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Sending your soul out of your body to give one final pep talk to your homie is kinda sus ngl.
#- Yusuke to Kuwabara after the fight with Rando#yyh#yu yu hakusho#kazuma kuwabara#kuwabara kazuma#yusuke urameshi#urameshi yusuke#yyh kuwabara#yyh yusuke#yusuke yyh
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Yusuke to Kuwabara in Rando fight, Toguro fight:
I would kill for you, I would die just to avenge you.
Kuwabara to Yusuke in Toguro fight, Sensui fight:
I would die just to jolt you out of your grief-induced self-punishment so you can win & live, I would burn down the whole world and die just to avenge you.
Both during Yukina rescue mission:
I would decimate a whole bunch of fodder demons in a rampage of subtextual romantic angst if I think you're in love with someone else 🤣🤣🤣
Not even kidding🤣, Kuwabara actually was heartbroken in this mission because he mistakenly thought Yusuke was in love with Keiko after Yusuke gave his life to save the girls in Suzaku fight, which is why Kuwa was straight out on a rampage and literally sliced the fodder demons to bits (Kuwa, you're scary when your heart is broken):
And Yusuke who was romantically pursuing Kuwabara since The Chocolate Shake Date post-Rando fight was trying his hardest not to feel jealous & unwanted/unloved (his childhood emotional wounds were triggered by Kuwa retreating from love with him 😭), while nobly letting Kuwabara have his supposed springtime of love with Yukina by not telling Kuwa Yukina is Hiei's sister (yup, this was actually Yusuke being noble 🥹, he wouldn't get in the way of what he thought was Kuwa really falling in love), which is why Yusuke also literally decimated the fodder demons (coz Kuwa's his moral compass and if Kuwa's doing it...):
What can I say, this was their version of working through their feelings😅. In their defense, they were also repulsed by these fodder demons imprisoning one of their own kind (Yukina) until they found out humans are just as bad as demons and thus they are in no place to judge, thus they both regret how heavy-handed they were, which is why they made it a point to avoid taking life wherever they could in the rest of canon (Yusuke could have killed a lot of demons who deserved it in Dark Tournament, but he didn't).
But ya know, all bets are off if they think the other is dead. 🥹😭🤣
This Yukina rescue mission was also our heroes' "last gamble" (this is the double meaning of one of the manga chapter title in this arc) to try to showcase their strengths to each other in the desperate hope that the other will choose them, instead of their supposed female love interests 😭 which is also why they went all out.
Ironically, they each weren't romantically interested in their supposed female love interests, it's all a romantic tragic-comedy of errors and misunderstandings 😭😅
For the good of the world, raise your hands if you think Yusuke and Kuwa should get married 🤣🤣 ✋️✋️🤚🤚🖐🖐🙋♀️🙋♀️
#all the subtle subtextual ways Togashi tells us things is never not mind-blowing#not crack if you read the subtext & the meta 🤣#kuwameshi#yyh#kazuma kuwabara#yusuke urameshi#yu yu hakusho#kuwabara#kuwabara kazuma#yusuke#urameshi yusuke#kuwameshi meta#yyh meta#yu yu hakusho meta
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i could write literally an essay on how kuwameshi is so awesome and beautiful
kuwabara literally has been crushing over yusuke so bad he just follows him eberywhere and would do anything for him and would sacrifice himself for him and he admires him so bad and he wants yusuke to just look at him but he doesnt ever think it will happen brcause theyre just best friends theyre just bros, right? kuwabara is literally content with just being this for his whole life with yusuke bevause he's afraid of ruining what they have because that would kill him. kuwabara doesn't think of himself as anything, especially at end of sensui arc where he was ready to die without yusuke being there with him because what was the point and he couldn't see any other outcome because he's been following yusuke's path this wjole time and it's only when YUSUKE gives him the green light to go to college. i want you to go. that kuwabara feels good about wanting to go to college instead of guilty that he can't fight like everyone else when he doesn't want to really anymore he's tired and sure he'll do it from time to time but he's had a full life of fighting and tournaments and watching yusuke die again probably broke something in him and then yusuke goes away for three years and kuwabara is like i miss him so bad and he gets to actually focus on and get to know himself instead of this idol he's been chasing because well anyway. do you get me
meanwhile yusuke is like at first hmm this guy and then after he dies he sees kuwabara in a completely different light and then at the rando fight yusuke's like ok, we're friends. we gotta be friends. because he got such a visceral reaction to kuwabara getting beat to hell and then like umm dark tournament hes like ok, we're BEST friends. ok. but he's so fucked up at that time over kuwabara dying for him because he hates himself soo much he's like got the world on his shoulders and in his head he's like he's dying for nothing i mean im not anything and then... in sensui arc mitarai fight when genkai's like WHY DIDN'T YOU GO AFTER HIM? HE'S PROBABLY DEAD! yusuke got sudden ptsd moment and was realizing Ok, what's more than best friends? and was stewing on that the whole time looking for kuwabara and i believe that's when he was like i want you LOL and when kuwabara was like urameshi you handle the rest i think thats also when yusuke was like okay im needed im important he relies on me and idk if he really thought that about kuwabara before but its so true that's kuwabara's whole character he's there for yusuke because of yusuke
idk they're just everythjng to me i love their dynamic i want them to hug and smile and laugh ans i want yusuke to hug kuwabara and make kuwabara feel safe and loved and needed i think that would be awesome idk though. just rambling.
this whole thing is not even coherent but its okay because it doesnt need to be its just me getting this out LMFAO
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Does Yusuke know any chill?
(But serious question) : What is the moment that Yusuke has been the most afraid? And how did he overcome that fear? Does it still impact him now?
CHILL IS SOMETHING YUSUKE NEVER KNOWS.
When it comes to him being afraid I'd say when he found out that Toguro survived their first fight. But like I want you to understand, before Toguro Yusuke felt that EVERYTHING he's faced before then he was able to get through by just being 'tough' or pretty much dumb luck.
For instance ONE of his first tough fights was with Gouki.
His first fight with his first yokai and at the moment he seemed unbeatable. But he was eating the souls of children so of course Yusuke got clever and found a way to bounce back the next day.
Another notable fight was with Rando, after witnessing him beating the hell out of Kuwabara. The fight itself was extremely one-sided after Rando showed his true self, and even hear we saw Yusuke make a scared expression.
BUT though the fight was hard, he still managed to win due to DUMB luck really. Not skill, no power of friendship, HE WON BECAUSE THERE WAS SEAWEED IN HIS EARS WHICH IMPAIRED HIS HEARING AGAINST AN ENCANTATION.
BUT With Toguro, there was NONE of that. It took Yusuke and Kuwabara all they had to take him out, they had to be creative with it. And for awhile they thought they even won until the man showed up with a clean fit and flexed his powers in front of Yusuke and THAT HAD HIM SHOOK!!
I can spend the day re-reading the book but I REALLY don't think ANYONE had him shook like Toguro. There was not going to be anything lucky to save him, and he KNEW no 'digging deeper' would have saved him against Toguro either. He was FUCKED!! and the kicker is he outwardly states that he's not even going all out, That's right. Yusuke had to contend with an enemy that's TOO strong for him and that same enemy wasn't even putting in half the effort. BUT don't take my work for it, look at that book.
Look atthe panel with his arm, he's actively trembling right now.
Even Toguro knew he wasn't shit, Yusuke's even in a cold sweat.
OH and like I mentioned earlier, he was only using 20% of his power and it still took them EVERYTHING they got to 'put him down'.
The final photo of proof. Yusuke said it himself that his legs are shaking, he was BEYOND scared. And I really think this was the only time since he's ever been this scared.
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As much as I enjoy reading the different Marvel/BNHA crossovers with Danny Phantom, this is the one I really want to see! Especially during the first half of Yu Yu Hakusho. After all, I imagine there’d be enough ghostly folklore to tempt the Fenton family into crossing the Pacific.
Things I want to see/bits of my headcanon:
They meet while Yusuke’s dead. Botan thinks there’s been another mix up since he’s not on her deceased list. Then Danny transforms, immediately pissing off and making Yusuke jealous. Danny can see and communicate with them even in human form, so it makes it a lot easier to convey messages to the living. Kuwabara is convinced Danny’s a medium or something (at first) since he can sense ghosts even better than he can.
Spirit World doesn’t really know how to handle or categorize Danny, so for now, they’re treating him as half-youkai and keeping him under surveillance.
Yusuke finally comes back to class around the time Danny is enrolled. Yusuke and Kuwabara latch onto him and absorb him into their friend group.
The class isn’t sure if Danny is friends with them or being bullied. He doesn’t want to hang with them, but he’s not scared of them either. Whatever the case, the rest of the class has decided to give him a wide berth, so now Danny can be unpopular in two countries!
Dragging Danny to Genkai’s student selection makes it SOOO much easier to find Rando. After the contestants are thinned out, Yusuke can just drag Danny around everyone until his ghost sense goes off. Danny just wants to go home…
Danny helping Botan keep the demon insects at bay with some extra Foley, by Tucker Foley, he keeps as part of his ghost fighting kit
Oooooh yes he is absolutely getting dragged into the Dark Tournament
Danny finally letting on that he has ice powers in addition to ghost powers. It’d make for one hell of a match against Touya. Everyone else on his team just wants to know when he’d been planning on sharing that little fact?!
Shishiwakamaru’s Banshee Blade against Danny’s ghostly wail
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Kuwabara’s Personal History
Even though most people prefer when I translate Hiei and Kurama stuff, I couldn’t leave our beloved Kuwabara aside. It’s so much fun reading and translating things related to Kuwabara. His growth as a man in the series is admirable. He’s a beautiful human being!
Other personal histories: Yusuke, Kurama and Hiei.
KUWABARA - PERSONAL HISTORY
From the “Yu Yu Hakusho Character Book Reikai Shinshiroku”, p.36, 2005.
Born into a normal family, Kuwabara is a junior high school student who has just a strong spirit awareness. However, when he meets Yusuke Urameshi, his latent abilities awakens. He gets involved in fierce battles with youkai and people with abilities...!
1. Meeting Yusuke Urameshi at Sarayashiki Junior High
Kuwabara challenges Yusuke, who has a reputation for being "strong like a demon”, and is beaten to a pulp. He had never been defeated by anyone his own age until then, but couldn’t beat Yusuke not even once. However, perhaps because he was being punched by Yusuke almost every day, he became more resilient than a normal person.
Photo Caption: ➨ Kuwabara was the only one who could challenge Yusuke, who was feared even by senior students.
2. Helping the spirit detective
Kuwabara's dormant psychic powers were manifested when he participated in Genkai's Tournament. After experiencing a fight with the belligerent youkai Rando, before he knew it, he became an excellent (?) partner to Yusuke. However, Yusuke and Kuwabara, who defeated the inhabitants of the Demon City - The Four Saint Beasts such as Byakko and Suzaku - and made a name for exterminating youkai, contrary to expectations, are now being targeted by the youkai...!
Photo Caption: ⬆ Kuwabara was one of the finalists and took 3rd place in the Genkai’s Disciple Selection Competition. Has he always been sensitive?
3. Participating in the Dark Tournament
In order to rescue the captive Yukina, Yusuke and Kuwabara got into Tarukane's mansion. Their efforts caught the attention of Younger Toguro and they were chosen to participate in the Dark Tournament! Despite being forced to struggles and sacrifices, Kuwabara and his friends leveled up during the fights and won a brilliant victory after a fierce battle.
Photo Caption:⬇ It was also in the battle that the "fellowship" with Yusuke, Kurama and Hiei was born.
4. Fighting with people with special abilities
Sensui was trying to open a tunnel to the Demon World. Yusuke and the others were attacked by the evil hands of the gifted people he gathered. At the same time, Sensui was looking for someone who could cut through the barrier placed in the Demon World's hole. And Kuwahara, who was attacked by one of those people, Mitarai, expressed the ability to cut through dimensions. To his surprise, the person with the special ability Sensui was looking for was Kuwabara.
Photo Caption:⬆ Kuwabara was taken hostage by Sensui’s group! Yusuke and the others set off in order to rescue Kuwabara.
5. Admission to the Gai Koudai Fuzoku High School¹
Kuwabara, who had scored 7 points² in the science test, was showing a poor school performance like Yusuke. After the battle with Sensui, he was determined to study hard. While people around him were reckless and laughing, he took the Gaikou Fuzoku High School exam and passed it admirably though as substitute (filling a vacancy). After enrollment, he became a popular figure within the school by providing psychic consultations.
Photo Caption:⬆ He can do it if he tries!? Kuwabara started studying for the entrance examination. Surprisingly, he seems to be doing well.
Translator Notes:
¹ Gai Koudai Fuzoku High School ( 骸工大付属高校): literally translated as “High school affiliated to the Corpse (Gai) Institute of Technology”, the “Gai Tech” is a technical high school. Even though high school attendance is optional in Japan, more than 95% of the students enroll in high school. Yusuke, at the end of the manga, mentioned he had finished junior high school (compulsory education). He didn’t go to high school like Keiko, Kuwabara and Kurama.
² Grades are determined by a score between 0 and 100. Kuwabara scored 7 points in the science test and Yusuke, 12 points (v.1, p.166). Teacher Akashi wanted Kuwabara and his friends to score more than 50 points.
🇯🇵 日本語
普通の家庭に生まれた、霊感が強いだけの中学生・桑原。 しかし浦飯幽助との出会いによって、その潜在能力が開眼。妖怪や能力者との激しい戦いに巻き込まれていく…!
皿屋敷中で 浦飯幽助に出会う
「鬼のように強い」と評判の幽助に挑み、 ボコボコにされる。それまで同い年の人間に負けた事がなかった彼だが幽助には 一度も勝てないままだった。しかし毎日のように幽助のパンチを食らっていたためか、常人よりはるかに打たれ強くなってしまった。
➨上級生からも恐れられていた幽助に挑めるのは、桑原だけだった。(13-109)
なりゆきで 霊界探偵の手伝い
幻海の門下生大選考会に参加したのがきっかけで、眠っていた霊能力が発現した桑原。好���妖怪 ・ 乱童との戦いを経験した彼は、いつの間にか幽助の優秀な (?) パートナーとなってしまった。しかし妖魔街の住人 ・ 白虎や朱雀ら四聖獣を撃破し妖怪退治で名を上げた幽助と桑原は、逆に妖怪たちからつけ狙われる身に…!
⬆最終選考まで残り3位の成績をおさめた門下さ門下生大選考会。元々センスはあった? (03-068)
暗黒武術会出場
囚われの雪菜を救出するために、垂金の屋敷に乗り込んだ幽助と桑原。彼らの働きが戸愚呂(弟)の目にとまり、闇の格闘大会・暗黒武術会に参加することに! 苦戦や犠牲を強いられながらも、戦いの中でレベルアップしていった桑原たちは、激闘の末に見事優勝を勝ち取った。
⬇幽助・蔵馬・飛影らとの "仲間意識" が生まれた戦いでもあった。(09-172)
能力者との戦い
魔界の穴を開こうとする仙水。彼が集めた能力者たちの魔の手が幽助たちを襲う。 同時に仙水は、魔界の穴に張られた結界を切り裂く能力者を探していた。そして能力者のひとり・御手洗に襲われた桑原は次元を切り裂く能力を発現。なんと仙水が探していた能力者は桑原だったのだ。
⬆仙水たちに捕らえうれ人質となってしまった! 桑原奪還のため、幽助たちが発走する 。(12-040)
骸工大付属高校へ 入学
理科テストで7点という、幽助と張るほどの劣等生っぷりを見せていた桑原だが仙水との戦いの後一念発起。周囲の人間に無謀と笑われながらも大学付属の高校を受験し、補欠ながら見事合格した。入学後は霊視相談を行って校内の人気者に。
⬆やればできる子!? 受験勉強を始めた。意外にも順調な様子 。(014-125)
#Yu Yu Hakusho Character Book Reikai Shinshiroku#Kazuma Kuwabara#personal history#幽遊白書 公式キャラクターズブック 霊界紳士録#幽☆遊☆白書#桑原和真#Kurama#hiei#yusuke
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Youtou Shinnoken: Demon Sword Chapter 58: Living Sin (Part 10)
The B-Class Toguro fights the S-Class Yusuke Urameshi before unleashing a power beyond the one he had before he died.
Tenro, the reincarnation of Makoto Shishio, finally makes an appearance and wreaks havoc against all the Reikai Senshi before facing off against the man who killed him originally: Kenshin Himura.
The original source of this idea comes from Chad Yang. I continued his story idea found here.
The rest of the chapters of my Yuyu Hakusho and Rurouni Kenshin crossover fan fiction are available here and here. Enjoy.
First | Previous | Next (Youtou Shinnoken) | Next (Demon Sword)
About a hundred years or so ago...
In 1878, after fighting Kenshin "Battousai" Himura to a draw, Makoto Shishio died in a literal blaze of glory (through his own spontaneous combustion when his overheating body broke its limits) and went to Hell.
When he got there, he ended up right before the imposing, gigantic figure of Enma Daio, who asked him, "What are you doing here, mortal? Go back to the Gates of Judgment in order to be judged."
Shishio then replied, "Get out of my throne. I'm the new King of Hell."
***
Youtou Shinnoken: Demon Sword
A Rurouni Kenshin/Yuyu Hakusho Crossover Fan Fiction Story by Chester Castañeda
Original Concept by Chad Yang
Tenro has finally arrived in Okushiri. How will the Reikai Senshi answer his challenge, especially after learning the truth about him?
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 Gallop, Studio Deen, and ADV. This disclaimer also covers all the other copyrighted materials that are far too many to mention here. Don't sue me please, I'm very poor.
***
Chapter 58: Living Sin (Part 10)
***
Back at the Okushiri Military Base...
