Does Hokkaido-hen confirm that Aoshi/Sojiro >> Saito?

[Papasmurf]

I haven't read all of Hokkaido-hen (ain't nobody got time fo' dat!), but from the 16 or so chapters that I've read, it appears that even while his body was deteriorating to the point that one use of Kuzuryusen would severely strain his body, Kenshin performed better against this guy named Itekura than Saito did, since Saito's sword snapped in his grip even when he used Zeroshiki and he got stomped, while Kenshin defeated him with minimal injuries by simply spamming Kuzuryusen. Considering that both Aoshi and Sojiro put up a better fight against peak Kenshin (post-Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki training) than Saito did against a weaker opponent, and that Kenshin had to resort to his ougi against both of them, does this powerscaling suggest that Aoshi and Sojiro are stronger than Saito by a more considerable margin than we thought? It's also worth noting that Aoshi's opponents like Suzaku and Gein seemed more powerful than Saito's opponents such as Seiryu and the Venom ripoff dude, and Aoshi sustained less injuries from both fights than Saito did.

Thoughts? [mention]Captain Cadaver[/mention] [mention]Super Saiyan[/mention]

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Most of Hokkaido Hen is basically a blur for me with how generic it is, though I'd say Kenshin needing to whip out his ougi against Aoshi as opposed to being even with Saito prior to the training (as well as easily taking down such a physically impressive opponent as Gein) are a good foundation to argue Aoshi being superior as is. There's also Aoshi arriving to confront Shishio being treat with more importance than Sannoosuke and Saito's interceptions, so it does seem Aoshi > Saito from the end of the Kyoto Arc and onwards seems pretty solid and Hokkaido Hen probably just made it more prounounced.

 

[SSJ2]

Honestly I assumed both were a bit stronger than Saito when I read the original manga.

 

[Papasmurf]

Most of Hokkaido Hen is basically a blur for me with how generic it is, though I'd say Kenshin needing to whip out his ougi against Aoshi as opposed to being even with Saito prior to the training (as well as easily taking down such a physically impressive opponent as Gein) are a good foundation to argue Aoshi being superior as is. There's also Aoshi arriving to confront Shishio being treat with more importance than Sannoosuke and Saito's interceptions, so it does seem Aoshi > Saito from the end of the Kyoto Arc and onwards seems pretty solid and Hokkaido Hen probably just made it more prounounced.

How do you think Aoshi would perform against Sojiro?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Hard to say. Aoshi has more versatility when it comes to weapons and styles, but Sojiro is likely faster and seemed to give Kenshin a slightly tougher time. Could go either way depending on the scenario, but I'd give it to Sojiro more often than not.

 

[Papasmurf]

Hard to say. Aoshi has more versatility when it comes to weapons and styles, but Sojiro is likely faster and seemed to give Kenshin a slightly tougher time. Could go either way depending on the scenario, but I'd give it to Sojiro more often than not.

Let's give it two scenarios, one where Sojiro is still repressing his emotions (making him hard to read) and one where he's his post-Kyoto arc self. But let's say Aoshi has managed to defeat Kenshin in this scenario with his Kaiten Kenbu Rokuren, making Sojiro fired up to battle him.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

I'd see Sojiro taking it in scenario 1. Scenario 2 I'd probably give to Aoshi due to Sojiro being far more debilitated by emotions.