Shuu stands at the top of the pyramid and says that that the successor to Hokuto Shinken will destroy this mausoleum. And no star of Nanto will ever become an Emperor. Shuu's comments annoy Souther, and he has him shot with several arrows.



Kenshiro then starts to run up the pyramid, but Souther has a spear brought to him. He intends the spear to be the finishing strike, and throws it at Shuu, with it hitting him in his chest.



Kenshiro arrives, but as he gets there, Shuu's pupils appear once more -he can see again! He has been granted his wish of being able to see Kenshiro as a grown man. He says that Kenshiro has become strong, and he can see a resemblance of Shiba in him. He tells Kenshiro to go - go on and open the path of this age. He will forever be watching over him.



Shuu then dies as he lets the final piece of the mausoleum crush him. All Kenshiro can do is feel the last piece. He tells Shuu to live on inside him, before turning around and calling out to Souther -when he is done with the Holy Emperor, there will be nothing left of him!



Taking up Kenshiro's challenge, Souther removes his cape and starts to walk up his own pyramid, saying that he'll resolve Nanto's recent humiliation by killing the successor to Hokuto Shinken now. Down below, one of Souther's troops decides to help his leader out by shooting Kenshiro with an arrow.



Raoh kills him however and says that nobody will interrupt this fight. As Souther continues up the steps, one child thinks about what Shuu said earlier to everyone as he climbed the pyramid. As Souther walks on, the child dashes forward...



...and stabs Souther with a knife. Souther glares at him for a few moments before moving one of his hands. It almost looks like he is going to kill the boy, but he doesn't and instead removes the blade from his leg.



Holding the knife up for a moment, Souther then drops it and proclaims that emotion has made this child go crazy to do something as idiotic as attacking him. That emotion will lead to sorrow. Because of love, people suffer! Because of love, people are miserable!



Years a go, before the war, Souther was found by a man called Ogai, the current master of Nanto Nanto Ho'oh Ken. Souther's real parents had abandoned him for unknown reasons, but Ogai instead became his adoptive father, as he had no son of his own. Ogai began to train Souther in the ways of Nanto Ho'oh Ken, and the two did many things together.



Souther did not mind the difficult training, as all he wanted was Ougai's approval and affection, which he got for completing the various tasks and trials.



When Souther reached 15 years of age, Ogai had him do the final test to see if he was worthy of becoming the successor to Nanto Ho'oh Ken. Souther put on a blindfold as Ogai told him that he will now face real combat for the first time -he will be attacked, so he must avoid the strike and win the battle. After a few seconds, Souther senses someone heading towards him and avoids his attack by leaping up high into the air, before striking his opponent down.



As Souther goes to the body of his opponent, he realises in horror that it was Ogai! Souther wants to know why he let himself be hit, but Ogai says that Souther was too fast for him. He says he has nothing left to teach him, and he should not cry -there can only ever be one successor to Nanto Ho'oh Ken. It was part of his fate to be defeated by the new successor to the style. He had seen the star of command in Souther's eyes.



Ogai dies, but Souther is devastated. He cannot understand why this has happened, but if it is so distressful...if it is so painful...then he has no need for love!



Back in the present, Souther says that from that moment, he had no need for love anymore, and the command star awoke within him. An Emperor has no need for love. Kenshiro tells Souther he will fight for love. Souther just tells him he fell before him once before, and that his Hokuto Shinken will not defeat him. He can perish with all of his worthless love. As Souther finishes his sentence, he glides towards Ken, whilst stabbing out with one of his arms.



Ken moves back and then does a flip kick move on Souther, which was one of Shuu's techniques! He says he wanted Souther to taste Shuu's style for once, but it will be Hokuto Shinken that defeats him in the end. Souther laughs it off and then has his men activate the mausoleum's secret.



Part of the mausoleum then opens up, and inside the newly created hole in the wall is a shrine with Ogai's body inside it! Souther reveals that this mausoleum was dedicated to him, and his feelings towards him. Not only that, but it also serves as a graveyard to Souther's love and emotions.



Souther tells Kenshiro to strike him and the two clash once more. Ken's rapid kicks hit Souther but again, Hokuto Shinken seems to have no effect on him at all! He once again just laughs off the attack and says that his style is useless. Souther is about to attack, but Kenshiro strikes again, plunging his fists straight into his opponent's chest -but yet again, Souther just laughs it off and doesn't show any signs of pain.



Kenshiro seems to think that there is something wrong here and quickly lifts Souther up...there is something strange with his body! But Souther isn't going to hang around and quickly does several fast swipes at his face, causing Kenshiro to fall a great distance down the pyramid and seemingly be defeated.



Raoh says that he knew Kenshiro couldn't win. Souther is pleased and says that his star rules the heavens -who would like to be the next one to fall to his Nanto Ho'oh Ken?! He shuts up for a moment when Raoh yells out, telling him to stop being so arrogant.



Toki says that he knows what Souther's secret is -so he'll fight him. He begins to walk towards the mausoleum. But as he gets there, Kenshiro tells him to stop -assistance will not be required. And at that point Souther suddenly stumbles, as part of his head bursts and erupts with blood!



Souther doesn't understand what has happened, but Kenshiro gets up, rips his jacket apart, and says that he now knows what Souther's secret is!


NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW

The secret is out -and now Kenshiro takes on Souther in a fair match. "Souther, the Sorrowful Holy Emperor! You Were Exhausted with Love!!"