said the "horse-headed monkey-face" was "hard to throw out completely," so he used it for Chō. The original design had black, "messy" hair swept back, but he gave Chō a "punk rock" quality to give the character more impact as the first Juppongatana member shown. Despite being a villain, Chō was a popular character with Rurouni Kenshin readers; Watsuki said that characters with Kansai dialects are "always pretty popular." Because he also enjoyed drawing Chō, the author felt it would be "a waste" to "finish off" Chō after the conclusion of the Iori story and therefore had him reappear at later points. But in "a bit more of a neutral position" since Watsuki felt it would be strange for Chō to "become friendly with Kenshin and the others." Chō ranked ninth in the "Who is Kenshin's Biggest Rival?" poll. He is portrayed by Ryosuke Miura in Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno and Rurouni Kenshin: The Final . Uonuma Usui , also known as , is a member of the Juppongatana. Equal to Sōjirō in strength, he is the member most feared by Shishio. Before the revolution, he was a swordsman working for the Shogun as an anti-hitokiri. In a fight against Shishio, he was blinded in both eyes and has trained to take revenge ever since. Usui and Shishio made a deal upon him joining the Juppongatana; Usui can try to kill Shishio anytime he gets the chance. A native of the Ryukyu Islands, Usui fights using a short spear with a weighted end - the rochin - to attack, and a tortoise shell - the tinbei - as a shield to deflect attacks and block the enemy's vision. He possesses the , which is actually superhuman hearing that lets him hear another's a heartbeat, muscle contractions and bone friction thus enabling him to read their emotions and physical position. Usui dies when his body is ripped in half by Saitō's attack. Usui originated from a chat Watsuki had with one of his assistants who proposed a blind swordsman. Although originally not interested in the idea, Watsuki decided to go with it after discussing the Shingan ability that read people's emotions by listening to their heartbeat and pulse. The original plan was to have Usui fight Kenshin right after he fought Chō - chasing him down in the city like the Terminator. Still, the plot went in a different direction, with