As the South Star fades, the North Star appears. Souther, the polar star of the Southern Cross, made clear his ambition to rule the century's end as the Holy Emperor.

Shu: Twah!

And this man...

Shu: My name is Shu. Shu, of the South Star white heron fist!

Ken: Ata!

Lin: Ken! Don't fight with him!

Shuu of the South Star White Heron Fist! What do you
See at the End of this Century!!

Kenshiro asks Lin why she came after him. Lin says she just had to go with him, and Bat says it was hard to get here -they got attacked by some bad guys, and Shu saved them. Kenshiro understands.

Shu thinks they're brave children. Someone then rides up and tells Shu that some of Souther's forces have shown up nearby. Shu tells everyone to move out.

He tells Kenshiro he has something to tell him later, so they'll meet again. He and his guys roll out, as Kenshiro thinks he has a feeling he's met him before.

At another village, Souther's forces begin their attack. Their captain, Belga, says to take the children, so they start killing the adults. Some women run away with their children, but get trapped at the bottom of a cliff.

One guy goes to kill the women, but gets killed when he's shot with some arrows. The other solders look up, ad see that Shu's forces have arrived.

Shu's men go on the attack, so Belga orders everyone to kill Shu -the rest of his resistance are nothing. Two men get to Shu, but are immediately sliced apart.

Shu then kills several more guys via a spinning kick technique. Belga then tells Shu to stop, otherwise they'll crush these kids. A guy behind him is holding two children hostage, and Belga demands that Shu and his forces drop their weapons. But then the guy holding the kids suddenly cries out, causing him to drop his hostages...

...and he explodes seconds later. Belga sees Kenshiro, and asks who he is. Kenshiro tells him to get out of this village, but Belga orders his men to attack him.

Kenshiro hits two guys, causing them to explode. When Belga sees this, he realizes it's the North Star divine fist style, so this guy must be Kenshiro. As soon as he realizes this, he orders his remaining men to run. They all retreat.

Shu tells Kenshiro that that was impressive. He explains that those were troops of the Holy Emperor Souther. Souther's ambition is to rule the end of the century, so he abducts innocent children and enslaves them to work on his Holy Cross mausoleum. Shu says that he and his resistance can't allow that to happen. Some of the villagers beg Shu to save their children, as without their kids, they don't have the will to live. One of Shu's guys believe that Souther's troops are still in the vicinity, and the children are with them. Shu says they don't know exactly where they are, but if they did, they could ambush them and take the children back.

Lin then says she'll do it -she'll act as bait. Bat says that's dangerous, but she says that if someone acts as bait, Souther's soldiers will surely show up. She says they'll act as bait, which Bat isn't happy about -why's he have to be in this?!

Lin tells him not to worry -Ken and the others will be with them. Shu asks Ken to lend them his strength. Meanwhile, Belga's men have taken the children to a baseball stadium. The kids are crying, so one of the soldiers tells them to scream all they want -nobody is coming to save them. They're going to work for the Holy Emperor!

One soldier asks Belga what their next move is. Belga says Shu's resistance will still be in that village, but they can't stay there forever. Eventually another unit will attack a different village, which will force the resistance to move out. Once that happens, they'll go back to the village they were trying to attack earlier. Nearby, Bat and Lin drive through a sandstorm. Bat thinks this is too dangerous, and wants to go back.

Lin says they'll be fine, but Bat thinks this storm is so bad, Souther's soldiers aren't showing up. Bat wonders if Ken and the resistance are really following them, but then sees a couple of guys on bikes ahead. He stops and tries to turn around, only for more guys to show up.

The soldiers see that their are kids in the car, and escort them back to the baseball stadium. Bat and Lin are taken to Belga, so he asks for a report.

Someone tells him that they captured these two kids, who were wandering around in the desert. But another solider then says to hold it -these two kids were in that village! He's certain that the girl was with Kenshiro.

Belga asks what they're up to, so Lin and Bat claim they don't know what he's talking about -they don't know anybody named Kenshiro! Belga decides to have them both killed instead. A guy goes to slice them up with a sword, just as Lin scream's Ken's name. Suddenly, the soldier has a blanket thrown over him...

...and then is killed via a chop to the face. Kenshiro had been hiding in the back of Bat's car, and Bat says the tables have been turned. Kenshiro tells Belga to tell this to Souther: if he wants to build the Holy Cross mausoleum, he should make it himself. He shouldn't terrorize innocent children and turn them into slaves!

Belga tells him he's all alone, but Kenshiro says he can take them all on by himself. Belga orders his men to kill Kenshiro, so they charge.

As Kenshiro starts taking them out, Bat and Lin free the captured children. Kenshiro quickly takes down most of the men.

