Things are settling down at the Kamiya dojo. Former "fight merchant" Sanosuke has come to grips with his past, realizing that things may not be quite as black and white as he thought, that good men may serve bad causes, and vice versa. Yahiko, the angry-fisted young man, is learning to relax. And Kenshin is enjoying Kaoru's cooking. But even in these strange early days of modern Japan, there is such a thing as pure evil - Udo Jin-e, black-hatted, crazy-eyed former assassin, is still chasing the scent of blood, his mad thirst for vengeance felling the innocent and guilty alike. If a man kills too many, for too long, as Kenshin says, he loses his original purpose, and succumbs to the spell of blood. When hitokiri faces hitokiri, can Kensin withstand the hypnotic power of Jin-e?