Keep swinging your sword for my sake.
And when the time comes, use it to kill me.
That is my vengeance.
Yes, that is my duty.
This time, for sure, I must kill him.
Stop right there!
That's enough.
You two have done enough.
Fire!
What the hell?
Why are the Mimawarigumi and Naraku fighting?
Did you betray the bakufu, Sasaki?!
You've got it wrong.
Pops!
You have to be on someone's side to betray them.
Shimaru!
Hang in there, Shimaru!
But he never had any allies to betray.
He saw the bakufu, us, his men, and even himself as enemies he ought to destroy.
Isn't that right?
That's rude, Lord Matsudaira.
I do have someone I can have email exchanges with.
It's just that I haven't been able to send an important email for a long time.
Reception's been poor, you see.
But I'm sure it'll go through from here.
From this place atop the ruins of this country...
Atop a mountain of samurai corpses.
Farewell Shinsengumi Arc Part Seven
Karma
Watch the Farewell Shinsengumi Arc in a bright room and at a safe distance from your TV!!
The time for judgment has come, White Yaksha.
No matter what he may be planning,
no matter how you struggle,
this country will not change.
But you may rejoice, White Yaksha.
Your persistent howling
has at last reached the heavens.
And they will bring judgment down upon you with their own hands.
That's...
What the hell are you playing at?
Get out of the way.
Do you really want me to?
If you're really up for this fight, then keep going.
But if you're having doubts, then stop.
If you two were actually serious, though, I wouldn't still be standing.
At this rate, both the black police and the white police will be destroyed.
This is no time to be fighting each other.
Whose fault do you think that is?
They...
I don't know about them,
but I do know her.
I don't know what she did in the past,
but I do know who she is now.
She's not a bad guy.
Even if I cut you down from behind?
You don't know a thing.
I'm someone who can stab you in the back.
Go ahead.
If that's what you really wanna do, then feel free.
But
don't cry anymore.
Don't lie to yourself anymore.
I used to be just like you.
But I changed after meeting everyone here.
This is a planet of freedom.
Everyone here is free to live as they see fit.
I could kill whoever I was ordered to.
That's how I was raised.
That's how I've lived my life.
But when I met that man, I turned weird.
I ended up wanting to live like him.
For the first time, I was unable to kill someone.
Even after taking everything from him,
I couldn't finish him off.
All I can do now is put an end to Isaburo.
Do you hate the thought of killing people now?
Not really.
You like donuts, don't you?
Eat up.
From now on,
I'll eat with you.
Nobume!
Hey, pull yourself together!
Attention, all squads on Kokujo Island.
Withdraw from combat at once.
The aerial squads are to keep the enemy fleet occupied
and provide cover fire for the ground troops to escape.
Is this Vice Commander Imai?!
But the Commander-General ordered us to keep fighting until the enemy was wiped out!
The Commander-General probably isn't coming back.
From here on, prioritize your own lives above all else.
Even if the Mimawarigumi are no more.
Wait a second!
Just what happened, Nobume-san?
Nobume-san!
Nobume!
Go.
Quickly, before I change my mind.
If you don't hurry,
he'll come.
Capable of taking the entire country's life,
he is a real crow, a real reaper.
Mukuro,
you betray your master not once, but twice?
The first time, it was me.
Now, it's him.
Your orders were the same both times...
To kill that man.
Kill me.
That is my vengeance.
I won't take orders from anyone anymore.
Eat up.
From now on, I'll eat with you.
Be it Isaburo, or you people.
No matter who I have to kill,
I'll swing my sword of my own free will.
That is my atonement!
Mukuro,
it seems that your wings were clipped long ago.
You can't fly anywhere with the ones you have left.
There's nowhere you can run.
None may escape from a true Yatagarasu's wings.
Oh?
We have a rare rabbit of the night with us.
But it doesn't know how to correctly use its body yet.
You're all fated to die either way.
The order matters not to me...
Mukuro.
Am I trembling with excitement?
Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case.