One of them tells Belga that Kenshiro is incredibly strong, but Belga orders him to fight -the Holy Emperor's soldiers can't turn their back on their enemies, and they must fight to the last man. As soon as he says this however, he runs away -as long as he lives, that's all that matters! He runs towards a hole in one of the stadium's stands, and two guards are there.

But as he gets closer, the two guards suddenly get sliced apart. Shu and his men have arrived, blocking off Belga. Shu tells Belga that he can't run any more, so he should prepare to die. What's left of Belga's force then run towards him.

Belga tells them to fight the resistance, but as they get closer, they all explode. Kenshiro then appears behind Belga.

Belga realizes that there's no escape for him now. He wonders why they're part of the resistance when they don't get anything out of it, and then tries to attack Shu with a sword. But he gets sliced to pieces before he can attack.

Shu says he can't forgive those who try to steal the light from children who aim to shine brighter. When Kenshiro hears this, it triggers a memory... he's heard those words before. It was as the South Star ten man tournament...

Kenshiro is fighting against a South Star master. Nearby, Souther and Raoh watch. Souther thinks that Kenshiro is skilled, but still too young to challenge the South Star ten man tournament. Raoh tells Souther not to worry himself needlessly. Souther hopes Raoh had taught Kenshiro the codes of the battle between the North Star and the South Star.

Kenshiro defeats his opponent, and the next one immediately challenges him. Souther asks Raoh what's on his mind. He wonders if he wishes to make Kenshiro stronger, or if he's someone who's in his way. Raoh says nothing, but continues to watch the fight.

Souther says that if Kenshiro loses, he won't be leaving here alive -is Raoh fine with that? Raoh says he is. Kenshiro then defeats his next opponent.

As the next challenger goes up to Kenshiro, Souther tells Shu that things have gotten interesting. Shu doesn't say anything, but keeps watching Kenshiro. Kenshiro defeats yet another opponent.

His next opponent then appears, and slices Kenshiro's arm. He says no slacking off, and the next fight begins. Just before it does, Shu does something that gets Kenshiro's attention.

Kenshiro avoids his opponent's attack, and turns around to stare at Shu. Shu thinks that Kenshiro could feel the energy he just sent out.

Kenshiro's opponent tries to attack from behind, but gets taken out with a single punch. Shu then stands up, and heads towards Kenshiro. Souther asks him if he's going to fight, and Raoh asks if Shu is skilled enough. Souther says he is, and reveals he is the only one in this dojo who is equal in skill to him.

Shu asks for Kenshiro's name, and once he gets it, he tells him that he'll be his tenth, and final, opponent. He tells Kenshiro to take his best shot, so Kenshiro tries a jump kick. But Shu blocks this with one hand.

He then uses a series of rapid hand strikes, and Kenshiro gets hit. He falls to the floor, and the match is over.

Souther tells Shu to kill Kenshiro -if another style has challenged them, the loser must not leave here alive. Kenshiro gets up and tells Shu that he is glad he was his tenth opponent. He's taught him the severity of martial arts. Shu hesitates, so Souther asks him why he isn't finishing him off.

If he doesn't want to do it, others can. Some men armed with spears surround Kenshiro, and Souther tells them to kill him. But Shu tells them no -he won't let them kill this boy. Souther says he won't allow transgressions, even from Shu. Shu says he can feel it -Kenshiro has the hidden potential to shine brighter and be stronger than anyone. No one has the right to take that light away from him. Souther reminds him that this is the South Star code.

Shu says that he isn't asking this for free. He slices down across his own eyes, blinding himself.

He says that in exchange, he will give him his own light. He asks Souther if he has a problem with that. Souther is speechless, so Shu picks up Kenshiro and walks away. Souther says he'd forgotten that of the South Star six holy fists, Shu is the star of benevolence. He's the star destined to widely spread his love, and live in hope for the future.

He wonders how that boy awakened Shu's destiny as the star of benevolence. Raoh wonders about Kenshiro's destiny, as Shu and Kenshiro leave the room.

Back in the present, Kenshiro realizes that the man standing before him now was the same man who sacrificed his eyes to save him back then. Shu tells Kenshiro not to worry about it. Whilst his eyes can't see, in exchange, his heart opened up. This was his destiny as the star of benevolence. He wasn't wrong, as Kenshiro has begun to shine brighter and stronger than the light he's lost.

NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW

The resistance has fallen into Souther's trap! Kenshiro, don't let the light of this world diminish! Next time, on Fist of the North Star: "Love on the Battlefield! Will this Era tear Love Apart!!"

Kenshiro: The rage of the tempest is calling me.