02x17 - The Other Objective

[bunniefuu]

Hurry, Tokuji.

When dawn breaks,
the women will be waking up.

I know that, Goichi.

But this thing is just so heavy.

What are you doing?

S-Sorry.

Patrols!

Why, at this time—

Let's hide for the time being.
Shuzo, Mr. Toshiro, run for it!

H-Hey.

Oh.

Thank you.

Sorry about that.

There are quite a few
police officers today.

So noisy.
I wonder if something is going on?

I know! The Daimonji Bonfire!

No, it's not.

No, saying, "It's not," is wrong.

Oro?

Hey, young man over there!

You have some nerve to violate
the Sword Abolishment Act in front of me!

We'll have you
come with us to the station!

Yeah, as you wish.

I'd like you to take me to
the nearest police station, that I would.

RUROUNI KENSHIN

RUROUNI KENSHIN
-KYOTO DISTURBANCE-

EPISODE 41: THE OTHER OBJECTIVE

DETENTION CENTER

We already know that you're one
of the underlings for Shishio's clan.

So, what were you doing
that early in the morning?

Not answering, huh?

They say that the human body
has 206 bones.

How many pieces should I crush them to?

You're better off answerin'!

This guy will really do it.

W-We... were just preparing
for tonight's operation.

The operation?

You mean the Great Kyoto Fire?

How do you know—

None of your business.

You said tonight.

Tell me what time.

Come to think of it,
there are two eyeballs as well.

How many pieces
should I split them into?

Man, this is amazing!

Makin' him talk
with just those few threats!

That's a nobody.

In any case,
he doesn't have information of much use.

But even then, we know
what time they're conducting the attack.

Chief Arato, please reform
the Kyoto Security Squad right away.

Please also request backup
from neighboring prefectures

to arrive by evening as well.

All right, I will coordinate with them.

The showdown is at night, huh?

We should go eat breakfast.

Can't fight a w*r on an empty stomach!

Go and eat on your own.

There is something else
I still want to confirm.

You seem quite composed there.

Well, no matter what happens outside,
it has nothing to do with me anymore.

Huh? If there are fires all over Kyoto,
you're gonna burn to death in here, too.

Are you a dumbass, you broom head?

I'll make a run for it
some way or another!

Don't mock the Ten Swords, you bird head!

You should be the only one

to not make it out and
turn into a golden-brown grilled broom!

Then you'd be a grilled bird!

Kyoto will become
the scene of bloodshed tonight.

Even if the fires get around,
don't expect a reprieve.

Is that all right?

I said, don't mess with me!

I ain't relyin' on the police at all!

Hey.

What's bothering you so much?

Let's go eat for now.

Buy me lunch.

- Shut up.
- Huh?

You can go by yourself, moron.

Fine. Yeah, yeah.

Preparations are incomplete
in the Higashiyama District.

I-I'm sorry!

There was an unexpected patrol
that came by.

It's me! It's all my fault to begin with!

As soon as the operation begins, we will
immediately go around and torch things.

So please spare us until then!

There were some arrests
in the morning operation.

This time, we'll say it was inevitable
and not punish you.

All hands focus on the evening battle!

Th-Thank you so much.

- Thank you so much!
- Thank you so much!

Inevitable, you say.

Usui!

With a once-in-a-lifetime project
before us,

abandoning preparation and fleeing
from the enemy is not acceptable.

If the morale of the other soldiers
were to decrease,

how will you take responsibility, hmm?

Usui, what are you getting at?

These four...

will be ex*cuted
in front of everyone else.

We're wrapping up the project.

You will serve as a good example
so that they will all focus well.

No objections?

Oh?

We can't afford to lose any more soldiers
right before the operation.

They're merely four underlings.

I simply need to take on
enough enemies for them as well.

No soldier is an underling!

Usui, even if you could k*ll
as many as these four would,

you would not be able to divert enemies
in four locations simultaneously.

The b*ttlefield for this operation
spreads over a wide area.

What we need are numbers.

As the one that was entrusted
with the strategy from Lord Shishio,

I can't simply overlook
your selfish behavior.

You are quite the naive one.

I'm sure Sojiro's Yatsuhashi
was quite sweet for you.

