Chapter 239: Sushin Battle--Sanosuke versus Byakko

Sanosuke: First you won't shut up and then those fussy little moves! If you wanna take me out, bring it on with just one good punch!

(Megumi's medicine chest hits him in the head.)

Megumi: You idiot! I told you not to use your right hand! How many times do I have to say it?

Sanosuke: Medicine chest as deadly weapon? This must really be getting to you. (Whose side are you on?) But I'll cut you a break--I'll only ask you to look at it one more time.

Megumi: Once more?

Sanosuke: Yeah. Once more. (turning back to Byakko) It's a right-hand handicap match. You don't like losing either, do you?

Byakko: All you got was one lucky swing. You don't know how weak you really are.

Sanosuke: Y'know, I've heard that so many times. I'm sorry, it just doesn't piss me off any more. But I'm kinda annoyed hearing it from you.

Byakko: I've had enough of you, you fool!

(Another rain of blows.)

Zuo Po Luo! You Lun Zhi! Ying Jing! Bei Zhi! Mao Shou! Shuang Zhang! Gu Da! Li Ju!

Byakko: How's that? With counters this time too--

(Sanosuke catches him on the chin with another uppercut.)

Sanosuke: That was my second good hit. Still think I'm getting lucky?

Megumi: That idiot. Not the right again...

Misao: What's wrong? He's pretty good.

Kenshin: This is the first time Miss Misao has seen Sano fight.

Misao: I never liked him much cause he calls me a weasel, but he's amazing! But now that I think about it, he's the one that's most often fought with, Himura. And you said he was the one you most rely on when you were in Kyoto!

Kenshin: I really do rely on him.

(Sanosuke has knocked Byakko down.)

Sanosuke: Your little tricks aren't working. If you want to go again, hit me with something big.

Byakko: Fine ... If you're in such a hurry to die!

(He grabs a handful of sand and hurls it at him.)

Misao: That's dirty! Sand in the eyes!

Megumi: Idiot! You thought you were ahead so you got careless!

Byakko: Bai Hu Zhang Ju Uraken-kata Tie Gui!

(He spins his wristguards, which fold in half to form massive spiked brass knuckles. He punches Sanosuke in the stomach, drawing blood.)

Byakko: What about that! Got a comeback for that one--

Sanosuke: I told you your little tricks wouldn't work on me. You need big moves. Like this--

Futae no Kiwami!

(He strikes the ground, blasting Byakko down with a spray of sand.)

Misao: WOW! What was that?

Megumi: Idiot. The blood must be rushing to his head. If he keeps doing that--

Kenshin: No. The Futae no Kiwami is the pinnacle of destruction; the two blows added together reduce resistance to zero and perfectly convey force. What Anji taught him applied those two blows with the right hand alone, but what he just did is different. It's not just the right hand but the left as well, dividing the impact between them. The burden on the right hand is reduced to less than half. I don't know when he worked that out, but it's a fine technique unique to Sano. (thinking) At some point, he became even more reliable than I thought...

Sanosuke (to the fallen Byakko): Enough screwing around. Let's finish this. I'm not so bored I couldn't step on someone like you.

Heishin: Wh-wh-what is this? Are you the warriors I gave the name of Sushin? Why are they beating you?

Genbu: Don't trouble yourself. The other three were cowards. I'll rise up to take their places.

Heishin: Don't give me your talk! You've been locked in combat all this time with a boy! You're the most pathetic of all!

Genbu: Genbu, of the Sushin brothers, is best at thinking in battle. This boy has been getting ready for some big move. It's not that I couldn't have moved but that I didn't.

(Yahiko has trapped his staff in the over-the-head Hadome.)

Yahiko: So you guessed that this was my best technique? You are the smartest of the four. But you haven't been able to stop me. So the only way out is to move forward. Let's do it--

Kamiya Kasshin-ryuu Ougi Hawatari!

Genbu: So you move to the attack once you've immobilized the enemy's weapon? Then this should do it.

(He twists the staff, and it breaks into several jointed sections. Yahiko loses his grip and falls on his face.)

Genbu: The Xuan Wu She Gun is not a mere staff. It's a flexible, expanding staff of six joints! Before this staff your technique is completely useless!

Megumi: Yahiko!

Misao: This doesn't look good, Himura.

Kenshin: "Why aren't you beating them?" If at this point the boss can still say that, I saw how this would end at the start.