A shouting, crying Yahiko kneeled in front of Botan's unmoving body, seeing the huge hole in Botan's person.
A hole in the shinigami who somehow was also his kendo master from a former life, Kaoru Kamiya (he didn't quite understand it).
Had he failed again? Like before, when Enishi Yukishiro...?
No. He would not let Kaoru down again. Not after what the Kenshingumi had been through right after Kenshin Himura died and...!
"Bloody Rain," said Yumi Komagata, who again made it rain blood mixed with what seemed like scalpels.
Right above the dark clouds filled with the scarlet squall were Houji Sadojima's shikigami (familiars) that looked like grim reapers in and of themselves due to their ragged clothes, faceless voids covered by hoods for heads, and long scythes.
And beyond them was Gatekeeper Itsuki, who had a mini-gun at the ready in order to test the limits of a solidified ghost body before it became incorporeal once more. Knowing that gunpowder had no spirit energy for Yahiko to neutralize.
"DOU GAMI! (GOD ON EARTH!)" Yahiko's earth-shattering technique blasted away the razor-sharp precipitation and Itsuki's suppressive fire into oblivion, allowing him to dissipate the slicing rain bullets around him and the soul-crushing pressure of the borrowed aura of the Onmyouji (Occult Priest).
"Insolent welp...!" Houji said the thing.
"TEN GAMI! (GOD IN HEAVEN!)" Myojin shouted as he did a much more powerful version of the God on Earth that shot him up high into the heavens. Even the nimbus clouds parted from the strength of his slash.
This rocked and shook the military base like an earthquake while the Tokyo Samurai Descendant himself approached the Onmyouji like the resulting tsunami of such an earthquake.
"INGA GAMI! (KARMIC GOD!)"
It was this technique that suddenly turned the poisonous miasma of the Overfiend into something else. Something filled with positive energy and life-giving, nourishing soul power.
Sanosuke Sagara then noticed how the crimson, purple, and black miasma of jaki surrounding them changed in color, texture, and volume. Flickering back and forth from a cool blue wave to a scarlet mess.
He then checked on Botan, only to gasp in surprise despite being a ghost that didn't need to breathe or have sudden oxygen intakes.
The hole in her chest caused by one of Itsuki's black holes had begun healing. The jaki surrounding them, as Sano suspected, was slowly being purified into reiki, which in turn the ferry-girl used to heal herself.
Not only herself, actually. She shared the wealth by beaming the spirit energy she absorbed unto Kazuma Kuwabara and Sanosuke too. Replenishing their depleted spiritual power and increasing their health at the same time.
A full restore for all her allies, if you would.
'What's going on here? Is this Yahiko's doing? Or hers?'
It was actually both.
Yahiko neutralized the overpowering potency of the Chojin's jaki just short of making it altogether disappear. Botan then purified the weakened negative energy into reiki she used to heal herself and the others while also powering them up, as though she filled the role of the Onmyouji for the Reikai Senshi (Spirit World Warriors).
Meanwhile, Kuwabara and Botan exchanged knowing glances.
They'd gone through this incident before. To be more specific, they witnessed Yusuke do the same thing Yahiko (and Kaoru) attempted to do firsthand.
It was when Urameshi got a hold of the Meikai Crystal and attempted to use it against the last Meikai God standing, Yakumo. The negative energy almost consumed him before his sheer willpower (and at the time hidden demonic lineage) turned the jaki into reiki instead.
Yahiko had decided it was easier to weaken the Chojin's overwhelming negative energy so that Kaoru could turn it into positive (spirit) energy instead of attempting to neutralize or seal it all at once.
The tag team of Yahiko and Kaoru allowed them to replicate what Yusuke himself did alone.
Break it down to its core components first, bit by bit.
The samurai boy then said, "BANZEN GAMI. (PERFECT GOD.)"
***
"Great fighters refuse to lose, but you refuse to win just to get back that feeling and exhilaration of conquering something greater than you. So what do you do now that you're in a world where nothing is greater than you?"
Those were Younger Toguro's words even as Yusuke Urameshi effortlessly tanked through and walked down his offense while blasting him to nigh-oblivion with the Renshya Rei-Gan (Rapid-Fire Spirit Gun).
'What the hell was that supposed to mean?!' Yusuke thought.
Was Toguro Ototo right? Had Urameshi become too powerful? Was he holding back his power level in order to drag out fights he would've easily won otherwise, thus endangering the lives of those he protected?
Ha. As if.
Those words truly did sound deep. They'd sound even deeper and more meaningful if said by a guy who wasn't getting his ass kicked care of him.
If that were true, he would've already hunted down and killed the Chojin himself. He wasn't even the most powerful being in Makai (Demon World), let alone all three worlds. He was a level below the likes of Mukuro and Yomi as well as his deceased ancestor/father figure Raizen.
Not to mention Raizen's old comrades having power levels so high they could band together and conquer both the Human and Spirit Worlds if they so chose.
No, instead of it being a case of Yusuke growing too ridiculously powerful, it was instead a matter of Toguro remaining stagnant and weak by comparison.
The martial artist who belonged to the "baby boomer" generation might've been powerful for a demon not trapped in Makai and blocked off by the Spirit World Barrier. However, he was a pissant compared to the likes of the monsters Urameshi eventually faced in the Demon World Unification Tournament.
On top of all that, Yusuke didn't want to hear that nonsense from the King of Holding Back. The Emperor of Power Percentages.
"Rando's Kugai (World of Suffering) is a low-level technique used by monks to empathically feel the pain and suffering of those around them. The fact that you're still suffering from its effects isn't because of its curse but because of how you reacted to it."
Yusuke frowned. Indeed, for quite sometime since his fight with Rando, every punch he threw at his opponents he also felt. For once, he found out what it was like to get punched by himself.
However, it also served as his training. The more he felt his own punches, the more resistant he became of his own power, thus raising his threshold of pain and his ability to take a punch. He could dish it out and take it.
He wasn't sure he could say the same about Toguro.
His ripcord muscles strained to their utmost, the Younger Toguro ended up having his muscle fibers ripped apart, cracked, and shattered like pottery. The anabolic state he used to grow his muscles to absurd sizes ended up completely wasted because he couldn't handle A-Level to S-Level bursts of power.
Yusuke nevertheless conceded one point to Toguro: The teenager did miss staking his life and limb to defeat an enemy, using all his strength to defend his friends and family.
He hadn't really done so lately. Not really. The last time he had a satisfying match was against Yomi.
Ever since then, his enemies mainly resorted to trickery reminiscent of Kido Asato freezing him with his shadow powers or Hiei kidnapping Keiko Yukimura to defeat him.
All of the Chojin's Shin Ju ended up as weaklings compared to Urameshi. Each and every one of them. To go against them with his full powers would be a waste of effort.
Like lighting a candle with a flamethrower or cutting grass with a chainsaw. Complete overkill.
Then again, wasn't this also the reason why Toguro, even though he was only B-Level, tended to hide his power level or only use a percentage of his power?
Huh. They were more alike than he thought.
***
Botan smiled in spite of herself. Or rather, her lips curved upward on their own and then said things not of her own volition due to her astral body's second inhabitant: Kaoru Kamiya.
"There it is. The Perfect God. That's Yahiko's answer to mastering the Mujinken."
A hundred years or so ago, Kaoru originally taught Yahiko the Tenchijinken (forethought-based techniques involving the prediction of an opponent's moves) and taught Yutaro Tsukayama the Mujinken (reflex-based techniques that reacted to whatever the opponent did in the heat of the moment) to fill in their respective weaknesses.
The two were actually more suited for each other's techniques, since Yahiko fought more off-the-cuff while Yutaro fought more methodically.
She intentionally sealed away the techniques that played to the two's strengths so that they could overcome their weaknesses with the opposite techniques, believing that someday they'd figure out how to do each other's ultimate attacks down the line anyway.
While the Inga Gami showed Yahiko's version of methodical fighting (with him focusing on every counterstrike to unleash the best counters without any wasted movement or energy), it was the instinctual Banzen Gami that showed his fullest potential.
Yahiko was more of a natural with the Perfect God than the Karmic God. It was the opposite for the more thoughtful Yutaro (who now went by the name and identity of Natsuki Shinkai/Xinhai).
"INSECT!" sneered Houji, his wide eyes glowing red, his voice booming like thunder as he produced what seemed like an endless stream of shikigami. Only for Myojin to seemingly cut and disintegrate them with a couple of reflexive waves of his sakabatou.
He wasn't even looking at the reapers as every reflexive slice of his blunt sword blew them apart and sent them to oblivion, his gaze aimed solely at Sadojima
The miasma of black jaki turned into white and blue shining reiki as Myojin neutralized it and Kaoru converted it into pure reiki. Once he reached Houji, their respective weapons clashed, the entire area split between the morning light colors from behind Yahiko and the pitch-black darkness from behind Sadojima.
It was like the clash of day and night, with the point of impact serving as their dusk or dawn. Twilight or daybreak.
To Houji's alarm, his scythe then started to crack and break. 'What the HELL is with this stupid brat!? I thought our only real threats are the Youkiri Battousai and Urameshi Yusuke! Chojin-sama, HELP!'
***
Instead of going down from the barrage of Rei-Gan shots, Toguro merely said, "Stop wasting energy," as though Yusuke left the light or electric fan turned on or something.
To Yusuke's surprise (or perhaps disappointment), the B-Class Toguro reacted to the Spirit Gun bombardment the exact same way as he did during the Ankoku Bujutsukai (Dark Martial Arts Tournament): By attempting to charge at the growing spirit energy bullets to stop them with his bare hands and feet as well as his purely anabolic, hugely muscular body.
And just like that, it was over. With Toguro face down on the ground, his body shattered and torn from its exploded musculature. A tall, lean husk of its former self.
Another one bit the dust. Like the rest of Yusuke's revived enemies that came back stronger because of the Chojin but not quite strong enough to take him on.
To Yusuke's mild surprise, Toguro was still "alive". Or this revived zombie version of himself made by the Chojin's own personal Dr. Frankenstein was still moving.
The muscleman mercenary then said, "I'm merely at B-Level and I was able to push you this far? Your fighting senses have dulled, Urameshi Yusuke."
"Oh really? Well, I've discovered that at this point, no one could beat me but myself. You're welcome to prove me wrong, though," said Yusuke.
Again, Urameshi pulled something right out of Toguro's playbook. They both looked down on people who weren't on their level.
Toguro looked up at the night sky, which rekindled his memories. The Shichousei (Death Omen Star, also known as the Lifespan Star, Jumyoboshi, Alcor, or 80 Ursae Majoris) wasn't present near the Big Dipper.
"I can't see the Shichousei in the heavens."
"W-What are you talking about, Toguro? Have you gone cuckoo?"
Legend had it that when two warriors fought to the death under the Star of Death and it shone upon one of them, that person would die.
Was the star missing because he was already dead? Or because this wasn't much of a death match?
Fine. He'd turn this match into a death match then.
On the other hand, other Japanese myths and legends alleged that when a person couldn't see the Lifespan Star, he'd pass away within a year. That was appropriate since Toguro himself was not alive anymore.
Thusly, every broken bone from his body reset and healed, but instead of going back to normal, they formed sharp calcified bone spurs that protruded right out of his craggy, callused body like horns or thorns.
"...I knew it! You still had another form after 100%, you son of a bitch! CHOU REI-GAN! (MEGA SPIRIT GUN!)"
As Toguro got a power boost from the way his body decided to recover from his injuries, he punched back the Chou Rei-Gan Yusuke fired at his changing form before punching the teenager as well with his bone spur claws on his fist right at the moment of impact, quadrupling its effect.
He just jumped from Class-B to Class-A in a mere second.
"Ooof!" The world-stopping punch emptied the air from Yusuke's lungs.
"My former 100% has actually become less than a percentage point of my power, but for the sake of giving you a point of reference, I'll base my power increases on what was 100% of my power."
He grew about as big as his 100% of 100% form, perhaps even a little bigger, but this time around the demonized behemoth's black hair turned as grey as steel along with the rest of his vascular body that was covered with huge bony protrusions.
"So you can call this form of mine as me at 500% of my power."
"Whatever! HYAKU RETSU-KEN! (HUNDRED RENDING FISTS!)"
Appropriately enough, the attack Yusuke then used in response to Toguro's transformation was one he saw on television from his favorite anime show as a child of the 1980s, "Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star)".
The Shichousei or Death Omen Star was, after all, also referenced by the same program.
Honestly, it was just Urameshi going ham on an opponent by randomly striking his heavy-handed punches at every opening available to him, with him naming the "technique" after the fact.
***
The devastation of the Okushiri Military base extended outward, with the pairs of Kazuma and Yumi as well as Sanosuke and Itsuki traveling eastward in a trail of devastation that followed Yahiko's own blaze of glory.
The green comet that was the Tokyo Samurai Descendant clashed and burned through the spherical cloud of miasma protecting Sadojima, like a shooting star entering the atmosphere.
The two pairs of enemies fought tooth and nail for proper positioning. The Reikai Senshi pushed the Chojin's forces back to protect Myojin from their interference.
Sanosuke punched through everything Itsuki threw at him from his hyperdimensional portals and busted portal gun. Sano also dodged the dense scattershot black holes and threw pavement debris at the Gatekeeper for good measure.
Meanwhile, Kazuma fought from afar using his blade that can literally cut through anything and anywhere in order to slash apart every attempt of the wind vampire Yumi to blast tornadoes and energy-absorbing jaki at him.
Finally, Myojin himself struck the Chojin's (and at this point, it was the Chojin controlling the Onmyouji) scythe hard, the blade covered in miasma and dark energy.
The tides of battle then turned.
Using the jaki Kaoru purified into reiki, Yahiko's green aura became denser and denser, creating a white shining void at the center of his body that sucked the darkness of the Chojin away. Acting like a reverse black hole or even white hole that absorbed all of the Overfiend's darkness into his pure light.
'This is it, Botan,' thought Kaoru "telepathically". 'This is the power of Mu (Void). The power of emptiness.'
'Emptiness...?' repeated the ferry-girl.
'Yes. A true martial artist is able to fight with instinct, freeing his mind of all thought and distractions, leading to a Zen State. Yahiko manifested this Zen State into his unique skill: Neutralizing spiritual energy.'
A second later, all energy from everyone dissipated, and from there Houji's scythe shattered like glass as both he and Yahiko plummeted into the docks of the Okushiri Pier.
The samurai spirit fell into Ryu Tsui Sen (Dragon Hammer Flash) stance and slammed Sadojima into one of the metal crates of the pier below them with an emphatic crash.
"You stupid kid! I'll show you! ETERNAL...! Wait, what?! My powers are gone!"
Yumi Komagata attempted to do the Hi-Ougi (Hidden Art) of Vampire Martial Arts—a move stronger than the energy-sapping Blood Wind—but nothing of the sort manifested before her. Her aura, the energy she gathered from sucking many a soldier's blood, had disappeared.
The same happened to Itsuki, who couldn't summon his Reverse-Man or escape into his pocket dimension any longer.
Yahiko's reiki had also went out, which normally was dangerous for a ghost but he somehow reached homeostasis with the way he cancelled out the Chojin's jaki.
His dense green aura had now completely neutralized the powers of everyone near him instead of merely mitigating their flow, including the now unconscious Onmyouji.
Like how no light could escape the event horizon of a black hole, not one shadow of the Chojin's dark energy could exist amidst the blinding green light of Yahiko's converging spiritual aura.
However, as a consequence, even Yahiko's allies lost their powers as well, as though he was acting as the reverse version of the Onmyouji. Instead of boosting the powers of those in his vicinity, he nullified them.
Regardless, Sanosuke and Kuwabara immediately took advantage of the loss of powers from Itsuki and Yumi with their physical strength, with the former beating Itsuki to a pulp and Kuwabara breaking the umbrella and fan of Komagata bareheaded before tackling and pinning her down.
"Give it up, lady. You lost," said Kuwabara. "You can't cheat your way out of this one by resurrecting your goons every time we defeat them. Your precious Onmyouji's down for the count."
Yahiko "heaved" a sigh of relief despite being a solidified ghost who didn't need to breathe. "It's finally over."
Botan giggled in glee. "We did it! You did it! The number one pupil of Kamiya Kasshin! I'm so proud of you, Yahiko!" The last few parts of that statement was Kaoru talking.
Sano looked at his own bloody fists and winced. 'We've won, but why do I feel like it's not yet over? Like there's still something afoot.'
Even though the blood from his right fist wasn't his own but Itsuki's, it burned and ached something fierce. Like he broke his hand or something. 'What's going on? I have a bad feeling about this.'
Sanosuke's bad feeling then turned into reality.
***
At Class-A, Yusuke Urameshi's Hyaku Retsu-Ken would've turned the B-Plus Toguro into mince meat. Or roadkill.
At Class-S, his Hyaku Retsu-Ken would've turned mountains like Mt. Kannon, Mt. Kamui, and even Mt. Fuji into molehills, plains, or even outright trenches and canyons as deep as the United States of America's Grand Canyon.
Like he was a pint-sized Paul Bunyan.
The teenager harrumphed. "Really? 500%? Like I'm fighting 5 Toguros at the same time? So what? That's still nothing compared to the demons I've faced since defeating you, Toguro...!"
The bone-breaking punches cracked the shell of Toguro's chitinous muscle armor bit by bit. However, in turn, Toguro let his fists fly as well but in a more methodical manner.
Targeting his punches at Yusuke's openings rather than punching randomly. Using his martial arts experience to take down the stronger foe.
His bony yet muscular fists pounded on Yusuke's smaller body, cracking bones here and there.
Yusuke's fists ached from every punch he did on the rock-solid body of Toguro, the multitude of Spirit Cuffs holding his power back also getting pushed to their limit. The restraining cuffs and seals he placed upon himself were at their near breaking point from him merely flexing his immense power.
