go see to that woman of yours. She's good-looking, Battousai. My compliments."
Kenshin felt his battle-glare, already present on his face, grow more intense. "Do not speak of Kaoru-dono, Kuroda. This one will not allow it."
"Sure you won't." Kuroda's next attack glanced against Kenshin's side; the Exploding Fist discharged, burying a bullet in a nearby tree. Kenshin's retaliatory strike had no effect; it was like hitting a stone statue.
"I wonder," Kuroda laughed, "if her screams will be as pretty as her face."
The flames of Kenshin's rage had grown in his fight with Zhang Cai; now they exploded into a firestorm. "YOU WILL NOT TOUCH HER!" he screamed. "IT WILL NOT BE ALLOWED!"
A smirk on his face, Kuroda slid toward him for another strike, his fist cocked.
Kenshin thrust with the sakabatō, pushing himself to the extreme edges of his range. The sword's tip unerringly found its mark – the barrel of Kuroda's right-hand Exploding Fist.
The impact triggered the device. Kenshin felt the sakabatō quake as the bullet slammed into it, but it blocked the barrel. The bullet, and more importantly the explosive force and heat of the gunpowder, had nowhere to go.
A moment later, all the other chambered rounds of the Exploding Fist detonated. Kuroda screamed as his right arm disappeared into a burst of flame and smoke. It reappeared a moment later, a bloody, mangled mess of broken bone and shredded flesh.
Kenshin freed his sakabatō with a sharp yank, reversed the blade, and cut Kuroda's left-handed Exploding Fist right off his arm. The Shadow Instrument fell; Kenshin bisected it again, ruining the barrel, before it could even hit the ground.
Ignoring Kuroda's screams, Kenshin sheathed his sword. "You will live," he said coldly. "Now, flee. Before this one changes his mind." He turned away, heading for the entrance to Mt. Hiei's interior.
His danger sense flared again. Kenshin whirled back around, ready for another attack, but all he saw was Kuroda, still screaming, rushing at him, his arms cradled to his chest. Kenshin stared, wondering what he was doing, then realized the awful truth when he looked closer at Kuroda's arms: they were clutching a pile of grenades.
There was a sound of thunder.
The Secret Lives of Characters: Zhang Cai
(It's pronounced roughly Jong Tsai, for those not familiar with pinyin romanization of Mandarin Chinese.)
One of the things I enjoy about Rurouni Kenshin is the fact that it's written as a kind of secret history. The drama with Shishio overlaps with the historical assassination of Oukubo, a deciding factor in the victory of the Ishin Shishi was Battousai... etc. Watsuki managed to make his characters fit into the world around them, so I wanted to do roughly the same thing here with a reference to the Qing Dynasty, which during the time period of RuroKen had its de facto ruler in the Dowager Empress Cixi (Tsi-hsi). Zhang Cai, therefore, was born.
His model is, of course, Guan Yu (style name Yunchang) from the Three Kingdoms Era, for whom the guandao is named. The character in John Woo's "Red Cliff" makes very good use of the impressive weapon in the screen time he's given, as does the Jade Warlord in "Forbidden Kingdom" (which is an awful film with sadly awesome fights). However, he is an assassin, so I gave him a weighted chain like Akamatsu to mix things up a bit. I would have liked to have done a little more with the katana-versus-guandao concept, but I didn't want the chapter to overstay its welcome.
As a character, his motivation is "duty," and his weakness is "pride" - but not personal pride like Kuroda or Tetsuo. Zhang Cai idealizes his home country and is aggrieved by his ruler's decision to turn to the Japanese for help of any kind; this is what makes him initially underestimate Kenshin's strength and not speak, since he wants so badly for his target to be just a weakling. Still, out of all the opponents Kenshin faces (apart, obviously, from Saitou), he is the noblest and least selfish.
The Secert Lives of Characters: Kuroda Yasuhiro
On the opposite end of the spectrum, then, is Kuroda.
Just as Zhang Cai reflects something I like about Rurouni Kenshin, so does Kuroda. Watsuki manages to incorporate a lot of anachronisms or even fantastic/fictional concepts into his work and still make them feel organic within the world. Granted, there are a couple that are just weirdly out-of-place, like Hyottoko and Iwanbou, but for the most part (Fuji, the Mugenjin and Watoujutsu, various shadow instruments, etc.) it works very well. I wanted to do something similar, and I always liked the concept of Otowa more than the implementation, so I created my own shadow instrument. I needed someone to wield it, though, somebody who would provide a good foil for the stoic Zhang Cai, so Kuroda was born.
Kuroda has no specific model; desiring fame for fame's own sake is endemic to our culture, so it's a familiar motivation. Ukiyo wants to prove his mastery of the Niten Ichi style as a way of overcoming his own fears and self-doubt, and Tetsuo wants to advance his career to gain more influence, but Kuroda is just a shallow battle-monger and fame-seeker. In that sense, he's the weakest of the foes Kenshin has to face - he's fighting with the smallest stake in this conflict, so Kenshin naturally defeats him the most handily.
As far as the Exploding Fist goes, the idea came from a combination of Bayonetta, a game where the eponymous character dual-wields guns and wears two more guns on her shoes and then punches and kicks people with them while firing them, and a scene from "The Expendables" where Jason Statham shoots a soldier a few times in the gut at point-blank range in a celebration of gory excess. I combined the two ideas, adjusted the technology to be as fitting with the time period as I could, and the Exploding Fist was born. I'm fond of it and I think it fits into the world of Rurouni Kenshin pretty well, but what do I know?
The next update will be Monday, March 7th. Please look forward to it!