Hell's Paradise
A faint flower was blooming unnoticed by anyone
Not a burning red, but flickering serenely in red
I've been pausing for a long time dragging my past at my feet
If I break free from this ambivalence,
will I be able to bloom by its side?
The future is slipping away between my fingers
What mistake did I make to pay this price?
Always hurting myself
and hesitant even to a small joy
I want to stop now
The flower just bloomed in dignity
and that was all I needed to be happy
I just wanted to protect this one flower
Wishing to be strong, I
picked up the vulnerability I had once cast away
Can't break free from the ambivalence
In ambivalence, I become myself
Like rooting strongly into the soil
like swaying ephemerally to the wind
I'm slowly loosening myself to bloom
Hell's Paradise
Love and Karma
Everyone, support my brother.
Screw that. I'm taking the monster's head.
That won't kill the Tensen.
I know that! It's an expression!
Just do as my brother says!
Shut up, man-woman!
Idiots.
Stay back, idiots.
I'm stuck defending.
Brother!
I said stay back!
I can't block all the tentacles and spores.
Damn it.
When they're combined, they attack twice as much.
The runt and old guy suck at using tao.
Toma's tao won't hinder them.
But my tao hinders Tao Fa's, and I've got something in mind for Ju Fa.
I'm the only one who can kill the monster.
In the case of water tao,
objects containing it, such as chestnuts, soybeans, kidneys, or bladders,
can be gathered and fermented to produce tao-infused spirits.
Write the subject's name on a perfumed talisman.
Yamada Asaemon Toma
The tao-rich catalysts will resonate,
allowing you to see the target's fortune and current state.
Chobe.
Yamada Asaemon Toma
Your brother's future bears an ill omen.
I'll do it alone.
I always have. It's not a problem.
Livestock.
I'll kill you.
Are you all right, Brother?
What?
This had better work.
It will.
See?
By strengthening my metal with your earth, we can hinder Tao Fa's tao.
So even two males are effective together.
It seems that way. Let's press them.
I'm going to kill that monster!
Piece of shit!
You're the piece of shit!
I said I'd kill the monster!
Stay out of our way!
Your wounds will open if they get wet.
I'll be fine, idiot.
My brother told us to stay back, so stay back.
I never even saw him argue back when we were bandits.
All he ever did was copy me.
Look up, idiots.
Huh?
They turned inside out?
They're switching from attacking to defending.
They're letting their injured half rest.
Cutting that will get us nowhere.
We'll have to destroy Ju Fa and Tao Fa's tanden at the same time.
Come with me, old man.
What?
We'll split up. Together, we'll kill Ju Fa.
I have a plan.
You guys kill Tao Fa.
The method you used earlier should work.
Very well, Brother.
What exactly should we—
You ask too many questions.
Ow. That hurts, Brother.
I'm leaving it all up to you.
Use your own head.
You can do that now, can't you?
I don't need any direction.
I'm counting on you, you know.
My plan won't work without the skills of the man unparalleled in eight provinces.
W-Well, in that case...
That's the face my brother makes when he commands subordinates.
You're desperate to defend yourselves.
I have some sympathy for that.
But they've grown more than you realize.
If you remain in that embrace, you'll crush each other to death.
I'll cut you apart.
Isn't that what you want? To die together?
Brother!
They're reacting to all four of us at once.
There's no opportunity to attack their tanden.
Little guy and man-woman, back me up!
What?
I'll create an opening for you!
What do you intend to do?
I don't know, but let's trust him.
Gantetsusai!
I'm fine. Let's keep going!
There's no way he's fine.
He's just acting tough.
Countless lacerations and contusions. Organ damage.
The back-to-back fights have him nearing his limit.
Toma!
Your tao is the key to my brother's plan.
Get it together.
F-Forgive me.
Forget it. Let's go!
We're all covered in wounds.
But if we miss this chance...
We cannot win.
It's ready, brats.
Gatecleaver Strike!
They're regenerating! Don't miss this chance, Toma!
Where is Tao Fa's tanden?
Bottom right! Direction of the dog!
Ju Fa!
No more. Enough.
Tao Fa!
They're still not dead?
I can't hinder them.
To kill them, we have to stop their regeneration
after destroying their tanden.
Brother?!
My secret weapon.
I'd actually planned to use this to kill the little fire shinobi.
But you can have it.
It's the tao-infused spirits they use.
I figured I'd swipe their water tao.
And my gut's never wrong.
It's working immediately.
The hindering effect is preventing you from regenerating.
You spilled everything you knew about hindering and tao.
Did you really think I'd changed sides?
Serves you right.
You'll die regretting picking a fight with me and my brother.
How distasteful.
Distasteful?
My brother is a supremely wicked man.
Hey, don't kill them.
Did you feel sorry for them, old man?
I said I'd be the one to finish off the monster.
This isn't fun for me at all.
I had fun, miss.
I'm sorry, Tao Fa. I... I...
I couldn't protect you.
I'm sorry.
Tao Fa...
