Recca-tachi receives an ivitation to the killer tournament, Ura Buto Satsujin, from two of Kurei's Uruha Jyuushin Shu, Jisho and old man Genjuro. They use the ninjitsu Kuchi Yose to send the message via a dog. Recca's managed to control two of the Karyu by this time - Nadare, whose attack is Dan En (the fireball) and Saiha, whose En Jin is a fire blade that emerges from Recca's forearm. After displaying his new powers, Genjuro and Jisho appear to tell him he has no choice, he will appear at the Ura Buto Satsujin with whatever team he can scrape together. Of course we know it will be Domon, Mikagami, and Fuuko. Recca decides he will go because the winners in t he tournament get to keep the madougu of their beaten opponents. And that was the duty of his ancestors as well as being a good way to keep them out of Kurei's hands.
They go to the Ura Buto Satsujin. Recca meets an adorable stuffed fox named Kondo that Ganko animated with Kata Kugutsu. ^_^ At the gate, the admissions guy tells them that in addition to losing their madougu if they lose, they have to put up something as collateral to the promoter. If they lose, they lose whatever was their donation. Domon offers his pro-wrestling t-shirt and is promptly denied. Then Fuuko steps up.
Fuuko: How about...da juicy girl...Fuuko's breast squeeze coupon? It's puff'n, puff'n!
Recca: O.O Breast squeeze coupon!
Domon: O.O Puff'n!
Admittor: Subarashii! Demo...dame desu.
Then Ganko offers her breast-touch coupon, which gets the admissions guy's attention, only Recca and Domon whack him, because Ganko's WAY underage. He says that the promoter decides what he wants, and that their donation will be...Sakoshita Yanagi! Yanagi ask why her, because her breasts aren't that big...-_-' It's clarified that Mori Kouran wants her: all of her, including her healing powers. Either Yanagi is their donation, or their entrance will be revoked. Although Recca is horrifed ("I'm up for whatever is coming, but you're asking for my Hime!" It's so cute!!) Yanagi agrees to be the donation, because she wants to help as well. This way, her risk is as great as the risk of the others who might lose their lives. It's kind of cool of her, although also kind of stupid, if you ask me. As an entrance exam, they're attacked by forty men. It takes them about 20 seconds to get rid of all the thugs.
At the beginning of the tournament, Fuuko-tachi shows up without Recca. Fuuko, who's in front, collides with a young boy in a white outfit who apologizes politely for hurting her, and helps her up, then excuses himself. Domon is jealous. ^_^ When the dragon-referee Tatsuko asks them where is, they reply, "Saa." Tatsuko then says that if he doesn't show up, they'll be disqualified. Fuuko and Domon freak out. Recca is outside in the grass snoozing when he meets with a man named Kuukai. They have a friendly chat before Kuukai's team mate, Saicho, comes to find him, and Recca's friends find him. Kuukai says if they both win, they can keep fighting until they meet again. Recca's dragged in to hear the promoter's speech before the start of the tournament.
Mori Kouran: I am Mori Kouran, the promoter!
Domon: Whatta face!
Recca: I am da pro-mo-ta!
Anyway, Recca-tachi is in A-block. They have to win six times (there's 64 teams). Of course, Mikagami's the one to do the mental math. He's so smaaaaaht! Anyway, they're Team Hokage, and their first opponents are Team Ku: Kuukai the Hotoke, Saicho the killer of 1,000 men, Minamio, Fujimaru, and Daikoku (Daikoku is the name of one of the seven gods of luck, and represents wealth). They're also called the satsujin squad. Everyone in Team Ku says "Osu!" Which is kind of like... "Yo" or "Hey." They use it kind of like a more manly form of "hai," I think....The first fight of the Ura Buto Satsujin A Block is Mikagami vs. Daikoku. Daikoku is the master of the bo, a staff which is a madougu. Kage Houshi appears to give them information because Kurei sent her an invitation as well - probably so she could watch him kill her son. Anyway, Daikoku's bo is a madougu which spins and creates vibrations in the air thaht repeatedly reflect the impact, making it much more powerful than it seems. However, Mikagami is faster on his feet than Daikoku, and just avoids the bo's attacks.
