Ryu and Fuka look at the other girl who has just appeared. All she can say is that she has finally found him, but then she collapses. They take her back to the monk's house, and they all have a meal together. It turns out that this girl, Sakura, has quite an appetite!

Sakura says she's fine now. She explains that she has traveled a long way from Tokyo to find Ryu. The monk says she must be exhausted, but she says she's not. Ryu asks how she knew to find him here, and finds out that Ken told her where to go. She met Ken in Tokyo, and he told her he is also on his way here, in time for the anniversary of the death of his master. The girl asks Ryu for something: could he please fight her in a match?

She has known that he is much more than just a regular street fighter, he is a true fighter. The monk says she is expecting great things of Ryu. Ryu wonders what a true fighter even is. Later on that night, Ryu thinks about what she said, but he doesn't consider himself to be a "true" fighter. He doesn't come close to that level yet. He thinks he must fight, or he'll never be content.

He decides that he'll accept the Sakura's challenge, something she is overjoyed to hear. The next morning, the two face each other outside the dojo. Ryu says he's ready to go, and the fight begins. Sakura runs forward and does a variety of punches...

...and kicks, but he casually avoids them all. She manages to tear part of his gi off with her dragon punch, and then jumps back towards him, using a hurricane kick.

Ryu leaps up over her, and shoves her down. She thinks he's holding back on her, and wonders why -does he thinks that she's weak? She finds that insulting, and surprises him by throwing out a hadouken. But Ryu avoids it.

Ryu then starts hitting back, and even though Sakura blocks it, she still gets knocked down. She tells Fuka and the monk that she's alright, and resumes fighting. As Ryu starts to land several hits, he thinks Sakura is standing up to him with all of her strength, knowing that she's no match for him.

He thinks she's right, there really is no question: he really does want to fight. Sakura tries to use another hadouken, but Ryu punches through it, and throws her to the ground. Ryu thinks that he will fight Gouki. Sakura gets up, and thanks Ryu for the lesson.

However, he thanks her, saying that he was the one who learned here. No matter the consequences, he is determined to fight Gouki now. He has to fight, or he'll never find what he's looking for. Later on, Sakura and Fuka bathe together.

Sakura finds out that the monk isn't actually Fuka's real grandfather, but they are apparently distant relatives. She thinks he is over 90 years old, but he still seems to be so young at heart... so much so that he's spying on them outside. Fuka smacks the window, making him fall off. Sakura mentions that Ryu must enjoy fighting. Fuka wonders if he is going to fight.

The next morning, Ken is heading towards his old dojo. He sees the clouds, and thinks that a storm must be on the way. Meanwhile, Ryu looks at the grave of Gouken.

He puts on his headband, as the old monk heads over and asks if Ryu is leaving. He knows he is, and tells him to go to the old castle ruins behind Goutoku temple, as the man he wants to fight will most certainly be there. He tells Ryu to accept his fate.

Nearby, Sakura says good morning to Fuka, who nods in response. Sakura sees that it's raining, and asks Fuka if she's seen Ryu. Fuka says that Ryu left early, before dawn. Meanwhile, Ken arrives, and heads towards the dojo, but then sees some old guy waiting ahead. It's the monk, who knows who Ken is, and tells him to go back. He can't get involved with the battle between Ryu and Gouki.

Ken says he needs to reach Ryu, and anyone who gets in his way will regret it. Meanwhile, Ryu finds Gouki.

The monk has soundly beaten Ken, and tells him that it seems he isn't as good as he thought. He tells him that Ryu doesn't need a guardian any more, and will be fine. Ken says he followed Ryu all the way out here, but the monk then asks him if he's a pupil of Gouken. He knows why he has come here -he wants to stop the dark hadou from being awakened by those two, when they fight each other, and stop another tragedy from happening.

There is then an explosion at the temple, as Ryu and Gouki's fight begins. Ken asks the monk how he can say that Ryu's dark hadou won't awaken, and if he realizes what the dark hadou is. The monk says he knows the dark hadou has the power to destroy every living thing in this world.

As Ryu continues to fight Gouki, the monk says that long ago, there were people who had the ability to fight with titanic force. Meanwhile, Gouki throws out a fireball, that Ryu is able to deflect away. He uses his shoryuken, but Gouki is just about able to avoid being hit by it.

