When a raid of murderous bandits ambushes a caravan of travelers in 1850's Japan, a passing swordsman possessing the most powerful of all sword techniques -- Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū -- swiftly dispatches the threat, but sadly not in time to spare the caretakers of a young red-haired boy named Shinta who is the sole survivor of the massacre. Taking pity on the boy, the swordsman, Soujiro Hiko the 13th, takes Shinta under his wing as an apprentice. He renames him "Kenshin", a name he considers to be more appropriate for a swordsman.
