PERSONALITY: Seta Soujiro is Shishio Makoto's right-hand man, a teenage assassin trained by Shishio himself. Soujiro is known for his lack of kenki or, simply, emotion. He possesses no anger and cites no fear in his enemies, other than with his sword. Soujiro is often seen smiling and has polite manners, always referring to others with Japanese suffixes. He is sarcastic, hiding his true emotions behind his smiling face. He however does have a special relationship with Yumi, she being a sister figure towards him. Soujiro usually dresses up in a blue kimono with white handguards.
BACKGROUND:Soujiro's constantly smiling face and polite manners stem from his tragic past. Born in Kanagawa Prefecture during the first year of Bunkyū (1861), Soujiro is an illegitimate child. Sōujiro's father left him in the care of his family, who badly mistreated him. He is assigned chores such as carrying rice to and from the family warehouse, and whenever he faltered, he was beaten by his family. Soujiro built a defense against their lashings; he put on a smiling face and endured the torture until they got tired of beating him and left him alone. One night, he meets Shishio, who was on the run from the police. Soujiro witnesses Shishio kill some police officers and Shishio is about to kill him for it until he notices Soujiro smiling and therefore spares him in exchange for food and bandages. Shishio tells Soujiro that only the strong may live and that his predicament is his own fault for being weak. This new mentality, and a sword given to him by Shishio, determine his defense when his family finds him housing Shishio. Sojiro quickly finds himself cornered by them, attempting to murder him and blame his death on Shishio, and lashes out, killing every one of them at the age of eight.
TECHNIQUES: Soujiro''s apparent lack of emotion, his simple, insensitive mentality that the strong will live and the weak shall die, and his skills make him a formidable foe for Kenshin. As a master swordsman of his own style, Soujirou's abilities have earned him the nickname of "Heaven's Sword" (天剣, Tenken?, Ten meaning Heaven and Ken meaning Sword, "Tenken" means swordsmanship of natural endowments).
