There was a sort of symbolic torch-passing this week. Douren and Jinun’s fight was certainly a long time coming, and it delivered big-time. But it took everything out of them, and the stage was really being cleared for the next generation in Senya and Mudou. Complete with the “dads” bragging on which one of them was stronger. And they need every ounce of it going up against Banshuou, who seems to be operating on a plane even the OP Kami types we’ve seen can’t reach. The dragon and the Kannon are certainly tough boys, but this is too much of an ask even for them.

First, though, Senya needs to get back in the game. Hanatora’s nap was much needed for him, but clouds and dragons wait for no man. Yoshiteru (who you get that sense has been watching over Senya in more than a symbolic way) gives him a little nudge into consciousness. And Shinsuke takes over from there. As usual, he’s the one guiding Senya onto the true path. Usually it’s more by example (in this case his work for the Tribe’s captive katawara certainly counts). But he’s got some advice for Senya this time – about what he needs to let go of in order to face the Tribe of the Void in the spirit realm.

Douren has no more advice to give to Mudou – not that he can hear, anyway. He’s out on his feet (well, he’s not even on his feet) and Mudou is eyes-deep with Banshuou already. But he too has provided the direction his padawan needed. The theme of strength vs. skill has been a recurring one in Sengoku Youko. The young fire-breathing hothead Douren inherited was all about brute force and fell to Senya’s technique. Now he’s too obsessed with technique and not fully utilizing his powers as a dragon. But against this opponent it probably wouldn’t matter anyway. This is not a battle Mudou can win on his own.

In fact, Mudou and Senya are the strongest humanoids around – functional at the moment, anyway – and even together Banshuou is too much for them. So Yazen assures their father/teachers when he and Kuzunoha are literally dragged into the midst of the battle. Banshou is of course a cloud, but he’s gathered all his strength into the form we now see. But he’s still a cloud, and the only way to beat him, Yazen, says, is to scatter him. Scatter a cloud and it becomes weaker, the best way being a mass attack from all sides. But that’s easier said than done with Douren and Jinun out of commission.

Senya does manage to catch Banshuou in a Yuukai Kanshou. But he’s surprised to find the cloud katawara is in no need of liberation. Banshuou speaks, and it’s a testament to Inoue Kazuhiko’s otherworldly range (possibly the widest of any seiyuu) that he can deliver Nyanko-sensei and this on back to back days. Banshuou is not under the Tribe of the Void’s control at all – he was just bored. He’s along for the ride, seeking entertainment. And his front row seat at chibi Senya and Mudou’s Kyoto collision has given him a taste of just how much fun combat can be (those two really did end up enjoying themselves then). When you’re seeking diversion through battle and you’re the strongest being around, any chance to liven things up is not to be frittered away.

The Tribe’s control isn’t all that, really. Jinun’s desire to settle things with Douren overcame it, Douren is cheerfully impervious to it, and Banshuou was never really under in the first place. But the army of minor katawawa were, and – at Yazen’s suggestion – they’re recruited to be the cudgel to strike at Banshuou. Inga professes amazement that they could be coerced into attacking the cloud by Shinsuke, but of course he’s totally missing the point. Shinsuke isn’t forcing them to do anything – they’re paying him back for being the best friend they (and katawara in general) ever had.

And so we come full circle, yet again. Mizukami always brings it all together. Senya’s greatest milestone was the get the thousand demons inside him to support him, and he only succeeded when he stopped trying to control them and followed Shinsuke’s lead. Shinsuke is the most unassuming of heroes, but he never stops being one. He’s always quietly doing the right thing and showing those around him the way forward. For all the good men who stepped in to fill the void in Senya’s life Jinun’s absence (his presence wasn’t much better, frankly) left, Shinsuke is almost certainly the most important.