A Beautiful Night Sanosuke receives a letter that only Kenshin, Saito and him are needed to fight Sishio. In his hideout, Hoji explains he came with the strategy to defeat these three while the rest of Ten Swords will kill the Oniwaban in order to prevent another failure to destroy Kyoto. Enraged, Shishio calls his men with Usui trying to torture Hoji. After Hoji lies about the previous plan to incinerate Kyoto while abandoning Kyoto, Shishio decides to go along Hoji's plan. Meanwhile, Kenshin has another talk with his mentor and while returning to the Aoiya, he treats one of Shishio's men who defected the army. After resting in the Aoiya, Kenshin is comforted by his old and new friends which gives him peace that the next time he uses the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki, the strongest technique he learned will not kill his enemy. Before departing with Saito and Sansuke, Kenshin is told by Kaoru that that they will return to Tokyo. As they head out, Aoshi awaits Kenshin in the hideout.