Kenshin Himura
Backstory:
Kenshin Himura, born as Shinta, his master renamed him "Kenshin," believing the name "Shinta" was too gentle for a swordsman. Kenshin's transformation into a legendary hitokiri (人斬り, "manslayer") took place during the tumultuous Bakumatsu era. As the war concluded, Kenshin forswore his assassin's life, adopting the role of a wandering samurai. His weapon of choice, the sakabatō, is a testament to his commitment to non-violence—it's a katana with a reversed blade.
Embarking on a journey of redemption, Kenshin seeks to offer aid and protection to the helpless, an act of contrition for his violent past. His travels bring him to Tokyo, where he encounters Kamiya Kaoru, a young woman who offers him sanctuary in her dojo, even after uncovering the haunting truths of his past. Throughout the series, Kenshin forges deep connections with various individuals, including former adversaries, and faces challenges head-on. He is a master of the Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū, an ancient swordsmanship style that bestows upon him unparalleled skill with the blade.
Powers and Abilities:
Superhuman Physical Characteristics,
Multiple Selves (Type 1; due to years of killing people, a bloodlusted persona, was born),
Sword Master,
Social Influencing,
Acrobatics,
Water Walking through sheer speed,
Precognition (Hiten Mitsurugi style practitioners have a superior "sixth sense" than most, capable of predicting opponents' actions by sensing their emotions and aura),
Resistance to Paralysis Inducement (Can use his chi to break out from Shin no Ippou),
Fear-inducing Aura (Send his Chi to stun weak-willed people),
Air Manipulation (Can create strong wind by drawing his sword, and vacuum creation with the ultimate technique to briefly immobilize his opponent).
Statistics Amplification (During and after his fight against Shishio, Kenshin learned to amplify his performance with his Chi Manipulation to make him stronger without relying on his bloodlusted persona's power)
Weaknesses: Severe PTSD and short temper, a non-lethal sword, Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu puts a strain on his body as its ill-suited for smaller fighters, poor hand-to-hand skill, over-reliant on intuition and emotion reading, and can't fight as well against unconventional tactics, hidden emotions, or overwhelmingly fast foes.
Gintoki Sakata
Backstory:
Sakata Gintoki is the founder and president of the Yorozuya Gin-Chan, as well as a highly skilled samurai, having fought in the Joui War in the past. During the war, he became known as the White Demon (白悪魔, Shiroyasha) due to his powerful swordplay and demonic white appearance. Now, he is in an era where the samurai are no longer needed. To add to his troubles, oppressive aliens have moved in to invade. Gintoki lives with Kagura and Shinpachi, taking on odd jobs to make the world a better place... and to pay their rent.
Gintoki has naturally permed silver hair, which he blames for his lacking love-life. He has a big crush on the TV's news weather girl, Ketsuno. In fact, to date, the only time he is seen to have blushed is when he tries to make use of Sadaharu and Ketsuno's dog to get a chance to talk to her. Though several female characters have shown an interest in Gintoki, he usually does not show any response back and merely puts up with them as annoyances.
Despite being a fearsome fighter with nearly unmatched skills, he avoids needless bloodshed after suffering the loss of most of his friends and allies during the Joui war.