The monk explains to Ken that these people were often used by the people who ruled at the time. But they didn't deserve to be used for such evil. One day, a horrible event took place. The powerful fighters kept killing people on a daily basis, and it awakened the demons within themselves. Once the demon took over a person, it was said that that not only did it consume the person's body, but their entire being. As the fight goes on, Ryu avoids some of Gouki's attacks, and grabs onto him. But Gouki blasts him off. The monk tells Ken that is the true identity of the dark hadou, and Ryu and Gouki have inherited the contaminated bloodline. The cycle of bad karma has not been broken.

Ryu stands back up. He thinks of the power Gouki has -his own skills aren't working at all against him. Gouki calls out Gouken's name, and says that he was right to walk this path of a fighter. He throws out a large projectile.

Ryu avoids it, but it blows away some trees, and causes them to catch fire. Back at the dojo, Sakura and Fuka see the spirits of dead people suddenly appear around them.

Ryu knows he is taking a beating, but he begins to think of what he should do... he doesn't care about this "true" fighter stuff any more... he knows he can beat Gouki! Suddenly, Ryu's face becomes deranged, as he lets the dark hadou consume him.

Ryu resumes his attack, only his moves now seem to actually hurt Gouki. He tries to kick him, but ends up getting smashed into the ground. However, Ryu gets back up again, and does a kick which injures Gouki's leg.

Gouki smashes him across his face. But Ryu doesn't seem to have been hurt by this. Gouki tells him that this is the power coursing through their blood... the wake up call of a true fighter.

Suddenly, many spirits of people start to appear. The monk and Ken watch as spirits of villagers appear next to them, but they can see that some of them look terribly injured. A spirit army then appears, who strike down the villagers. The monk knows that the detestable events of the past all relate to the blood flowing through those people. This evil blood caused men to destroy not only their enemies, but also their allies, their loved ones and themselves. Back at the fight...

...the spirits of those who used the dark hadou have appeared. Some of them seem to fly out of Ryu's body. Gouki tells Ryu that he just wants to become strong, that is their miserable fate. Ryu runs forward, and charges up one of his fists with the dark hadou energy.

Gouki does the same, and the two are about to hit each other, when Ryu notices Fuka's image in Gouki's fist. He avoids Gouki's attack, and thinks about what he just saw. He realizes that using the dark hadou is wrong, and his face returns to normal.

Gouki tells Ryu that his path to becoming a true fighter has been obscured. Through his reverence for his teacher, he has forsaken his natural thirst to be strong. Ryu tells him he's wrong, what it has done is actually made him stronger. Gouki tells him to die, and strikes him with a powerful dark hadou blast.

Ryu somehow breaks through it and survives, seemingly heading down to strike Gouki. A large explosion rocks the area the two are fighting in. The monk and Ken see it, as do Fuka and Sakura.

Gouki throws Ryu to the ground, but seems to be in a daze. He stumbles off, walking away from Ryu, but then falls down and coughs up blood. He thinks about the one who wanted to become strong...

...he remembers Gouken, and Sayaka... and then Sayaka seems to appear before him, tending to his wounds. Gouki snaps out of it and shouts out his own name, saying that he is the one who became strong.

Gouki tells Ryu that he intends to fight with him again, some day. Ryu watches, and sees the sign of the heavens appear in the sky above Gouki.

The old monk tells Ken about an event that happened a long time ago. A man had left a newborn child in his care, and had told him that the mother had died shortly after giving birth. Before he left, the man made him promise that the child wouldn't follow the father's path. The monk lets Ken up and tells him to go. As Ken runs off, the monk says he kept the promise made to Gouken, but he now suddenly feels tired. He falls to his knees, and weakly says that he feels he has lived for too long.

The next morning, Fuka prays in front of the graves. A new one has been made for the old monk. Ryu sees her, but he doesn't approach, and instead turns around and walks away.

NOTES

-During the credits, Sakura's surname is misspelt as "Kasuga" instead of "Kasugano" for the Japanese voice cast. Oddly, when the English voice cast get their credits, her surname isn't mentioned.

-Another oddity is that during the English credits, Ryu is misspelt as "Ryuno" whilst Gouki is "Gouk", despite both of these names being spelt correctly during the Japanese credits.