Thank goodness the likes of Yomi, Mukuro, Enki, and the rest of Raizen's friends (as well as Raizen himself when he was alive) put him in his place early on regarding what real power looked like, or else he'd be full of himself right about now.
The Toguro with chitinous bone spurs and keratinous horns all over his muscle-bound body ended up breaking each and every one of his thick, calcified bones from the impact of Yusuke's attacks.
Toguro's bones rattled as micro-tears appeared all over his muscles and tendons. Despite this, he pushed forward. Like his older brother, he healed quickly, which alerted Urameshi that he still had something in his sleeve.
"All right. Then how about this? TAKO NAGURI!"
The Octopus Assault—Yusuke's version of the Kuzu Ryu Sen (Nine-Dragon Flash) that hit 8 times instead of 9 times in an instant—hammered the horned gray body of the zombified and demonized Toguro before he could get the chance to stab, gore, or spear Yusuke with his many protruding bone spurs.
Urameshi once heard that it took either 23,034 slaps to cook a chicken. Either that, or a slap traveling at 1,665.65 meters per second.
He wasn't sure about the math, but he cooked Toguro's goose at a rate of 8-16 punches a second with every punch traveling at 1,000-2,000 meters per second, so it would've took about 20 minutes of non-stop Tako Naguri to get to around 20,000 punches or 2,500 super-powered Tako Naguri.
Or he would've cooked/burned 20,000 whole chickens with his speedy punches at around the same time it took to cook a chicken in the oven.
However, it was at the second minute that Urameshi broke his hand. He hit a hard shell reminiscent of Usui's shield.
From the pile of minced meat, torn muscle cords, and viscera emerged yet another Toguro form.
What stood before him wasn't the spurred behemoth Toguro but instead a fully armored Toguro, with every inch of his body covered in craggy white bone.
As though his shattered bones healed wrong and ended up calcifying right on top of his pulsating muscles. He broke the calcified armor in sections by flexing his limbs in order to give his new outer shell moving joints.
It also made him look like a white lobster man, thought Yusuke in chagrin.
"This is 1,000% of my power. 100 times the power of my 100% self."
***
At the Okushiri Pier, around 9:47 PM...
The mangled remains of a man landed right in front of Reikai's finest from out of the shadows of the dark harbor.
The Reikai Senshi (and their accompanying shinigami) then felt goose bumps form at the napes of their necks—even the ghostly ones that didn't even have tangible skin, blood, or hair to make such a sensation possible.
Even Itsuki, whom Sano beat from pillar to post with bare-knuckle fisticuffs, looked none the worse for wear compared to the person before them.
He was bathed in blood and his torn clothes were dyed crimson because of it. He looked like he'd been ravaged by a pack of wolves.
The only thing recognizable about him was that he was male. Probably.
Sanosuke was the first one to try and poke at the figure to see who it was. If he had a ten-foot pole, he'd prod the man with it. As it was, thanks to Yahiko manifesting his full neutralization powers, Sano couldn't even summon one zanbatou right now.
The street fighter then stumbled back, which made Kazuma ask, "What's wrong? Who is it? Is that one of the Chojin's Shin Ju or whatever?"
Botan gulped, hoping against hope that the man before them was the injured body of one of the New Ten Swords instead of one of the Spirit World Warriors.
Before Sano could answer, someone else answered for him.
"That's what remains of Hajime Saito. The former captain of the Shinsengumi's Third Unit."
"...What? Who said that?" demanded Yahiko.
The Reikai Tantei, the shinigami, and the Kenshingumi then turned in time to see the silhouette of a pony-tailed person from the distance.
There stood a human(?) of about S-Level power with sleeked-back hair, a lengthy ponytail, and a half-undone kimono that showed off his rippling swimmer's muscles on his long build.
As realization dawned on them one by one, their mouths went agape, practically unhinged from their upper jaw.
The blood drained from Kuwabara's face while the three spiritual beings' faces (Botan/Kaoru, Sano, and Yahiko) looked more transparent than usual.
The ghosts all looked like they'd seen a ghost (ironically enough), forgetting they were ghosts themselves. Gasping for air they couldn't breathe anymore.
Even Kuwabara, who was alive, looked like he'd seen a ghost himself or even turned into one.
The man, who himself was a bloody mess with stabs wounds and cuts at every inch of his body, held something in his arms.
It was his trophy. His prize after a hard day's battle.
It was the head of his enemy. It was the head of Hajime Saito.
Botan screamed. Or rather, Kaoru did.
The Kamiya Kasshin Master couldn't believe that Kenshin's greatest rival who was so famous he became a Japanese historical figure later on had been defeated.
On the other hand, Botan—through centuries of being a death goddess—had seen worse things before, so she was desensitized enough to not scream. Her own feeling of dread was around the same level as Kaoru's, though.
The pony-tailed assassin then took one look at the Kenshingumi sans Kenshin, the Reikai Tantei sidekick, and their shinigami babysitter then sighed.
"Oh, no one but weaklings left? Pathetic. Imagine, after such a delicious meal, I'm left with leftovers and expired food."
The new arrival then placed Saito's head beside the rest of his body. Almost reverently. "Rest in peace, Saito Hajime. You were truly a worthy rival. I acknowledge you."
"You killed Officer Fujita! You BASTARD!" screamed Kuwabara, a knife-sized Rei-Ken ablaze with reiki and righteous indignation in his grip.
Kazuma would've produced a full-length Jigen Tou with the rage he felt, but Yahiko's neutralizing presence kept his powers in check.
"Wait. Boke (Fool), he's...!" Sano trailed off, moving in front of Kuwabara to block him from doing anything hasty. 'If anyone's going to do something hasty, it was going to be me!' thought Sagara.
"Who are you?" said Yahiko as he pointed his sakabatou at the stranger.
"I'm Youkiri Tenro (Tenro the Demon-Slayer). Remember that name before I send you back to Heaven."
***
Yusuke quickly checked his Spirit Detector. Toguro was now at A-Level with his Bone Armor form. Around the same power level as the most powerful members of the Reikai Tokubetsu Bouetai (Spirit World Special Forces).
This turn of events definitely piqued his interest. Somewhat. Maybe this time, he'd get the battle he so craved from this new version of Toguro since being defeated by Yomi in the Makai Tournament.
However, the extra layer of bone armor made it harder for Yusuke to break apart Toguro's muscle armor with mere punches, no matter what velocity he reached.
As though Toguro now had double the armor.
Also, in turn, the Class-A Toguro Ototo pummeled and stabbed Yusuke with earth-shattering strikes from his bony fists, horns, and claws as well as shattered pieces of his bone armor that kept calcifying and regrowing over and over. Layer by layer. Like samurai armor or shingles on the roof.
Stubbornly, the bloody and bruised Yusuke kept on punching the armored demon to push him away and give himself breathing room.
The bony yet muscle-bound contradiction of a monster that looked ridiculously gigantic yet unencumbered by his musculature having an extra layer of armor on top of it, turning him into a veritable tank with the speed of a Mack truck. He even hit like a truck.
However, as his wounds healed in Toguro Ani fashion, Urameshi realized that he had long ago surpassed the version of him that could get killed by being hit by a car. Or a truck. Or a tank. Or perhaps even a nuclear warhead. Maybe.
"Rei-Kou-Dan (Spirit Light Wave Bullet)."
One of his Spirit Cuffs broke as he put his hip into his punches and imbued his fists with actual spiritual power. They were already harder than steel because of the spirit energy contained within his body. When he emanated reiki from inside and outside himself, his punches also become explosive.
One reiki-imbued punch was all it took for him to crack the bone armor of Toguro at 1,000%. However, he wasn't done.
Perhaps he might have gone overboard, but he decided to punch Toguro 20,000 times in 3 minutes rather than 20 minutes. But it sure felt like 20 minutes.
Furthermore, these weren't just physical punches. His fists were set on fire with spiritual energy this time around. He shot out 20,000 Rei-Kou-Dan blasts, to be more precise.
Every supersonic punch had the impact of a blockbuster bomb, with it breaking the sound barrier and sending extra shockwaves to Toguro and all. Perhaps he'd become even more explosive than multiple blockbusters.
Perhaps Yusuke had turned into a teenaged nuke or warhead himself.
However, out of the mangled mess of bone armor emerged yet another Toguro. The armor that should've served as his coffin ended up becoming his cocoon for his newest metamorphosis. Which, to Yusuke's surprise, made him breathe a sigh in relief.
Yes! He could still push himself even further!
Was this excited feeling the same one that Toguro felt when, just a few years prior, Yusuke was able to withstand the might of 80% of his power when he killed Genkai in cold blood?
Regardless, a bronze-skinned, taller, and four-armed Toguro emerged from all that mush and burnt flesh he'd become earlier, impossibly towering even higher over Yusuke than before. His current ginormous form made his former seven-foot form look normal-sized in comparison.
His muscles were like taut steel cords now, like those used in heavy-duty tires and conveyer belts. Perhaps even harder. They were definitely harder than the pieces of thick calcified bone armor that they crushed like egg shells with a simple collective body flex.
"This is 100,000% of my power. This is what fighting 1,000 clones of my 100% self looks like."
Yusuke thought for a second what Toguro meant by that, only for him to test the theory out with an additional 20,000 Rei-Kou-Dan blasts in a minute. 20,000 palm blocks later and Urameshi now had a better idea of what his nemesis meant, followed by 20,000 counterpunches in between those blocks.
All in a minute's time.
'100,000% Toguro? He didn't even bother going to 10,000%? Jeez!' Urameshi thought as he got hit with a two-armed lariat that dragged his body across the landscape and river like a trailer home in a tornado.
This was it. This was the A-Plus version of Toguro.
Yusuke couldn't even hide the grin from his face even as this newest form of Toguro beat him to the punch every time.
Toguro at 100,000% had even tighter and tauter musculature with enough strength and torque behind them to break bones to dust. His ripcord muscles could handle punching velocities similar to that of or even faster than Yusuke's.
It also didn't help that Toguro now had a body that could accommodate four arms, thus giving him twice the hand speed and arm speed due to his literal extra limbs.
***
"...SHISHIO!" screamed Sanosuke at Tenro, his blood (ectoplasm) boiling. His right fist, which Makoto Shishio broke, pulsating like a second heart.
Even though Tenro wasn't wearing bandages and his skin wasn't burned to a crisp, Sano could recognize that voice and that demeanor anywhere.
'Shishio?' thought Kuwabara. So Tenro was the man who founded the original Juppon Gatana? Kenshin's greatest rival? The man who ultimately caused Kenshin's demise? The man who might actually be the alter ego of the Chojin himself?
The guy who not only pushed Hiei to his limits, but also possibly two of the Demon World's three kings, Yomi and Mukuro? Was Tenro Shishio's reincarnation or something...?
Before they knew it, they were suddenly faced with the final boss of the game.
The fighting spirit of Sanosuke rose high enough for him to defy the nullifying presence of Yahiko and form half of a zanbatou in his hands, which he swung at the (presumably) non-burned version or reincarnation of the ex-hitokiri and Meiji rebel known as Makoto Shishio.
With one swing of Tenro's Mugen Jin (Unlimited Blade) sword, Sagara's suspicions were confirmed.
"Secret Sword One: HOMURA DAMA!"
Shishio's signature Homura Dama (Burning Soul) technique where his sword burst into flame clashed hard against the 6-foot (normally 12-foot) horse-chopping sword, smelting it in the process like a blacksmith's forge in a shower of sparks.
"A weakling like usual, Sagara Sanosuke," sneered Tenro. "It's been a while, though."
"I don't understand. Wasn't Shishio supposed to look like a mummy or something? He's some guy who was burnt to a crisp and covered in bandages, right?" said Kazuma.
Sano answered, "Yeah, but obviously it's been 100 years. He must've found a way to get a new body, or ended up with a solidified soul, or got reincarnated as this Tenro clown."
Myojin gulped. He considered deactivating his powers to allow either Kuwabara or Sanosuke to attack the youkiri. However, if Tenro was this powerful with his spiritual power nullified, how much more powerful could he get when Yahiko's powers ceased working?
The disheveled Yumi then cackled in the background, the hole in her chest throbbing with a ghostly heart that the man before her had "stolen" from her.
"It's about time you got here, Tenro. What took you so long? Don't tell me the Miburo (Mibu's Wolf) gave you all that you can handle and then some."
Tenro harrumphed. "Perish the thought, Yumi. I merely gave my respects first to the Shinsengumi in the Battle of Hakodate Monument, and guess who I also found there? That's right, our favorite Shinsengumi Captain, Saito Hajime."
'Hakodate?!' thought Yahiko. 'That's four hours away from Okushiri! All the way on the other side of Hokkaido, at that!'
Sanosuke himself snarled at Tenro, his fist burning with pain and fire, as though it remembered how Makoto had shattered it when they'd faced each other back at Mt. Hiei.
'Hakodate is the place that served as the Shinsengumi's last stand. Did Saito go there to pay his respects to his squad? In the middle of our war against the Shin Ju? It's not like him to be so sentimental.'
The street fighter spared a glance at the remains of Hajime Saito. Unbelievable. Just earlier, he pushed several of the Shin Juppon Gatana to their limits, but now he ended up as dead as the rest of the original Shinsengumi.
Well, Saito himself was supposed to already be dead and buried in the first place, but this time around he got killed off for real by Shishio. Or Tenro, which was probably the reincarnation of Shishio.
Kuwabara turned towards Yahiko and said, "Kid, turn off your powers! I'm going to face off with the final boss one-on-one at my full strength!"
"But...!" the ghost kid trailed off before Botan filled in the rest.
"Kuwabara-kun, he can't. He's the only one sealing Tenro's immense power. If he was able to do that to Saito, imagine what he could do to us! Let Yahiko seal his power for now until either Kenshin or Yusuke arrives!" warned the ferry-girl.
"I DON'T CARE!" shouted Kazuma. "Let us face him at his full strength while we're also at full strength! As a real man, I won't back down!"
Tenro smirked. "Fine then. If you're not bluffing then come at me. In this world and beyond it, the same rules of nature apply. Only the strongest survive and the weak are food for the strong."
Sano's eyes narrowed. That convinced him that the man before him really was Shishio. That was totally a Shishio-type line. 'It's now or never. We just have to keep him here until either Kenshin or that delinquent best friend of Boke arrives!'
***
"REI-KOU-DAN!" shouted Urameshi, his Spirit Wave Light Bullets bursting through his fist like bolts of lightning from a Railgun.
The 100,000% Toguro blocked the punch with his elbow, shattering Yusuke's hand bones in the process. "Is this the power of an S-Level? Don't make me laugh. Me at 100,000% of my power is enough for you."
Toguro then grabbed hold of Urameshi's limbs with all four of his arms in a bid to tear the teenager apart literally from limb to limb.
Yusuke considered Toguro's statement for a second and then said, "Fuck that," before flipping the four-armed monster off with his right hand.
The mere idea that someone like Feng Xinhai or The "Beautiful" Suzuki was more powerful than Toguro just didn't sit well with Urameshi. At all.
At any rate, the middle finger he raised at the 100,000% Toguro then flowed with energy he'd been saving for a special occasion.
Yusuke discovered that he could actually save and store his dormant spirit energy as a reserve or extra Spirit Gun blast for use in case of emergencies since it usually took forever and a day to charge his Rei-Gan.
The energy for this one he'd been gathering for weeks' on end.
Also, in order for him to not mistakenly fire off his reserve Rei-Gan, he had this special energy bullet stored in his middle finger. This was how the new technique that he improvised when facing off against the S-Level Xinhai ultimately evolved.
This was his "Fuck You!" Spirit Gun. Also known as the "FAKKU GAN! (FUCK GUN!)"
The 100,000% Toguro chucked Yusuke away like a hot potato in order to better dodge the point-blank spiritual projectile then punted the Fuck Gun back to the teenager who fired it.
However, by instinct borne from his hundreds of fights against spiritually powerful humans and demons, Yusuke jumped away from the Fakku Gan, grabbed Toguro by the ankle, dragged him towards the ball of plasma fire he actually outran, and then threw the monster back into its path.
From there, as the 100,000% Toguro braced himself for impact, Urameshi emerged from behind him. Attacking him from the rear for good measure.
Toguro was now stuck between a rock and a hard place. Or between a demon and his energy blast.
"REI-KOU-DAN! SHOT GUN!" screamed the half-demon prince.
While the Fakku Gan blasted and disintegrated the giant from the front, Yusuke attacked with his Spirit Light Wave Bullets and reiki scattershot from behind, which kept even the four-armed monstrosity from defending himself from the upcoming onslaught surrounding him.
The charged-up blasts of energy in particle and wave forms bore on Toguro like plasma tides or a solar wind. An endless series of reiki tidal waves from the vast ocean of Urameshi's power.
Thanks to the extra pressure brought about by his stored energy blast from many weeks ago, Yusuke's Rei-Kou-Dan was able to penetrate deep into Toguro's core. The technique ripped apart the steel cord muscles of Toguro as they got softened by the comet of energy that cooked him alive.
Then, as Yusuke had hoped deep in his unbeating heart, the mangled Toguro changed form yet again.
The same heart that stopped beating after Shinobu Sensui first pierced it felt like it had started beating again in anticipation. In excitement. In nostalgia, even.
Toguro still had more forms and powers up his sleeve. Just like old times.
And from there, out of the ashes and melted muscle of the 100,000% Toguro came forth the One Million Percent Toguro.
"One Million Percent. This is me at One Million Percent of my power, Urameshi Yusuke."
***
Kuwabara and Sanosuke attacked Tenro at the same time while Yahiko struggled on the spot to focus all his neutralizing powers on the Shishio reincarnation(?) alone.
