Raoh punches Fudo with both fists with hits so hard that his hands go through the front of his chest. Thinking he's won for sure, he tries to remove his fists, only to find that he can't! Fudo grabs onto Raoh and then starts to crush him.



Raoh sees the sadness in his eyes, the same thing he saw in Kenshiro in their previous battle, but he then manages to remove one of his fists. The time for him to take the demon's blood is now and he strikes Fudo again. However, this isn't the killing strike he wanted, as Fudo is still alive.



Raoh hits pressure points on Fudo's back, which causes him pain and makes him drop Raoh. As Raoh gets up, he pummels Fudo with many punches, and then hits him with an uppercut.



He still manages to get up as his children surround him. At first he isn't pleased that they are watching his battle, but they tell him that they aren't scared and are with him all the way. They then cause a blockade, telling Raoh that they aren't scared of him and he should go away.



Raoh stares in disblief -mere children don't fear him now? Fudo is proud of his children for defending him and says that their pleas will give him the final strength he needs to continue fighting against Raoh.



Kenshiro runs as fast as he can towards Fudo's village, but then stops as he hears something. Several figures dressed in yellow clothing head towards him and stop. He asks them to step aside as it doesn't seem like they are Ken-Oh's troops, but the leader tells him that the life of their clan depends on this. He explains that years before the nuclear war, the clan has been hidden in the mountains where they trained to enlighten themselves, hoping to get closer to Buddha. But in this age, they must kill Kenshiro before they can return to their mountain hideout.



Whether they win or lose, the clan know that fate is in Buddha's hands. Continuously slamming their staffs into the ground, they generate a lot of noise whilst circling Kenshiro in an attempt to confuse him. Without him having the ability to see or hear they all leap up and strike Ken with their staffs, but they only cause minor scratches.



The leader congratulates Ken on surviving, but he will not be as lucky this time. But Ken has an idea and hits pressure points on himself so he cannot hear anything at all. Relying on only his own senses, Ken's skill allows him to pinpoint and defeat all of the clansmen who attack.



Instead of killing them, Ken spares their lives, simply destroying their masks. Ken tells them he does not want to fight needlessly and that he will go and defeat Raoh, whilst they should return to the mountains. Respecting his words, the monks start to pray and let Kenshiro continue.



Fudo is close to pushing Raoh over the line, but as he tries to kick him, Raoh jumps high into the air, and then hits a pressure point on his back. This cause Fudo serious inury and he falls over.



As Raoh turns around, he now knows that his fear towards Kenshiro was only a delusion, as he thought. Thanks to Fudo falling, his shed blood has wiped away all of Raoh's fears. There was no need for the line either, as retreat was never an option for him. Surprisingly Fudo gets back up and Raoh challenges him to try and push him over the line. Fudo says that as long as there is a drip of blood in his body he will continue to fight. Raoh is amused, only to be told that he will never understand anything and he should take a look around.



Raoh then sees that the children have picked up sticks and stones and are ready to fight against him if they must. Fudo says that it is the pure hearts of these children that drive him forward -can Raoh see it in their eyes? Raoh has seen it before, when he battled with Kenshiro!



As Raoh realises this Fudo charges. Raoh quickly snaps out of it and raises his own fist to strike Fudo down, but as he does this a spear is launched! It plunges into Fudo's chest.



Raoh sees what he has done: retreated! How could he, Ken-Oh, do such a thing? Raoh's troops, believing to have done the right thing by shooting Fudo, prepare to fire again. Whilst he is now heavily injured, Fudo can still talk and says that Raoh saw Kenshiro in those children as well as seeing him in his fists. It caused fear to once more rise into Raoh and due to him being scared by this, he retreated. It is the end, he and Kenshiro have won!



As Raoh stares at him dumbfounded, Fudo once again charges, but is hit by more arrows. This finally brings him down to his knees, as whilst he manages to remove them, he can no longer fight. He tells Raoh that he is a man who has never felt sadness, and men who do not feel that cannot have victory. As long as fear is embedded into his body, he will never be able to defeat Kenshiro. The children then circle around their father as he tells them they did well to watch him to the very end, and that they have all grown very strong.



He then collapses, but his words have really sent Raoh over the edge. It isn't until his troops call out to him that he snaps out of it and heads back over the line towards them.



"Lord Ken-Oh, what was wrong with you, you just stood there! If we hadn't have fired on Fudo then you wou"






Raoh is so angry at them that he demands an explanation. Why did they not shoot him for stepping over the line? He ordered them to and he cannot believe how low they could have gotten to shoot Fudo instead. They try to explain that it was purely for his benefit as they didn't want their master to die, but Raoh calls them idiots as Ken-Oh does not deserve to continue living for losing! After he kills some more of his own troops, the rest of his army run for it as Raoh stands alone. Rihaku states that Raoh has lost not to the demon Fudo, but to Fudo's sorrow, and Raoh himself knows this.



A barely alive Fudo tells his children not to cry, they must go on in life and work together to survive. Kenshiro finally arrives in the village and gets to Fudo's side. He finds out from the kids that their father defeated Raoh and he was incredibly strong. Ken is happy to hear their words as Fudo asks Ken, from now on, to embrace the children of this era, as a last favor to Fudo of the mountain.



Fudo's arm drops down as he passes away. As Kenshiro looks at him, he is able to finally open his eyes. Farewell, Fudo.


NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW

Either the fallen chariot stars resurrect or it is a clip show. See if you can work out which one the next episode will be. Next time on Hokuto no Ken: "Protect the Merciful Mother of the South Star! Even If It's the End of the Five Chariots!!"