Seijuro Hiko

The thirteenth successor to the sword art of Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu, Hiko Seijuro saved young Shinta from marauding bandits who killed his companions. Hiko then took care of Shinta, and renamed him Kenshin ("Heart of Sword") after claiming that Shinta was not a good name for a swordsman. He became angry and disappointed with Kenshin, because he ran away to join the rebellion against the Tokugawa regime. He shut himself away from the rest of the world; he lives as a potter close to the forest near Kyoto. In Seisouhen/Reflection, he also realizes that the Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu no longer seems relevant in the changing world, as he remarks to Yahiko: "The only thing that doesn't seem to change is the moon." Hiko is perhaps the strongest swordsman around; he is way too superior even to Kenshin. Although the two are comparable in speed, Hiko possesses a superior sense of judgement in combat and the superhuman strength (hidden, and even suppressed, underneath his heavy cloak) to wield Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu to its maximum. After fifteen years, master and student meet once more. It is then that Kenshin will complete his training, if Kenshin can survive Hiko's ego. The cloak is not only distinctive for all Hiten Mitsurugi masters, but it also serves to strengthen them in peacetime. Even when conflict is not at the door, Hiko remains in training just by wearing it, as it is composed of several heavy materials that weigh him down and force him to work out because of counter-springs with pressure of around 37.5 kilograms. Watsuki mentions in the manga that he based the billowy capes' image on Spawn of Image Comics by Todd McFarlane (the size of the collar pieces was reduced in the anime). The name Hiko Seijuro is in fact a title granted to each succeeding master of Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu. Since Hiko Seijuro II, each new master has discarded his own name in favor of the name of the creator of Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu. As Kenshin declines to take the name "Hiko Seijuro XIV", his master is the last man ever to be known as Hiko Seijuro.