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The flow of the Shinsengumi Crisis Arc: 1. Itou Kamotaro, the Shinsengumi advisor who achieved great success within a year of joining, returns from a long business trip. Itou has procured many state-of-the-art weapons from somewhere, and the Shinsengumi members are delighted. 2. Hijikata, who has long been on bad terms with Itou, is not pleased. He refuses to accept Itou's weapons and instead sends his own sword out for maintenance. 3. At the swordsmith's shop, Hijikata finds another sword. Ignoring the smith's warning that it is a cursed demon blade, he takes it, claiming he will borrow it for a while. 4. Hijikata turns into a pathetic coward due to the curse of the demon blade (his hidden second personality, "Tosshi," awakens). Seeing this, Itou moves to take over the Shinsengumi. Itou was actually secretly connected to Takasugi and Kawakami Bansai of the Kiheitai to seize control of the Shinsengumi. 5. Having become the cowardly Tosshi, Hijikata is temporarily fired from the Shinsengumi. He meets Shinpachi at a TV otaku debate and is taken in by Yorozuya. 6. Hijikata's personality fluctuates between Tosshi and his original self, but when he returns to normal, he requests Yorozuya to look after the Shinsengumi. 7. To kill Kondo, Itou suggests going to Kondo's hometown (Bushu) on a special train to recruit new members. Okita pretended to abandon Hijikata and defect to Itou's faction, but it was actually to save Kondo's life. 8. Yamazaki, realizing Itou's conspiracy, tries to warn Hijikata of the danger but is cut down by Kawakami Bansai (Kawakami, moved by Yamazaki's loyalty, did not deliver the finishing blow). Itou orders his faction members to finish off Hijikata, who has left the Shinsengumi. Yorozuya protects Tosshi-Hijikata from Itou's men and chases the special train Kondo is on. 9. Inside the special train, Itou and his men betray Kondo and point their swords at him. Okita reveals his true feelings and purges Itou's men, using small explosives. The train begins to run out of control. Itou narrowly escapes Okita's blade and flees on the back of Bansai's motorcycle. 10. Yorozuya informs the Shinsengumi members left behind of Itou's betrayal and catches up to the runaway train. Hijikata returns to his original self by his own will and battles Itou. However, Kawakami and his group had planted bombs on the iron bridge ahead. They actually intended to destroy the Shinsengumi along with Itou. 11. The train is blown up at the bridge. Itou's arm is severed. Kiheitai grunts attack Itou and the Shinsengumi with helicopter-mounted machine guns and other weapons. The Shinsengumi reinforcements who followed also begin battling the Kiheitai grunts. 12. Itou and Hijikata confirm their mutual bond, which was actually connected, and counterattack the Kiheitai alongside Kondo, Okita, Shinpachi, and Kagura. Realizing that his truly important bonds were with the Shinsengumi, Itou protects Kondo and Hijikata from the Kiheitai's attack and is riddled with bullets. Gin-san battles and defeats Kawakami (Kawakami survives). 13. Having defeated the Kiheitai, the Shinsengumi has Hijikata execute Itou in the form of a duel to settle the score. Itou dies leaving words of gratitude. When Shinpachi asks "Why?", Gin-san explains that it was their way of showing compassion. 14. Kawakami returns to Takasugi and reports the outcome. Deceiving Itou to put the Shinsengumi in a pinch also aimed to secretly link the Bakumatsu central dark side (likely the Hitotsubashi faction) with the Harusame. Takasugi and Kawakami reflect on the surprisingly resilient Shinsengumi. 15. After everything is over, Hijikata reports the outcome to Yorozuya and expresses his thanks. Hijikata took a break from the Shinsengumi to visit shrines and temples to try and purge the demon blade from himself, but it was impossible.