Shio Sakaki (逆鬼 至緒?Sakaki Shio) is infamously known as the 100-Dan Street Brawler of Karate and is one of the masters of Ryozanpaku and the 4th oldest master of the Ryozanpaku.
Sakaki is a tall and largely-muscled tan-skinned man. He has short eggplant-colored hair with a longer strand hanging over his face. Since his late-teen years, he has had a long scar that runs horizontally across the bridge of his nose. A recurring theme with Sakaki's appearances is that he tends to come off as threatening and scary even when not intending to. He is almost always seen shirtless while wearing a brown leather jacket and blue jeans with bandages wrapped around his forearms.
In his youth, Sakaki's hair was slightly shorter and didn't have his scar across his nose. He wore a similar outfit that he does now only the jacket he wore was zipped up. When he is training Kenichi, he almost always seen wearing a traditional karate gi outfit.
He has a habit of destroying the clothing on his upperbody with his muscles when angered.
Personality[]
Sakaki is arrogant, violent, and a drunkard, but is quite possibly the most normal of the masters at Ryozanpaku. Sakaki is a very intimidating person even when he tries not to be, something that he doesn't seem to realize and is put off by whenever someone points it out. This persona belies a kind and somewhat caring nature which he tries (and fails miserably) to hide, though he is somewhat hot-blooded and short-tempered. To this end, he could be seen as a bad liar, pointed out by Kenichi at one point when Sakaki tells him to lie about the money he received from the underground fighting tournament. Amusingly, it is shown that he suffers from stage fright and becomes extremely flustered at being the center of attention, such as when he was posing as Miu's father during a parent-teacher interview and when he was forced to train little children. He's not very good when it comes to children, as due to his intimidating nature, he caused them to cry. However, when he tried again, he at least managed to warm up to them eventually and remember all their names and they all liked him a lot.
However, out of all the masters, he is the nicest when training Kenichi. He's usually the only one who worries over Kenichi's condition in a fight or when he's left alone. Though is usually hard and indifferent towards him, it is because he cares for him and needs to be hard on him in order to push him. Sakaki also tends to be impressed whenever Kenichi impresses him and makes a remark by rubbing his finger under his nose whenever he's moved by his actions, often wondering when did he become such a man. After Kenichi nearly died trying to protect Freya and her grandfather from a master class fighter, Sakaki while praising his actions in secret along with the other masters, was seen crying tears of joy at Kenichi's progress.
At first he was strongly against taking a disciple but eventually warms up to Kenichi and shows much more concern for him than the others, being one of the few to be willing to help out Kenichi when he is in danger despite Ryozanpaku's rule that prohibits a master from involving themselves in their disciples battles. He also gambles and drinks frequently and often places bets on Kenichi. It is shown during Boris's invasion of Ryozanpaku that when Kenichi is not around, his mood becomes worse and that he hates being bothered.
He tends to get embarrassed by trivial things such as when Kenichi calls him sensei (even though it was Sakaki who told him to address him as such). His laughing is considered to be life-threatening by Kenichi, who imitated Sakaki during the second battle with Ryuto. Apachai noticed that their laughs are almost the same, to which an embarrassed Sakaki tried to deny.
He, like the other masters, can be quite childish at times and tends to get into trivial arguments with others (especially Apachai). Like the other masters, Sakaki is devoted to the Katsujinken, despite having been raised by a Satsujinken master. Most of this is due to his personal doubt of the Satsujinken, which persisted throughout his teenage life and reached a new high when he was provoked by Suzuki's death at Hongo's hand.
A running gag is that Sakaki is the closest to being 'evil' out of Kenichi's masters. During a battle, Miu once sensed his ki and immediately assumed him to be an enemy from Yami, possibly due to his angry and somewhat violent nature. Also, for several times during their first meetings, Kenichi feared Sakaki the most, thinking he was the most dangerous and violent (not yet knowing his true personality). Another instance was that during Kushinada's appearance, Sakaki began fighting against her. At the start of this, he exclaimed in joy that he would kidnap her and give her as a present to the Elder (knowing of the small history they shared). Kenichi himself mentally noted that this was exactly the kind of line a 'bad guy' would say. Another example of this was when he followed Rahman and Jenazad in the helicopter and claimed he is not interested in learning the names of "villains" while he himself was sporting a very demonic face.
