the Sekihō Army traveled the countryside spreading news about the upcoming change of regime, such as tax cuts. The Meiji government could not keep the promise and so used the Sekihō Army as scapegoats, denouncing them as a "false army." Sōzō was decapitated when he reported to the commanding general and his head was placed on a platform in a cage for all to see, haunting Sanosuke for many years and causing his embitterment towards the Meiji government. In the anime, Sōzō died of fatal gunshot wounds while protecting Sanosuke. Although a historical figure, Watsuki's own mental image of Sagara Sōzō ended up taking precedence; according to the author, Sōzō genuinely wanted equality for Japan's people. With him being depicted within the framework of Sanosuke's memories, Sōzō ends up being glorified in the story. Watsuki debated whether to include the Sekihō Army Incident due to its obscurity. But because he believed that it exposed the truths and lies of the Meiji Restoration, he decided to include it. He did say that the series' popularity fell to its lowest point during this storyline, as of Rurouni Kenshin volume two, but repeated that leaving it out was not an option. With no actual historic photographs of Sōzō to use as a design, the character became popular "in the eyes (and hearts) of female readers." Sagara came in sixth place in the series' first character popularity poll and eleventh in both the second and third. Arai Family The Arai Family consists of the blacksmith , his wife , and their infant son . Seikū's father was the swordsmith who made Kenshin's sakabatō. Kenshin seeks Shakkū out in Kyoto for a replacement and learns he is dead, but that his son is still alive and learned everything he knew. With his sakabatō broken, Kenshin asks Seikū to make a new sword, but Seikū refuses because he wants to live a peaceful life in the Meiji era and does not want to make anymore weapons. Wanting Shakkū's final sword, Sawagejō Chō kidnaps Iori and uses him as a hostage until Azusa reveals that it was offered to the Hakusan Shrine as a "godsword." With Kenshin about to lose to Chō without a sword, Seikū entrusts his father's last sword to Kenshin, who immediately uses it to defeat Chō; to everyone's surprise the sword is also a sakabatō. Watsuki said that he had "lots of different