You guys, gather at the great hall.

Usui.

Oh, all right.

Th-Thank you so much!

- Thank you so much.
- Thank you so much.

My friends!

You were repelled
in the Bakumatsu Era...

left behind by the Meiji Restoration,
and ended up here.

You are rejects of this country.

I understand wholeheartedly
the humiliation and anger you felt!

However...

there is no more need
to be in hiding within this cave.

Thanks to your devoted actions,
the time has finally come.

Preparations for battle are now complete.

To all the foolish people
sleeping in greed,

we shall show our powers in full tonight!

Tomorrow's dawn will not arrive
for the Millennium Imperial Castle!

This ugly peace will fall to ruin tonight.

By your hands...

by Lord Shishio's hands!

- Yeah!
- Yeah!

Lord Shishio, some words, please!

I won't say anything complicated.

Just burn these words into your head.

Ultimately, only the fittest
survive in this world.

If you are strong, you live.

If you are weak, you die.

The strong will devour everything, and
the weak simply become feed to be eaten.

Which are you?

You're not feed, are you?

Chomp down on those you don't like.

Burn this rotten world.

If someone nags at you, strike them down.

This entire nation is for us to feed upon.

Devour them all!

- Lord Shishio!
- Lord Shishio!

Lord Shishio! Lord Shishio!

Lord Shishio!
Lord Shishio!

Lord Shishio! Lord Shishio!

- Lord Shishio!
- Lord Shishio!

- Awesome.
- Lord Shishio! Lord Shishio!

- Survival of the fittest.
- Lord Shishio! Lord Shishio!

- Mr. Shishio sure doesn't change.
- Lord Shishio! Lord Shishio!

Lord Shishio! Lord Shishio!

Lord Shishio!
Lord Shishio!

Lord Shishio! Lord Shishio!

{\an5}RUROUNI KENSHIN
-KYOTO DISTURBANCE-

KAMIYA KASSHIN-RYU

Really...

when Kaoru and everyone else are gone,
it's so quiet every day.

You're right.

YAHIKO MYOJIN
YUTARO TSUKAYAMA
STUDENTS

I wonder what they're
all doing over there.

I hope they're not getting into
anything dangerous.

I-I'm sure it's all right.

Yahiko and everyone else are sure
to come back safe and sound!

Oh.

YAHIKO MYOJIN

Oh, it fell.

I-I have to put it back up.

- Huh? Why...
- Tsubame.

The tag is upside down.

What's this?

THRIVING BUSINESS

A fake Akabeko?

Welcome!

Wha? They even have a similar employee?

This really isn't some fake, is it?

M-Mister...

how about some bubuzuke?

Huh? What's that?

I think it's something suited for you.

Really? Hmm.

Well, then...

I'll take three of those for now!

What is up with this man?

There was an eyewitness report
of someone that looks like Himura.

Where?

Near Daitokuji Temple.

Kenshin has already
come down from the mountain?

Calm down. The story is that it's
someone that kinda looks like Himura.

You have to examine your information
carefully to ensure its authenticity.

You're right.

So, what was
this Kenshin-looking guy doing?

Actually,
he was taken to the police station.

Wha?

What was with that man?

Oh, well. As long as it's under my watch,

this peaceful Kyoto
will never again see w*r—

Excuse me, officer!

Fujita.

As you requested, I moved
as many officers as I could to security.

Thank you.

Combined with backup
coming from Osaka, Shiga, and Fukui,

roughly 1,000 officers
will gather by evening.

Not even Shishio's clan should be able
to move freely against this many officers.

Will everything go so smoothly, though?

It's fine.

The heavens are on our side.

Huh?

The legendary man we have been
searching for appeared this morning.

We immediately had him
head this way by carriage...

so he should be arriving shortly.

Oh, speak of the devil.

So that is the hitokiri
Himura Battosai.

Yo. Coming by
on a weekday afternoon by carriage?

It's almost like you're
an important minister or something.

Fujita!

So, how about it?

Did you get the resolve
to go back to a hitokiri?

Now, we'll see about that, that we will.

11TH YEAR
OF MEIJI

Ah, well. I have
something urgent to talk about.

Hurry on up here.

