Ken-Oh tells Rei it was a pleasure to witness his Nanto Suicho Ken. Rei wants to fight him, but Lin cries out and begs him not to do so.



Rei stops, but then tells Lin not to worry -he is the master of Nanto Suicho Ken, and he will have Ken-Oh's head. Before the battle begins, Ken-Oh asks his would-be opponent if he has ever seen the little star next to the big dipper. Rei tells him that he has. Ken-Oh thinks that maybe he is fated to fight the Nanto Suicho Ken master after all, and tells him to go ahead and attack in any way he likes.



Rei questions what he isn't going to dismount, so Ken-Oh tells him that he would not touch the same ground as a man of his strength. Rei says that he can just die right there on his horse, and he jumps up towards him. Just as he is about to get close, Rei seems to hit some kind of barrier!



Hundreds of punches prevent Rei from getting close, and make him fall back. As he gets up, it appears that Ken-Oh hasn't even moved, yet he just saw all of those fists. As Rei is trying to figure out what just happened, Ken-Oh tells him. His "touki" -his fighting spirit aura -is so strong that it allows him to attack without making any physical contact. Rei will not be able to even get near him.



Lin tells Rei to wait until Ken gets here. Rei thinks about Ken...he fought alongside him, and the only reason Airi was saved was because of his help. Rei once cast his humanity aside, living only to save Airi. But since then, he's met Kenshiro, Mamiya, Toki, Bat, Lin...they all gave him a sense of serenity, and he was able to become a human again. He wants to defeat Ken-Oh now, even if he were to perish himself. Ken-Oh says his battle is futile and he is a fool. Rei says that the only way he can re-pay Kenshiro and the others is by fighting, as he gathers together his aura and leaps towards Ken-Oh.


NANTO KYUUKYOKU OUGI: DANKO SOUSAI KEN

(South Star Ultimate Secret technique: Self-Sacrifice Offset Fist)



As Rei heads straight towards Ken-Oh, he thinks about all of his friends, asking them to lend him their strength. Just as Rei is about to get close to him, Ken-Oh just smiles. He knows of this technique, and also knows that even he cannot win against it.



He quickly thinks about what will happen: Rei will attack, using fast swiping moves. He could defend himself with rapid punches, but that would not stop Rei from being able to actually hit him.



Ken-Oh's strikes would kill Rei, but Rei's moves would also kill him! Back in the present, Ken-Oh watches as Rei heads straight towards him...is he really ready to use an attack like this? What can he do about it?



1) Remove cape.



2) Throw cape over opponent.



3) Fatally wound opponent.



Ken-Oh says that he sees all, and that the star next to the big dipper that Rei saw was the star of death! He then stabs his finger straight into one of Rei's pressure points, and defeats him. His cape breaks up as Rei coughs up blood.



Mamiya and Toki are still walking to the village when Mamiya suddenly falls and tells Toki that she felt like something stabbed into her heart. Kenshiro finally arrives in the village, but as he heads towards the large crowd of people, he sees what has happened.



He sees that Ken-Oh, who is better known as Raoh to Kenshiro, has defeated Rei. Raoh smiles when he notices Kenshiro and says that he is surprised that he lasted so long with his soft personality, and that alone is worthy of his praise. But people who are ruled by their emotions can only go so far, as Rei found out.



Raoh throws Rei's body over to Kenshiro, who catches him, but it seems he has died. Ken wants to know why he didn't just wait for him, but Lin tells him Rei said he wanted to repay them all by fighting. Ken thinks he was stupid to do such a thing.



Bat warns Ken to stay away from Raoh, but he doesn't listen. Lin holds on to one of his legs, but Ken tells her not to worry -does his face look like one of a man who is about to die? She lets him go, and Ken walks up to Raoh. However, Raoh finds out that Kenshiro has not seen the small star next to the big dipper, and because of this, he has no interest in fighting him for now. He turns his horse around.



Ken wants to settle things now and tells him to come back, but Raoh tells him not to overestimate himself -as he turns around and hits Kenshiro with a powerful aura blast. As Ken is pushed back, he senses just how much stronger Raoh has become. Outside the village, Mamiya and Toki are almost there. Toki says they need to hurry, as he has a bad feeling.



Ken shows his own fighting spirit aura to Raoh, who isn't scared. But his horse (who's name is finally revealed to be Kokuoh (Black King)) is and starts to panic. Raoh tells Kenshiro he is the first man to ever disturb Kokuoh in such a way, but he manages to calm him down and then starts to show his fighting spirit. As both men stare at each other, their auras become more powerful, so much so that the ground they are standing on begins to rip itself apart.



When the smoke clears, both fighters seem to have vanished, until the people watching notice that the combatants are now both floating in the air! The battle then begins properly as Kenshiro tries to kick Raoh's head in, but each strike is blocked.



Raoh then tries a similar technique but with his hands rather than his feet, and as he gets closer to Kenshiro he does not notice something heading his way until it actually hits him. He ignores it and continues to fight, but Kenshiro demands for Raoh to get off his horse, and then performs a move.


HOKUTO SHICHISHI KIHEI ZAN

(North Star Seven Death Cavalry Kill)



This attack knocks Raoh off Kokuoh, but he lands back on him in the air. They all land on the ground again, but as Raoh does, part of his helmet breaks apart, and he realises that Kenshiro has cut his face. Kenshiro tells him that he isn't the man he once knew.



Raoh calls him an idiot -if it wasn't for the fact that another man intervened, he would have been dead. Raoh then reveals that the something that hit him in the fight was an arrow that went into his leg, and the brief distraction it caused him is the only reason that Kenshiro is still alive. Raoh tells the man who shot the arrow to step forward and he does...it is Rei! He is still alive and everyone is relieved to see him.



Rei tells Ken to wait, but Ken wants to know what is going on -why has Raoh spared Rei? Raoh then reveals something terrible: Rei has not been spared. He never kills strong warriors who oppose him straight away, as then the fear will not spread.


He has hit a pressure point called "Shinketsushuu", which will give Rei just three days to live. In that time, he will tremble in the fear of death and suffer to the end. He will be able to feel the fear of Ken-Oh -and this fear is something he wants to spread to make himself a legendary figure. In three days, Rei will die when all of the blood spurts out of his body. Kenshiro is about to make Raoh pay when Rei tells him not to go -he cannot win. There is a reason why.



Ken doesn't understand what he is talking about, but he then suddenly screams out in pain as a large bruise appears on his chest! The others crowd around him, but it seems that Raoh was right when he said that he would have killed Kenshiro earlier. Kenshiro never even realised he could have died.



Raoh reveals that if Rei hadn't have shot him, he would have pierced into Kenshiro's chest with his hand and killed him. Instead, he merely wounded him. He goes on to say that this is why Kenshiro isn't strong enough to fight him yet -and with Ken and Rei both down, who will be able to stop him now?


NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW

The past between Ryuken and Raoh is explained, as Toki and Mamiya finally arrive in the village. Tune in next time for "Explosion of Secret Techniques! The Destiny of the Two Hokuto Brothers Surpasses Hatred!!"

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