Daikoku uses an ohgi, Hundred Strikes, which Mikagami is unable to avoid completely. Although he is thrown out of the ring, he was only moderately hurt by it. However, he is wounded on the leg, which prevents him from dodging as he was doing before. As he steps into the ring again, he looks over his shoulder at Recca, and says, "Do you know how to stop an electric fan? Allow me to demonstrate my answer." When Daikoku attacks him again, he uses his Ensui to defend against the attack, hitting the center of the bo's end every single time, a feat which amazes and astounds Daikoku. When Recca understands what Mikagami is doing, he explains via an SD mini-anime. Check out Mikagami's page for some shots from it. Kuukai, watching the fight, comments to Saicho that if Mikagami's kendo instructor was who he thinks, that Daikoku will not win. Daikoku uses his ultimate technique, 1,000 strikes. However, because Mikagami already memorized Daikoku's attack pattern, he evaded the strikes and used Ensui to break the bo, defeating Daikoku. And yes, Mikagami's master was Meguri Kyoza, and he uses the Hyomon Ken (which means something like "ice sword").
The second fight is Domon vs. Minamio. Minamio's seiyuu is Itou Kentaro. I like Minamio, actually. He's a decent guy, like most of Team Ku...anyway, Minamio is nowhere near as bulky as Domon is, but Domon's punches have no effect on Minamio's body. As Domon quaintly puts it, "Feels like I'm punching a tire..." Minamio uses the madougu Nan (soft), which makes his body rubber-like. Domon's fists can't hurt him, while his own are, as Kuukai says, "like the whip of a phantom." When Domon is told by Kage Houshi that Minamio's using a madougu, he pulls out his secret weapon: KuchibashiOh! Using the chain-beak, he catches and ties up Minamio, effectively stopping his body from having the yield that made Domon's fists so ineffective. Then he beats up Minamio. Unfortunately, before the match can be declared in Domon's favor, he passes out, and it's a draw. As Mikagami dryly comments, Domon needs to learn to fight with his head: he should have used KuchibashiOh earlier.
Following Domon's draw, Fuuko goes into the ring to fight the Ku's speed man, Fujimaru. Fujimaru's a total hentai, with no particular madougu. He fights using sickles, his incredible speed, and his dirty mouth. The first thing he asks Fuuko is her bra size. >_< Actually, I think Fujimaru's kind of funny, in a pathetic and creepy way. Anyway, Fujimaru's so fast on his feet that Fuuko can't hit him with the Fuujin. Fujimaru's using his sickles to cut off her clothing, to reveal her unmarried body to the audience. This pisses Fuuko off to no end. Which is understandable. Anyway, Fuuko pulls out her secret weapon: Oni no Tsume, Tsumemaru's madougu. Inserted into the spot in the Fuujin for the Kaze gem, it combines with Fuujin to create Kaze no Tsume (Shards or claws of the wind), where wind is sharpened into blade form.
She manages to knock the strength out of Fujimaru's legs, and he begs for his life, since he's pretty much useless without speed. Team Ku is disgusted by his shameful behavior. Anyway, Fujimaru is about to be smacked down by Fuuko when he says he only disrobed her because she reminded him of "Robo babe." Fuuko is overwhelmed, the dummy. She agrees to let Fujimaru go. However, this was merely a ploy, and he attacks her again, saying how could she be so stupid? How could anyone think such an ugly girl was like Robo babe? He keeps calling her "busu" (ugly) and it pisses her off. When Saicho (I think) tells Fujimaru he's shaming their team, Fujimaru's response is, "Shut up! I'm not weak, I'll do whatever it takes to win! I'd lie, cheat, and kill to win!" Ooh, that was a mistake. This only makes Fuuko say that she knows others who think like that -- Kurei and Mokuren. So she gets up, and her Kaze no Tsume detach from the Fuujin, flying through the air at Fujimaru. He dodges, making everyone think Fuuko's lost. While he concentrates on cuttong off what little remains of her clothing, the Kaze no Tsume come back and stab him in, well, the back. This time he really can't fight any more.
Fuuko: Ne...am I kawaii? Or busu?
Fujimaru: Of course you're super duper cute!
Fuuko (PUNCH): That was your last goddamn chance! I can tell when you're lying!
