After seeing a short scene where a woman is running away from two thugs we are immediately transferred to a gambling hall where Sanosuke, Kenshin and a couple of other guys are playing dice. Sanosuke, relying on the prediction skills of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, asks Kenshin to tell him where the dice are going to land... Kenshin gets it wrong every single time. Kenshin tells Sano that Kenjutsu predictions and dice predictions are two separate things and that what he's doing is illegal anyway. Sano replies that it is just a game between friends on some spare change, nothing serious. After another unsuccessful roll Sanosuke asks his friends where Yoita, the candy man, is... They tell him that Yoita died of an opium overdose. Sanosuke's mood changes from cheerful to sad and angry, he can't believe what just heard. "Who in the world would sell opium to Yoita," he wonders. Suddenly, a woman enters the hall. She notices that Kenshin has a sword and runs hysterically towards him, asking that he help her. The two thugs who chased her enter the room. Sanosuke doesn't want to be disturbed right now as he is pissed from the news about his friend dying. He punches one thug in the face, sending him flying into the hands of the second thug. The second thug warns him that they are personal bodyguards of Takeda Kanryu and they are not to be messed with. Sano throws a plate at his face. Sano's friends warn him that this Kanryu is no match even for him. Takeda Kanryu is a young entrepreneur, but in actuality he runs his most profitable business underground and has dozens of bodyguards. Megumi, the woman who's been asking for help, doesn't seem to know him, but a voice from behind claims otherwise. A very short and ugly man named Beshimi suddenly appears, he tells Megumi that she shouldn't lie. Suddenly, Beshimi shoots two darts, hitting Ginji and Tomo, two of Sano's friends! And now he shoots another two darts, preparing to hit Megumi's legs. Kenshin then quickly leaps in front of her, blocking the spiraled darts using the floor mat. Sanosuke and Kenshin proceed to hit Beshimi hard at he same time, sending him flying through the wall.

Back at the Kammiya Dojo, Kauro is amazed to find out that Kenshin and Sano brought home a woman. Kauro, in a jealousy tantrum, starts beating Kenshin up. Megumi just grabs Kenshin and hugs him, asking him if he prefers her over "that violent girl."

It's nighttime. Takeda Kanryu is sitting on a rooftop having a juicy steak for dinner while his two bodyguards, who failed their mission of capturing Takani Megumi, are being murdered by a mob of Kanryu's men on the ground. Kanryu is talking to a tall man, standing beside him- The Oniwabanshu okashira (leader, boss), Shinomori Aoshi. He tells him that as long as he gets Takani Megumi he has no complaints... A man called Hannya (who we can't see) is reporting that Takani Megumi is staying at the Kammiya Kasshin Dojo downtown. Aoshi commands that he, Beshimi and another Oniwabanshu called Hyottoko go to the dojo and get Megumi back.

Back at the dojo, Megumi is talking to Kenshin about the situation. She explains that Kanryu has about 60 bodyguards and that the worst are Aoshi's Oniwabanshu. But no matter how Kenshin tries to ask, Megumi refuses to give him information about why Kanryu is chasing her... Megumi and Kenshin leave the shed where they talked, only to find Kauro, Sanosuke and Yahiko outback waiting for them. Suddenly the wall of the dojo breaks apart. A huge man enters, asking for Megumi, he tells them that his name is Hyottoko, a member of the Oniwabanshu. Sanosuke decides to tale this battle for himself: He jumps up in the air, dodging Hyottoko's punches and starts punching Hyottoko's stomach repeatedly. It has no effect. Hyottoko grabs Sanosuke and laughs. Suddenly, outside of Hyottoko's mouth comes a huge wave of fire, burning Sano's legs! Kenshin doesn't seem impressed, he tells Hyottoko that his little trick won't work on him. Hyottoko gets annoyed with Kenshin for calling his 'lethal fire breath' a trick and decides to kill him. Kenshin spins his sword rapidly, blocking the flames coming out of the giant's mouth until Hyottoko's oil runs out. But Sanosuke won't let Kenshin finish him off, he thanks Kenshin for his help and decides to attack Hyottoko himself. Hyottoko just drank another bag of oil and he is ready to fire away (bad pun). Instead of trying to dodge it, Sano runs straight towards the flames coming out of Hyottoko's mouth, thus reducing the burns received from the fire and making it easier to attack as well. Sano punches Hyottoko in the mouth, shoving his hand through his throat and pulling the bag of oil out. Sano jumps in the air and kicks Hyottoko directly in the face. The battle is over. Megumi is amazed with Kenshin and Sanosuke's power, even though Sano is injured and burned she still can't believe he won at all. Just then one of Beshimi's darts, who sitting on a tree nearby, comes flying towards Megumi!

With quick thinking, Yahiko leaps towards the dart, blocking it with his arm. Yahiko tells the worried Kauro that it is only a scratch and that he could hardly feel it, but he suddenly faints. Beshimi explains that his darts are filled with poison and that poor Yahiko won't even last an hour. Annoyed, Kenshin jumps up in the air and prepares to hit Beshimi but a freaky masked man snatches Beshimi from behind. He takes Beshimi and Hyottoko on his shoulder and escapes, not before telling Kenshin that he is looking forward to battling him. "He's strong," Kenshin thinks to himself... Meanwhile, Yahiko is dying! Kauro prepares to suck the poison out of Yahiko's wound but Megumi stops her. She tells Kauro that sucking the poison may cause infections and won't do any good. She sits next to Yahiko and examines him, she realizes that Yahiko has been poisoned with mandara (thorn-apple) poison! She tells Kauro to go buy medications, Kenshin to boil some water and Sano to buy as much ice as he could. The group is in disbelief from the amount of experience Megumi seems to have. Megumi carries Yahiko into a room and just before leaving to buy ice, Sanosuke finds something odd that fell from Megumi's pockets... Opium.