[Episode 185374] [Episode 185374]Still, before he could do anything, Ranma needed to find a way to defeat the old fart. Turning the book back a little further, to just after the Great Eight Treasures, Ranma found a section that listed ‘Notable Past Students’.
Stopping there, the pigtailed martial artist decided that, perhaps, if he could see some of the past, he could perhaps get an idea of his own fate and what the Curse of Anything Goes further does to people. Maybe this even listed people who had escaped the curse!
With that last thought in mind, a hopeful Ranma started reading from the book once again.
Happosai has taken on many students over the years, unfortunately, most of them end up being mediocre at best, and broken early on by their own vices which are either bestowed upon them, or enhanced by the curse to terrific proportions, further damning them.
However, sometimes, the curse of Anything Goes has effected students in such ways, there are those that rise above being merely poor souls that were caught up in what they do not understand. They are people who embraced Anything Goes as Happosai would have wanted them to, and became outright trouble in their own right and bringing cataclysm to others, had they meant it or not.
It was also the events that surrounded the lives of some of his greatest past students, that made the decision for Happosai’s current generation of students.
Wincing, Ranma got the distinct feeling that this was going to be bad...
Jigo Fubuki, (1386 - 1460) was Happosai’s disciple during the Muromachi Period, which was considered to be the transition period between the medieval period and the early modern period. This was a favorite time of Happosai’s as it was when the power of the shoguns he so hated greatly declined, and once out of power, would lead into the Warring States Period. The Samurai, once considered the greatest caste in all of Japan, were losing a lot of the nobility and honor they once held, and were becoming little more than glorified thugs; something Happosai took joy in witnessing.
The reason for the decline was many; this was the time when Japan started to grow rapidly in population, and Japan also began to cut down many forests, not just to acquire more living space for the people, but also to dig out the Earth’s natural resources, especially iron. Primitive guns were manufactured as well as exported in from China, whom trading connections had been re-established with. However it should be noted that Japan’s own style of firearms technology and manufacturing was acquired from the Portuguese, giving it a distinctively European feel.
Meeting Happosai just after the turn into the century 15th century, Jigo was trained in the way of Anything Goes, and proved that he was rather adept at the style, taking to the aspects of mid-air combat as well as showing he had the cunning and adaptability which were focal points of the practitioners of the cursed school.
The curse effected Jigo in many ways, as is par the course for the curse. The greater one became at the art of Anything Goes, they would either gain many immoral attributes or their one great fault would be amplified to further heinousness. Jigo, in a way, would be similar to modern student Genma Saotome. He would be gluttonous, ignorant, selfish, callous, and greedy. But unlike Genma, who had the Saotome Charm to lessen these effects, (and was also impeded from many things by sloth/laziness) Jigo would progress further into such aspects, and would especially be enveloped by greed. He would come to worship money, especially gold; similar to Nabiki Tendo in that aspect, actually.
“No surprise there...” Ranma mumbled to himself. It seemed a lot of his and the Tendo’s worst attributes came from that damned school.
After a decade of tutelage under Happosai, Jigo and the Grandmaster parted ways. Eventually, Jigo would join up with the Jibashiri, a group of ruthless mercenaries, con-artists, and hunters that posed as Buddhist Monks. Traveling from one troubled province to the next, they would capitalize on the situations and do what they could behind the scenes to further things along into a worse scenario before becoming actively involved, and line their pockets with the payment received from helping bring relative peace back to the area.
Ranma twitched there. The guy had his group posing as holy men? What a jerk!
Over the years. Jigo would make his dishonest living with his skills, but never truly gained the wealth he desired, (possible bad luck that was further enhanced by the curse of his art). However, in 1437, the aging mercenary monk would be given an opportunity of a lifetime.
The Emperor, Ashikaga Yoshinori, (the sixth Shogun of the Ashikaga Shogunate) had reached middle-age, and rumors were going around. It was obvious there was discontent about his style of ruling the other Shogun and Samurai, and assassination was looking to be a likely outcome. In hopes of being able to stand up to what was looking to be an inevitable occurrence, Yoshinori made a public decree that he would award a hill of gold to the person/people that would help him attain immortality.