History[]
In his younger days, Sakaki was the disciple of a Sei-type master of karate. Sakaki's only known relative was an older sister who would constantly look after him. While he took his training seriously in various styles of karate, including his master's Muntenkendou-style, Sakaki's relation with his master was strained. His master was a member of Yami and was teaching Sakaki the "true styles of karate" so Sakaki could succeed him in joining Yami but Sakaki was against killing. Despite this, Sakaki continued to train under him and became well-versed in various styles of Karate, entering tournament after tournament until he is eventually kicked out of all karate tournaments and the whole competitive Karate world (due to his over-competitive attitude, short temper and overwelming skill in the martial art).
Akira with Shio and Suzuki as the Strongest Karake Team
Also at some point in his life during one of these competitive tournaments, he met Akira Hongō and the two became good friends and strong rivals, constantly having matches and stopping thugs together. After being kicked of the tournament, Sakaki begins training at a small dojo. During this time in Sakaki's late teens, he meets Suzuki Hajime, who asked to be his disciple despite only being a few years younger. Naturally owing to his dislike for taking on disciples, he refused, but was still followed by Suzuki.
When finding Hongō attacked by thugs, Suzuki showed noticeable skill by saving Hongō from bullets. Sakaki and Hongō quickly grew to respect Suzuki and ultimately all three become close friends. Suzuki would constantly referee their matches, leading Sakaki and Hongō to have a tie score of 125 wins each, and Suzuki constantly copying their moves in order to become stronger. The three would then travel around as a team, fighting numerous gang members as a test of their strength.
Later, Sakaki's past caught up with him as he was summoned by Yami to test him as a new member, something that Sakaki felt obligated to due as a last request from his late master. Sakaki was then surprised to find Hongō and Suzuki were also summoned.
Sakaki gains his scar
While Sakaki refused to have a death match with his friends to determine Yami's new member, Suzuki without hesitation accepted the terms in his desire to become recognized as the greatest in karate. He attacked Sakaki and Hongō, quickly pushing them on the defense. Ultimately, he was struck down mercilessly by Hongō.
While Hongō insisted he did it to honor Suzuki's greatest wish, Sakaki was enraged by Hongō's actions as Suzuki could have lived a long and fulfilling life if he had not recklessly pushed himself with his weak health. Voicing to Yami that he has chosen the path of Katsujin-ken, Sakaki attacked Hongō with the desire to make Hongō see the corrupt views of Yami. As their fight intensified, they each used their signature move and left a scar on the others face. In the end, Hongō managed to win under the belief that Sakaki died.
He has also apparently fought frequently in the Underground Martial Arts competitions in his past and was quite infamous as the mere mention of his name was enough to send everyone into a fear frenzy, leading to his career as a underground fighter ending almost as fast as it began. Because of the many actions that Sakaki did before getting exiled from both the Karate World and the Underground World, he was already well known for his unparalleled combat strength as "The Brawling 100 Dan Karate Master". Sakaki also used to travel the world to fight strong opponents and work as a hired guard. He eventually joined a small group consisting of himself, a Frenchman named Christopher Eclair, and an Englishman named Mycroft. The three of them did a wide variety of jobs which included work for the FBI and guarding important people. However Sakaki's disapproval of killing eventually caused Christopher and Mycroft to turn on him but were subsequently defeated and buried alive in a desert. During his time with the FBI, he also metColonal Lancelord Grey, and became friends with him, and his daugther, Jenny. It was also during this time that Sakaki mistakingly made a promise to marry Jenny (Although this was due to the fact that he was foolishly drunk at the time). Some time later, Sakaki decides to leave the FBI and return to Japan, his reason for doing so remains unknown.
It is unknown when he came to Ryozanpaku but it is known that he is one of the junior members along with Apachai and Shigure.