It's not like I'm afraid,
but my body has realized before my brain
that for the first time, I'm faced with an enemy
I might not be able to beat!
Who the hell are you?
Utsuro.
A crow who served, and eventually reached, the heavens.
Former leader of the Tenshoin Naraku,
and a man who became one of the Tendoshu,
Utsuro!
Out of the way!
Where's Kondo-san?
And where the hell is Sasaki?!
Watch out, Toshi!
Katsura?!
Vice Chief!
I'm glad you're all right, Matsudaira, Hijikata.
What's going on here?
It's all going according to Sasaki's plans.
Everyone's been split up, both allies and enemies.
There's no time.
If we don't act during this chaos, we won't get another chance to escape this island.
We've already told our men.
The longer this operation drags on, the harder it'll be to escape.
An hour and a half.
Once that time passes, they've been told to retreat, whatever situation they're in.
Pops.
Gather our troops and slip through the enemy barricade.
There's a decoy squad standing by out at sea.
V-Vice Chief...
Even if Kondo-san and I don't return, run away without waiting for us.
Whether I make it back or not,
this is my final order as Shinsengumi Vice Chief.
You will obey it, won't you?
That's...
The signal to retreat.
What about Kondo-san's rescue?
We'll just have to assume it succeeded.
Now!
Retreat!
We'll make use of that cover fire, too!
Retreat!
Too bad.
My wings span far and wide.
Not a single rat may escape their reach.
C—
Captain Okita!
Utsuro-sama.
You needn't stain your hands with the blood of these vulgar rodents any further.
We'll take care of the rest.
Good grief.
Treating me like a retired senior citizen, are we?
It isn't often I get to descend to the surface.
Let me have a little fun.
I hate to say this, Utsuro-sama,
but the rat you were most fascinated by
was already blown away by a mere flap of your wings.
Oh.
That's a shame.
Shinpachi-kun!
Run!
Hurry up and run away!
Oh? You still breathe?
It wouldn't be any fun otherwise.
Okita-san!
If you have risen in a bid to change this country,
then you mustn't lose heart over this.
Muster up every last ounce of strength you have.
Commander-General, are you all right?!
We can't reach the vice commander.
What are we to do—
Sheesh.
You ordered the men to retreat, but you're still there after all, huh?
You realized that my plan was never going to succeed, didn't you?
Even if we mustered up everything we had,
it still wouldn't be enough to topple this country or the heavens, huh?
I never imagined you would act this way.
I suppose even elites have a lot they don't know.
Like why you continue to fight there instead of abandoning me...
Or why I'm heading there.
Got you.
There's no one on your side who can move, either.
Oh, there is.
There's one right here!
He's actually going toe-to-toe with that monster.
Is he dealing with that swordsmanship on pure instinct alone?
No, it looks more like...
He's familiar with that sword?
Like having a chance reunion with a sword it has crossed thousands of times,
only his sword is reacting.
Boss, don't tell me...
You know my sword, don't you?
If so, then it's probably
in a memory
of defeat you cannot wipe away.
You know
that your sword
can't reach me.
Gin-chan!
Even if my sword can't reach you,
our sword will.
Begone, specter.
White Yaksha.
No matter how many times you cut him down,
you can't escape
the karma you took upon yourself back then.
So long as you defy the heavens,
you're fated to keep killing that man.
H-His wound...
Like I said, your sword can't cut me.
Now! Retreat!
On the double!
Boss!
We can't last any longer.
After them.
Don't let a single one escape.
Just who...
Who the hell is that?!
Someone who's both Shoyo and not at the same time.
One thing's for sure.
You're not the one who killed Shoyo.
It was him!
To Be Continued
Preview
Is there any point to this?
Not really. I just came up with it right now.
We agreed that I'd be the one to kill you!
Farewell Shinsengumi Arc Part Eight
I'll trust you with the rest.
After all, you're an elite's child.
Isaburo...
I need to send an email.
Shinsengumi and Mimawarigumi...
Reunions and farewells...
The generals of both organizations are faced with
their greatest crisis... and a life-or-death decision.