Before the title of the episode appears, we see a tall man standing at the edge of a cliff and looking downwards to what he calls "his kingdom." He pulls out a sword and points it to the sunset.
The entire KenshinGumi, Ayame and Suzume has arrived to Izu in order to take a small vacation from their busy everyday lives. Their hostess for this well-deserved holiday is Dr. Genzai's sister Hana, who looks exactly like the doctor himself (I know... It scared me too...) Halfway to Hana's place, the KenshinGumi makes a stop at Yutaro's mansion. Yutaro is a young boy about Yahiko's age. He lost his parents without ever knowing them and was given practically all of Izu when he was 5 years old.
Inside the mansion, the group is amazed by the sheer size of the place. Before they can say anything, Yutaro pops out of a room, Yelling at one of his servants. He demands to begin and learn kenjutsu immediately with an instructor that would be as powerful as his late father. Yutaro then notices the group and greets them hello, saying that they could stay as long as they want. After being told about Kenshin's strength, Yutaro decides to test his abilities. He takes them all to a large room and asks Kenshin to cut down a chandelier hanging from the ceiling, saying that his father could do it easily by the time he was 15. Kenshin smiles and politely rejects the offer, even though Yutaro tries to persuade him with various gifts. Annoyed with Yutaro's attempts to buy Kenshin with money, Yahiko grabs the rich child and throws him to the ground. Kauro breaks the fight quickly and apologizes to Yutaro, who in turn thanks her by throwing the entire group out of his mansion. Kenshin notes that Yutaro is acting so arrogantly because he grew up in a world where adults bow down to him, but if he finds a good instructor he could become an excellent swordsman.
Very angry by the show of disrespect mentioned earlier, Yutaro rides his horse dangerously fast in one of his afternoon horse riding lessons. Suddenly, a bunch of criminals stop Yutaro and kidnap him, planning to ask for ransom in return for his release. Meanwhile, the servant who was riding behind Yutaro escapes back to the mansion in order to call for help. The kidnappers prepare to take Yutaro and leave, but a giant man interrupts their plans. The man appears to be an expert swordsman which greatly impresses Yutaro. Unlike Kenshin, this man doesn't seem to mind killing and manages to murder nearly every single one of the kidnappers until Kenshin puts a stop to him. Excited, Yutaro asks the man for his name- It's Isurugi Raijuta.
Yutaro gathers all of his servants and announces that from now on Raijuta will live in the mansion and they all should respect him as if he was his own father. Raijuta, who is standing next to Yutaro, doesn't respond and leaves the house. Outside, Yutaro follows Raijuta who grabs his shinai and throws it into a burning fire, saying that shinais are nothing more than child's toys. He gives Yuta a real sword and declares him his student, a student of the Shinko Ryu.
Meanwhile, the KenshinGumi use their free time to bathe in some hot water springs, where Hana tells them that strange men have been staying at the Tsukayama estate lately and they've been using Yuta's treasure to buy mountains of weapons. Kenshin realizes something after hearing the name of the Shinko Ryu mentioned (we are not told what...)
Yutaro is training really hard, but it seems that all of his training is done solo. Raijuta is nowhere to be found. Kenshin visits Yutaro during his training in order to check up on him, but it seems Yutaro really resents him for some reason, saying that he doesn't compare to his sensei. Their conversation isn't long lived though- After finding out that Kenshin is Himura Battousai, Raijuta and a bunch of his men arrive at the edge of the cliff where Yutaro and Kenshin are and ask him to join the Shinko school. Raijuta explains that the Shinko Ryu plans to create its own empire where only the strongest of swordsmen will live. Kenshin declines, saying that innocent people will get hurt. He suggests that Raijuta and his colleagues learn how to adjust to the new era and stop chasing a false dream. The men surround Kenshin and attack him all at once, saying that he must die for knowing their secret. Kenshin notices that they all are pretty good, but still manages to easily avoid all of their attacks. Meanwhile, Yutaro, who's been hiding behind a rock, accidentally trips and falls off the cliff and into the river. This causes Kenshin to lose his focus and get knocked to the floor by one of the men. Raijuta commands the warrior to kill Kenshin.