Skills[]
Sakaki has consistently demonstrated throughout the series to be a highly powerful fighter. He is so well-versed in several styles of Karate and their respective techniques that he can easily fight in seemingly any battle situation, having shown great proficiency in various punches, jabs, chops, counters and kicks. Sakaki has used his knowledge to train Kenichi to become better adjusted the various battle situations he can face. While Dou-Type with great destructive force, Sakaki has shown repeatedly in battle to easily maintain his composure in any situation and can carefully observe his opponent's attack patterns similar to a Sei-Type.
Master Karateka: Sakaki is considered to be one of the greatest karate masters in the world, rivaled only by Akira Hongo. Even against other master-class opponents, he has been able to defeat his opponent without much effort. Sakaki was originally very offensive in his fighting style that it sometimes makes him too vulnerable before Suzuki suggested that he changed it into a defensive oriented one which he now uses as his primary form of Karate. When fighting full-out, he has repeatedly been held back by his companions as he quickly overwhelms his opponents to the point that they could die. The best example of his overall prowess was shown from his brief struggles with Sehrul Rahman and Silcardo Jenazad, both members of Yami's One Shadow Nine Fists, the latter of whom was able to give Hayato Furinji a tough fight. As a result of the brief fight, Silcardo was so impressed with Sakaki's skills that he actively seeks a battle to the death with him.
Highly Perceptive Combatant: While usually coming off as dense, Sakaki has repeatedly shown himself to be very insightful and knowledgeable in battle. His advanced skill and knowledge in multiple forms of Karate can determine the basic nature of a person's Karate-style from a simple explanation of their stance. In battle himself, he can quickly determine the opponent's battle tactics and instinctively use an appropriate counter method. In his travels around the world, Shio has also become fluent in the basics of various languages.
Immense Strength: Befitting his large and well-defined build, Sakaki possesses raw strength that at times appear inhuman. With just a simple finger-flick, he can easily launch Kenichi across the room during training. His punches are able to easily plow through solid surfaces or launch a man almost twice his size a considerable distance. With a single hand he can nonchalantly move large and heavy objects out of the way. He can also jump considerable distances, regularly jumping from rooftop to rooftop to get to a destination. In his youth he stopped and lifted an entire car.
Immense Speed: Despite his size, he has been noted to be deceptively fast and agile, able to dodge and maneuver against close-range attacks with surprising balance and efficiency. He is also able to easily outrun speeding vehicles. His strikes in battle are also shown to be fast and relentless, able to launch a large barrage in an instant, leaving little time for his opponent to counter. He has such speed than sometimes when battling normal people can't keep up even when they are used to Master level battles and have seen them before, and are only able to actually see what is going on by using the Inner eye. Despite being used to the speed and movements of a master even Miu lost the ability to see Sakaki and Hongo's fight clearly due to the immense speed in which they battled.
Immense Durability: Sakaki has conditioned himself to the point that he can endure blunt force trauma that would render most people unconscious or crippled with only minor damage, most evident from the fact that he can survive a fall from one of the top floors of a tall building without any noticeable injury. So far, the only injuries he has received to visibly draw blood has small to medium scratches on his arm and torso from the hands of a skilled weapon-user. Even then, he was able to continue carrying himself and fighting seemingly unaffected. His tough conditioning has also been made of use regularly at home, as he would use his hands for various chores like punching down nails. It has reached the point that he insisted not to be used as a tool. He is also remarkably resilient mentally as well. During the fight against Sehrul, he states that Shigure's sleeptalk is much scarier than the technique of Sehrul which could knock-out several people. This is why it didn't affect him and it might be implied that Shigure's sleeptalk is one of the only things the fearless master is scared of.
Immense Dou Ki: Even when not attempting to appear as such, Sakaki naturally gives off a highly intimidating aura when just slightly worked
Dou Ki
up. His ki has been shown strong enough to completely disintegrate the shirt and jacket he was wearing. With a single glare, he can knock a full-grown man off his feet and out-cold, and even do the same to a large group of people at once. Even when battle-worn and injured, his ki has been shown very strong and large, as Miu sensed it from far away and still considered it stronger than any other she ever sensed by far. His Ki is powerful enough that it matches Hongo's when fully released and to such an extent that it creates a destructive force as a result of the clash between Ki, even people with a relatively strong heart can't handle it and must flee the area. During his battle with Hongo both Kenichi and Miu said their released Ki was like nothing they have felt before.
