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Introduction[]

The Rakuyou Arc finale - Utsuro's past is revealed as well as his ultimate plan.

Plot[]

Takechi recites to Gintoki, Katsura, and Sakamoto what the dying Oboro told his boss Takasugi. He tells about how Oboro was Shouyou’s first and last student, responsible for creating and ending Shouyou’s existence and ultimately responsible for the emergence of current version of Utsuro. When Utsuro revived in front of Oboro and the Naraku after being beheaded and burned, the assassins arrested him and took him to the Tendoushuu. Their scientists studied his blood, concluding that he was an Altana mutant. Tendoushuu asked the restrained immortal how he gained the ability. Utsuro admitted that he had lived for so long that he had forgotten his real name and believed that he never had one. He remembered the constant hatred and insults from the populous, the most common was being called “Devil”. Hearing this, Gintoki was reminded of his and Shouyou’s first meeting along with his own “Devil” nickname. Utsuro was violently tortured and killed by people who feared his immortality but he constantly revived in front of them, further fueling their fear and animosity which led to a vicious cycle of more persecution. Utsuro created multiple personalities to cope with the constant suffering and after being freed from jail, staying there for so long that its door rotted away, his personalities took over which resulted in him becoming a serial killer. The personalities were doing to others what others had unleashed upon them, like a "devil" trying to learn how to be a human by imitating their hateful acts.

He continued his vengeful killing spree until he was caught by the government, yet instead of executing him, the imperial court decided to make use of him as an assassin. He formed and led the Tenshoin Naraku for 500 years in constant bloodshed, with different personalities - among them, one that hated humans, one that feared humans and one that longed to be human - emerging through the years. Utsuro told the Tendoushuu that it was inevitable that a new personality will form to stop his other bloodthirsty selves; that person being the version known as Yoshida Shouyou. Shouyou was the only personality that stood up against the other personalities and desperately tried to resist and change. But he failed and as he was about to be executed by Gintoki; in his mental landscape, the original personality had killed all the others and left him for last, stating that he will end his suffering too. Shouyou was then mentally and physically killed by the original personality and Gintoki respectively.  After finishing his tale, a Tendoushuu member concluded that Utsuro wished to find a way to die yet chastised him on never taking advantage of his immortality that he believed would allow the universe to evolve. Utsuro made a deal with the Amanto group, that he will let them experiment on him if they could help him find a way to die. He reminds them that he can easily free himself and kill them on the spot, but also knew of ways to grant them immortality if they wished. He simply asked them to give him the power to kill himself. Oboro quietly looked on while they talked.

The wary Tendoushuu allowed Utsuro to join their ranks but they refused to give him any power or authority. The immortal sought the ability only the Tendoushuu possess: the power to control a planet’s Altana. They are able do so thanks to a seal on their palm called a ‘key’, containing a code that controls the Altana Gates and only the highest rank officials can have it. Its creation method is unknown, the tattoo seals are permanent and trying to rip it off with kill its owner, yet if the owner dies then the tattoo fades. To be allowed to wield the key, you need the Tendoushuu to all agree, thus there was no way for Utsuro to control Altana… or so it seemed. In the Tendoushuu’s ship that is hovering in Earth’s sky, the Tendoushuu summoned Utsuro to reveal that the planet Tanko’s Altana went berserk, destroying the terminal, their branch and the city both were in on an unprecedented scale. A Tendoushuu member believed that the terminal was sabotaged as they received reports before the destruction that unknown assailants had attacked it. Both he and Utsuro concluded that there was a traitor among the Tendoushuu, as only they have the ability to control the gates and make it go berserk.

Utsuro wonders how the traitor will be able to gather men loyal to him but the member counters that although the Tendoushuu controls the planets holding their terminals, the traitor could have gathered an army that did not belong to any planet…. such as the Harusame that Utsuro has just gained control of. Utsuro’s trip to Rakuyou was to use his new subordinates to defeat any rebels but the member believed that the immortal did not use the entire syndicate and Rakuyou was a distraction to Utsuro’s true goal: using half of the Harusame to sabotage the terminals of other planets and to cause destruction. He demands to know where Utsuro stole a key, but Utsuro smirks and insists he stole nothing. He gave his immortal blood to the Tendoushuu as promised and the group willingly parted with many things to gain his blood to become immortal. This in turn allowed the key to become indestructible and he shows a still living severed arm containing the tattoo, insisting that he merely picked it up after they dropped it. A Tendoushuu member demands to know which members gave Utsuro the key but the immortal reveals that an immortal’s blood will only work as it should in an immortal’s body. Placing said blood in a mortal’s body will eventually cause the body to weaken. But in the Tendoushuu’s case, because they greedily took in the blood to the point of overflow, their bodies are starting to rot and their limbs falling apart. Despite this, they will continue to live and suffer until their bodies entirely rot away.