Fuuko also threatens the entire audience, that if they behave like Fujimaru, she'll kill them all. Go Fuuko! She kicks all kinds of ass. As she exits the arena, she nearly passes out. Saicho, before fighting Recca, crosses the area and gives Fuuko his jacket, bandaging her hurt arm with his paper. What a sweetie! Anyway, Saicho's fight with Recca begins. He says he will beat Recca in ten minutes or less!
Saicho's madougu is Shiki Gami, which controls paper. He first creates a small crane, which is pretty harmless, right? However, when the crane touches the arena, it explodes, creating a trench. Ha! Take that! Saicho's paper is not as harmless as it seems and it has the added bonus of being protected by his aura, which means that Recca can't burn it with his Flame. Saicho uses his paper in several ways, including Nuno Zurashin, the paper cyclone, which deflects Recca's attacks and Rokka Sen, which are shuriken-like origami. He also has Fuyo no Ken, the paper sword, which is a match for Saiha.
While they're fighting, the true purpose of the Ku is revealed. Some months ago, while Kuukai was gone, several of the Ku students hired themselves out as killers. When Saicho found out about it, he told them to stop. They told him if he didn't join them, they'd kill him. He formed Fuyo no Ken and began to fight them, but Kuukai's daughter, Misora, screamed his name, and he hesitated. Thus he was stabbed in the chest--painful, but not fatal. This wound has not healed, and is why his chest is wrapped. Because of it, he must defeat Recca within ten minutes, or he can no longer fight. Because of the students, the Ku got a reputation as killers. Because he fought them, Saicho got the reputation of killing 1,000 men. A stupid battle with his own students! But the Ura Buto Satsujin will remake the legend of the Ku only if Saicho defeats Recca. Otherwise, the Ku will lose then and there in the first stage. Using Nuno Zarashin, he deflects Nadare into the ring, and wraps Recca up like a mummy...including covering his mouth and nose so that he can't breath.
Saicho asks the referee to judge the match in his favor after a few moments so that he can let Recca go without killing him. Before the referee can declare Saicho the winner, however, Saiha emerges from Recca's arm and cuts him free...then goes for Recca's throat. Recca has to block his own arm, it's kind of funny. Now Saicho must use the gift given to him in parting by Misora: the thousand cranes. With the last of his energy, he lifts the cranes into the air to destroy Recca. However, Nadare, who was buried in the ring, was merrely lying in wait. Saicho's aura was not strong enough to protect his cranes from her Dan En, and they were all destroyed in the air. The time was past ten minutes...Saicho failed. He collapses from the exertion.
Kuukai comes and picks up Saicho, laying their madougu in front of Recca. The Ku have fallen. They turn to leave when Recca picks up Kuukai's madougu, which is like a necklace of Buddhist prayer beads, and throws it after Kuukai, whacking him in the back of the head. He demands to know why Kuukai is giving up, then offers Kuukai a chance: in the fight between Kuukai and Recca, whoever wins will advance. Team Hokage is astounded that Recca is so stupid that he's giving away their victory. Mikagami yells at him that he's putting Yanagi in danger. But Recca is a fool, and he stands by what he said, so Kuukai goes to fight him. I actually find the fight between them to be a little overdone, so I'll hit the hightlights here...
Kuukai offers Recca three chances to knock him out. If he doesn't knock Kuukai out on the third hit, then Recca will die. This terrifies Daikoku, who starts to beg Kuukai not to do it. He explains both Kuukai's sobriquet of Hotoke (Buddha) and Kuukai's madougu (Oni). They say that Buddha will forgive you three times. This explains the three-hit offer. But what frightens Daikoku is the Oni madougu. After being hit three times, its user turns into a demon who will not rest until he is killed, or he has killed the person who activated the madougu. The story he tells is how Kuukai happened to be away when their students began hiring themselves out as killers.