Bilingual: As Sakaki has lived in the US and worked for the FBI, he is able to speak English fluently.
When Kenichi arrived at Ryozanpaku dojo, he wanted to learn Karate, but Sakaki turned him down believing that Kenichi will die from his training in three days. After Kenichi’s loss against Saijo Tsukuba, Sakaki decided to train Kenichi for his rematch (which Kenichi won with Yamatsuki and Akisame’s overhead throw).
When a master named Gonzui Kumatorifrom the Kyuukai Dojo showed up to challenge Sakaki who’s absent at that time, Kenichi went to fight him so Miu doesn’t have to. Kenichi managed to land a blow on the master, and then Sasaki showed up to finish him off then defeated his students.
When Miu needed Sakaki and Shigure to pose as her parents, Shigure would act as her step-mother and be paired with Sakaki as her step-father. Unfortunately, the two screwed up due to their lack of people skills and how they are the worst at lying, but Miu was left alright when the Elder returned home.
When Sakaki and Akisame wanted to find Kenichi when the latter ran away from the extra harsh training to apologize for their harshness. As soon as they found him, Kenichi was fighting Hermit to save Honoka. Sakaki made a bet with Akisame for the loser’s dessert (Sakaki bet that Kenichi would beat Hermit while Akisame bet vice versa). Kenichi defeated Hermit, though Hermit lost a lot of blood after stabbing himself with Number 20’s knife to save Honoka.
When Kenichi is left to fight Odin, the head of Ragnarok, Sakaki is seen with the other masters and watches his disciple fight and watches with pride seeing him copy his fighting style. He helps stop Isshinsai Ogata from stopping the fight and congratulates Kenichi with the others for winning the fight.
After Isshinsai Ogata declared war against Ryozanpaku, Sasaki took Kenichi with him on a mission to protect Gauche Wynne from his Christopher Éclair. Kenichi was kidnapped by Éclair after Sakaki punched Éclair through the train. Sakaki took Gauche with him and called Miu to come to the hotel Éclair was staying in to rescue Kenichi, since the former taught Kenichi was worth more than 100 of the latter’s lives. Éclair managed to knock Sakaki out of a window, but that left the former opened for Kenichi to hurt him. With enough time, Sakaki returned and finished off Éclair only for the latter to escape when the police took him to the hospital.
At the DofD tournament, Sakaki reunited withJenny Greyto help her rescue some American soldiers captured by Fortuna. He tried to get out of how he stated that Jenny was his fiance since he was drunk when that happened and Jenny was jealous when she saw him and Shigure together and asked if they were a couple and both denied this. During the finals, Sakaki was taking down Fortuna’s soldiers with Jenny Grey and the rest of the Shinpaku Alliance. He knocked out the soldier that killed Sho Kano, when he almost shot Kenichi or Miu.
Afterwards, he assisted the masters in taking down a Yami base and saving Rachel Stanley from being Jenazad's new disciple. However, Sakaki boarded the plain she was on and prepared to fight Yami member Cyril Rahmanwhile Jenazad would watch in the background. Though Cyril would try striking his marma points, Sakaki was able to counter with him not landing a blow on him and even Cyril's scream had no affect due to Sakaki stating that Shigure's sleep talk is much more scary. After grabbing Rachel and jumping out of the plain, Jenazad would announce his desire to fight Sakaki someday.
While on a mission with Shigure and Kenichi to guard some treasured weapons from Yami, they were attacked by the armed division and with Mikumo their to supervise the attack. Though they were holding their own, Sai would be persuaded by Shigure and side with them in exchange for her father's sword and helped save Kenichi at the last second. Once Mikumo decided to join the fray and attack Sakaki, he was having a hard time and when she diverted her attention towards Shigure, Sakaki was told by Shigure to not interfere and sat down to allow the fight. After Mikumo left when her necklace was broken, they returned home having completed their mission.