Seeing this as the event that would bring him the riches he so greatly desired, Jigo went to the Emperor and brought forth his plan to give the ruler that which he desired as well. He would attain the head of a greater God and then bring it to the Emperor. After all, with such a powerful artifact and blood, it could surely be used to elevate the Emperor’s own heavenly mandate to a greater level, possibly making him into a true god on earth. Yes, it would seem like an insane thing to boast, but greed spurred Jigo on.
And luckily for Jigo, Ashikaga’s fear and paranoia worked to his advantage. Agreeing to this plan, the Emperor wrote a pardon for Jigo, allowing him the right to and forgiveness for having to kill a God. After all, he would be doing it for the sake of his Emperor, and in Yoshinori’s eyes, was there anything more just than that? The Emperor even knew which God to kill and to take its immortality from for himself.
At the time, Lord Asano, one of the Shogunate’s greatest Daimyo, was at heads with Lady Eboshi, the leader of an industrial village known as ‘Iron Town’ and the director of the ‘Ironworks’, Japan’s greatest iron manufacturing industry. Lord Asano wished to take all of it away from the woman, feigning it was for the Emperor, even though what mostly spurred him on was the fact a woman was becoming richer and more influential than most of the Samurai Class were at the time. Jealousy is a very powerful thing.
However, as he sent back scribes to report on his situation, Asano also brought tales of all the numerous hazards in the area, particularly the Great Forest Spirit: Shishigami. Ruler of the forest areas around Iron Town, this great God had the powers over life and death. And at night, would take on a secondary, truly celestial form of Didarabocchi: the Night Walker. It was also reported that this God was the ruler over all the lesser Gods of the Forest, ancient and noble creatures that were very wise, and many times larger than normal animals. These Gods were capable of using and communicating in human speech, as well as having the ability to live hundreds of years. However, as each generation passed, the animals got smaller and smaller, as well as becoming less intelligent.
Ranma stared at the passage and read over it again. There was a student of the Anything Goes that got an audience with the Emperor? And got permission to hunt a God!?
Gulping nervously, Ranma couldn’t help but draw a parallel there between this and how he had also had to go up against a certain celestial individual over in Mount Phoenix...
It is unclear how many animals were once like this, but by the Muromachi Period, only the apes, boars, and the wolf clans were still intelligent.
The apes were known for their wisdom, thought, and knowledge. They could not fight, so they planted trees to attempt to reforest the mountains. Very passive-aggressive at best.
The boars were known for their brute strength. They are usually the defenders of the forests, because of their physical might and the large numbers of their tribes. While they were not as intelligent as the other two species, they prided themselves for attacking from the front, even though it was useless, going to a warrior's death rather than be slaughtered. The boars were the strongest of the three god animal clans still around, and they could grow to a tremendous size.
The wolves were somewhere in between the boars and the apes. They were not as intelligent as the apes, nor were they as strong as the boars, but they also had a distinct level of cunning and courage within them.
Ranma nodded his head. Okay, that was interesting. Japan had still held god-like creatures on the lands up to just six-hundred years ago, at least.
It also made him wonder if he should try to get P-Chan to learn to talk. The boars certainly sounded like Ryoga.
Seeing these as an undeniable threat to the area, as they were giving problems to Lady Eboshi before Lord Asano came around, the Emperor knew if his people were to truly take hold of the Ironworks after wresting it from the previous owners, that there would still have trouble. But it was understood that once Shishigami was killed, the animals would revert to mere beasts, and offer a lesser level of resistance to the Daimyo’s attack on the territory so he could completely claim it in name of the Shogunate.
Without hesitation, Jigo set forward, taking his own path to stake things out while the rest of the Jibashiri went another path with the majority of the supplies. After all, a hill of gold was at stake, and they had to give this their all!
