HIGHLIGHTS:
Sano wanders the forest totally lost. He is getting frustrated and hungry. He pulls out his last bun. Suddenly, there is loud boom that shakes the ground, which causes Sano to drop his food.
Sano discovers that the person behind the noise is a fallen Monk. The Monk tells Sano that he seeks power that surpasses even Gods and Buddha.
When Sano reveals he wants to get stronger, as well as, his hate for the Meiji Government, the Monk shows him a technique called the Mastery of Two Layers, also known as, Futae no Kiwami. It can pulverize an object.
Sano is told to learn the technique in one month or die. (Since the technique is secret, the Monk must kill him if he fails.) The over confident Sano declares that he will learn it in one week.
By the third day, Sano realizes that the technique is not easy to learn. The Monk allows him to reconsider, but Sano refuses.
On the night of the sixth day, Sano does not show up to eat at the campfire. His hand is a bloody mess. He has trained all day and is so weak and tired that he has a hallucination (or sees a ghost) of Captain Sagara. The Captain orders him to stop, but Sano refuses stating that he needs power so he can crush irrational violence with his own hands.
On the 7th day, the Monk finds Sano sleeping on a rock. He initially thought the young man was dead. Imagine the Monk's shock when Sano shows that he can do the Mastery of Two Layers.
Not long after, Sano is given directions. The Monk, who introduced himself as Anji Yukyuzan, says they are currently in Shimosuwa. Sano laughed as Shimosuwa was the land where the Sekiho Army met its end. No wonder it looked familiar to him.
After Sano leaves, a familiar figure appears before Anji. Uh oh...seems Anji is a member of Shishio's Ten Swords.