When a Yami base was discovered in Okinawa, the masters and Kenichi (and later the Shinpaku Alliance) would travel their. However, Sakaki and the others would ditch the members and attack the base on their own. Sakaki would face the Spear of the core and easily win despite taking some injuries. Once the fights with everyone was over, Sakaki would be attacked by Miu and he would scold her for not recognizing him and give her his jacket to cover herself from her clothes torn. He was then horrified by Apachai's hole in his stomach and let Akisame save his life with his help. After returning home, he calls Akisame in to tell him Apachai is eating something solid and takes the Manju from him.
When Ryozanpaku was set up by Yami by framing them as terrorists, they all flee from the dojo. But Sakaki watched for Kenichi and the Shinpaku Alliance when they had to protect the inspector (who was trying to help clear Ryozanpaku’s name) from Yami weapon members. Ishida was about to kill the Shinpaku Alliance, but Sakaki appeared and defeated him then congratulated the Shinpaku Alliance on their skills against the weapon soldiers.
Once the fight between Sakaki was declared to be settled between him and Hongo, Sakaki and Hongo began
Sakaki vs Hongo
their battle with Kenichi, Miu, and Jenazad (from far away) watching. The battle was so intense, that Kenichi and Miu had to dodge while watching. Eventually, Sakaki and Hongo kept fighting while unconscious until Jenazad interrupted the battle by having Hongo knock Kenichi out by Jenazad surrounding Kenichi with the
Sakaki and Hongo teamup
former's killing intent. Jenazad then knocked out and kidnapped Miu to make her his student after seeing her special abilities. The two karate masters and Hayato (holding an unconscious Kenichi) tried to rescue Miu, but failed. Hongo told Sakaki that would make Jenazad pay for interrupting the death match. Sakaki claimed their last battle was unfinished and declared it a draw.
Some time later, after he and Kenichi had their injuries healed (though not completely), they travel to Tidat in search of Miu. After reaching a bar and letting Kenichi try to get information from the military dogs their, Sakaki noted Kenichi had some balls for going in their like that and said he did still do good for his act. Sakaki would get the information out of them by beating them to death. They would travel to a castle and meet some assassins and meet Radin Tidat Lona, the sister of Radin Tidat Jihan. After she proves she can be trusted, the group partner up to take down Jenazad.
After some traveling, they partner with a computer man named John and locate the location Mui was last at but arrived too late, but Kenichi was able to find her hairclips. Later the night, they would be ambushed by Jenazad's men and see Mui with them, much to their shock. Sakaki noted she must be controlled and told Kenichi to go to her. While fighting, Hongo would arrive by helicopter and kill some of the men, much to Sakaki's anger. The two put asside their differences and fought together against the enemies present. After the fight, Jenazad would take Mui and Kenichi (who was knocked unconscious) away. Sakaki and co. agreed to search for Jenazad together and save Kenichi and Mui. After letting Hongo fight Jenazad on his own, Sakaki eventually finds Miu and Kenichi (with Saiga having already left) and celebrates by beating all the Tidat fighters to a pulp. He breaks them outside and watches Hongo's fight with Jenazad and prays that he'll come out of it alive. Even after it looks as if Hongo was defeated by Jenazad and Jenazad has set his bloodlust towards him, Sakaki doesn't move an inch nor does his aura increase as noted by Kenichi. As he tells his disciple about Hongo's tenacity towards martial arts, Hongo rises again and prepares one final attack at Jenazad and watches in tension as Hongo finally manages to defeat the Demon God Fist. When Miu regains consciousness and goes after Hongo, Sakaki goes up to stop her only to be shocked that, while still under Jenazad's control she's only trying to tend to his wound. He knocks her out again and keeps Hongo from falling over due to his wounds and just says he feels like standing their for a while despite the obvious. Unfortunately for them, Lona shouts out that the Tidat regular army has arrived and Hongo notes that now that their leader Jenazad is dead they want to try to take the hegemony of the country and the two prepare to fight them.