Botan checked her Spirit Detector again. Hope sprouted anew within her heart. 'Yes! Tenro's power level went down to A-Level. He's still on the cusp of S-Level, but at least he's not as powerful as someone like Sensui or Xinhai! We have a chance!'
Tenro frowned. His aura of jaki had become fainter and weaker due to Myojin's powers.
'Hmmm. The Shin Ju had warned me about this impudent brat. Even Toguro Ani couldn't heal properly thanks to this kid's neutralizing reiki.'
As Yahiko slowly mastered his neutralization powers so that only Tenro was affected by them, the energy levels of Kuwabara and Sanosuke went up higher and higher than before, their auras flaring with spiritual might that was boosted by Botan's healing powers for good measure.
"JIGEN TOU!" screamed Kazuma, summoning his Dimension Sword.
"ZANBATOU!" shouted Sanosuke, producing his 12-foot long Horse-Chopping Sword.
"How appropriate. Isn't this just a reflection of today's society? The weak are using their great numbers to suppress their betters, not realizing that without the strong to lead them or the will to become strong themselves, they will end up extinct. The world stands on the shoulders of giants."
"SHADDAP! I don't know who you are, but all's fair in love and war," declared Kuwabara.
"Not all men are created equal. Like in the Animal Kingdom, some men are simply better than others. Equal opportunity doesn't guarantee equal results. Forcing equal results in an aberration of nature, like forcing animals to act like men, the pinnacle of evolution."
Tenro used a bare hand to grab hold of Kuwabara's Dimension Sword and used his other hand holding the saw-like Mugen Jin to block the full-length zanbatou.
"Ganging up on the strong can lead to the survival of the weak temporarily. However, their own respective weaknesses will sort them out. Their celebration of mediocrity will make them food for other apex predators in the future or have them subjugated by any of their own who decide to become rams instead of sheep."
The Youkiri then broke the Jigen Tou apart like it was made of cardboard instead of pure energy and stabbed Sanosuke's chest with it while also melting the zanbatou with his Mugen Jin's Homura Dama.
"Regardless, it is better to live one day as a lion than one hundred years as a sheep. These are... THE RULES OF NATURE!"
"AUGH!" grunted Sanosuke, his recently recovered soul flickering in and out of existence, his chest spewing ectoplasm, and his aura dissipating into pinpoints of light like a disturbed nest of bioluminescent fireflies.
He felt the light inside him slowly fade all the while.
"Bastard...!" said Kazuma, who repurposed the broken shards of his Jigen Tou and shot it pointblank at Youkiri Tenro's face, turning them into "REI-SHURIKEN!"
He should've hit him with the projectiles from a distance, though. The first few blades bounced off of the intense aura of jaki that covered Tenro's body like armor, which reminded Kuwabara of the aura that Detective Matsudaira developed.
Reiatsu (Spirit pressure).
Tenro's aura was dense enough to become spirit pressure reminiscent of Bui from the Toguro Team. Or Yusuke whenever he unleashed his full power.
So this was the Chojin's secret weapon? If not the Chojin himself altogether?
The demon-slayer then grabbed the teenager's wrist and redirected the shuriken at Sano again, injuring him further. From there, he broke Kuwabara's hand altogether then grabbed him by the collar, declaring, "Secret Sword Two: GUREN KAINA! (CRIMSON LOTUS ARM!)"
Using his Mugen Jin to ignite the gunpowder-laced glove, the youkiri blasted Kuwabara with the force of a bomb.
The gunpowder-inside-the-glove trick that Shishio used on Kenshin was also used against Kazuma, with the explosion violently blowing him away. A hundred years ago, Makoto's hand was kept safe from the blast using a special metal gauntlet underneath the glove full of gunpowder that resisted the impact.
Tenro somehow ended up doing an even stronger version of the Guren Kaina that was imbued with the chaotic negative energy of the Chojin, which made the explosion strong enough to injure a human with the A-Class power level of Kuwabara.
Yahiko's power-suppressing aura didn't help in this case.
Tenro then shot the samurai ghost teen a look that chilled him to his "bones" or "spine". The youkiri then declared, "You will not drag me down to your level. Know your place, child."
However, while Tenro was distracted, the flickering spirit of Sanosuke stabbed the youkiri with hot molten metal of what was left of his sword in a spectacular display of sparks.
This was Sano's one chance of making a dent, so he had to make it count. However, as he attempted to punch Tenro's heart out, his hand ended up crushed with the youkiri's elbow block.
With a harrumph, Tenro proceeded to punch Sanosuke on the forehead, just like when Sano fought Shishio. "You never learn."
"I don't understand," murmured the Kaoru inside Botan's body. "Isn't Yahiko's aura supposed to suppress Tenro's powers too? Why is he still so strong!?"
She then noticed the unconscious Itsuki open his eyes and wake up, which led her to keep her guard up.
The black-and-blue Itsuki chuckled, tracing his finger over the scar Kuwabara had made on his face back when the Reikai Tantei faced off against Shinobu Sensui. "Y-You don't understand. This is him with his power held back."
"W-What do you mean? That's impossible!" Botan checked her Spirit Detector. "Oh no. His power is fluctuating between A-Level and S-Level when earlier it was just A-Level. That can't be! How powerful is he?"
Sneering, Itsuki said, "Who knows? Rumor has it he's about as powerful as one of the Former Three Kings—Mukuro, Yomi, and even the Late Raizen. He might even reach the mythical X-Level like Kurama did when he took hold of the Demon Sword."
Botan's face went pale blue as though unseen hands suddenly grabbed hold of her thin neck. "X-Level?!"
She remembered the event like it was yesterday.
The Spirit World went on high alert when Kurama went Class-X after wielding the Youtou Shinnoken (Demon Sword). They even called the entire Reikai Bouetai in. Not that it would've done them any good, since the Special Forces were composed of Class-A agents and Class-X was a level beyond Class-S.
She couldn't even fathom how strong an X-Level was since Kurama immediately rejected the Demon Sword, which transformed him back into his "human" self.
However, stronger than Yomi, Mukuro, or Raizen gave her a ballpark estimate of what they were dealing with. Someone as strong as or stronger than a Raizen-possessed Yusuke who ragdolled the mountain-destroying Sensui with ease.
All the same, Tenro stood victorious over the beaten figures of Sanosuke and Kuwabara.
"Will you become rams or sheep? Lions or feral street cats? Wolves or mongrel dogs? Can you evolve and turn into apex predators yourselves? It's natural selection. Kill or be killed. Make your choice."
***
The peaceful Tsurikake River had now become a war zone. A swamp in one part and a desert in another.
It was Baghdad. It was bedlam.
The 1,000,000% Toguro was there at the epicenter of the devastation. A nuke all his own. An unnatural force of nature.
An over-muscled demonized human even taller than his 100,000% version. A walking contradiction of chaos and order.
He had no skin now. He was all pure, red muscle and tendons pulsating and wriggling in every which way.
He also had six arms instead of two or four, with him towering even higher than before because he had to elongate his torso to cartoonish levels just to accommodate his extra pair of limbs.
Curious at how strong this Toguro was, Yusuke flipped the bird on Toguro with his other hand.
Yes, he had also stored another Fuck Gun on his other hand, with about the same amount of potential spiritual energy gathered for multiple weeks since he fired his first Fakku Gan at Feng Xinhai.
"FAKKU GAN!"
Again, Urameshi blasted all of his pent-up "Fuck You!" energy at Toguro by flipping him off, shooting the bolt of concentrated lightning that came out with the force of a shooting star.
Again, he outran the modified reserve Rei-Gan and came up from behind the six-armed insectoid Toguro with the intent of making sure he got hit by it.
He then attacked Toguro with both hands using the Rei-Gan and Shot Gun.
"DOUBLE-BARRELED SHOT GUN! DOUBLE BERRETTA REI-GAN!"
Those extra pair of hands on an even bigger and sturdier body made all the difference.
Two of six arms grabbed and held back the charged-for-weeks Rei-Gan. Another two of the arms parried and blocked all of Yusuke's energy-laden punches as well as the projectiles blasting through them.
This freed up the Million-Percent Toguro's two remaining hands that grabbed hold of Yusuke and pummeled him into submission.
The Younger Toguro utilized punches that carved the landscape. Made and destroyed mountains.
The kind of unnatural force of nature (as contradictory as it sounded) that could affect plate tectonics, weather patterns, or change the area forever, like in the case of Mt. St. Helens when it exploded or the nine ghost villages of France that remained wastelands to this day thanks to the Battle of Verdun in the First World War.
If Yusuke's reiki-dense body weren't there to absorb the blows they would've shattered and sunk Okushiri right off of the map.
Even though Urameshi was breathing through his mouth, had lost several teeth, and ended up with a shattered jaw he couldn't close, he couldn't help but grin. Or at least do an open-mouthed smile.
"I'm beating you to the punch at every turn. So why is it...?" Toguro tilted his head to the side in askance. "Why do you have such a happy look on your face?"
Disturbingly, Yusuke's teeth grew back. They weren't supposed to do that but they did. Even accelerated human healing wouldn't allow the return of lost permanent teeth. All his bruises healed. All his broken bones mended themselves. His shut black eye's swelling subsided and went back to normal.
There he hung from Toguro's grip. Smiling. None the worse for wear save for torn clothes that couldn't restore themselves to their previous state.
"Come on, Toguro. You can do better than this, you son of a bitch! Gimme your best shot!"
Toguro then proceeded to smash Yusuke and his own heavenly body of a Fakku Gan together, which resulted in a mushroom cloud of pure destructive power.
Another atomic blast had hit Japan.
Toguro the Younger turned Urameshi into the atomic bomb he was afraid he had become.
***
Back at the Okushiri Pier, two things happened.
Botan, using the wealth of leftover negative energy that Kaoru purified earlier, again started healing the damage inflicted upon the available Reikai Senshi.
Kuwabara and Sanosuke stirred, as if shot by multiple doses of adrenalin.
Also, when the youkiri decided to deal with the shinigami herself to keep her from aiding her comrades, Yahiko himself confronted and attacked Tenro head on.
For all the good it did. Bless his ghostly heart.
"DOU GAMI...! (GOD ON EARTH!)" shouted Yahiko, hoping against hope it'd land on Tenro's head or sword or at least near him so that he'd get pelted by rocks and debris.
'So this is Shishio. The leader of the Juppon Gatana. Kenshin's most powerful rival,' the samurai spirit thought.
Tenro caught the reverse-edged blade between his fingers before it could make contact with him or the Mugen Jin. The God Hammer relied on recoil to give Yahiko enough space to consecutively strike something or someone three times fast in order to break their resistance and apply a zero-resistance strike.
No recoil meant the technique was neutralized.
Myojin's jaw dropped. "How...!?"
"So you're the brat who can neutralize spirit energy," said Tenro with narrowed eyes that traveled from Houji's unconscious form then all the way back to Yahiko.
Readjusting his grip of the sword tight with a gloved hand that smelled of gunpowder and negative spirit energy, Tenro again did the "GUREN KAINA!" on the blade.
The explosion blasted Myojin clear away from (presumably) Shishio, the shrapnel from his own spiritual construct of a sakabatou hitting him at the speed of bullets. His spirit fading and dissipating with pinpoints of energy.
''YAHIKO!" both Botan and Kaoru chorused in one unified body, fearing the worst.
However, the shards of Yahiko's shattered blade also penetrated Tenro's body, sealing his power further away from S-Level.
'What a problematic child this is.'
Myojin got up to his feet and charged with his broken reverse-edged blade, hoping to buy Sano and Kuwabara time. Buy Kenshin and Yusuke time as well.
He intended to do the Inga Gami on Tenro's head, only to revert to the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu ougi for Hadome and Hawatari when his opponent beat him to the punch and struck first with the Homura Dama.
However, as he defended against the downwards flaming strike with a crossed-wrist block, Tenro grappled with him and kept him from parrying the strike. "Do you want to know how your idol, Himura Battousai, died a century ago? Like this. Guren Kaina. Homura Dama."
After the explosion from the gunpowder happened, Tenro allowed the resulting fire to flare and roast the hapless ghost of Yahiko Myojin.
"AAAHH...!" screamed the burning Yahiko.
"YAHIKO!" shouted Sanosuke.
"BRAT!" yelled Kuwabara.
Tenro himself stood in the middle of the conflagration, but like in his confrontation with Hiei, he ended up none the worse for wear from the roaring bonfire.
"Too strong... He's too strong...!" gasped Yahiko. "Even after all this time, I'm still as weak as I've always been."
The bright yellow flames turned green then blue as Yahiko's form reverted to that of a hitodama (will-o'-the-wisp).
Meanwhile, Botan shrieked, fell on her knees, and covered her eyes with her hands.
"Who is stronger? A wolf in sheep's clothing or a sheep in wolf's clothing? Don't deny your true nature. Embrace what you really are. It's either you know your place or claw your way up the food chain. Evolve. Transform. Step up or step aside."
The entirety of Okushiri then started to rumble as Yahiko's neutralizing reiki ebbed away.
Like a dam that was about to break.
***
A nuke did damage in three stages.
It irradiated heat and light, it blasted everything to Kingdom Come, and it scattered radioactive materials around.
The bigger you went, the less relevant the radioactive materials became relative to the other effects as the heat irradiation had a much greater and more noticeable immediate effect. Effectively, when a nuke went off, the temperature of the resulting fireball could go up to millions of degrees, but it dissipated relatively quickly.
However, instead of having a repeat of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1993, Yusuke's dense aura (arguably going at reiatsu level at this point) allowed him to absorb most of the impact of his own Fakku Gan.
The explosion became a blockbuster level blast instead of an atomic bomb mushroom cloud.
Yusuke collapsed on the ground, taking the brunt of his own spirit energy.
Before him towered a behemoth of a demonized man. His exposed muscles bursting out of his skin. His six huge arms giving him an insect-like vibe.
This was Toguro using a million percent of his power. He had become the Demigod Asura, a six-armed demon of war and destruction.
However, even in the face of this absolute unit of a monster, something else from many miles away grabbed Urameshi's attention.
Over the horizon, he felt a suppressed Low S-Level power grow and pulse. Like a leaking and cracked dam ready to burst.
Once that dam finally burst forth, Yusuke broke all of his limits at once. Every last Spirit Cuff. Every last bit of hesitation he had from the Kugai curse placed upon him by Rando.
He caught even the Million-Percent Toguro by surprise at how fast his power level rose.
He summoned his version of the Sei Kou Ki, the golden aura serving as his barrier against Toguro's atomic punches.
His hair grew long and turned white for good measure before he proceeded to punch the Million-Percent Toguro a million times. A glowing golden punch for every percentage.
"SEI-KOU-DAN!" Yusuke cried, blasting Toguro with the Sei-Kou-Ki version of the Rei-Kou-Dan.
He had to. That dark presence in the distance sounded all of his internal alarms and red flags. His primitive flight-or-fight instinct activated.
As though feeling the rise in power from a distance spurred him into action more effectively than the golem before him that, quite frankly, took too long to get to S-Level and beyond.
Whichever Reikai Senshi was out there, they were fighting the final boss. The Chojin himself, even.
***
Botan rushed towards Yahiko's side, doing her best to heal his injured hitodama form. But the damage was extensive on his human soul, the light within his spirit fading away fast. "Hold on, Yahiko-kun! I got you! Everything's going to be fine!"
However, no matter how much spirit energy she used to heal Yahiko's damaged soul, it never healed. His hitodama continued to remain in its fireball state, flickering like a candle in the wind.
Kuwabara was the first to get up shakily on his feet, the Rei-Ken in his hand (also) flickering back and forth between its normal form and its Jigen Tou form.
"You talk too much, you bastard!" said the redhead, who attempted to create a portal to send the youkiri to space, only for Tenro to grab the teenager by his curly regent-style hair and put his face into the portal in an effort to suffocate him.
"What happened to Japan? Is this the best warriors that this new age can pony up? Pathetic," said Youkiri Tenro. "It's so sad. The United States of America turned the proud Empire of Japan into a whipped dog. An island full of losers and weirdoes."
Kuwabara ignited Tenro's glove with a small Rei-Ken on his free hand, which made it explode in the youkiri's face. Gasping for air, the redhead attempted another blind swing at the would-be dictator, only for him to end up stabbed in the lung.
He coughed blood as his eyes watered. His insides drowned in his own blood through internal bleeding.
"Sheep will always be sheep. Wolves will always be wolves. Lions will always be lions. A hitokiri will always be a hitokiri. A youkiri will always be youkiri. It's an aberration of nature to be one thing and claim to be another. If you want to become strong then change yourself for real. Defy or accept your fate. Become the predator or become the prey. It's up to you."
Ignoring the throbbing pain from his right fist that somehow trumped the ectoplasmic bleeding he got from the Rei-Shuriken, Sagara attempted a Futae no Kiwami and aimed it right into the chest of Shishio.
Or Tenro. Or the Chojin. Whoever he was or claimed to be.
Tenro tossed aside Kuwabara's quivering body like trash then blocked Sanosuke's punch with his own punch.
Last time, Sano broke his fist on Shishio's concrete face, his own Futae no Kiwami deflecting back to the bones of his hand. This time, his Douhle Extreme was enough to match Tenro's strength.
Only enough to match Tenro's strength though.
As Tenro again attempted to punch and crack Sanosuke's skull open, something unexpected happened.
"...SANJO NO KIWAMI!"
Sano blew Tenro's fist away with the Triple Extreme, which opened up his chest to a direct heart punch.
The coup de grace.
"FUTAE NO KIWAMI! DORYAAH...!"
Sanosuke landed the Futae no Kiwami right into Shishio's heart. Or Tenro's heart.
A second passed. The youkiri cackled.
"Congratulations. You're a little bit stronger now than before."
As the fading, transparent visage of Sanosuke let out a soundless scream, his pupils constricted into tiny dots on a white expanse, Tenro finally attacked the street fighter with his flame-producing weapon, its Homura Dama splitting Sano's head apart in a spectacular spray of ectoplasm.
