The episode begins with a short introduction to the tale of Hittokiri Battousai, the notorious assassin from the days of the 19th century Japanese revolution. We are told on how he was the best swordsman in those days but how he disappeared once the chaos came to a close, never to be seen again.

Our story begins in 1878, the 11th year of the new Meiji era in downtown Tokyo...

A young lady chases a short, red-headed man down the street, thinking that he is the legendary Hittokiri Battousai. He manages to quickly dodge her wooden sword but he isn't able to land correctly and falls flat on his butt... The girl is surprised to see the famous Battousai in such an awkward situation and asks him if he is really the Hittokiri who killed 3 men the previous night. The man explains that he is not the famous assassin and that he is just a mere Rurouni (vagabond, wanderer), he then shows her his sword as proof, the girl looks shocked to discover that the blade on his sword is reversed, thus rendering his sword unable to kill anything (a Sakabatou.)

A police whistle is heard. The young girl leaves the Rurouni behind and goes to check what the commotion is all about. A very tall man, claiming to be Battousai, is attacking the police. The girl leaps in the air, trying to hit the man, but she does no succeed. Instead she receives a wound on her arm. The Battousai then attempts to kill her but unfortunately for him the Rurouni makes it there just in time to save her. Hittokiri Battousai then runs into the shadows while shouting that he is Hittokiri Battousai of the Kammiya Kasshin Ryu. The girl tries hopelessly to run after him but the Rurouni holds her tight and tells her that it useless to try, she then passes out, not before telling him that the Kammiya Kasshin Ryu is in fact her and her family's style of Kenjutsu and that the murderer is just killing people in their name for no reason.

A day passes. The girl wakes up in the Kammiya Kasshin dojo, where she lives. At first she does not remember what happened to her last night, but as she soon recalls the brave Rurouni saved her life. Outside, the Rurouni is making soup with the help of two little kids, Ayame and Suzume. After tasting some of his cooking she proposes that he stays at her dojo for a while. After all, he did save her life. (also, we now know that the girl's name is Kammiya Kauro.)

The last remaining students of the Kammiya Kasshin Ryu arrive at the school and tell Kauro that they wish to quit... It appears that no one wants to stay at a school that sides with an assassin like Hittokiri Battousai. Kauro looks extremely sad and disappointed while the Rurouni looks at her from afar.

After the Rurouni accidentally peeks on Kauro while she was taking a bath to ease her troubled mind she locks him in a room in the dojo as punishment. He asks her if one of the students of her school was left handed with a paralyzed right thumb. She can't believe how rude he is to actually believe that the Battousai went to the Kammiya Kasshin dojo, which whole purpose is to teach the sword that protects life rather than the sword that takes life. She tells him that he is just the bloodthirsty Battousai and that she will risk her life to save her father's ideals. The Rurouni replies that he doesn't think her father would have wanted his ideals protected at the price of his daughter's life. She yells at him and says that he doesn't understand anything, and then heads to bed. Trying to sleep, she can't forget the words the Rurouni told her. She goes to where he stayed in order to apologize but he is not there anymore. She didn't even ask for his name... She goes back to sleep.

Flashback: The very young Kauro watches as a tall man, attending her father's dojo, is violently attacking the other students while rambling on about how swords are meant to kill. Kammiya Koshijiro, Kauro's father, proceeds to punish the young student (named Hiruma Goheh) by hitting his right thumb, paralyzing it, and banning him from the Kammiya Kasshin dojo forever.

Kauro wakes up from her dream. She now realizes that the "Battousai" is in fact Hiruma Goheh! Just then the dojo's doors open and in steps Goheh, smiling evilly, accompanied by his band of followers. Kauro bravely attacks him, but it is no use, for he is much stronger than her. He breaks her wooden sword and grabs her, lifting her high up in the air and asking his followers who of them wants to hurt her first. A second later the dojo doors open again and the Rurouni steps in and asks Goheh to remove his hands from her. Kauro warns him that Goheh is very powerful but it is of no use. Goheh commands his followers to kill the Rurouni who dared interrupt with his plan, but as they jump towards him for the kill, he just hits all of them with a few simple moves, sending them to sleep for a while. The Rurouni adds that the REAL Battousai didn't use one of the new original styles of fighting developed more recently, he used the ancient Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, an ultrasonic style of fighting that defeats all opponents, even when using a Sakabatou. All present in the room then realize that the Rurouni is in fact the real Hittokiri Battousai. Goheh, thinking he has a chance, says that there is room only for one Battousai. The Rurouni seems to agree with him and within a second hits him from above, burying his entire upper body in the floor and paralyzing his left thumb as well.

The Rurouni apologizes for all the troubles he has caused and prepares to leave the dojo forever. Kauro tells him that she wishes he will stay and continues to tell him that even if he doesn't stay she still wants to know his name, his real name. "Kenshin, Himura Kenshin" is the name he tells her. He will stay, however he warns her that as a Rurouni he shouldn't stay at one place for a long time and that he never knows when he will go on wandering again.