Kaoru cooked some meal for Kenshin, Sanosuke, Yahiko, Ayame and Suzume. Everyone didn’t like it except for Kenshin who said that he got used to Kaoru’s cooking. Kaoru was throwing some things on Sanosuke for complaining about the way it tasted when the police chief came. The chief said that they need Himura’s help to solve a problem the government has kept for ten years. They want him to catch a serial Killer named Kurogasa (which means the black hat) whose operation was to assassinate Ishin Shishi (imperialists). He used to give warnings before he murders the victims but the police couldn’t do anything to stop him. Kenshin said that Kurogasa might have been a Hitokiri just like him.

The next victim would be a man named Tani. Kenshin and Sanosuke were there with other warriors hired to protect him. It was exactly midnight when they heard noise outside the building. Kenshin and Sanosuke saw the guards murdered by Kurogasa. They waited for him to come from the door but he came in from the window. Tani said that he would pay five times of what he promised to whoever kills him so some of the hired fighters attacked but ended up being murdered by Kurogasa who then used some sort of hypnotism to freeze the others, including Sanosuke. Sanosuke was moving a little so Kurogasa decided to execute him first. Suddenly, he heard Kenshin who said that he was using Nikaido Heiho Shin no Ippou, also called Isukumi technique. Kenshin attacked and sliced Kurogasa’s hat then he said that he heard about him in Kyoto and that his real name was Udo Jin-e. Jin-e knew Kenshin too and said that he would take more pleasure in fighting the legendary Battousai than killing Tani. He used his technique again but it didn’t seem to work on Kenshin. While Kenshin was talking to Jin-e when Sanosuke somehow got out of the spell the same way Kenshin did. He attacked Jin-e but got wounded. Kenshin attacked Jin-e too but Jin-e backed off and said that Kenshin wouldn’t win if he couldn’t fight as Battousai. He said he would give him one day to bring Battousai back to himself and so that they could fight.

While taking a look at his wound, Kenshin told Sano that he really must fight Jin-e as the Hitokiri Battousai. He also wanted Sano to give a message to Kaoru. Sanosuke told Kaoru that Kenshin wouldn’t be home for that night because he had to concentrate on the fight and bring Battousai back to win. But Kaoru went out looking for Kenshin because she said Kenshin wouldn’t come back. Sano and Yahiko went after her but they lost her.

Kaoru found Kenshin near the river and told him that she wanted him to stay. She gave him her favorite ribbon and told him to give it back to her personally after his fight with Jin-e. Kenshin promised that he would come back. But just when Kaoru was about to say goodbye, Jin-e snatched her so that he could take her as hostage so that Kenshin would return to becoming Battousai the Manslayer.