"S-Sano..." choked out Kuwabara, his own vision fading along with Sanosuke's soul.
All that time, even in his will-o'-the-wisp form, the soul of Yahiko kept sealing the power of Youkiri Tenro. However, he couldn't contain the immense power of the Shishio reincarnation(?) any longer.
His soul finally succumbed, fading to black before shattering into a thousand pinpoints of light.
"Yahiko, no! No! NOOO!" cried Botan. "Dammit, come back! Oh no, what's going on? Why is everything going wrong?!"
Okushiri rumbled as the unleashed power of Tenro began to expand into a tall pillar of darkness and miasma. His jaki shot up into the sky, which gathered nimbus clouds all around them.
The localized quakes grew stronger and stronger. It felt like the world was about to split apart. This was the power of an Upper Class-S being that somehow ended up in the Human World.
He felt like power made flesh. A walking disaster area. A humanoid cyclone.
Tenro smirked as he surveyed the pier. He felt their presence. They were coming. He felt their power, anger, and desperation travel towards him like moths to his flame.
He could feel their strong presences, spirit energy, sword energy, and aura even from miles away.
One was on land, on foot, going faster than a cheetah. The other in the air, presumably ferried by one of Reikai's shinigami.
Who could they be?
First, there was the one half-demon, half-human mazoku descendant of Raizen, Makai's God of War, who was able to harness his demonic power and lineage. Raizen's true son. The Last Son of the Mazoku.
Yusuke Urameshi.
Second, there was the man who "defeated" Makoto Shishio to a suicidal kamikaze draw. The Hitokiri Battousai who died and then became the Youkiri Battousai, the Guardian of the Demon Sword.
Kenshin Himura.
"Come forth. Show me the best and most powerful champions that this era has to offer. I'll defeat them all!" declared Tenro the Demon-Slayer to his upcoming opponents.
However, before Tenro knew it, his chest tightened. His heart stopped beating.
His negative energy wasn't able to heal the damage in time. He stood there, frozen. His time had stopped care of Sanosuke's efforts.
This happened due to the combination of the Futae no Kiwami and the shards of Yahiko's neutralizing reiki damaging his mortal heart. It kept him from manifesting the full breadth of his power that managed to take down even Hajime Saito.
The Kenshingumi's curse, if you would.
"Before challenging the champions of this era, watch out behind you. The past has a way of catching up with you, Shishio Makoto!"
Speaking of Saito, it was then and there that the headless corpse of Hajime Saito began moving on its own, with his one arm cradling his decapitated head.
As though he were the Headless Horseman. Or a Dullahan of Irish folklore.
That bastard. He was playing possum all this time!?
Tenro willed himself to move, but couldn't. He felt his left arm go numb. The shards of Yahiko's sakabatou might've reached all the way to his coronary arteries.
There was no telling how much cardiovascular damage Sanosuke's punch had done to his heart.
Dammit.
He began to sweat hard while clutching his chest. "Damn you, Saito Hajime."
"I've never seen you so sweaty and pathetic before," the head of Saito mocked before charging with his Gatotsu Ishiki from behind Tenro. "Then again, your sweat glands did get all burned up in your past life."
Instead of aiming at Tenro's head like with his encounter with Shishio, Saito instead aimed his sword right at Tenro's stopped heart while he was in the middle of a heart attack.
Appropriately enough, instead of being defeated by someone stronger than him, it was the desperate alliance of those weaker than Tenro that ultimately dragged him towards his ultimate defeat.
The ultimate irony.
"Go back to Hell, Shishio...!"
"No, I will make this world Hell and feel right at home!"
No. This was the same method Hajime used to "kill" Usui (temporarily). He took advantage of other people's hard work then opportunistically struck at the right time.
There was no way Youkiri Tenro would go down like a punk. Like Usui, of all people. An outsmarted weakling.
Tenro willed himself to move to block the strike.
His Homura Dama melted right through Saito's sword. Apparently, the Shinsengumi Captain was already using the last of his soul's strength to even make the strike, resulting in a vulnerable blade with barely any spirit energy to protect it.
Nevertheless, the rest of the hot blade plunged right into one of Tenro's lungs, spraying his blood all over the empty pier.
Saito smirked and closed his eyes. Instead of a solidified soul, Shishio really was reincarnated into an extra powerful human being. But a human being nonetheless. A mortal one that could be killed.
Tenro awaited the Gatotsu Zeroshiki that never came.
Alas, Saito already spent most of his energy fighting a full-powered X-Level Tenro earlier, with him sacrificing his very life force to just injure him now.
"I win again, Saito Hajime," hissed Tenro, coughing blood. "I survived your attack while you're already as good as dead. I can easily heal this damage and finish off the rest of the Reikai Senshi."
"That's my parting gift," said Saito, his own spirit fading. "You won't be able to reach X-Level in time now."
Before Tenro could wonder any further what Saito meant by his words, a gigaton punch shattered his face from out of the blue.
"Wha...?! GUAAAAH!!!"
Again, the wolf outfoxed him at every turn.
The youkiri realized that he'd just been punched by Raizen's "Son". The Mazoku Descendant. The hanyou (half-demon) that scared the great Enma Daio himself.
His brain sloshed inside his broken skull, leading to a concussion.
Any other impact from a weaker opponent wouldn't have even registered to Tenro. But a punch from an S-Level mazoku? That was a punch that could tear apart entire continents.
He also spotted from behind the long-haired, tattooed, and angry Mazoku Yusuke a warp portal that Kazuma Kuwabara probably made to shorten his best friend's travel time.
This was bad news.
His compromised heart and lungs hadn't recovered yet. Even though his energy levels were rising, his mortal damage kept him from manifesting his full power. He wasn't healing fast enough.
But this also excited him.
Tenro missed out on slaying Raizen—one of the greatest, oldest, and most powerful demons of the Demon World. Fighting his distant half-breed offspring was the next best thing to it.
With Yusuke's white hair and boundless energy, he himself looked to be at the cusp of achieving X-Level.
"Far more important than your power level, you've upended the natural order of things in both the Spirit World and the Demon World," said the gasping yet calm Tenro.
Yusuke picked up the pace, his nuclear-powered punches reaching speeds so impossibly, superhumanly fast that they came with their own eardrum-obliterating sonic booms.
However, the tough-as-nails Tenro absorbed every punch with his hard body and boundless jaki, so his mountain-obliterating punches "merely" made the pier shake and quake like a frightened child suffering domestic abuse.
"When Raizen died, you took over and found a way to keep the warring factions of Mukuro and Yomi from leading Makai into another millennia-long war for power."
Tenro gurgled but laughed with what sounded like a death rattle. Knocking at Hell's Gates with the sea of punches he had to wade through while punching and slashing at the elusive demon spawn in turn.
"You even helped expose the corruption within Reikai and had Koenma Daio depose his father, Enma Daio. Then you saved the Human World again from a Spirit World terrorist group. Imagine that."
The constant battery of kicks, punches, knees, elbows, and headbutts that barely gave Tenro any breathing room took their toll, making him cough and spew blood from many of his body's orifices, like his ears, eyes, nose, and mouth.
"The Chojin views you as a threat not because of your power level but instead of how you affect everyone and everything around you. You're a spanner in the works. Someone who can defy fate itself."
The threat of death made Tenro feel alive. His flight-or-fight instincts were on high alert.
After the thousands of demon hunts he'd participated in for the sake of turning his reincarnated yakuza boss self into someone worthy of housing Makoto Shishio's soul, this was the first time he actually, remotely felt threatened.
It was as he had imagined facing Yomi, Mukuro, or Raizen would've been like when they were still the Three Kings of Makai or at the peak of their power.
"We're cut from the same cloth, Urameshi Yusuke." Tenro sneered, wiping the blood from his nose. "I too exist to spite God. I defied my ultimate fate of death. From one lion to another, I will fight fate itself to write my own destiny. Just like you have."
"What the hell are you blathering on about?" said Yusuke, who kept up his endless barrage of Sei Kou Ki punches and kicks in order to pummel Tenro to submission.
Although he was winning the exchange, Toushin Yusuke's fists ended up aching and bleeding.
They might've even been broken by the dense thickness of Tenro's own reiatsu of negative energy serving as a barrier from inside and outside him, keeping his human body intact in spite of this mauling.
Regardless, the human-demon spawn had to finish Tenro off immediately.
Even though Urameshi was able to best Toguro by going all out, he could still feel his old enemy's presence. The Younger Toguro could still reemerge and possibly go beyond a million percent of his power. Perhaps a billion or a trillion even.
"Let's end this, Tenro. Or Shishio. Or Chojin. Whoever you are. I'll finish you and your Shin Juppon Gatana off for good! SEI-GAN!"
A black-and-blue Tenro grinned as he felt a meteor-sized blast of purest Sei Kou Ki grow bigger and bigger from Yusuke's pointer finger. A miniature sun that glowed gold instead of bright blue.
This was the correct move. In order to finally penetrate through Tenro's reiatsu, Yusuke had to use his ultimate, ultimate move. A Rei-Gan powered by Sei-Kou-Ki shot by his white-haired demonic form.
However, the Chojin foresaw all this. This was why he gave (back) Tenro his original Mugen Jin.
When Yahiko still had his neutralizing reiki activated, the Mugen Jin could only be used the way it originally was made for, which was to create flames through the body fat and human oils it collected.
However, a hundred years later, the sword itself became a cursed sword with supernatural powers like the Youtou Shinnoken. It gained an extra property.
Without Yahiko's powers sealing its supernatural abilities away, it could absorb, steal, store, and release the spirit energy of others.
Thus, Tenro's Mugen Jin absorbed every last bit of the Sei-Gan from Mazoku Yusuke, only for him to do the third secret sword on him powered by Urameshi's own Sacred Light Spirit Energy.
"Secret Sword Three: KAGUZUCHI! (FIRE-BEARING SPIRIT GOD!)"
A fire tornado that mixed Tenro's demonic negative energy reiatsu with Yusuke's angelic sacred energy tossed the teenaged warhead around in a maelstrom of malcontent (since jaki was basically just energy derived from humanity's hatred and grudges).
If the mixture of volatile energy didn't kill the demonized Urameshi, then the centrifugal force of an F5 hurricane that would normally turn any normal human being into liquefied butter would.
"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu Ougi: AMAKAKERU RYU NO HIRAMEKI! (HEAVENS GLIDING DRAGON FLASH!)"
The void created by the ultimate attack of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu destroyed the red, black, and gold wind funnel that had threatened to rage against Okushiri like a seasonal typhoon.
As a battered Yusuke fell from the sky, an erstwhile Kenshin jumped and caught him in midair before he could've crashed into one of the many cargo containers, if not outright fall into the hard concrete below.
They landed safely on ground zero of Yusuke's fight with Tenro, which was filled with craters and debris. From a distance, they could hear the blaring siren of many an ambulance.
"I came here as fast as I could with Ayame-dono's help," said Kenshin.
"K-Kenshin. S-Sorry. I-I almost had him, but he still had a trick up his sleeve," rasped Yusuke, who had transformed back to his human form, with most of his long hair burned away by Tenro's Kaguzuchi.
"Don't worry, Yusuke. I will finish off what you have started. What everyone had started, that I will," said Himura.
Tenro harrumphed, clutching his side. His chest still ached, his heart beating so fast it felt like it could explode. His brain throbbed and pounded inside his skull as well.
However, his adrenalin and his thrill for the fight coursed through his body, making him ignore every bit of pain he felt. He was about to pass the point of no return, after all.
In the corner of Kenshin's eye, he saw Botan stare at him with her own glistening eyes. He had heard the bad news directly from her care of the Spirit Communicator. She reported that the souls of Sanosuke, Yahiko, and Saito were no more. Also, Kuwabara was in critical condition.
They all fell against the hands of the man... the monster... before him. The wannabe dictator that he should've defeated a hundred years ago.
"I also look forward to fighting you again after all this time, Battousai. Come and die in my hands once more. The only law I follow is Survival of the Fittest. Only the strongest survive!"
"Survival of the Fittest, eh?" asked Kenshin. "Tell me, do you know what the first sign of human civilization is? How humanity became the most dominant species on earth?"
"...What?" asked Tenro in turn. "What are you talking about, Battousai?"
"I believe that the first sign of civilization is a femur that's been broken and then healed," said Himura. "In nature, a broken leg meant death. Kill or killed, right? Humans became the dominant species against stronger animals because of our cooperation and compassion. Helping someone else through difficulty is where civilization starts. We are at our best when we serve others. Be civilized."
"No. Nonsense," said Tenro. "Humanity stands on the shoulders of giants. Normal people are trash. Don't let the weak punish the strong for being strong while they themselves drown in their own mediocrity. Civilization or progress came about because of the strong. The exceptional. The best. The intellectuals. The Superman. The Overman. The Ubermensch. The Chojin."
"So you're the Chojin, huh?" said Himura. While it could be translated as "Overfiend", the name "Chojin" could also be translated as "Superman" or "Overman".
"The fates conspired against me and denied me my destiny to rule. I will write my own destiny now," said the youkiri to his fellow demon-slayer. Fellow manslayer, even.
"Regardless of what you say, both fate and time have already decided that you will not emerge victorious," Kenshin insisted. "You're destined to lose."
Tenro cackled. "Fate and time have chosen poorly, hence the pathetic state of Japan. The state of the world that's being led by sheep in wolves' clothing. Let me correct that century-old mistake. Even now, the weak are depending on your strength to protect them. Let the Ubermensch show the world what it's truly like to be strong! I will show them how to win!"
"It is neither the strongest of the species nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change," said Kenshin, quoting Charles Darwin himself as he fell into his battoujutsu stance.
Himura had to attack now, while Tenro was injured and recuperating. He would've attacked sooner, but he himself had barely recovered from battling Enishi.
As soon as the Shishio reincarnation healed and achieved X-Level, it was all over for the Reikai Senshi.
"AMAKAKERU RYU NO HIRAMEKI!"
"KAGUZUCHI!"
Kenshin and Tenro—or rather, Battousai and Shishio—finally clashed swords, the Youtou Shinnoken glowing bright-blue against the bright-red Mugen Jin. They picked up where they left off.
On one hand, Yusuke's leftover sacred energy powered up the Kaguzuchi and overwhelmed the initial strike of the Hirameki. On the other hand, the resulting void still formed, which multiplied the power of Kenshin's second strike many times over.
Tenro learned from his mistakes, understanding a century ago that there was a void formed after blocking the first strike of the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki. He sunk his stance low and pierced his Mugen Jin in the eye of the maelstrom so that his technique could be magnified in power instead of Kenshin's.
Kenshin hesitated, his soul remembering how Shishio snatched a draw from the jaws of defeat. He willed himself to slash upward regardless as an image of Kaoru filled his mind. Followed by all his friends and comrades.
He wished the same image had filled his mind a hundred years ago too. Then he wouldn't have died against Shishio.
Reality seemed to split from the lightspeed slash Kenshin did that clashed hard against Tenro's... no, Shishio's... red-hot cursed sword Mugen Jin.
On Kenshin's left was one timeline and on his right was another.
In one timeline, Kenshin found the strength and will to live to block Shishio's strike before he spontaneously combusted and died from overheating. Soon after, Shishio became the new King of Hell.
In another timeline, Shishio finished Battousai off then murdered Saito, Shinomori, Sagara, and the rest of the Oniwabanshu and Shinsengumi before forming a New Juppon Gatana and leading a coup d'etat against the Meiji Government. A second Bakumatsu. Afterwards, he died a despot. Japan's Genghis Khan.
In the timeline they were in, Kenshin and Shishio fought to a draw, with Kenshin dying along with Shishio in a blaze of glory. A hundred years after their fateful battle, Shishio ended up forming a New Juppon Gatana in order to lead a coup d'etat against the Spirit World.
In nearly all timelines, Shishio woke up from beyond the grave and ended up with an army of the undead, leading the charge towards world domination. Like a phoenix reborn from its own ashes. Again and again.
Even after his death, he was inevitable.
Would Kenshin falter like a hundred years ago or would he rise up and correct his century-old mistake? Which timeline would prevail?
A shining star of a whirling convergence of afterimages happened afterwards, followed by a huge explosion far into the distance. Right into the Sea of Japan.
A 7.8 earthquake then rocked the west coast of Hokkaido.
On Monday, July 12, 1993, at 10:17 PM, a tsunami had formed off of the coast of Okushiri, leading to the loss of many lives.
***
To Be Continued...
Oh god, finally it's done. This took years to finish due to real-life things cropping up. Regardless, the arc that's been decades in the making is at last over.
Next up, the Spirit World deals with the aftermath of the failed Okushiri mission. Also, the first sign of civilization speech was taken from a quote from Anthropologist Margaret Mead.
Ciao, Abdiel
#youkiri tenro#youkiri battousai#kenshin himura#shishio makoto#toguro ototo#yusuke urameshi#reikai senshi#chojin#yuyu hakusho#幽☆遊☆白書#rurouni kenshin#るろうに剣心#demon sword#youtou shinnoken#妖刀真の剣
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I’m rewatching Yu Yu Hakusho (for like, the third time) and everytime i do that I keep getting caught up on all these things I forget about the early series, namely:
- Early YYH was super quirky. Like, forgetting the whole “our main character has basically no reason to live and has to be convinced to be resurrected” which. fucked. but like the first few episodes are just super natural hijinx. “hey i gotta make sure this dude who keeps fighting me doesn’t get expelled let’s posses him while he sleeps to help him study” “hey i gotta keep my body from getting cremated so let’s posses that same dude from earlier to convince my only friend/crush that I’m coming back from the dead eventually....i will do so by having him grab her boobs.” like. considering where this series goes this is a hell of a starting point.