Powers and Abilities:
Superhuman Physical Characteristics,
Master Hand-to-Hand Combatant (As part of his brawler-like fighting style, Gintoki regularly uses his fists and kicks in combat. As such, he is far less bothered by being caught unarmed than most other swordsmen in the series. While his bokuto is usually used to deliver the final blow against an opponent, many of his most consistent, damaging attacks are kicks delivered to the torso, Regularly killed adults as a child, Recieved training from Shoyo from childhood, Participated in wars against amanto),
Master swordsman (Gintoki's swordsmanship is rough, but far from unrefined. He tends to wield even full-length katanas one-handed, with fairly wide but quick chops. His level of skill has been complimented by several esteemed sword masters, such as Yagyuu Binbokusai, who noted that his style is something not taught, but developed by Gintoki himself, Regularly killed adults as a child, Recieved training from Shoyo from childhood, Participated in wars against amanto, While Gintoki vastly prefers to make use of his swordsmanship in combat, he is well-versed in the use of many types of weapons, from naginatas and kunai to senbon and explosives. Likely due to his training as a samurai and time spent on the battlefield, he is able to incorporate the use of almost anything he finds in a fight, and frequently catches his opponents off-guard by using his surroundings against them),
Genius Intelligence (Extremely cunning strategist and tactician, he has led many samurais into different battles alongside people like Takasugi and Katsura who were iconic leaders on the previous war, Trained with Shoyo who has hundreds of years of experience, Uses his enviroment to his advantage and picks up anything from the ground to use against an opponent even stealing their weapons),
Statistics Amplification, Rage Power and Berserk Mode and (Gintoki gets faster and stronger but attacks uncontrolably while angered and doesn't fight strategically as he does normally seen in his fight against jirocho, When Gintoki is particularly enraged, his speed and reflexes reach absurd heights, allowing him to perform such feats as shattering a sword in mid-swing with his teeth or closing meters of distance between himself and his target in a fraction of a second),
Acrobatics and Surface Scaling (Gintoki is highly acrobatic capable of performing acrobatic stunts seen in this fight, He is also capable running through walls),
Social Influencing (Is knowned as the Shiroyasha in the wars, Capable of causing fear just from hearing his title, Is a reliable leader, Capable of manipulation (Trolling) people and is capable of making amantos hesitant on attacking him),
Power Mimicry (Mimicked Oboro's acupuncture techniques after seeing it once),
Enhanced Senses (Neutral Vision - Is capable of seeing ghosts, Kinetic Vision and Night Vision - Capable of blocking attacks faster than himself (Gintoki VS Jiraia which happens in a dark place), at the last second, Telescopic Vision - Can see at great distances, Enhanced Awareness - Capable of dodging attacks coming from below),
Supernatural Willpower (One of Gintoki's defining traits is his extreme level of physical endurance. Gintoki fights without consideration for his life a majority of the time and, while this gives him the ability to fight without limits, is also a testament to how little Gintoki values his own life. Coupled with his incredibly high pain tolerance, this makes him an incredibly fearsome fighter. A mere day after having his forearm impaled by Doromizu Jirochou, Gintoki fought evenly alongside him to defeat dozens of Shinra assassins, withstanding countless injuries in the process and losing very high amounts of blood),
Adaptation and Information Analysis (Gintoki is noticeably skilled in terms of battlefield tactics, likely due to his extensive experience. He is capable of developing adaptive strategies as he fights, often within seconds, and knows exactly what to look for in an opponent's fighting style to create openings for himself, Noticed Batou was somehow reading his moves before he explains how his eye works),
Possibly Instinctive Action (Implied he is capable of fighting just on pure instinct),
Accelerated Development and Awakened power (Battle: Physical attributes - Stated he was getting stronger the more he fights),
Fourth Wall Awareness (Knows he is in anime, Can transform into a 3D version of him self, Talks to the audience alot of times, Often complains about stuff regarding anime studios),
Shockwave Generation (Can generate wind blades with sword slashes),
Limited Durability Negation and Pressure Points (Can deslocate bones against characters stronger than him and even himself),
Aura and limited Illusion Creation (Via bloodlust - Able to backfire enhanced senses, precog, Telepathy and clairvoyance to make them see an illusion instead of him),
Non-Physical Interaction (Capable of interacting with SFX and touching ghosts who can phase through walls),
Explosion Manipulation (With explosives),
Pressure Points, Poison Manipulation and Paralysis Inducement (Via needles - He attacks the Pressure Points of the human body to paralyse them and cause them to bleed profusely),
Resistance to:
Poison Manipulation and Paralysis Inducement (Able to move after being hit by Oboro's needles),
Pain (Has ungodly pain tolerance capable of fighting despite being full of injuries and broken bones and tired seen in his fight against Hosen, Kamui, Utsuro, Takasugi and in wars),
Analytical Prediction (Bansai couldn't keep up with Gintoki because he couldn't see his sword or rhymth),
Fear Manipulation (Batou states that breakfast and death is the same for Gintoki and as he was about to cut Gintoki's head he was thinking of what to eat in the morning for breakfast),
Plot Manipulation (Resisted Kintoki's self-destruction, which would destroy the settings of Gintama to turn into romance manga),
Mind Manipulation (Wasn't affected by the mindhax of Kintoki, which affected the entire Gintama setting),
Precognition, Telepathy, Clairvoyance and Enhanced Senses (Pluto couldn't read his movements, Even when he says he can read minds, Pluto possesses an eye that can see through his opponent's mind, intention, movement, and even past)
Weaknesses: He is on the verge of diabetes, lazy, and terrified of ghosts.
