would have been sufficient instead of ten. Sadojima Hōji , also known as , is Shishio's second-in-command. He used to be an official in the Meiji government but lost faith in it when he saw no one in the government worthy of leading the country. He abandoned his position in the government and eventually met Shishio. Hōji envisions Japan as a mighty power led by Shishio, ruling with the principles of basic animal survival. Although he is not proficient in any fighting style, he is a cunning organizer and possesses formidable leadership qualities. He manages to acquire firearms on the black market and purchases the gigantic ironclad warship— without anyone knowing. Hōji's plan with the Rengoku fails when Sanosuke blows it up with bombs. Hōji disagrees with Shishio using the Juppongatana to fight Himura Kenshin, believing they might lose, putting their actual goal to overthrow the government in jeopardy. But he strongly believes in Shishio's strength, even throwing away a gun he had hidden after Shishio and Kenshin's fight surpasses Shishio's fifteen-minute time limit. He is in utter disbelief when Shishio finally loses upon bursting into flames and destroys Shishio's hideout in an attempt to kill Kenshin and company rather than accept his master's defeat. He is saved by Anji and then surrenders himself to the police, not for penance but to use the trial to project Shishio's ideals and plans. However, he is never given a trial and, although he was offered a government job should he pledge loyalty to it, Hōji commits suicide in his cell; using his blood to write a final message detailing his disgust with the regime: "The world is dead to me. I go to serve my lord in Hell." In Hell, Hōji is reunited with Shishio and vows to continue following him in his new quest to conquer Hell. Watsuki stated that most of the overall concept for Hōji originates from a character in X-Men, whose name sounds similar to Hōji's; the X-Men character gave him a "hint" for the story but not Hōji's personality. The X-Men character does not directly fight but instead invents machines to help his team members, so Watsuki wanted a character who held a support role in the Juppongatana. At first Hōji was just an individual who was surprised a lot, but Watsuki realized that would "get awfully dull." When he decided to look at Hōji as Shishio's