Along the way, Jigo got caught up in a skirmish at a village, where Samurai were razing the houses and killing the defenseless villagers. Although he stayed out of trouble and sight for the most part, Jigo’s attention was caught by a young man with a bow riding a red elk. The young man could fire his arrow with such force and accuracy that he literally disarmed one samurai, (both weapon and his arms in one shot) and decapitated another. Jigo was so impressed, that he followed the direction he saw the man headed towards when he fled. He felt he could use such a person in the Jibashiri
Eventually meeting up with the individual, he found that the warrior was actually a young prince. The last prince of a group of Emishi people yet to be integrated into Japanese society. Prince Ashitaka was under a curse of Nago, a boar god from the region that Jigo was heading to. Realizing that the youth’s intentions were pure, and that he was more of a pacifist than anything else, Jigo let him go on ahead, not wanting this boy to find out his own agenda, and get in the way.
Reaching his destination and teaming up with Lady Eboshi under the pretense of, ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’, (even though his intention was to eventually have her thrown out of power for the Emperor) Jigo, the Jibashiri, and Lady Eboshi and her group of warriors made their way to the sacred spot in the forest where Shishigami dwelled, intent on killing the beast.
Although there was some hassle with Lord Okkoto, the elder boar god, and as Jigo predicted, the Emishi prince, things still progressed as the malicious monk had wanted. Despite Ashitaka and Shishigami’s attempts to stop her, Eboshi managed to use her rifle to shoot Shishigami in the neck just as the sun was going down and his body was beginning to change into the Nightwalker. From that shot, his head was severed completely and Jigo and his men claimed it.
Ranma had to whistle. Damn. They had killed a god. Although it was actually the woman that did it, the fact was that another student of Anything Goes had been involved with the death of a celestial entity.
However, as this was happening, Shishigami’s body began to ooze a black essence that drained the life from everything in its path, trying to get its head back. Needless to say, now that Jigo and his men had Shishigami’s head in a warded steel box, they tried to run off and evade the dark power they helped create.
In the process, the Shishigami’s demonic remains continued the search for its head, killing much of the forest and destroying the Ironworks in the process. Ultimately, San, the adopted human daughter of the wolf goddess Moro and Ashitaka physically forced Jigo to return the Shishigami;s head. They managed to stall him long enough so that the Shishigami caught up with them and he had to return the head, lest face death. He reluctantly surrendered it to the two youths.
As Prince Ashitaka and Princess Mononoke presented the head to its former owner, Ashitaka’s curse begin to rapidly accelerate and spread to San, quickly covering their entire bodies. Thus appeased, the defiled Night Walker’s killing touch was abated, and the remains fell as the sun rose. Its disappearance was followed by a great wind, which blew out the flames consuming Ironwork’s remains, and swept away the Lord Asano’s samurai encampment. When the wind stopped blowing, the surviving humans were astonished to witness the Shishigami’s final gifts: a blanket of green grasses, flowers, and the shoots of new trees covering the vast empty plain that the fighting and its rampage turned the forest into.
And so it was that Jigo Fubuki had caused great upset to the balance of Nature, causing the death of gods, numerous animals, plant-life, and people... all so he could have gotten more gold than he could have ever have need for. Japan would never be the same as some of its last great ties to magic were destroyed in this event that was brought on mostly by Jigo and the Jibashiri’s doing. And all the monk would get from it was the loss of respect from his group, loss of face to the Emperor, and the loss of his goal. He would live a few more decades in obscurity before he would die old, alone, and destitute.
Still, to his credit, this would also mark an important event for the School as the Emishi bloodline was introduced to the presence of Anything Goes. And in finding out this event, Happosai was interested in getting the youths acquainted with his teachings.
Although Ashitaka and his chosen San never fell into the Art of Anything Goes as they were both pure individuals, (despite the demonic taint that had been forced upon Ashitaka until being cleansed by Shishigami) their descendants would eventually become entwined with the accursed school in two of their modern descendants. Genma and Ranma Saotome.
That last part caught Ranma’s attention. He was a descendant of those that had fought against the Emperor and the Shogunate’s right to rule over the lands? The descendant of a woman who was adopted by a Goddess!?
Taking a moment to consider that, Ranma wasn’t sure what to think. Happosai had possibly been actively after his bloodline since then, (the book didn’t say one way or the other). That meant he’d known what he and his Pops were descended from while they had no clue, and wanted to use them to his advantage.