Song: Battōsai Shiroyashi
The quiet sound of a slight breeze rustled through the abandoned town. The once-bustling streets were now filled with trash and debris. Nature had begun to reclaim some parts of the town, with ivy and weeds sprawling across crumbling buildings and concrete. A short, lithe man with long auburn hair tied in a samurai ponytail walked silently through the town, his hand on the hilt of his sword, wary of possible threats and ready to draw his blade to defend himself if necessary.
Gintoki Sakata, a man with silver hair, parked his moped and dismounted, taking a moment to survey the surroundings. He exhaled through his nostrils in resignation, as he adjusted his grip on the wooden with the inscription "Lake Toya" on it, a frown playing on his lips.
"Why did I accept some clean-up job?"
He muttered to himself, his expression indicative of his displeasure. As they strolled through the eerily quiet town, Gintoki, still frowning, encountered the auburn-haired samurai, Kenshin Himura. Both of them were taken by surprise, not expecting to cross paths with another soul in such a seemingly abandoned place. They cautiously kept walking, their expressions guarded, each keeping their true thoughts and intentions hidden from the other.
As they neared each other, Kenshin took a closer look at Gintoki's appearance. He bore a resemblance to the description of a man in white supposedly working under a corrupt Shogunate. They walked past each other, their shoulders nearly touching, when they both sensed each other's intentions. In sync, both men tightened their grips on their weapons, preparing to draw them at a moment's notice.
Both samurai, adrenaline coursing through their veins, charged at each other, their respective weapons ready in their hands. Kenshin unsheathed his sword and swung in a wide arch over his head, aiming to strike Gintoki. Gintoki, with his Lake Toya practice sword in hand, quickly raised it up, meeting Kenshin's attack and blocking it effortlessly. Gintoki, observing Kenshin's sword, noted the unusual design – the sharp edge was facing the user, not the enemy. Similarly, Kenshin found it strange that Gintoki was using a kendō training sword instead of a real katana.
Gintoki pressed his attack, forcing Kenshin to back off. Kenshin landed lightly on his feet and braced himself in a defensive stance, his weapon held out in front of him. Gintoki unleashed a strike from the left, but Kenshin swiftly parried it with his own blade. The two locked eyes for a moment before engaging in a rapid series of slashes, the sound of wood colliding with metal filling the air. Despite their fierce onslaught, neither seemed to gain an advantage over the other as the duel continued. Kenshin sprung into the air, shouting,
"Dragon Hammer Slash!"
He clenched his sword with both hands and executed a powerful downward slash, employing the force of gravity to enhance the impact. Gintoki nimbly leaped backward, his eyes rolling at Kenshin's shonen-like behavior, blurting out the attack's name like a typical protagonist.
Seizing the opportunity provided by Gintoki's position, Kenshin landed a powerful blow with the blunt side of his blade, sending the silver-haired samurai reeling back. However, Gintoki quickly regained his footing and managed to block Kenshin's follow-up attack, their blades meeting once more in a deafening clash. Both men pushed against each other, locked in a stalemate, until Gintoki delivered a well-placed kick to Kenshin's stomach, causing him to stumble backward, gasping for breath.
Gintoki acted swiftly, intending to follow up on his advantage, but Kenshin swiftly evaded his thrust by spinning in a circular motion. As he maneuvered behind Gintoki, Kenshin called out his attack,
"Dragon Coil Flash!"
The auburn haired samurai struck him with his sword in the back. Gintoki grunted at the impact but remained mostly unfazed. In response, Gintoki seized Kenshin and hurled him over his shoulder, slamming him onto the ground with a resounding thud. Gasping for breath, Kenshin rolled to the side, narrowly dodging Gintoki's downwards lunge with the Lake Toya. Leaping to his feet, he resumed his defensive stance, his voice filled with determination.
"It's time for me to raise the ante! Vortex Dragon Flash!"
Kenshin propelled himself into the air, spinning rapidly to gather momentum, and plummeted towards Gintoki. Gintoki nonchalantly sidestepped, allowing Kenshin's aerial attack to crash to the ground, followed by a quick strike that easily battered aside Kenshin's defenses. Gintoki then drove his elbow forward, intending to throw his opponent off balance. Kenshin slammed against a building, momentarily disoriented by the collision, but swiftly regained his footing. He then swung his sword into the ground, sending a shower of rocks and debris flying towards Gintoki's face, hoping to obscure his vision.