I'm glad I was paired with you, Ju Fa.
I can't believe we all survived.
Are the others all right?
Several Moments Earlier
First, let me say I don't intend to fight you.
I was just told to stay here by myself.
So if you don't bother me, I won't bother you.
But if you do, I'll crush you.
Who is that? They're reading a book?
No doubt. This is rentan palace.
But Rien not here.
Where is Rien, Gui Fa?
Rien left just now.
I was just told to look after this.
"This"?
Gui Fa very shy. Even more than before.
Yamada Asaemon Shion Nurugai
That is Rite of Clarity.
Objects containing tao turned into catalysts to see fate and fortune.
Use talismans to see target.
We knew you would come.
We've been waiting here for you.
Then if we destroy that, they won't be able to read our movements.
Is this a tao attack from above?
I feel like I'm being crushed.
Take your hand off your sword.
Sagiri!
You can still move? Impressive.
But I have orders from Rien.
If you want to fight, I'll crush you.
I don't intend to fight.
First, allow me to apologize.
For invading your island, and everything we've done since.
We may have been ignorant, but we are to blame.
I apologize for that.
Sagiri...
How commendable.
However, I've also seen things that make my blood boil.
I hear you're the ones who lured humans to this island.
In that case, you brought this conflict upon yourselves.
But don't you think both sides have lost too much to simply write this off as that?
So I came to stop the fighting.
It's pointless for us to continue killing each other.
We will leave the island without a word.
I ask that you let us go.
The Elixir and shogunate aren't the priority now.
Making it back alive comes first.
Her tao has risen. This woman...
The pressure vanished.
Fine. I'll let you go.
I was only told to protect this place.
I was never really interested in this.
Then...
But I don't think there's a point in returning to Wakoku alive anymore.
What do you mean?
You asked where Rien went, Mei.
What?
I'm showing you a tao illusion, not reality.
Rien is beneath the main palace.
They went to the sluice gate.
They're preparing a ship with the doshi.
A ship? For what purpose?
To turn all the humans of Wakoku into tan.
What? How?
The completed starter has been embedded in paradise butterflies
and packed onto a ship.
They'll emerge in Wakoku
and disperse.
Thousands of butterflies capable of flying vast distances.
In the blink of an eye, they'll envelop Wakoku.
Once the humans have become Waitanhua Flowers,
they'll come together as one.
They'll become Banko, the god beast, and refine the perfect tan Rien seeks.
Sagiri!
So it's pointless to return. You'd just turn into flowers.
Why?
Why do all of this?
Why?
Oh, right.
Do you think we'll understand each other if we discuss the reason?
I don't know what you know about us, but you're barking up the wrong tree.
Humans are merely an ingredient for the Elixir.
We have no more attachment for you than we would for critters.
Not true.
Grandmaster's research for emperor and people.
You know using human life wrong.
The situation has changed, Mei.
We tried scattering chum several times.
A few hundred years ago, the first outsiders came to the island.
That's when we learned...
how marvelous humans are.
Their fragility and the quality of their tao
were greater than we expected.
They were a far better ingredient than the Hoko.
Ran was drawn to their beauty.
Mu Dan seemed to enjoy themselves, too.
Ju Fa and Tao Fa also realized
that using humans was the quickest way to end our training.
Humans are full of doubt.
Doubt is the essence of tao.
They waver between two extremes.
That is what makes humans so fantastic.
Love and hate.
Life and death.
We Tensen know neither love nor death.
Searching for a different ingredient now would be unthinkable.
Especially now that the Elixir has been perfected.
It's impossible for us to reach an understanding.
I don't mind letting you go, but a truce would be pointless.
All we can do now is take from each other.
While we're speaking...
Yamada Asaemon Shion
another will be taken.
Yamada Asaemon Shion
Nurugai.
How many is that?
Yamada Asaemon Shion
Uh, two...
Two hundred fifteen...
You've cut them 215 times.
You've killed them 215 times.
Their regeneration is slowing.
Just like we discussed.
You can't kill your opponent without hindering tao.
But is that the only way to overpower the Tensen?
What about exhausting them through regeneration?
When done in rapid succession, it seems to slow down.
Exhausting tao for regeneration probably impossible.
Can regenerate hundred, thousand times.
Kill someone a thousand times? With a magic trick?
It's called tao.
That'd be impossible for an ordinary man.
Sensei, you can't keep going!
Did we say a thousand times?
It seems like it'll take fewer than that.
Damn it!
Wait, Nurugai!
Don't go after them.
They're exhausted as well. They won't recover right away.
We'll finish them carefully and decisively.
What's wrong with you? You're insane.
The one who takes cannot understand.
But their victim never forgets.
On the other side, even today
Someone is unraveling, yet they still stand
A stab to the chest, this loneliness
Points and lines, breaking off and vanishing
My shattered mask
It's more than I can bear
But I must keep on living
Tomorrow awaits to greet me
It's endless
And so fragile
Is it better to believe hearts don't exist at all?
Radiant and soft
Was the hand
I squeezed back on that day