- The first “villains” are a couple of power hungry teachers who abuse their students and care more for their school’s rep then actually doing their jobs. Seemingly the only person of any moral fortitude in that school is Mr. Takanaka the principle and even he’s a bit of a hard ass.
- Yusuke wins just about all of his early fights doing one of two things: getting stupidly lucky, or by doing something so simple to win it drives his opponents into stunned silence. (Rando anyone?”SWAMP ALGEA?!”)
- the first three actual villains are just a trio of petty thieves. And they don’t even get along with each other that well. The first wall Yusuke hits is just a big muscly dude and he beats him by sticking a stick in his mouth. (otherwise known as “urameshi victory method 2″)
- Hiei was fucking nuts. Like koko for coco puffs nuts. Cackling and holding Keiko hostage and planning to take over the freaking world using demonized humans. Like seriously Hiei didn’t go through character development he got replaced by a whole different character in the next arc.
- Kuwabara was the best character from the second he showed up. I can’t believe I keep forgetting this it’s like the most important detail.
- Botan beat like a dozen people up by hitting them on the back of the head with a metal baseball bat. (ok i lied this is the most important detail)
- Genkai has been and will always be That Bitch and I will never stop loving her for it.
- My first crushes were on those two announcers from the Dark Tournament. I can’t believe Togashi turned me into a furry.
- Tarukane is the ugliest piece of shit ever put to animation. Bitch looks like a chewed up raisin got shat out of an elephant with an ulcer.
- And, finally, Keiko deserved more time in the later series, like, with a weapon or something. You can’t tell me some of Yusuke’s weird spirit shit didn’t rub off on her at least a little after all this time, and that time she had a constant exposure to spirit energy from Botan, and then from freaking Kurama, after getting cut with that sword? Buddy Cop Spirit Detectives Keiko and Yusuke AU when?
#Yu yu hakusho#random crap#it's also still excellent after all this time#...could have made do without that transphobic joke in the yukina arc#you know the one
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Yu Yu Hakusho Stage Review!!!
Before I start going over the show I want to stress just how INCREDIBLY lucky I got, because I got to see the show via a same-day lottery ticket, after failing EVERY lottery and general sales, and it was INTENSE!!! On the Thursday when I lined up twice, there were easily 400 people in the line for both the matinee and soiree shows and even when my number was drawn, it was actually 2nd on the waiting list, not one of the original winners, and I may or may not have been seriously contemplating throwing some people down the escalators to move up on the list. But three people canceled or didn’t show so I got to get in and I was bouncing off the walls inside, WHATEVER POWER WATCHES OVER ME, I owe it my eternal soul for the opportunity!
They opened the show with HOHOEMI NO BAKUDAN and I almost screamed from the nostalgia honestly. They basically did an opening sequence with the song, mimicking the anime opening by having them fight one by one against a group of enemies... which is why a lot of those press release photos have Kurama fighting with his rose whip (when we don’t actually see his rose whip until later in the story that’s not in this play [ALSO HOW DOES HE MAKE FIGHTING WITH THE WHIP LOOK SO GODDAMN COOL INSTEAD OF AWKWARD?!?!?]), and why there are shots with Hiei letting out the Black Dragon or Kuwabara dual-wielding spirit swords. I know some of us were curious how much story they were going to cover or how much they were going to skip, and it’s not because of some massive skip. The story runs from the very beginning with Yusuke dying, spending time as a ghost, and then to just after retrieving the three artifacts of darkness. They give us a hint of the four of them about to enter the castle of the Saint Beasts, so that might be where the next play (crosses fingers) will pick up the story.
The format of the story has Koenma (adult ver.) narrating (sometimes with Genkai) as he’s watching “old” videos of the group and reminding himself how far Yusuke has come. Based on his conversation with Genkai at the beginning, the “present” in the play is just before the Dark Tournament, and everthing else in the play is Koenma watching those videos (also why there are press photos of him with a remote control). This is also why they could fit the Kurama and Hiei meeting backstory, because it’s Koenma watching old videos and wanting to look back on them too.
And also Arayan as Koenma is SO FUCKING FUNNY we were all cracking up a LOT. He can actually enunciate quite well with that pacifier in his mouth! And he’s always changing back and forth between his adult version and baby version because he’s either watching/narrating or in the flashbacks himself as a baby. He also really liked breaking the fourth wall while narrating so for some of the cute Yusuke-Keiko moments, for example, he was like, “What a cute young romance—WHO EVEN HAS A ROMANCE LIKE THAT IN MIDDLE SCHOOL HUH!?”
I haven’t watched Arayan live since 2015 when I saw him as Lao in a Kuroshitsuji Musical, so it was wonderful to see him again and in a role that allows him to do so much more and be such a ham.
Tsubasa as Yusuke was amazing, fantastic, splendid, show-stopper. I liked his Renji from when he was in the 2016 Burimyu, and so I thought I had some idea what his yankee characterization would be like (because obviously his Ishikirimaru isn’t a great reference point lol), but it’s even better! He was so funny and so warm, and when he had the scene making the little kid laugh, I have NO idea how he was able to pull those faces. He looked basically exactly like anime Yusuke pulling faces and I was wheezing so bad in my seat. Mostly, I just couldn’t believe that he really unzipped his pants (while turned away from us) to stuff that kid’s ball into his crotch and dance around with it.
Speaking of the little boy, we gotta give props to Genkai’s actress because she played so many side characters throughout lololol. She couldn’t be Genkai for very long or often, so she was also Keiko’s shy, glasses-wearing friend in school, she was also Maya-chan (Kurama’s classmate that he and Hiei have to rescue) in the Two Shots scene, she was the little boy Yusuke saves (she tries not to talk as him), and she’s also obviously young Genkai. Because she plays so many roles, there’s a narration bit where Koenma tells Genkai, “You know, in these videos, I keep seeing a lot of kids that look like you.” And she tells him he’s imagining things.
Plot-wise, they did skip one major scene from when Yusuke was a ghost, and that was the scene where his apartment caught fire and he had to “sacrifice” his spirit egg to save Keiko.
Oh but I loved the bit where he had to possess Kuwabara to go tell Keiko not to cremate his body, because the way they did it was to have Tsubasa and Naoya do everything in unison together. So all the choreography has Naoya as Kuwabara fighting all the guys that come at him, and Tsubasa just a little ways away doing the exact same thing, only he’s not hitting anybody. And although it had been Naoya doing all of the talking so that we hear Kuwabara’s voice, at the point when he’s talking to Keiko and the lines start to get sentimental, they turn up Tsubasa’s mic so that they overlap for a little bit, and then they turn down Naoya’s mic so that at the end, we only hear Yusuke’s voice asking Keiko to wait for him. He was also slowly moving off-stage while Kuwabara(‘s body) was talking to Keiko, so that the end of that scene has just Kuwabara and Keiko on-stage, but we hear Tsubasa-Yusuke's voice. So I really loved how that was done because it mimicked the anime really well.
I loved being able to see Kuwabara’s promise-between-men played out on-stage. His squad was cut down to just two guys instead of three, since you really only need Okubo for that bit, and they needed to divide the ensemble cast between Kuwabara’s boys and the other punks who want to beat on Kuwabara all the time. Naoya as Kuwabara was everything I wanted and more. His voice, his expressions, his everything was just SO. GOOD. And it was so funny to think how long I’ve been a fan of Naoya (since 1st cast Tenimyu days basically) and how I’ve never actually seen him live in a show until this. So that was a real treat and a real blast of nostalgia on multiple levels. I’m so happy he was the one to bring Kuwabara to life on-stage, he was wonderful, and I’m so grateful I got to see him.
Yuka-tan's Botan was SO SO SO CUTE?!?!?!? Oh my gosh she felt so perfect to me in every way, and I loved her dynamic with Yusuke and Koenma, there was so much cute banter. I liked when Yusuke was laughing in Koenma’s face and Botan kept spanking him because, in case we forgot, he’s like actually 14 years old at this point in the story. Sometimes she was the one watching the old clips together with Koenma so she also switches between being in the story to being part of the narration.
If you wanted a critical review, this is not the place to look because I pretty much only found it wonderful and amazing and nostalgic and amazing but I do have one minor criticism and that is that Yusuke’s post-resurrection outfit for helping Kuwabara rescue Eikichi was not his fashion icon look from the anime. He just had a regular color jacket instead. Ugh, way to make him look “cool” stage staff. Lol
The Two Shots scenes were interspersed between Yusuke’s ghost antics and I really do think my heart stopped when I first hear Hiroki speak. I haven’t been a fan of Hiroki for as long as I’ve been a fan of Naoya, but he’s another one that I’ve seen so often in so many shows, but this was my first time seeing him live and he just has such a presence that it’s no wonder we call him HiroKing. It was also fun to see Shouhei again since I haven’t seen him live since his last show as Noya for Haisute, and he’s as amazing as I remember. Pretty sure he’s having a lot of fun playing early evil Hiei honestly. Since both Hiroki and Shouhei have a lot of experience in other shows with sword-fighting (*cough TKRB/Hakuouki*), those bits looked really fucking cool.
But YYH is heavy on hand-to-hand combat, not sword-fighting, and I have to say that they did a nice job with that too! There were places where I felt like they got nice and creative with it, and it’s fun to see Naoya give Kuwabara a little extra flair with his. The ensemble cast were integral to all of those fight scenes, and they had to do a lot of falling and flying around, and they also need a loud round of applause.
Gouki’s actor ripped off his shirt TWICE!!! Not once, but two times!!! And I mean RIPPED, like not stage rip, like he RIPPED that shirt. So I’m assuming they just ordered a box of cheap t-shirts for him to rip through for the rest of the tour. Mind you, I was not complaining about the shirtlessness. It was also interesting because after Gouki’s defeat, they put him in spirit world as one of Koenma’s ogre servants as a replacement for George in the second act, so he and Koenma have some fun moments since he’s quite reformed once dead.
As I mentioned, they do give us a sneak peek of the four of them meeting up just outside the Four Saint Beasts castle, with Kuwabara picking a fight with Hiei and all. However, we did skip over Genkai’s tournament, which comes just before that so it’s possible we might not get that little arc on-stage even in the next show. Maybe to avoid rushing Liz into Genkai’s old lady makeup, maybe because nobody cares about Rando anyway.
The closing bows were also done to Hohoemi no Bakudan (I was maybe a teeny tiny bit hoping for Homework ga Owaranai), and during the closing remarks, Tsubasa very excitedly told us that during the afternoon show, Yusuke’s anime seiyuu, Sasaki Nozomu came to see them! He was wiggling side to side and said, “I got a picture with him yaaay~” and then he asked us to come see them again in the Spirit World, to which Naoya started making confused faces. Naoya: Sp-spirit world? Tsubasa: No? Naoya: The story’s mostly in the human world, isn’t it? Tsubasa: Ahhh.... yeah! Naoya: You’re exhausted, aren’t you?
And that’s my review/summary! Feel free to ask me questions about it or to just scream at me how much you love YYH~
#yyh#yyh stage#yuhaku stage#review#AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I'M STILL SCREAMING#the press photos are from all over the place because I was just saving them indiscriminately#my life
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The Right Path
Summary: Kuwabara thinks about his choices and path in life in Genkai’s forest.
****
He had never thought himself a spiritual wandering type, yet here he was.
In the middle of Genkai’s forest... “seeking guidance”... he supposed.
“Oh this is stupid... this is so stupid. What am I looking for?” Kuwabara muttered to himself wiping some sweat from his brow.
His friends had left him--well not really left him. But they weren’t here. On the human realm. At this time.... and Kuwabara was here... alone.
Kuwabara groaned as his mind began to take a pity-spiral, and he stopped walking, allowing himself a break. He really didn’t know what he was doing here or even where he was going anyway.
Sitting against a thick tree, that seemed purple in hue and radiated with a strange power, Kuwabara looked around. Years ago, he and Urameshi had run through here, Kuwabara using his spiritual awareness to guide him safely out. Yusuke had gotten stuck where he had to fight some crazy Man-bat. Baltok. Borvok. Baldok. Ballsack... something like that.
When Yusuke came out of the forest, the pair had hugged, before breaking apart embarrassed at their own actions. When they parted after Yusuke won the tournament, it was with an unsaid understanding that the pair were for real, and for true friends.
Strangely, Kuwabara felt it all started for him here, which wasn’t true. And yet... for Kuwabara, running through this forest felt like it had been choosing to run down a path that would lead him to follow Yusuke. Which would lead him to Botan. Which then lead to Kurama and Hiei. Then Yukina. And then all the rest, all tumbling after each other.
All the friends, enemies, and people that were important in his life, Kuwabara met them by deciding to run through this forest. And why had he done that?
Because Yusuke Urameshi did it, and he took Yusuke doing it as a challenge.
Where would he be if he had taken Yusuke’s advice and left the shrine that day? If he had tried to seek Genkai another day to help him with his budding spiritual powers... well...
“Well, I wouldn’t be back here years later, brooding because I miss my friends!” Kuwabara snorted aloud, chuckling momentarily to himself.
And that was true. He wouldn’t be here now. Who knows where he would be now. Hell, who knows where his friends would be. Maybe Rando would have won the tournament, and Yusuke would be...
Kuwabara shook his head, no he didn’t like that chain of thought.
“What am I doing?” Kuwabara muttered, sighing loudly.
“I was hoping you’d tell me that Kazuma,” a familiar voice startled Kuwabara.
His head snapped up, and he looked up seeing Genkai about a yard away, slowly approaching him with a lantern in her hand. She smiled, just a little bit at Kuwabara, a withered brow arched into her graying hairline, “You’ve already conquered this place, so why are you back?”
Kuwabara smiled, “I conquered it?”
“You managed through it... and look. You even sit in the center, your own abilities making the things that haunt this forest too afraid to approach you. The scariest thing in this forest right now is you Kuwabara,” Genkai said, standing in front of Kuwabara.
“Huh. Is that why nothing has jumped out at me?” Kuwabara mused, puffing a strand of hair out of his face as he looked around.
“Not even this tree, which has the ability to crush those in its vines, has dared to even reach out for you. You’re too strong,” Genkai said.
“But not enough,” Kuwabara sighed, cringing at his own bitter tone.
“Is this about your friends leaving?” Genkai asked sitting down across from Kuwabara, groaning as her bones ached, “Or is this about you choosing to go on to school?”
“...A little of both I think,” Kuwabara sighed shrugging, not quite able to meet Genkai’s eye. “Even if... if Yusuke or the others had taken me to the Makai... I don’t think... I don’t think I fight like them.”
“In what way do you mean?” Genkai asked, her voice remaining level and calm.
“I don’t think... we keep having close calls. And... meeting people...” Kuwabara fumbled for the words. He slowly stopped, and then sighed long and slow. “We keep meeting people who... are fighting for their lives. Fighting to end something or start something... I miss the days when... when I just fought because I wanted to. Fought because it was fun. I miss... Urameshi’s arrogant laugh and smile. Things have changed since the Dark Tournament. Since Sensui. And will change again when they get back I imagine. I don’t know if I like how... serious fighting has become.”
“Kazuma Kuwabara, the warrior with a heart of gold,” Genkai said, voice full of affection and gentle understanding. “You’ve gone from an innocent young man to one who has seen many things. Not all good... not all bad. How can someone not be changed by that? Do you regret your changes?”
Kuwabara shrugged, “No... maybe. Maybe I regret that I’m... not moving forward with them. I’m here. They’re fighting in a fight that has nothing to do with me, but even if I could help... I don’t know if I would anymore. I don’t want to fight, and it feel like a struggle for my life or someone else’s life... I want fighting to be... fun again.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that being your truth Kuwabara,” Genkai said honestly, “When I was younger the Dark Tournament changed me. I lost my friends, my lover... and I came here to... figure out where I stood again. You are not the first or the last person who finds themselves diverting from a path they had once loved.”
“I’d like to enjoy fighting again,” Kuwabara muttered quietly, his brow furrowing, “I... this is dumb. But I thought coming back here... I would find a way to enjoy it again.”
“I think in time you will,” Genkai said, her voice earnest and knowing, “I think when your friends are back, you’ll find fighting for them and with them, and this is what makes you happy. Running off headlong into suffering and life and death situations... sure you are willing to help, but that’s not for you. And there’s nothing wrong with that. You’ve done a lot Kazuma... there is no need to do more. Do what you can.”
Kuwabara remained silent his face full of uncertainties.
“I know another way for you to help heal your restless heart, and wandering spirit... but it will take time,” Genkai said voice stern.
“Yeah?”
“Yes. Help this old woman up, and let’s go back to the Shrine. I’ll make some teas and snacks... and we can talk about how you’re feeling emotion-NOW! Don’t make that face!” Genkai’s warmth faded quickly into scolding as Kuwabara began to scowl.
She waved at Kuwabara, “Come on now. Talking it out is good for you. Good for anyone. We need to help you compartmentalize. And you can keep this old lonely woman company. I have no one to pick on without Yusuke’s constant visits.”
Kuwabara sighed, a scowl still on his face, but he got up and gently helped Genkai to her feet. She took his offered arm as she righted herself, and then with a firm hand on his bicep, held Kuwabara still until he looked her in the eyes.
“There is nothing wrong with being kind Kazuma, you can be brave, noble, and good... all without seeing a fight. You’re a good young man Kazuma... please don’t forget that.” Genkai said, gently patting Kuwabara’s face.
He smiled, the effort of it a touched force, but a little more sincere.
Gently she tugged Kuwabara, back towards her shrine, gently asking questions about his classes, and how he was doing. Hoping that she, with all her experiences, could help put Kuwabara back on the path he wanted.
