The battle to decide the fate of Meiji-era swordsmanship has begun! Action, romance, and historical intrigue help make Nobuhiro Watsuki''s Rurouni Kenshin , the tale of a wandering swordsman set against the backdrop of the Meiji Restoration, one of the most popular Shonen Jump titles among fans to date. Himura Kenshin, once an assassin (or hitokiri ) of ferocious power, now fights to protect the honor of those in need. To build a new age, must one truly be mad enough to turn from the extreme justice that political allegiance requires? Deep in the Japanese countryside, far from the gore-spattered streets of the capital, a man who never knew what happiness was begins a new life as husband to a woman who claims to have nowhere else to go. If a man cannot fight to protect the woman he loves, what will become of the nation? Can one woman alone be enough to hold back the madness?