Suddenly, over half the Tendoushuu cry out at him for breaking his promise to find a way to restore their rotting bodies in exchange for the keys. Horrified at the revelation, the member also realizes something else and Utsuro confirms his suspicions: they will receive reports of other planets whose gates were destroyed equal to the number of keys the Tendoushuu gave him. He predicts that after the destruction, the survivors of the planets will hate the Tendoushuu and believe that the group can no longer be trusted with the gates. They would thus form an army to attack Earth, the Tendoushuu’s main base. The fearful member sees Utsuro's wish to go to war with the universe, but Utsuro answers that Earth created a monster like him and that he could not die as long as he absorbs its Altana. As long as the planet exists, everyone’s suffering, including his and the Tendoushuu’s, would only continue forever. Wrestling control of Altana from the Tendoushuu and starting a war in the universe to destrou Earth was the only way to end his suffering. The dying Oboro finishes telling Takasugi Utsuro’s plan and ask Shouyou’s students to put an end to Utsuro. Shouyou fought the Utsuro within and lost, but Shouyou's spirit still lived on within them. He admits that losing sight of himself made him unable to fight for Shouyou, Utsuro or himself. With his dying breath, Oboro wishes that if he could turn back time, he would have liked to be with Takasugi, Gintoki, Katsura and Shouyou as their friend. Takasugi picks up Oboro’s corpse and walks away, telling his surprised men to come. He states Oboro’s final resting place was not in Rakuyou; though he did not know whether he will be placed next to his master or his fellow students, they will return to Shoka Sonjuku.

In the present, after Takechi finishes, he and his two guards leave. A worried Sakamoto looks at Katsura and Gintoki, who admits that despite the revelation that Utsuro was the one who killed the Shouyou persona, it was still because of Shouyou’s students that allowed Utsuro to awaken in the first place. They had ignored Shouyou’s wish to move on and then entered the Joui Wars, exposing them to more danger, with Gintoki giving the final blow. Even so, Gintoki wondered why Shouyou smiled at him and said “thank you” despite his impending death. Katsura believed that Shouyou knew he was living on borrowed time, that Utsuro will eventually rise and become a universal threat. He had formed Shouka Sonjuku as a hope against that darkness and had taught Gintoki to grow stronger than him with the "sword of a human". He was happy that Gintoki, his biggest hope, will protect it and its spirit even if he had to walk over his teacher's corpse. It was why he showed no fear or sorrow at his execution and why both he and Gintoki smiled at each other. Sakamoto adds that Shouyou’s struggles gave birth to his students, whose own struggles led them to himself and their other comrades. He wonders what kind of hope their battles can bring and that they will show off the results to the two Shouyous.

Weeks later, Kagura stands in front of her mother’s grave holding a bouquet of purple flowers. Umibouzu arrives behind her and asks if he was going to Earth that may be destroyed. He then corrects himself and asks if she was going home since that is what the planet is to her now and admits he wanted to stop her but refrained from doing so. He asks Kagura to tell Gintoki that Utsuro is not an immortal and that he would find a way to kill him. Until then, he would kill him along with Utsuro if something happened to Kagura.  Kouka forced him back to the living, Umibouzu states, with a job he still had to do though he can no longer hold their children with his arms. He did not understand the significance of her words but he could at least use his mechanical arms to pick up flowers for her, also holding a bouquet of blue flowers. Kagura counters that the flowers were not Kouka’s favorite and the hunter was surprised that Kagura remembered. She admits she did not know either until seeing Kouka’s grave and the stunned father sees a single pink flower on the gravestone from Kamui. The two place the bouquets before going their separate ways, with Umibouzu staying in Rakuyou. As the remnant Harusame, Kiheitai and Kaientai (with Katsura’s Joui faction and the Yorozuya) all leave separately in their ships, Shinpachi’s voiceover repeats his words from the anime’s beginning about the Samurai Country, where the once clear skies were now covered with foreign ships and towns where the proud samurai walked were replaced by arrogant aliens. The samurai were stripped of their honor and status but the samurai spirit still exist and would never die. As large armadas of Amanto spaceships gather around Earth, Shinpachi states that their final battle has just begun.

Characters[]

Trivia[]

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