#Kuwabara#Kazi fanfic#Genkai#inrtospective#yyh#genkai gives advice.#Kuwabara looks at himself#wonders if he's made the right choices#Drabble
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Nostalgia Rewatch: Yu Yu Hakusho S01E13
Having had several fights in a row, including the un-trasnformed Rando, Yusuke is stretched thin. He punches Rando several times, who takes the hits and laughs it off like it wasn't a big deal. He says that there wasn't even any spiritual energy behind the punches.
Rando then starts to do something, which includes squatting and grunting... Not sure if spell or taking a shit. But then these spider-web things come out from Rando's body, and turn into these lavender tentacle-kind-of things... I've seen enough hentai to know where this is going! Genkai explains to Botan that it's rare for demons to be able to do something like that, and to have so much control...
The tentacles grab Yusuke, and then merge into one big one that wraps around his middle. Rando squeezes him a few times, and then he starts swinging him around and crashing Yusuke into the ground, trees, etc. I think that the worst part about it is that despite his make-over, Rando still sounds like an obnoxious little boy, and laughs like Nelson from The Simpsons.
He finally attaches the end to a tree branch that hangs over a large swamp pond, and summons some demonic fish. They're basically piranha with too many eyes. As an example of what his pets can do, Rando throws a small demon into the pond, and everybody watches in horror as the fish quickly eat everything and leave only just the bones behind.
Rando then fires off a spirit gun of his own, just to tease the fact that he can do this. Botan is surprised that Rando was able to learn the technique only after having seen Yusuke doing it once. I, however, am not impressed, because it seems kind of like a baby technique and not difficult at all. He shoots the branch that holds Yusuke up, and he falls into the water.
Because the plot decided that he wasn't going to die (duh), the fish don't immediately set upon him the second he hits the water. Botan had been begging Genkai to do something, to stop the match. However, she keeps saying that if she were to step in, then it would mean that Yusuke would have the match forfeited on his behalf.. and that Rando would win. When he hits the water, Botan again asks Genkai to do something.
But then, Kuwabara's spirit flies out from his body and engulfs Yusuke in the water. There, he chides Yusuke for having been beaten down so quickly. But he also riles Yusuke up. This is enough to give Yusuke the push he needs, and he easily breaks through the “unbreakable” material he's covered in like it's taffy, and in the process of getting out, he kills all of the fish, which sends bits of fish showering all over the field.
Rando is surprised, but he quickly snaps back to attention and points a ready spirit gun at the lake, waiting for Yusuke to surface. Some random bubbles pop up, and he shoots at it before Yusuke yells from behind him “why are you aiming there?” He jumps up from behind Rando and says that all of the little lakes in the swamp are connected. He shoots his spirit gun at Rando, but Rando fires his own spirit gun at the same time. The two energies clash in the middle, and they're about evenly matched for a second, before Yusuke's pushes through Rando's and knocks him into the water.
Yusuke is completely and utterly spent, and collapses onto the ground. As he watches the bubbles on the lake, he encourages Rando to stay under the water and to just let him have this. But, there's still an awful lot of time in this episode still... and Rando comes out with an immense spray of water.
He goes to stand over Yusuke, who tells him that he cannot move, and to just do what he will. Rando talks for a while about doing the shrinking technique on Yusuke before he'll claim his victory, but Yusuke goes “I can't hear a word that this guy's muttering about...” Rando then starts to do the chant, but instead of Yusuke shrinking, it's Rando who gets shrunk!
Botan and Genkai come over to him. Genkai says that it's easy to learn a technique, but it's another thing to understand what it does. All it takes for a spell like that to misfire is for the target to not hear a word of the chant. Rando argues that there's no way that Yusuke would have known about something like that... But just then, Yusuke sits up and pulls an unholy wad of pond scum out from his ear, and complains that he hadn't been hearing right since he fell in!
Rando then says that he'll just reverse the spell, and then Yusuke will be in trouble. But Yusuke stands up and says “exactly how stupid do you think that I am?” and does an elbow drop on Rando before he passes out a little.
Genkai then heals Kuwabara, which impresses Yusuke, because he didn't know that her powers could do that. She says that healing is mostly what her powers are to be used for. Botan holds the still-shrunk Rando, and says that she'll find a lock-box to put him in so that she can take him back to the spirit world. Yusuke then turns to Botan and says that he's ready to go to the sports thing, which she chuckles about a little. But Genkai is quick to remind Yusuke that there's more to having won this competition of hers than just to defeat Rando... she'll now train him! Which upsets Yusuke greatly.
In the spirit realm, Koenma is pleased with the results of the fight, and remarks about how he can't wait to see how much actual training will change Yusuke. Then, a demon reminds Koenma of how much work that has piled up while they were watching the fight. The camera pans out to reveal a comical amount of papers.
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Honest opinions on YYH villains. Go!
Already did a few of them, so we’ll make this a bit faster.
Tarukane - Scum of the Earth. Gross head, and jowls.
Sakyo - Cunning as hell, largely psychopathic, and a confusing character. I worried for Shizuru if she actually wound up with him. To his own admission, he tortured and killed animals, has murdered tons of people and his goal was to open a portal to demon world, which could have flooded the world with death and destruction. A moment of kindness in saving Shizuru was nice and all, but he’s still a bad guy through and through.
Saint Beasts - I’ll lump these guys together. Cool designs and abilities for each of them, Seiryuu and Suzaku are largely dickheads, but their plan was interesting although easily countered. They may have infected some humans with Makai insects and caused some property damage, but their whole plan centered around a flute not breaking. Pretty weak. Granted they were strong and apparently feared, but half of them went down incredibly easily. A bit underwhelming.
Rando - I thought his design was cool as hell, and I loved his premise of hunting down 100 human psychics to learn their techniques, master them instantly, and use that ability to kill the psychic. Shrinking Kuwabara, then snapping his arms one at a time, was truly sadistic. And that sadism is what got him beat. If he’d just killed Yusuke quick and easy, he would have won, but he was playing around. Dumbass.
Sensui - Probably the best villain of the series. At one point, I felt really bad for this guy. A human, led to believe that demons were the true evil of the world, living only to kill and destroy humans. Then finds out that the humans he was fighting to protect, could be and were just as disgusting and horrible as the lies he was fed about demons. Shattered that man’s mind so badly, he went on a rampage, killed every human he could get his hands on in the Black Black Clubs torture chamber, then developed seven personalities to try and cope with the mental damage. Though as much as I felt bad for him in that sense, he is the cause of multiple people’s deaths during the Chapter Black saga. Tried to kill Mitarai, caused serious harm to Botan and Shizuru, caused Game Master, Murata, and Gourmet’s deaths, killed Yusuke…all for his goal of going to Demon World so he could die there. His plan was well executed, I’ll give him that, but dammit if it wasn’t annoying as hell all over. He purposefully showed several members of his gang the Chapter Black video, to turn them against humanity and help with his plan. His guilt over killing potentially innocent demons, to save possibly horrible humans, put millions of innocent humans at risk, and that’s not cool dude.
Itsuki - I really don’t have a lot to say about him. Creepy, twisted guy. Togashi said Itsuki was one of his favorite characters, and he wanted to show a lot more of his sick side…and I’m kind of glad we didn’t get to see it. Happily watched Sensui descent into madness, and that certainly makes him an asshole in his own rights.
Sniper - Cool look, but the edginess is too much. His territory is cool. Loved Hiei stabbing him so effortlessly, and he’s lucky to be alive. Post Chapter Black, he seems to beat/kill some guys who killed a cat, so that’s cool. Good guy for that.
Doctor - What a bitch. Stop dragging innocent people, let alone doctors, nurses, and sick people, into your twisted fight. Glad he got the shit punched out of him by Yusuke. At least after all the Sensui stuff, he seems to actually get back to helping people. Cool abilities though.
Gourmet - Gross. Though no one deserves to have Elder Toguro growing inside his stomach and slowly consuming his body from the inside out. That was pretty fucked up. And he got his head cut in half by Kurama. Oof. Sad time for Gourmet.
Game Master - I applaud this kids talent for video games. As a game lover myself, it was nice to see games be brought to life. However, he’s a stupid kid who was easily tricked, and died because of it. Glad he was revived by Koenma, but still, stupid kid for falling so easily for “Cool Mr. Sensui’s” trick.
Zeru - Cocky dick. Strong though. Hiei had no choice but to use the dragon on him.Roto - Cowardly dick.
Dr. Ichigaki - Massive ugly dick. Ultra fucked up to poison someone, then coerce their subordinates to become your slaves with the promise of healing said person…and not doing it. Glad he’s dead. Risho - Pinocchio looking dick.Gama - Was pretty cool actually. Creative ability, fought to his death for the cause he believed in, even if it wasn’t really worth dying over.
Makintaro - Ha. Why’d he freak out of his arm being cut off so badly if he could just regrow the damn thing?
Ura Urashima - Ha. Felt bad he was killed by his teammate though. Shishi’s an asshole.
Kuro Momotaro - Stop smacking your gum asshole! Was surprised he was able to put up such a good fight against a very weakened Hiei, even if it was only because of those dango.
Did I miss anyone?
#Yu Yu Hakusho#Sensui#Itsuki#Sakyo#Tarukane#Makintaro#Ura Urashima#Saint Beasts#Kuro Momotaro#Gama#Risho#Dr. Ichigaki#Zeru#Roto#Game Master#YYH#Gourmet#Sniper#Doctor#Rando
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With Studio Pierrot and Togashi, it's always about the Symbolism and the Subtext, even in YYH merch! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Original picture credit: yyh4ever, Scribblings by yours truly 😆
Just in case we missed the Mulberry Soul Bond references all throughout canon where Kuwabara (literally Mulberry Field) is the Divine Mulberry that Nourishes & Protects Yusuke who's likened to a mulberry silkworm that ONLY eats mulberry leaves (symbolic of how Kuwa is Yusuke's One True Love aka SOUL Bond of True Harmony), the tree behind Yusuke IS A MULBERRY TREE!
Take a look at these real-life Mulberry Trees and tell me it doesn't look like the tree behind Yusuke 😝😜😉
The position of the Mulberry Tree behind Yusuke's head is visually telling us that Kuwa (mulberry) is always on Yusuke's mind, and that Kuwa will always have Yusuke's back! 🥹🥹🥹❤️❤️❤️
Also L❤️VE how they reference the Sun God divine connotations of Mulberry (kuwa) in Kuwabara's last name by putting a muted Gold color on Kuwa's jacket, coz it's autumn and the sun's muted!
The muted gold's also coz Kuwa's obviously still Retreating from Love with Yusuke due to his mis-read that Yusuke gave his life to save Keiko from Suzaku coz Yusuke's in love with Keiko, which Kuwa's actually heartbroken about, thus the muted color & Kuwa's over-compensation to give Yusuke & Keiko space by throwing himself desperately at aroace Yukina, who's the very definition of unavailable, coz Kuwa doesn't really wanna get over Yusuke! 🤣
Kuwa's also declaring himself in love with Yukina out of jealousy, to prevent her from becoming yet another female love interest for Yusuke coz the Yukina rescue mission was literally a handsome-hero-Yusuke-saves-beautiful-Yukina setup, right after Kuwa's heart was broken by his own mis-read post-Suzaku fight.
Unfortunately by doing this, Kuwa took himself out of the fight to have romantic love with Yusuke coz Yusuke thought Kuwa's really in love with Yukina, just like how Kazemaru (shuriken ninja guy) took himself out of the fight by mis-timing his blast, so we could be here all day if we really dig into the multi-layered subtext & foreshadowing in canon!
For now I'll just say I love the jealous downturn tilt to Yusuke's mouth and the forced nonchalance of his body language as Kuwabara fawns exaggeratedly over Yukina, which is consistent with anime whenever they depict a jealous Yusuke and an over-compensating Kuwabara! 🤣
Ahhhh the romantic tragic-comedy that is our boys' love story continues!
And of course, we get more references to Kuwa's Divine Gold Reiki with the bright yellow flowers along the path, and references to the Kuwameshi Soul Bond with the blue flowers, which is symbolic of Yusuke's Blue Reiki and Kuwa's Blue Soul when he saved Yusuke from Rando's demon fish!
I also L❤️VE how canon always hints that Yusuke and Kuwa are sharing clothes by putting them in near identical tee-shirts, which is consistent with manga especially Sensui arc, and anime when Yusuke wakes up in Kuwa's bed post-Suzaku fight wearing an untorn long sleeved white shirt that's obviously Kuwa's (coz Suzaku blasted a lightning bolt through Yusuke's shoulder 😭😭 which tore Yusuke's own shirt!)
Even Yusuke's outer long sleeved button-up here seems a little too big & long for him and is reminiscent of the style of shirts we've seen on Kuwa in the past 🤣 Did ya appropriate Kuwa's shirt to keep warm Yusuke? 😜
The only relationship that seems to be going right in this picture is Hiei and Yukina's, since Hiei seems to have told her he's her brother and is wearing a Hiruiseki openly while walking beside her, and Kurama is of course sanguine and at peace so his relationship with himself is good LOL.
But I'm hopeful the manga + anime ending sets our beloved Yusuke and Kuwabara up to finally get together, coz guess what else Mulberry Trees do in real-life? They only bloom when all threats of frost are over 🤯🥹❤️
Now that the Makai (symbolic of Yusuke) & Human Realm (symbolic of Kuwa) are opening up to each other peacefully, this ending is symbolic of how Yusuke & Kuwabara's romantic relationship can finally blossom without the threats of life-or-death fights, and without Yusuke having to worry about putting Kuwa in mortal danger by painting a bigger target on Kuwa's back if he lets the world knows he's head-over-heels in love with Kuwa! 🥹🥹🥹❤️❤️❤️
If you'd like more meta about canon subtext & symbolism, try this Kuwameshi Meta series on AO3, especially the Audacious Soul Bond Romance meta!
If you'd like to see our heroes realize their True Harmony Soul Bond with each other in an alternate canon fic, try The Good Fight!
Say their first names Yusuke 幽助 and Kazuma 和真 with me!
Souls (幽) in True Harmony (和真) who Help (助) each other!!
❤️❤️❤️🐦🐦🐦🌈🌈🌈
#kuwameshi#yyh#kazuma kuwabara#yusuke urameshi#yu yu hakusho#kuwabara#kuwabara kazuma#yusuke#urameshi yusuke#kuwameshi meta#hiei#yyh hiei#kurama#yuyu hakusho
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Yyh rewatch post 3
After watching several episodes without much to say, I've arrived the very upsetting episode 12.
I know Rando brutalizes Kuwabara, and I expected it to be awful--Ive seen this before and read the manga--but it's so much more horrifying because all I can think of is that Kazuma is just a kid. He's tall and tough, sure, but he's still a child. He's scared and overwhelmed and in a lot of pain after a long, confusing fucking day
Kuwabara sought Genkai to have her turn OFF his spiritual powers. Now he's in a death match on a haunted battlefield on which he has already confirmed he can see the ghosts of slaughtered soldiers. Theyre leaving it out of the plot because it's not relevant, but this kid isn't just seeing a field, he's seeing a nightmare every way he looks
And on this ancient battlefield he gets shrunk to about four inches in height picked up by a sadist, squeezed so hard his ribs crack, and tossed around like a fucking doll. All before his arm is deliberately broken
Tl;Dr I'd kill rando myself if I fucking could
I always remembered the upcoming fight as being desperate and high stakes, but this is just. Beyond the fucking pale. How dare he touch my stupid ginger son.
And I remember that it gets worse from here out.
randos random fucking chant is bullshit Latin and English and I just. Hate him so much
Kuwabara is weirdly obsessed with fighting Yusuke even though they're like. Best friends already, they just don't wanna admit it.
Good job, Yusuke. Announce your real identity to your fucking MARK
Daaamn baby's whole fist glows. That was kickass. I only wish we could have this with the more fluid, probably higher budget animation I remember from the sensui arc.
Oh hey the shoulder wounds I remember. Yusuke: ouch.
Genkai: it appears your friend is a fool. Botan: no, just mad.
Yusuke fights a disguised, red headed demon with wind attacks. Sound familiar??
FOLKS THE FIGHT AINT OVER
Botan assumes kuwabara is dead because he hasn't been talking. GIRL, his ribs are broken
Why, pray tell, does rando's transformation cause the ground to split beneath them.
Kuwabara does the 'next time!!' trailer, which spoils that Rando is going to steal Yusuke's signature attack. WHICH WOULD HAVE SURPRISED ME, given how few details from this arc I've remembered so far
Yusuke just shouted 'and here's the kill' which (judging by my soul deep recognition of the words in that voice) was either a catch phrase in the dub, or a like from a frequently played Toonami commercial bumper.
I'm betting it's the latter
Rando has Yusuke tied up, and that's two mini arc big bads in a row to do so, counting hiei
Kinky
Rando has some fucking Issues he needs to work through
Genkai claims she's getting old now but does she ever permanently die within this series?? I'm remember crying over her death for like. A week. But I know she came back
Rando's speaking another bullshit chant but I think this one summit a giant fish with teeth
Oh, yup.
OH, SEVERAL.
"hate fish"
Rando bitch summons a demon just to make a point about the fish
Randos nail game is on point
Betcha Togashi never thought the say would come that 'rando' was itself considered a word lmao.
DUMP MY GREASER CHILD IN A POOL OF MAN EATING FISH ONE MORE TIME MOTHERFUCKER---
Ooh smarmy internal monologue. I do love this boy.
Yusuke agrees hate fish is a stupid name 😂
Kuwabara projects his ENTIRE SOUL to save Yusuke in a weird about face from the first few episodes.
I told you I'd get new ships out of this show.
Current ship count: 3/400
Yusuke blows up a lake because he's mad his more-psychic boyfriend is going to steal his job
If it wins him the fight I'm not complaining. I know we're close to the end now, and then we get a small time skip.
Botan tells her stupid child to shoot, not shout. I think we can all sympathize
"As for my Spirit Gun technique, you're doing it all wrong! You hold too much back!" Badass boast, anyone?
