make Sanosuke seem less intelligent so he would be more similar to the equivalent in the Japanese version of the series. Appearances In Rurouni Kenshin Born February 1860 in Nagano, Sanosuke is a former member of the Sekihō Army. Having admired his captain Sagara Sōzō, he takes the family name Sagara from him. But when the revolutionary government encounters financial problems, it labels the Sekihō Army as frauds in order to "bury their promises". Sōzō is executed, leaving Sanosuke as one of the few survivors. Consumed with hatred for the Ishin Shishi, and guilt at not being able to protect his hero, Sanosuke becomes a fight merchant in Tokyo. Over the next ten years, he gains a reputation as one of the strongest hired fighters of the city. The destruction of the Sekihō Army and the loss of all his friends has caused Sanosuke to hate the Meiji Government and he wears the Japanese kanji for "evil" on the back of his jacket. He bears this symbol as a mark of his loyalty towards his past in the Sekihō Army. Sanosuke uses an enormous zanbatō in battle, giving him the moniker . The blade has no edge and Sanosuke only uses it to smash and crush his opponents. In his introduction in the manga, Sanosuke is hired to fight Kenshin, but after the former assassin defeats him, he learns of the truth of Kenshin's no-kill approach and becomes one of his allies. After Kenshin defeats him and breaks his zanbatō, Sanosuke decides to focus on unarmed combat. When the criminal Shishio Makoto tries to conquer Japan, Sanosuke helps Kenshin in the fight against him. While on his trip to Kyoto to aid him, Sanosuke was trained in kenpo from a warrior monk named Yūkyūzan Anji. Anji taught Sanosuke a secret technique called . Futae no Kiwami is a special art in which the user performs two hits in quick succession with any part of his body. The first hit with the proximal interphalangeal joint neutralizes the hardness of the target, then the second blow, struck with the proximal phalanx, breaks the target before it recovers from the force of the first blow. Using his mastery from this art with his right hand allows him to defeat the third most powerful opponent in Shishio's army: Anji. Months later, in an act of revenge on Kenshin, Yukishiro Enishi fakes Kamiya Kaoru's death.