"Argh! My eyes! I can't see a thing!"
Gintoki halted his movements, his attention now fixed on wiping his eyes with his sleeve. Before he could finish, Kenshin launched a relentless barrage of sword attacks. Despite his impaired vision, Gintoki managed to defend himself using his heightened samurai senses, parrying each strike with an almost effortless grace and precision. As Kenshin began to pull back, Gintoki seized the opportunity and swiftly thrust Lake Toya, the wooden sword, deep into Kenshin's shoulder. Kenshin let out a gasp of pain as the bokuto tore through his flesh and emerged from the other side. Blood trickled down his arm.
Gintoki sprang back to his feet and reached into his pocket, extracting a handful of peculiar orange objects known as Justaway. As he hurled the explosives at Kenshin who pulled Lake Toya out, the latter swiftly sidestepped the projectiles, avoiding the direct impact. However, Kenshin had underestimated just how explosive these Justaway were, as they detonated upon impact against his back, sending him sprawling onto the ground.
"Flying Dragon Flash!"
Kenshin abruptly terminated his spinning, and firmly clutched the edge of his sword, resulting in the sheath hurling forward and colliding with Gintoki's head, momentarily startling him. Seizing the opportunity, Kenshin unleashed a relentless barrage of strikes, lacerating Gintoki's body and inducing cuts that wept blood. Gintoki gritted his teeth, barely parrying one of the incoming attacks before swiftly launching a low-kick that sent Kenshin sprawling to the ground. Kenshin swiftly regained his footing, swinging his sword upward into the sky for his next attack.
"Dragon Soar Flash!"
Gintoki dodged the attack by leaping backward, narrowly escaping the sharp blade aimed for his neck. Their eyes locked in a fierce stare as they exchanged rapid slashes. The air became charged with the force of their attacks, the wind fiercely picking up around them. Both warriors pulled back momentarily, catching their breaths, preparing to unleash their powerful strikes.
"Twin Dragon Flash: Thunder!"
Both men exclaimed in unison before charging forward, their swords held aloft, ready to deliver a devastating combined attack. Gintoki soared into the air and brought his sword down with tremendous might. Simultaneously, Kenshin swung his weapon still in the sheath, causing their blades to clash fiercely. However, Kenshin swiftly unsheathed his sword and sliced cleanly through Gintoki's Altana sword. Unable to counterattack, Gintoki jumped back, his expression filled with frustration and defeat. He cast a quick glance at Lake Toya, lying on the other side of the street, and sprinted towards it as his only available recourse.
Kenshin took a deep, steadying breath, his gaze fixated on Gintoki as the latter charged forward, emitting a thunderous battle cry.
"Nine-Headed Dragon Flash!!"
Kenshin accelerated with astonishing swiftness, unleashing a flurry of lightning-fast stabs at Gintoki. Despite the speed of the attack, Gintoki demonstrated remarkable agility and reflexes, successfully parrying each incoming strike, protecting himself despite the blinding velocity of Kenshin's slashes. Gintoki hurtled towards Kenshin once more, his moves unpredictable and hard to anticipate. Kenshin focused intently, attempting to foresee Gintoki's next action. Suddenly, a wave of surprise washed over him as he failed to predict Gintoki's movements. Before Kenshin could even register what was happening, Gintoki smashed his Lake Toya into Kenshin's side, expelling the air from his lungs with a painful gasp.
Panicked, Kenshin prepared himself to defend against what he thought would be a rightward strike. However, Gintoki swiftly counterattacked from the left side, relentlessly pummelng Kenshin, making it impossible for the latter to predict his movements. Kenshin's efforts to anticipate Gintoki's next move proved futile, and he was sent hurtling into a wall after a particularly forceful jab. Wounded and weary, Kenshin weakly struggled to his feet, facing off against the bloodied Gintoki.
Kenshin puzzled over why he couldn't perceive Gintoki's actions. Typically, even when an adversary attempted to clear their mind, Kenshin would be able to discern their intentions from their ki. Meanwhile, Gintoki's thoughts weren't entirely focused on the ongoing battle. Instead, his mind seemed more occupied with contemplating something unrelated: the possibility of asking for extra pay at work, with a goal in mind to purchase the next issue of a Shonen Jump manga.