Isn't rando like. Fucking tiny.
Uh, nope, full size and full angry.
"even though it looks like I can't move right now, I'm very dangerous"--Yusuke Urameshi
RIGHT THE STUPID SPELL ONLY WORKS IF YOU HEAR IT. And Yusuke's been swimming in mossy swamps.
I love this stupid greasy angry tired child.
open has A LOT of work to do, just from those few hours.
Hey, Rando got fern gully'd after all. I remember more than I thought!
If Genkai can do such incredible healing on kuwabara, and Yusuke gets her dull power during the dark tournament... Can he heal like that too??? DOES HE EVER??
I just noticed my son kuwabara is voiced by Christopher Sabat. Doesn't he do All Might now...?
On second thought I guess I do have something to say about the Artifact Recovery arc.
Couldn't hiei's green, many-eyed full demon form have come in handy at LITERALLY ANY TIME during the dark tournament. I know he doesn't do it but like. He was floating around and using reiki rings to bind Yusuke in place and just--NONE of these powers ever come back up and I am Fucking Tired of it.
Also--the dub calls Kuwabara's spirit sword Materialization and one of the other competitors in Genkai's tourney uses his power to Enhance the strength of his arm. Don't think I don't fucking notice you refining and re-using those powers in HUNTERXHUNTER Togashi!! I fucking see it!!!
The bat Yusuke fought in the yyh version of Naruto's Forest of death is voice acted as... Basically golem, tbh.
Don't you bitches lie to me and tell me Kurama only had four tails.shoukdnt he have had, like, at least six or seven?? Given how much of a badass he is and the way demons remember him as this be all end all threat??
#yyh#yyh rewatch#kuwabara kazuma#rando#urameshi yusuke#genkai tournament#call it the rando arc at your own risk motherfucker#artifact recovery arc#spirit detective arc#swearing#spoilers#l comer spoilers
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Custom Toonami Block Week 62 Rundown!
Code Geass: The Season Finale of R1 is here and shit is going CRAZY, Tokyo is falling apart, Jeremiah is in his flying pumpkin thing fucking things up, Lelouch decides to drop absolutely everything because Nunally’s been taken, Kallen decides to drop everything because Lelouch has been taken, Nina has a bomb fueled with pure lesbian yandere rage, the cat save Suzaki, Cecile’s piloting a proto-lancelot and Lelouch and Suzaki finally confront each other face to face just in time for Kallen to stop giving a fuck when she finds out Lelouch is Zero (like not saying her and Lelouch could’ve definitely taken Suzaku because his gymnastics skills are absurd, but having another gun trained on Suzaku if Kallen hadn’t gotten distracted definitely would’ve helped) like everyone likes Zero when he’s a dude in a mask but once he’s a dude without a mask everyone’s like ‘dude wtf’ V for Vendetta was right, anyone who’s trying to do anything has to wear a mask or shit just doesn’t get done. Anyway, big cliffhanger, sure this will slide into an action-packed Season 2 and won’t be a glorified reset button.
Inuyasha: The plot armor around Naraku weakens briefly and throws Koga, Inuyasha and Sesshomaru into a frenzy trying to go kill him. Except Naraku’s not actually at his castle anymore so the scent they’re actually sniffing is Kanna and Kagura at his castle while Naraku dips out to go have his time of the month, kind of a dick move but Naraku’s life is just a list of dick moves. Inuyasha’s having his time of the month too and can’t do shit while Kagura fights Koga and takes his jewel shards but Kagura’s fed up with Naraku’s shit and goes to barter with Sesshomaru, offering him the jewel shards to go kill Naraku and Sesshomaru’s just like “Bitch I am doing it for free.”
Yu Yu Hakusho: By process of elimination, Rando is either Shorin or Kuwabara, and it’s not Kuwabara. I like that Yusuke briefly entertains the idea that Rando might be hiding as Genkai or some shit because that’s a twist a different type of anime would have but yeah, Shorin fucks Kuwabara up with an OP spell that shrinks him if they give him enough prep time and because YYH learned from DBZ and they always let the bad guys do their techniques at least once Kuwabara gets shrunk and squashed. Luckily Yusuke’s Blaze ability activates just before his fight and he’s super strong and super pissed about Kuwabara getting beaten and socks Rando’s meat puppet in the face only for the real demon to come out.
Unlimited Blade Works: Kind of a regrouping episode while Gilgamesh watches the Cronenburg Shinji grail become a flesh titan thing. Everyone’s resting up and Rin thinks that if they can get Shirou to Archer’s level then they can beat Gilgamesh which just goes to show if Archer had stopped being a shitwit and waited until they took out the final boss before going after himself with his death wish then we wouldn’t have this problem. But anyway, mana jellyfish and implied sex scenes occur because they have to make metaphorical use of Rin and Shirou’s ‘romance’without going the original hentai route with things so they do some sort of Vulcan mind meld that combines their MP so Shirou has enough manga to do the Unlimited Blade Works thing to fight Gilgamesh’s Unlimited Butt Works thing and I still have no fucking clue what’s going on with the grail. Also thought Servants were supposed to be impossible levels above humans but I guess if you jam two people’s MP pools together and throw one into a fight against himself it evens out, fine, servants are a lot less powerful than I thought.
Panty and Stocking: This is definitely the “just throw whatever pieces of half-finished stuff we have into an episode” episode, it’s really hard to avoid the feeling that we’re not getting the scraps with this one. The anatomy episode is short and weird and only has like two scenes inside Brief where Panty and Stocking are fucking around for no reason and then it just kinda works itself out, everything’s really choppy and it feels like they got the beginning and end done and just didn’t flesh out the middle so they stuck it in an episode with several other shorts. The Chuck to the Future trilogy is fun enough in a Tom and Jerry kind of way, considering Chuck has no character and therefore is the only person in this series who can’t directly be an asshole but there’s really no substance to it and it ends with Chuck and Fastner’s brain demons fucking because of course it does. The D-City Rock Music video is easily the best part of this, I remember seeing this when the show first came out and it still rocks (though I’m now aware of how very out of character it is for the show itself) but it’s a nice little short. So yeah just kind of a weird mix-match of shorter vignettes this time which is okay I guess, it’s not as outright gross as the snot and puke episode but it’s rather half-baked.
FMA Brotherhood: Everyone’s dead until they aren’t, between Hoenheim using his peeps to reverse the everyone’s dead spell and Scar beating Bradley and doing another reversal on the ‘only foreign people can use alchemy’ spell, Father’s plan is fucked and he’s almost out of juice and on the backfoot. However just like in The Divine Comedy, Pride is the last deadly sin that everyone must face and Ed has to fight a weakened child which sounds a lot worse when I say it like that. Pride’s all ready to bodyhop int Ed but Kimblee’s like “Nah bro, fight on your own or don’t call yourself Pride” and Pride’s like “Wtf dude my body is literally a hellish nightmare of eternal torment” and Kimblee’s like “Eh I’ve heard worse” and Ed smashes this small child’s skull (again not as bad as it sounds) and turns him into a fetus so they can get on with the final battle.
Durarara!!: We get the conclusion of Rio’s story from last time interspersed with clips from the previous episode at a different angle so we can see what was really happening while Mikaido was watching the town from an outsider perspective. Basically Izaya’s a dick that wants to push people as much as he can and see what’ll happen and Rio learns an important lesson that people aren’t plotlines from a tv show and mistakes and secrets don’t irredeemably ruin them forever, forgiveness and acceptance are important because nobody’s perfect and the world isn’t as bad as we make it out to be.
#ooc#Toonami#Custom Toonami Block#Code Geass#Inuyasha#Yu Yu Hakusho#Fate Stay Night#Unlimited Blade Works#Panty and Stocking#FMA Brotherhood#Durarara!!
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Yusuke's Personal History
Source: Yu Yu Hakusho Official Character Book Reikai Shinshiroku, pp.12-13, 2005.
Links to: Kurama’s Personal History and Hiei’s Personal History
Yusuke Urameshi - Personal History
Yusuke Urameshi was just a delinquent boy, like any other we see anywhere. However, after he died in an accident and met Botan and Koenma, various fortunes and life were waiting for him...
1. Raizen goes to the Human World
700 years ago, the Kamakura Period¹ was filled with chimimouryou². Raizen, who was moving wildly as a jikininki³ at that time, met a certain “food doctor” (kudakusushi), it was love at first sight. He spent the night wooing her and made a pact...Raizen returned to the Demon World and the kudakusushi woman gave birth to a child. Raizen and the kudakusushi never met again, but Yusuke Urameshi was born 44 generations after that child was born.
Photo caption: ➡ The kudakusushi woman is said to have been one of the best of esoteric Buddhism practitioners. The guts to not fear even the jikininki, has it been passed on to Yusuke as well?
Translator Notes:
¹ Kamakura Period (鎌倉時代): the period from 1192 to 1333, known for the emergence of the samurai, the warrior caste, and for the establishment of feudalism in Japan.
² Chimimouryou (魑魅魍魎): demons of the mountains and rivers;
³ Jikininki (時食人): human-eating demon. Youkai who eat human corpses, the type of demon which Raizen belongs to.
* Kudakusushi (食脱医師): this name was created by Togashi. As Raizen explained in the series, the “kudakusushi” were like doctors who eat the flesh of humans who died from illness in order to create antibodies and cure the infected.
2. Yusuke becomes a spirit detective!
In order to save a boy from being hit by a car, Yusuke died in his place. However, he was informed that the boy wouldn’t actually die without his help. He wandered as a spirit for a while in order to be resurrected as a special case. After somehow being resurrected, he was appointed by Koenma as a spirit detective (against his will) and spent his days exterminating youkai who were committing evil deeds in the Human World.
Photo caption: ⬅ As a spirit detective, Yusuke uses various items to solve difficult problems caused by evil youkai.
3. Encounter with Hiei and Kurama
During his activities as a spirit detective, Yusuke encounters youkai thieves who have stolen the three Artifacts of Darkness. After defeating Gouki and obtaining the Orb of Baast (gakidama), he confronts Kurama, who carries the Mirror of Darkness. After understanding Kurama's true intentions, Yusuke cooperates with him, releasing the power of the mirror. The only remaining treasure is Hiei’s Shadow Sword (kōma no ken). Yusuke struggles in the battle with Hiei, but wins with Kurama's help. From this encounter, the bond between the three begins.
Photo caption:
⬆ Yusuke didn't sense the evil intention peculiar to youkai in Kurama.The first meeting with a future encouraging friend.
⬇ Hiei was trying to hurt Keiko and transform her into a youkai. Fighting alongside Kurama, Yusuke managed to arrest him.
4. Genkai’s Apprentice
As part of his work as a spirit detective, Yusuke infiltrates Genkai's Disciple Selection Meeting in order to find Rando, a youkai. As he overcomes the challenges posed by Genkai, Yusuke advances to the final round of the tournament. The opponent of the final match is Rando, the one he was looking for. He was also angry that Rando hurt Kuwabara more than necessary and managed to win! He becomes Genkai’s apprentice for about half a month in order to master the Spirit Wave (reihadou)...
Photo caption: ⬅ Yusuke had a long-term relationship with Master Genkai. Without her, Yusuke’s growth wouldn't happen.
Note: I don’t know if it was due to some anime dubs, but I’ve heard people saying that Yusuke trained with Genkai for six months, a year etc...What is stated in the manga: the first time Yusuke trained with Genkai, it was for 15 days (half a month like is written in the databook); the second time, after Toguro’s invitation, Yusuke asked Genkai to be trained for the next 2 months.
5. Showdown, the Toguro Brothers
With the help of Kurama and the others, Yusuke defeats the Four Saint Beasts, who were trying to invade the Human World, and saves Yukina from Tarukane, a gaudy rich man. It seemed that the peaceful days had returned, however, the Toguro brothers, who were working as Tarukane's bodyguards, summoned them to be the guests at the Dark Tournament. They joined the tournament as the Urameshi Team, and despite the struggle, he managed to win the championship.
Photo caption: ⬆ The final against Younger Toguro, who killed Yusuke's friend with his own hands, just so Yusuke could show his strength!
6. Fight with the former spirit detective
Sakyo, the mastermind behind the Dark Tournament, was trying to connect the Demon World and the Human World through a tunnel. Following Sakyo’s will, Sensui, the former spirit detective, stands in Yusuke and his friends way. They defeat Kamiya and the others, who have acquired the ability of "territory" due to the interference of the Demon World, and finally chase Sensui down. However, Yusuke has his heart punched by Sensui and dies...
Photo caption: ⬅ In the battle with Sensui, something sleeping in Yusuke’s blood awakens! The story takes a new turn.
7. Enthroned as the king of a small country in the Demon World
After being resurrected by the Great Atavism of the Mazoku, Yusuke defeats Sensui and leads his life in the country where his mazoku father, Raizen, lives. And then, King Raizen dies...In order to create a breath of fresh air in a messed Makai, Yusuke proposes to hold a Unification Tournament to decide the king of the Demon World. With this proposal, the Demon World’s nations are dismantled and a king named Enki is decided. After losing the tournament, Yusuke returns to the Human World.
Photo caption: ➡ Three kings reign over the Demon World. But besides them, there were other fierce warriors living as hermits!?
Source: Yu Yu Hakusho Official Character Book Reikai Shinshiroku, Yusuke Urameshi Personal History, pp.12-13, 2005.
🇯🇵 日本語
どこにでもいるような、ただの不良少年だった浦飯幽助。しかし事故で死亡し、ぼたんやコエンマと 知り合った彼には、さまざまな運、命が待ち受けていた...。
雷禅、人間界へ
現代より七百年前、魑魅魍魎があふれる鎌倉時代。当時食人鬼として跋扈していた雷禅はとある 食脱医師 と出会い、一目ボレ。一晩かけて口説き、彼女と契りを結ぶ...。雷禅は魔界へと戻り、 食脱医師 は子を生む。雷禅と食脱医師 は二度と出 会う事はなかったが、その生まれ出でた子より44代後に浦飯幽助が誕生する。
➡ 密教屈指の呪術者だったという食脱医師の女。食人鬼すら恐れぬ胆は、 幽助にも継がれている?(14-241)
幽助、霊界探偵になる !
車に轢かれそうになった少年を助けるため、身代わりに死んでしまった幽助。しかし実は少年は助けなくても死ななかっ た事を知らされ、特例で復活するために しばらく霊魂としてさまよう。なんとか復活した後はコエンマより (むりやり) 霊界探偵に任命され、人間界で悪行を働く妖怪たちを退治する生活を送った。
⬅ 霊界探偵としてさまざまなアイテムを使い、凶悪な妖怪が起こす難問を解決。(02-171)
蔵馬、飛影との出会い
霊界探偵として活動中、三つの邪宝を盗んだ妖怪盗賊と出会う。 剛鬼を倒して餓鬼玉を手に入れ、暗黒鏡を持つ蔵馬と対峙。蔵馬の真意を理解した幽助は、蔵馬の申し出に協力し、暗黒鏡の力を解放。 残る宝は飛影の降魔の剣のみ。飛影との 戦いでは苦戦するが、蔵馬の協力で勝利。この出会いから、三人の縁は始まる 。
⬆ 妖怪独特の悪意を感しなかった蔵馬。後の心強い仲間との、初対面。(02-231)
⬇ 螢子に傷を付け、妖怪へと変身させようとしていた飛影。蔵馬と共に戦い、なんとか逮捕に成功。(03-030)
幻海へ弟子入り
霊界探偵の仕事として妖怪·乱童を見つけるため、幻海の門下生大選考会へと潜入する幽助。幻海の出す難題をクリアし つつ、最終審査のトーナメント決勝戦へ と進む。必要以上に桑原を傷つけたという 怒 りもあり、なんとか勝利 ! 霊波動を修得するため、半月ほど幻海の弟子になる…。
⬅ 長い付き合いとなる師匠・幻海。彼女なくして、 幽助の成長はなかった。 (03-056)
対決、戸愚呂兄弟
蔵馬たちの力を借り、人間界に進攻しようとしていた四聖獣を倒し、あくどい金持ち・垂金の下から雪菜を助ける。平穏な暮らしが戻ったかに見えたが、垂金のボディーガードをしていた戸愚呂兄弟よリ暗黒武術会のゲストとして召集を受ける。浦飯Tとして参加し、苦戦しつつも、 なんとか優勝したのであった。
⬆ 己の強さを示すためだけに、幽助の仲間を手にかけた戸愚呂(弟)との決勝! (101-32)
先代霊界探偵との闘い !
暗黒武術会の黒幕である左京は、魔界と人間界をトンネルで繋げようとしていた。その左京の意志をつぎ、先代霊界探偵である仙水が幽助たちの前に立ちはだかる。魔界の干渉で"領域"という能力を手に入れた神谷たちをしりぞけ、ついに仙水を追いつめる!しかし幽助は仙水に心臓を打ち抜かれ、絶命する...。
⬅ 仙水との戦いで、幽助の血に眠 って いだれが覚醒!物語は新たな展開に。(13-062)
魔界の小国の国王に即位
魔族大隔世で復活した幽助は仙水を倒し、魔族の父·雷禅の住む国で生活を送る。そして国王·雷禅の死…。幽助は混乱する魔界に新風を起こすため、魔界の王を決める魔界統一トーナメントの開催を提案。この提案で魔界の国々は解体され、煙鬼という王が決定。トーナメントで敗れた幽助は、人間界へと戻るのだった。
➡ 魔界に君臨する三人の王。しかし彼ら以外にも、隠者としで暮らしていた猛者がいた!?(15-109)
#幽☆遊☆白書 公式キャラクターズブック 霊界紳士録#Yu Yu Hakusho Official Character Book Reikai Shinshiroku#yusuke urameshi#personal history#浦飯幽助
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