{\an4}BEEF HOT-POT AND SAKE
SHIROBEKO RESTAURANT

That noisy guy is out right now
for a meal, so the timing is perfect.

Oro?

Man, that was delicious!

Even if the shop is a fake,
the taste is the real deal.

Sir, then I'll bring the bill.

Oh, about that...

Put it on the tab for a guy named Fujita
over at the police station.

Huh?

What do you mean by that?

Well, I mean I don't have any money.

You don't have money?

Right.

Then you'll have to pay for it
with your labor.

I told you, go talk to the police!

There's this guy named Fujita with an evil
look and an even more evil personality!

Officers look plenty busy as is.
I can't possibly trouble them.

It's been 11 years
since the start of Meiji.

Kyoto here has finally gotten peaceful.

So don't make a ruckus
with something like a dine-and-dash.

Well, we came all the way from Tokyo
to protect Kyoto—

I won't let you go
until you split all the wood that's here.

Listen to me, damn it!

What the hell is with her?

Peace, huh?

Guess I gotta do this.

Great Kyoto Fire?

Yeah. It's the intel we got from Cho,
the Ten Swords member you nabbed.

On top of that, we found
a suspicious man this morning...

and upon interrogation, he turned out
to be an agent for Shishio's clan.

He confessed that he was preparing
for the Great Kyoto Fire.

The Great Kyoto Fire
is set to happen tonight at 11:59.

That is for certain.

Something is odd, that it is.

You think so, too?

JAPAN

No matter how strong the Shishio clan is,

we have an overwhelming advantage
in numbers.

Thus, their strategy is sure
to prioritize ambushes and assassinations.

Of course, the Great Kyoto Fire
has a strategy of that sort.

However, if intel is leaked this easily,
there's no way it would succeed.

Information leaks should be
a matter of life or death to them,

something of the greatest concern.

That is why I thought
one of the Ten Swords

would be sent over to assassinate Cho,
who is in an underground cell,

and had set a trap here.

But no signs of that happening.

Right.

It's as if they're telling us

to get as much information
as we want from Cho.

11TH YEAR OF MEIJI

It's strange,
no matter how I think about it.

It seems that behind the scenes
of the Great Kyoto Fire,

there is something kept a secret
from even the Ten Swords...

another objective, that there is.

IKEDAYA

The Great Kyoto Fire copies a part
of the Ikedaya Incident, correct?

Yeah. Cho said so as well.

I don't think it's simply for retaliation.

This is Shishio,

who enjoys both the takeover of a country
and revenge simultaneously.

I'm sure he gets some enjoyment
from that other objective as well.

Where is it?

What are they after?

{\an4}OSAKA BAY

{\an4}OSAKA BAY

During the Battle of Toba-Fushimi,

a critical point of the Boshin w*r
in the Bakumatsu Era...

Yoshinobu Tokugawa deceived his allies and
fled back to Edo by boat from Osaka Bay,

and that act was a big reason
why the Imperial Army was victorious.

If Shishio is now cynically trying
to make that winning strategy his own...

his destination is...

{\an5}TOKYO BAY

here!

The Great Kyoto Fire
is merely the first step of his plan!

His true target is cannon fire on Tokyo
from the sea by boat, that it is!

I see.

The Great Kyoto Fire is a decoy
to draw attention and personnel.

If so, it's better and flashier

for the Shishio clan
and police to have an all-out clash.

That's why he intentionally
leaked information to our side.

His ultimate target is Tokyo,
the heart of government.

We almost fell for it.

Either that, or this was done seeking the
hellfire that incinerated his past self.

Give me a break! That's so much trouble!

If they set sail,
there's nothing more we can do.

That is one thing
we must prevent at all costs!

We have no time!

Let's hurry, that we should!

So I'm being left behind again.

I won't let you do that this time.

S-Sano, why are you here?

Why am I here?

So that I can be of help to you,
of course.

I see.

You meant "to drag him down."

What was that?

In any case, we got no time!
We'll catch up as we run.

We can't run to Osaka, moron.

OSAKA BAY

Carriage. By carriage.

Man, why do you always nitpick what I say?

Oro?

What was that man...

NEXT EPISODE
AS IF IN FLIGHT

Next episode: "As If in Flight."