seta soujirou

Seta Soujirou is Shishio Makoto's right-hand man, a teenage assassin trained by Shishio himself. Known for his lack of kenki or emotion, Soujirou exhibits neither anger nor fear, except through his sword.
Soujirou often wears a smile and displays polite manners, always addressing others with Japanese suffixes. His sarcasm hides his true feelings behind a cheerful facade. He shares a special bond with Yumi, who acts as a sister figure to him. Soujirou typically dresses in a blue kimono with white handguards.
His constant smile and courteous demeanor stem from a tragic past. Born in Kanagawa Prefecture during the first year of Bunkyuu (1861), Soujirou is an illegitimate child abandoned by his father to his family, who mistreated him severely. Assigned chores like carrying rice, he was beaten whenever he faltered. To cope, Soujirou adopted a smiling face to endure the abuse until they stopped beating him.
One night, he encounters Shishio, who was fleeing from the police. Witnessing Shishio kill some officers, Soujirou narrowly escapes death when Shishio notices his smile. In exchange for food and bandages, Soujirou spares Shishio's life. Shishio teaches him that only the strong survive, blaming weakness for his predicament. This new mindset, along with a sword given by Shishio, shapes his defense when his family tries to murder him for harboring Shishio. At eight years old, Soujirou kills them all.
Soujirou's apparent lack of emotion, simplistic mentality of survival of the fittest, and exceptional skills make him a formidable opponent for Kenshin. As a master swordsman of his own style, he earns the nickname "Heaven's Sword" (天剣, Tenken). His shukuchi technique utilizes such incredible speed that it appears the distance between fighters has shrunk, hence its name meaning "reduced earth."
During his fight with Kenshin, Soujirou describes his movements as "three steps below shukuchi" or "two steps below shukuchi." At full shukuchi speed, only his footsteps ripping through tatami mats are visible. At "one step below shukuchi," he can attack from multiple angles, utilizing both horizontal and vertical space. True shukuchi makes him completely invisible, even to Kenshin. Soujirou can dodge Kuzu-ryūsen, a move thought to be unevadable, and is the first to slash Kenshin in the back.
Well-versed in Battōjutsu like Kenshin, Soujirou uses a stance similar to Kenshin's and destroys Kenshin's first sakabatō. Combining shukuchi's true speed with Battōjutsu, he creates his signature move, Shuntensatsu (瞬天殺), meaning "instant killing by heaven's sword." The attack is so swift that the opponent dies instantly before hitting the ground.