Hitokiri

Early Hitokiri
''"At the third night of the tenth year, a demon emerged from the shadows. His blade struck with the speed of light, his eyes glowed redder than the dawning sun, he caused more bloodshed than the strongest marauding army. He was a demon, a manslayer. His name would make his enemies tremble in fear, his footsteps frightening entire armies. He was Hitokiri." ''

- Poem from a Kunihae archive, describing Hitokiri

The first time the word "Hitokiri" were used was to describe a demon that had killed a thousand men on a battlefield, during the foundation of Taogakure. This man was called "Hitokiri" (literary meaning manslayer), because of the unbelieveable number of enemies he slaughtered with such ease. Later on more and more men would claim the title Hitokiri and become fierce elite warriors for whatever nation they fought for. The Demon Hitokiri took control of a young swordsman from the Tao clan to become physical, and after the death of that body, the spirit would travel to a new one. In this way the first Hitokiri could live on forever. It often took over the bodies of members of the Tao clan, since the spirit was created in Taogakure. When a Hitokiri spirit travels from one body to another, the new host still keeps his mind intact, but is influenced by Hitokiri's will and strength in difficult battles. Although this was an advantage for any warrior, few have actually wanted the Hitokiri spirit inside them. Many hosts of Hitokiri spirits have turned insane or became so aggressive that they have been executed by their own clan. Other "fake" Hitokiri were many, but none of them as strong as the true Hitokiri Demon. All Hitokiri were arguing about who was the strongest, and eventually these arguments turned out to be an open conflict that would be known as the Hitokiri Wars.

The Hitokiri Wars
"This isn't a battle, it's a massacre!"

- A Kunihae soldier after watching the destruction caused by only a few Hitokiri

The Hitokiri Wars was at the beginning a minor conflict between groups of Hitokiri, all struggling for the title of the strongest. The outbreak of the war happened during the Taogakure Revolutionary War, 50 years before the official date of the first battle. A squad of ten Hitokiri from Taogakure slaughtered more than six thousand Imperialist soldiers at the eastern Taogakure beach. All factions that were fighting against any Hitokiri had realized that muskets, cannons, and other gunpowder-based ranged weapons were the only effective counter to the Hitokiri, who were always using swords and close combat weapons. But the muskets at this early time was very inaccurate and took many minutes to reload, so large amounts of money was put into the developement of repeating rifles, which would be successful after 25 years. The new muskets were accurate and had faster reload time, rarely more than 20 seconds, and proved effective against Hitokiri. Although the advantage still belonged to the Hitokiri, their casualties were now much larger because of their enemy's new weapons. Eventually the Hitokiri were pushed back, both by gunpowder weapons and other Hitokiri that had joined the enemy with hopes of survival. When Hitokiri was fighting each other alongside armies of regular soldiers, the casualties were great for all factions. More than 500 000 000 men were killed before peace finally was signed. However, the peace would only last for less than 50 years before a great military power known as Shourigakure, a city founded by the defeated Imperialists from the first war, invaded Kunihae and Taogakure. The second part of the Hitokiri wars, which is known as the "real" war, started when the second army of Hitogumi joined the war. Not only were they many well-trained soldiers, but they were also using hundreds of Hitokiri. The use of Hitokiri increased in Taogakure, Hitogumi, and Shourigakure at this time, while their numbers decreased in Kunihae. Kaon Sabaku never favored Hitokiri and their forces only consisted of basic soldiers. Eventually Emperor Shourisha II of Shourigakure ordered the execution of all Hitokiri, including the ones used by Shourigakure. For this duty, he developed the T-90 assault rifle, an easily portable machine gun. The Great Hitokiri Purge would be the historical name of this military operation, where the majority of Hitokiri were hunt down and executed, drastically reducing the strength of the Hitogumi. But when the Emperor was assassinated and there was noone else to lead the armies of Shourigakure, the Imperialists surrendered and a peace treaty was signed. The Wolves of Shigai, an organization working for Shourigakure, and the alien Iseijin species, were the only ones that could defeat Hitokiri in a fair battle.

The true Hitokiri
"Why am I alive? Why do I exist? Is my only purpose in life to kill others? Yes... I am Sagara... the Manslayer."

- Sagara Tao

The demon known as the first Hitokiri are located inside Sagara Tao, the main character of the series. Sagara realizes this at the age of 12, when he kills several Shourigakure soldiers without realizing it. When asking Captain Sozo what happened to him, the captain answered by telling the truth, that Sagara Tao was the host of a demon swordsman. Sagara often tried to hold back the Hitokiri inside him, but at some moments there was no possiblity to resist. In the final battle against Shourisha II, Sagara uses the second strongest form of Hitokiri's power to defeat the man who have caused him so much pain. The full strength of the Hitokiri is unknown, but it is said that if he would use Hitokiri's full potential he could destroy the entire world. Sagara, however, promises never to kill again after he had completed his revenge against the Imperialists, and wanders the world for 10 years without even thinking of hurting others. The spirit of Hitokiri still lies deep inside Sagara's soul, waiting for the right moment to appear again and return Sagara's name: "Sagara no Hitokiri" (Sagara the Manslayer).

The new generation
"A Hitokiri kills out of his own free will, but he doesn't choose his victims."

- Kagai

A new generation of Hitokiri were shown at the end of the series, consisting of six young warriors that possessed skills greater than any other Hitokiri, except the demon sealed into Sagara Tao. These new Hitokiri were Kensai Tsuki, Osore Kasai, Sojiro Okita, Hajime Okita, Kagai, and Shen Tao. Who is the strongest of these is hard to say, but it is probably Kensai Tsuki or Shen Tao. Kensai is a Hitokiri who kills one at the time very quickly and easily while Shen Tao uses much energy for multi-destructive attacks. Kensai is also more trained for single combat while Shen Tao is used to large field battles against multiple enemies. Hajime Okita is also a very strong samurai, who have mastered the ultimate form of Gatotsu, a technique that cannot be parried nor evaded. The spirit of Captain Sozo guides these Hitokiri to furfill their duty as protectors of Taogakure. However, Hajime and Sojiro Okita are former members of the Shigai Swordsmen, and are most likely attempting to occupy Taogakure once again. Also, Kagai is not a very loyal follower of the Hitogumi's goals, but simply enjoys killing. But they are all powerful. Lord Wakai Tenshu is also a member of the new Hitokiri generation, but he will stay with his Christians in Kunihae and protect them instead of joining any more wars.