wishes to learn swordsmanship to become as skilled as his father. When he sees Kenshin, he demands lessons on how to use a sword, but Kenshin refuses. Yutarō finds Raijūta, who plans to overthrow the Meiji government. During a scuffle one of Raijūta's men accidentally hits Yutarō, causing him to fall into the ocean. After Kenshin rescues him Yutaro gets to know Kenshin's group. In a similar manner Raijūta injures Yutarō's right arm, and Yutarō goes to Germany for medical treatment. Watsuki created Yutarō as Yahiko's rival with no real model; while they both want to be stronger, their desires come the complete opposite places. He gave Yutarō the traits of admiring Kaoru, an older woman, and Kenshin's strength but made him unable to "be honest" about it because they were Raijūta's enemies, as aspects of his youth. Watsuki said that Yutarō is one of the "good guys" but because he was "brought down a bit" by the author's "most disgraceful character" (Raijūta) he may not have been developed "to his full extent." Yutarō's design is also the opposite of Yahiko. Watsuki initially had difficulty with his hair, but once he got used to it, it became easy and he enjoyed drawing it. He also had difficulty in compensating for Yutarō's black-less design on the page, which if he was not careful, would go all white. Yutarō came in eighth place in the series' first character popularity poll. Ōkubo Toshimichi , based on the historical figure of the same name, is the chief of the department of internal affairs, making him the most powerful man in Japan. One of the three great revolutionaries, he was a leader of the Satsuma clan, who supported the restoration of imperial power. Ōkubo appears, accompanied by superintendent general , to inform Kenshin that Shishio Makoto has amassed an army and plots to overthrow the government. He asks Kenshin to go to Kyoto and kill Shishio for the sake of the country. Returning a week later for Kenshin's answer, Ōkubo is assassinated by Seta Sōjirō with seven Ishikawa Prefecture samurai taking responsibility. Watsuki feels that many Japanese people have bias towards Saigō Takamori with Ōkubo being thought of as "sly" and "cunning." The author expressed disappointment in this and instead stated that while Ōkubo was indeed a strategist during the Bakumatsu, he was ethical during the Meiji era and did not try to enrich himself