Frowning, Ranma sighed as he took his mind off of his ancestors and back to the man that got them caught up into it. Jigo ended up a broken man in the end, and it seemed for him, that was a worse punishment than having died sooner. He had nothing to his name and lost everything he had. Perhaps that was the final curse of the school. To die in a way you’d not want.
Still, despite all this, there was more to read. Focusing his thoughts, Ranma continued onto the next segment of students.
Happosai’s next most notable student lived during Japan’s Meiji Restoration; the transition between the Keio and Meiji Periods. Makoto Shishio, (1836 - 1872) was a weak child when Happosai had found him, who had suffered many illness before the two’s paths crossed. Sensing a similar hatred for the Tokugawa Shogunate, (as the right for Samurai to rule over all others had been brought back in 1608 by Oda Nobunaga) it was understandable that Happosai took interesting in the youth. For one to have such hatred for the samurai, much like himself... something terribly had to have happened to Makoto for him to hate them nearly as much as Happosai did after centuries of accumulating it.
Taking the youth under his wing, Happosai trained him in the Art of Anything Goes. Even he was surprised by how well the boy took to it. Although Shishio preferred to use blades rather than bare hands, Happosai could not fault him. The power behind his techniques was amazing, and performing with the true aspect of Anything Goes, Shishio just seemed to be a sponge for weapons techniques, seemingly able to use them right after having it performed on him once.
The reason Shishio had the ability to learn techniques rapidly was because of rare aspect of Anything Goes. As it was more of a boon, it was rarely passed on. However, once in a great while, a student will attain this aspect of the curse. Today, Ranma Saotome is an Anything Goes practitioner that has managed to tap into that aspect; one of the few good things he’s managed to get from the accursed Anything Goes.
Ranma stared at that paragraph with wide eyes. Not only was he mentioned once again, but it told him something else about himself. The fact he would be able to learn techniques wasn’t something of his own nature, it was actually granted to him by the Anything Goes School?
His interested piqued, Ranmka continued reading, to see if there were anymore similarities between him and this ‘Shishio’.
In 1862, at the age of twenty-six, Shishio joined the newly formed Meiji Ishin, as they intended to overthrow the Shogunate once and for all. Happosai was thrilled by the concept that a student of his was actively working to overthrow the most-hated Samurai, that he bestowed Shishio with the status of ‘master’ of the Anything Goes School, (making him the first and only master of the art that was outright ordained by Happosai). Along with the title, he even gave his student of the past twelve years another parting gift: the serrated-blade, Mugenjin, (which would become Shishio’s favored blade).
Ranma smirked a little. So, his Pops and Tendo-san were NOT true masters of the art? While normally, this was something he could ridicule them over with, in light of current events, it might have been a blessing. It might of meant there was hope to save them.
After the death of Yukishiro Tomoe, (the eldest daughter of a samurai, a low-level bureaucrat who served the Tokugawa Shogunate) Shishio Makoto became the successor of the Shadow Hitokiri, when the previous successor Kenshin Himura stepped down to become a wandering swordsman. Shishio would use his newfound rank and power to keep the Shadow Hitokiri going for the Meiji Ishin and assassinate Izuka, the man who had betrayed his comrades of the Meiji, and in part, caused the death of Yukishiro Tomoe.
However, unlike with his predecessor, the Meiji were more secretive about Shishio; many members of the Satsuma and Choshu clans, (the members of the future Meiji government) would have very little to do with him openly, and in truth, want little to do with someone who they saw as mentally-unstable, but with skill that was on par with Himura.
Then, in 1868, the new Meiji government believed it would be in their best interests to eliminate Shishio before he became too powerful, since they viewed Shishio as a man who desired power over holding loyalty to the Meiji. They weren’t that far off. A way the curse of Anything Goes effected Shishio was that it took his desire for greater power, (be it strength, intelligence, or prestige) and enhanced it to near-insane levels.