Gintoki lunged forwards with his Lake Toya, only to face an incredible whirlwind of air caused by Kenshin's extraordinary speed. In a moment of suspense, both combatants regarded each other as the Lake Toya split into two pieces. Gintoki's eyes widened and he instinctively leaped backwards, distancing himself from Kenshin.
"You can't escape the clutches of the dragon!"
Kenshin's attack had been so swift, the air had been forcefully displaced by his strike, leaving Gintoki no choice but to let himself be drawn into the resulting void. Even as Gintoki struggled, he found himself face to face with Kenshin, caught in the vortex. With determination etched on his face, Kenshin gripped his sword firmly and swung it in a final, decisive act at Gintoki, leaving no room for escape.
Kenshin anticipated the familiar sound of a body collapsing but instead heard a shocking shattering sound. Shock washed over his face as he gazed upon Gintoki, who had shattered the sword using only his teeth. Kenshin exclaimed in disbelief,
"H-How?!"
Gintoki quickly followed up his defensive maneuver by delivering a forceful punch to Kenshin's face, causing him to grimace. Kenshin retaliated with a feeble swing, which Gintoki effortlessly caught. The White Demon then retaliated with a brutal knee strike into Kenshin's stomach, propelling the former assassin backward, leaving him sprawled across the ground.
Kenshin glanced to the side, catching sight of the half of Lake Toya lying on the ground. Acting quickly, he snatched it up and swung it, aiming to stab up at Gintoki. Gintoki responded swiftly, capturing the end of the sword mid-attack and preventing it from reaching him. A fierce struggle ensued, with the two opponents straining with all their might, pushing against each other as the effort took a toll on them. Blood was seeping from their bodies as they fought determinedly, each trying to overpower the other.
Gintoki swiftly seized the opportunity, and with a powerful headbutt, he connected with Kenshin's nose, causing it to gush with bright red blood and briefly dazing his opponent. Recognizing Kenshin's momentary vulnerability, Gintoki took back his Lake Toya and swiftly struck a pressure point on Kenshin's neck. Kenshin crumpled onto the ground, incapacitated by the sudden, intense pain, and Gintoki walked off, already contemplating his plan to head home and unwind with a glass of alcohol and the latest issue of his favorite manga, Shonen Jump.
Strength: Kenshin, while strong, didn't really have much strength to fall back on. He's able to harm Saito Hajime, who withstood a 71 tons of TNT explosion, but not only is Gintoki a kind of damage sponge like most others in his universe, but he can output stronger strength, able to match someone who can vaporize a castlec with the required power of ten kilotons. That makes Gintoki 140X stronger.
Speed: Kenshin could slice a cannonball, having a reactionary time of Mach 5.5 to do so, but Gintoki scales to characters who can react at Mach 15.3 by slicing incoming bullets in the air. This makes Gintoki about 2.7X faster.
Skill: Kenshin technically has the better skill as a swordsman, having trained under a master while Gintoki's mostly self-trained. But not only does Gintoki can keep up with better trained swordsmen, but he's better at hand to hand combat, while Kenshin is basically useless without his katana.
Experience: Despite both being relatively the same age and training, Kenshin comes from a mostly grounded reality, whereas Gintoki comes from a place of parody, meaning he's more used to various situations.
Powers: While Kenshin is able to predict the intentions of his foes, he's too reliant on it, and that can fail against someone who can predict and analyze like he can, but also keep himself from being predictable, fight more pragmatically, and not even focus on the fight exclusively.
The winner is Gintoki Sakata
A/N: Okay, I'm just coming out with it, I'm doing a rematch of Roronoa Zoro and Erza Scarlet next, but here's the thing. While Zoro has been making multiple jumps in power, Erza in the 100 year quest continuation has been far outstripping him. The Strongest Team is reaching planetary levels, and large ones as that. If we take the weakest moon busting feat that One Piece is currently at, and compare it to where Fairy Tail's power trajectory is heading, Erza could potentially be 556 million times stronger. Even if Zoro was scaled up to Luffy's power, he'd still be 34 million times weaker. So in fairness to Zoro, I'm using Erza Scarlet where she was at the end of the original manga. That, and I'm not waiting 8 years at minimum for when both managas could properly end.