HAJIME SAITO
HS
Captain of the Shinsengumi's Third Unit during the Bakumatsu. Now a government operative who has changed employers without changing principles. Old enemy of Kenshin, occasional and entirely unsentimental ally, completely indifferent to whatever philosophical position Kenshin has arrived at regarding killing. His code, aku soku zan, slay evil immediately, is the direct opposite of Kenshin's vow and the show gives it genuine weight rather than using it as a cheap counterpoint. Gatotsu stance. One of the best characters in the series and the most honest about what the Meiji era actually cost and required.
HAJIME THROUGH THE ARCHIVE //
KENSHIN COMBAT LEDGER //
Open page →Kyoto Mount Hiei Compound · Decisive Saitō Victory
Saitō engaged Usui in a dark subterranean hallway inside Shishio's lair. Usui used his acoustic Shingan to anticipate Saitō's movements and block his initial Gatotsu thrusts.
The Breakdown
Saitō exposed Usui's lie, revealing that Usui knew he could never beat Shishio and was merely acting as Shishio's pawn. Saitō dropped into a zero-range Gatotsu stance (Gatotsu Zero-Shiki), driving his blade directly through Usui's torso and killing him instantly.
Kenshin Himura vs. Hajime Saitō
Open →Kamiya Dojo Ambush · Unfinished / Government Intervention
Saitō invaded the Kamiya Dojo disguised as a medicine seller, testing Kenshin to see if the peaceful wanderer could survive the impending Kyoto crisis. The duel escalated into a brutal Bakumatsu rematch as Kenshin's golden eyes resurfaced.
KENSHIN'S VOW & THE BATTŌSAI //
Open page →Old Rival · Government Test · The Battōsai Reflex
Saitō attacks the life Kenshin has built in Tokyo because the government needs to know whether the former Battōsai can survive Shishio. He has no interest in protecting Kenshin's self-image. If the old killer is the only version capable of surviving, Saitō is willing to drag that version back out.
Why it matters
Their dojo fight makes the Kyoto decision unavoidable. Kenshin cannot defeat Shishio merely by insisting the past is over, because somebody from that past can still force his body and instincts to remember it.
JUPPONGATANA & KYOTO FACTION //
Open page →Usui lost his sight fighting Shishio and developed Shingan, using extremely sensitive hearing to read breathing, heartbeat and movement around him. He joins the Juppongatana while claiming that he is waiting for a chance to kill Shishio.
Why it matters
Saitō identifies the lie underneath the arrangement: Usui already knows he will never challenge Shishio. The "revenge" story lets him preserve his pride while serving the man who broke him, which is why Saitō defeats him psychologically before Zero Stance finishes the fight.
MEIJI RESTORATION ERA //
Open page →Battōsai and the Shinsengumi Were Enemies Before They Became Survivors
Ishin Shishi · Shinsengumi · Kenshin and Saitō Open →During the Bakumatsu, Kenshin killed for the pro-Imperial Ishin Shishi while the Shinsengumi defended the Tokugawa order in Kyoto. Hajime Saitō served as captain of the Shinsengumi's Third Unit, putting the two men on opposite sides of the same street war.
What changed
Ten years later, the government Kenshin helped create employs Saitō. Their old causes have won or lost, but neither man can pretend the people they became during the war simply vanished with the regime.
SHINSENGUMI & SHADOW WAR //
Open page →The Bakumatsu Puts Kenshin and Saitō on Opposite Sides of Kyoto
Open →Ishin Shishi · Tokugawa Shogunate · Political Violence
The Bakumatsu conflict behind the series is not simply "samurai versus modern Japan." Kenshin works for pro-Imperial revolutionaries seeking to overthrow the Tokugawa regime, while Saitō and the Shinsengumi police Kyoto for the shogunate.
Why it matters
By 1878 the Imperial side has won, yet the series keeps bringing former enemies back into the same rooms. Political victory settles which government exists. It does not settle what the people who killed for either side should do afterward.
Aku Soku Zan Is Saitō's Code, Not Kenshin's Opposite Catchphrase
Slay Evil Immediately · The Principle He Carries Across Eras Open →Saitō summarizes his personal code as Aku Soku Zan: slay evil immediately. He does not abandon that principle when the shogunate falls. He simply carries it into his work for the Meiji government.
Why it matters
Kenshin and Saitō survive the same war by reaching opposite conclusions. Kenshin decides that killing can no longer be the tool he uses to build the future. Saitō decides that the identity of "evil" may change, but eliminating it remains necessary. The series lets both positions retain force.
SWORDSMANSHIP SCHOOLS //
Open page →Gatotsu: Saitō Turns One Shinsengumi Thrust Into a Complete System
Hirazuki-Derived · Multiple Stances · Aku Soku Zan Open →Saitō's Gatotsu is a left-handed thrust derived from the Shinsengumi's Hirazuki. Rather than collecting a large library of named sword techniques, he keeps refining the same basic attack into forms suited to different ranges and situations, including the point-blank Zero Stance.
Why it matters
Gatotsu fits Saitō because it wastes nothing. His swordsmanship and Aku Soku Zan operate the same way: identify what he considers evil, take the shortest line through it, and do not apologize afterward.