Misora was kidnapped by some yakuza who wanted to blackmail Kuukai into working for them. They had Kuukai and Daikoku (and I think Minamio, but I'm not sure) imprisoned as well. Kuukai would only say that he wanted his daughter back. Furious, the yakuza began to hit Kuukai. Once...twice...three times. Then the Oni was activated, and Kuukai broke free of his bonds, killing every man there in the yakuza. Probably a good dozen men were killed with his bare hands. Kuukai was arrested, and he promised Misora he'd be back, because it had been in self defense (and he had to have been acquitted somehow, because otherwise he'd be in jail or been put to death, probably). Daikoku is terrified that the Oni monster will show up again.
Of course, Recca hits Kuukai three times...once with Nadare, and I think twice with his own fists. The Oni is activated, and Kuukai begins to beat Recca. Kuukai's ultimate attack is Kuzetsu Shichi Kosatsu: an attack which hits the eight vital points on the body (reminds me of Kuzu Ryu Sen...). Of course, all the while he's beating on Recca, he's also telling Recca that if Recca wants to win, he must be strong enough to kill. Honestly, Kuukai is using himself as an abject lesson to Recca. He wants Recca to kill him. It is the only way to defeat the Oni. However, Recca says he won't kill Kuukai: instead, he will be the hero Minamoto, who defeated the Oni but was human. He will fight to make people happy! In the end, Recca acquires a third dragon, Homura, who is the fire-whip, and defeats Kuukai, who's just as happy to be left alive. "A fight to make people happy...what do you think of that, Saicho?"
Their next battle is against Uruha Maboroshi (maboroshi means phantom, illusion, vision, or dream - think of the "Maboroshi Tsuki" or Mystic Moon from Escaflowne). The first fight is Fuuko vs. Shiju...only Fuuko, who was wandering around with Domon, is nowhere to be found. She and Domon were precipitated into a trap! D'oh! They're in a weird hole which begins to fill with water when Domon stupidly pushes a button...>_< Anyway, because Fuuko doesn't appear, Koganei pops out of the crowd to fight for her. He wants to protect Yanagi-neechan. He ends up fighting Shiju, a man whose DNA was mixed with a lion's by Genjuro's psychic surgery. Although it looks tought at a few points--like when Shiju throws Kougan Anki in Mikazuki form to the ceiling--Kogenai manages to defeat the chimaera (well, to be a true chimaera he'd have to be lion, goat, and snake, but that's just me being anal) by shooting Shiju in the mouth with An.
However, there is still one problem: Domon and Fuuko haven't shown up, and if Domon isn't there to fight Uruha Maboroshi's X, they'll be disqualified. Genjuro proposes that they make it an elimination match so that the winner continues to fight until he is defeated. Mikagami, as leader, agrees.
Recca: Stop acting like the leader, you snob!
Mikagami: As Team Hokage's leader, I believe it is fair. We agree.
Recca: I said I'M the leader!!!
So Koganei faces X, who is none other than Nagai Mokuren, revived and improved by Genjuro! Mokuren puts his hand in his pocket, commenting, "Sashiburi da na, Koganei?" He says that he doesn't want to fight Koganei--they were partners, after all. They made a pretty good team, right? The crowd is furious, and someone insinuates some Mokuren-Koganei action (*feels about ready to vomit in horror at the thought*). Genjuro demands to know what Mokuren's doing, but Mokuren, as usual, listens to no one. Koganei lowers Kougan Anki. He has no problems with a draw! So he turns to walk away (you know, he should have been paying better attention to Fuuko's fight with Fujimaru...). Mokuren, of course, was lying. He uses the Kotodama and grabs Koganei, immobilizing him and preventing him from using Kougan Anki. Then Mokuren bursts not only out of his clothes but sort of out of his body, reforming into a large tree in the middle of the ring and pulling Koganei into his body. True partners should never be apart, right? Kougan Anki is pulled from Koganei's fingers as he's drawn into Mokuren's body. Ugh.
Recca is ready to burn Mokuren to the ground. However, Mikagami cuts the steps out from under him before he can go into the ring, and steps in instead, stating that since they aceeded to Genjuro's request, Genjuro should aceed to his. He wants to fight next instead of Recca. Genjuro has no complaints, so it is as Mikagami wishes.
Recca: Aaack! They changed it!