Thus, at the ending battle of the year-long Boshin War, Shishio was knocked unconscious from a blow to the head, doused in oil, and burned alive by the new government formed by the Ishin Shishi.
Ranma winced as he had to feel for the guy there. That had to suck.
However, the will to survive was strong within Shishio, as it was focused from by his desire for power, which in turn, was fueled by the Anything Goes. But even though he survived, Shishio sustained severe damage to his entire body that would never properly heal. Afterwards, he assembled a group of the best fighters in Japan he christened as the Juppongatana, (Ten Swords) to overthrow the Meiji government, so that he would rule Japan, enforcing the principles of natural selection, or what he called ‘Survival of the Fittest’.
And in part of that belief, Shishio wanted to use his adaptability to learn Kenshin’s ultimate technique, the ‘Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki’. It was an incredibly powerful technique that he knew would be of greatest use to his own array of Anything Goes-adapted sword-styles. However, to learn it, Shishio knew he had to experience the technique first-hand. To make it harder for him, a result of the damage done to body was that his sweat glands were no longer operational due to being burned alive. He could fight for no more than fifteen minutes; otherwise his temperature would continue to rise.
Still, his pride fueled endlessly by the curse, Shishio pompously invited Kenshin to his lair and after having him and his group each fight other strong opponents, all of whom were taught a measure of Anything Goes by Shishio, fought them himself one after the other, with the master of Anything Goes already knowing their fighting styles, thanks to the adaptability of his accursed Art.
Over the course of the battle, Shishio’s body became so hot his blood started to evaporate. With Shishio starting to lose it, Himura Kenshin finally decided to try the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki against him, but Shishio successfully blocked the technique. However, Shishio was unaware of the fact that the technique consisted of two parts. The first part of the technique was a powerful physical blow that created a vacuum, paralyzing the opponent temporarily. For the second half, the person performing the technique would spin around in place for the second hit.
This second strike scored true with a direct hit to Shishio.
In the end, Shishio was not able to surpass his limit, mostly because of his own physical handicap he refused to acknowledge. Right when he reached his limit, his temperature skyrocketed, igniting his body fat and oils, leaving him to die by burning alive a second time. As he did, he laughed maniacally, the meaning to the laughter lost to everyone present for the battle.
And so it was that Shishio’s pride and desire for power brought about his downfall, and the curse of Anything Goes claimed itself another victim.
Ranma stared at the book in shock. Again, a member of the Anything Goes came to a tragic end, albeit this time, a definitely more gruesome one. While the pigtailed teenager understood that this man was obviously disturbed and deserved what he had coming, Ranma couldn’t help but feel this was a warning to him.
After all, Ranma felt the need to get stronger, to always be the best. If the desire to continue to be the best stayed with him... would his own end be similar, if not worse?
Still, there was more to read, as Ranma noticed he hadn’t finished the entry on Shishio.
The death of Shishio was not taken well by Happosai. He had finally found a student that was a credit to the School of Anything Goes Martial Arts. Someone powerful, brutal, a despicable individual that had an intense darkness to him. Truly, Happosai understood that he felt what Urca had when he first found him when he was just Heta Yaro so long ago. And now, the first student of Happosai’s to reach the status of master was dead.
While Happosai was enraged and wanted to take revenge on the man that had killed his student... the Grandmaster of Anything Goes couldn’t. He realized that Kenshim Himura was in fact the Hitokiri Battosai, a master of Battojutsu much like his favored Shishio had been. Only he was a master of another art, a powerful one. Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryuu.
So it was decided, since the bloodline of Shishio could not be used to sire a new generation of students for Anything Goes, Happosai would make sure that Kenshin’s were. He kept track of the Himura family and it’s descendants, all the way to the current heir of the style, Nodoka Himura, wife of his student, Genma Saotome.
Ranma’s eyes widened at that. If the pigtailed youth wasn’t sure about Happosai purposely trying to make him into a Student of Anything Goes before, now he was positive.
Raising his head up from the book, Ranma could only say two words... two words which summed things up about how he felt pretty nicely.
“Oh shit...”
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(Posted Wed, 14 Mar 2007 00:37)
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