Mokuren looks at Mikagami and demands to know who he is. Mi-chan replies that he is proud of his name, and sees no reason to tell it to Mokuren. Ha! This pisses Mokuren off. By this time, Recca has figured out why it'd be a bad idea to burn Mokuren to the ground: Koganei-kun is still alive inside of Mokuren's body, and burning Mokuren would kill Koganei too. Duh. Anyway, the fight begins with Mikagami slicing the ends off of all of Mokuren's limbs. However, Mokuren's renegerative powers are amazing, and it does no good for Mikagami to do this. Mikagami then uses Ensui to freeze the ends of the branches as he cuts them off, preventing regeneration. Not a bad ploy, but Mokuren is a slimy bastard. Because Mikagami's attacking him, he's going to use every bit of energy he's got (and some that's not his) to win. That energy will be coming from Koganei's body (ew ew ew poor Koganei), so if Mikagami takes too long, Koganei will be nothing but a withered husk. The only way to save Koganei is for Mikagami to submit to Mokuren's torture. Mikagami plunges Ensui into the ring and steps back from the weapon. Mokuren reaches out with a branch and slaps Mikagami with it, then begins to beat him in earnest, all the while giggling, "Shi'ne! Shi'ne shi'ne! Shi'ne shi'ne shi'ne!" It's kind of freaky.
While all this is going on, Fuuko and Domon were rescued from their potential watery grave by Raiha, who explains to Fuuko that their intent was not to kill the Hokage members, but to draw Koganei out to fight. Then Raiha says that later, he and Fuuko will fight as well. The fate of their madougu, Fuujin and Raijin (thunder god), will draw them together. Then he leaves. Fuuko and Domon hurry to the satsujin dome to see Mokuren in tree form in the center. Fuuko trips over Fujimaru and is like, "Aah! You! The disgrace of the Ku!" Fujimaru freaks out and says, "You! The big breasted ugly - " *Whack* Fuuko slaps him. "You didn't have to say ugly!" Anyway, Fuuko and Domon rush down to the Hokage side, where Recca is preparing to jump in and save both Mikagami and Koganei. As punishment, he says, Fuuko and Domon can sit in the corner. Kage Houshi has also commented that Mikagami is beginning to care for others, because he respects Koganei enough to want to save him. Anyway, Recca goes up to the ring and puts his hand in the arena, only to pull it back with a yowl. The ring is like ice...
Mikagami gives Mokuren one last chance to let Koganei go, but of course Mokuren won't. Mikagami calls him a fool just before Mokuren's entire body freezes. Mokuren says that Mikagami will kill Koganei, but Mikagami has already seen where Koganei is because of the boy's gold cross, which, being metal, froze first. So he stabs through Mokuren and Koganei falls out, caught by Mikagami. But of course Mokuren is going to try to stab Mikagami in the back when Mikagami walks away with Koganei. Mikagami is not as stupid as Fuuko and Koganei, and anticipates this, cutting Mokuren out of his tree body with Zettai Reido (Absolute Zero). I think Mikagami kills him, but they show Mokuren hit the ring and say "My body is so cold" and then be ringed with ice. (I was going to say Mikagami's the only one who kills his opponents, but then there's Mikoto...more on her later)
Now Mokuren is done, and Koganei is rescued, Mikagami's next opponent shows up. She's a normal looking high school girl. For a moment Mikagami studies her, then he turns and heads down the steps. The referee says the match has already started. Mikagami smiles slightly, and puts one hand on his arm, which is bleeding, as Recca sees. "I don't think I can fight...I didn't realize how badly I was hurt. My wound's been bleeding too long," says Mikagami, before closing his eyes and gracefully crashing into Recca. Koganei, awake now, cries that it's his fault, but Mikagami tells him not to worry. So Recca goes to fight the girl, Meno. Fuuko bandages Mikagami's arm, looking at him suspiciously.
Fuuko: It's not like you to do this...why did you let Recca fight?
Mikagami (uncomfortably): Why not?
Fuuko: Ah! Don't tell me you didn't want to fight a girl!
Recca: Mikagami, you bastard! You should have to do this!
Mikagami: But you choose to fight Fuuko-san all the time!
Recca: Don't compare ugly Fuuko to that cutie!
Domon (nodding): True, it's because Fuuko is so unladylike.
Fuuko (kicks Domon in the face): What part of me is unladylike?
Domon: That part...