Sakaki saves Lona from getting killed and is relieved by the arrival of the elder and the presumed deceased Jihan. He helps Hongo get to the plane Seta and Hayami have and when Hongo refuses help since he has unfinished business with him Sakaki just says about doing it now, Hongo just chuckles and says they'll do it later. They all go to the palace and Sakaki just drinks and eats as much as he wants.
Following the discovery of a Yami base, Sakaki and the other masters head out to the base with Kenichi and the rest of the Shinpaku Alliance. However, they have the youngsters stay for their safety. They arrive fighting Ogata's men and Sakaki states he'd like to fight him stating whoever finds him first gets to have him as they split up to find him. He continues to bash through walls to find Ogata while pulverizing his disciples and then senses a silent but powerful ki and as he smashes the wall next to him believing he found Ogata, he's disappointed to find Akisame instead. They all regroup noting he's on here and that Ogata was never in the castle at all.
Later at night, he listens to the elders talk with Akisame and is left shocked discovering of Tanaka's wife also being killed by Ogata along with his unborn child.
After the battle between the Shinpaku Alliance and Yomi, the masters begin to worry about how Kenichi was effected by Tanaka's death at the hands of Ogata, but Kenichi returns ready to begin his training, which surprises them all. A couple of days later, the masters talk about the subject of how Tanaka's fight with Ogata was unavoidable, and how they need to find a way to help Kenichi and his friends with their fight against the weapon users of Yami. They all agreed that they would eventually fight the weapon division on a frequent basis, which is when Shigure comes up with a plan for helping the Shinpaku Alliance, a plan which she calls the "Shigure-chan Special". When asking about what it is from Akisame, he gets nothing out of him, much to his annoyance.
After the Elder leaves on a trip for a few days, Akisame and Sakaki wonder why he hasn't returned in the past week, and with Apachai's statement over him possibly fighting a strong opponent, they wonder who could be giving him a hard time. Later, at Ryozanpaku, Sakaki and the others are visited by Inspector Honmaki and are shocked to hear how he and the entire police must guard Yami at a governmental institution prompting Sakaki to state there just spitting in their faces. Regardless, he and the other masters are all determined to put them away in Big Lock. The next day, as all the masters prepare for their battle against yami and the government, the other masters decide to leave Shigure with Kenichi and Miu in case the armed members of yami decide to move. Kenichi begins to complain about how reckless their actions are, to which they say that as martial artists they have to stand by their beliefs to the very end, with Sakaki even saying that one day Kenichi would be standing side by side with them. They then arrive in the heart of the city, awaited by a battalion of police officers protecting the building that the one shadow nine fists are currently in.
After Inspector Honmaki steps in on their behalf to stop his men from shooting at them, Sakaki is shocked seeing Honmaki shot by one of his own men and treats him the best he can, but he was wearing a bullet proof vest. After Sakaki convinces them to move aside and do what's right, and even stating he won't dodge them if they try to shoot, they stand down (and Akisame knocks out the one who shot Honmaki). He and the others arrive at the top of the building the Yami masters are at and surround them. Upon seeing Hongo, he questions there motives and depending on their answers he will just throw all of them in Big Lock. Despite the difference in numbers, he states that if the four of them work together they are invincible as he and the other masters form together in breath and sync, something Mikumo notes is perfectly done. He then lets out a large amount of ki as he and the others prepare to fight the Yami masters.
Just as Sakaki and the others prepare to fight, he notes something is off in their killing intent. Just then, Ishida shows up to escort Yami to the prime minister, enraging Sakaki since he tried to kill the Shinpaku Alliance. When Honmaki arrives to inform them of the armed division at the bay of Tokyo, Sakaki realizes it was all a diversion. While in the conference room, Akisame tells Sakaki to calm down for now less the situation get out of control. However, the monitor in the conference room comes on as he sees Shigure at the docks, to which he realizes that was what the diversion was all about and she likely took Miu and Kenichi with her. As Saiga and the others attempt to leave, Sakaki and Apachai attempt to stop him, prompting Saiga to state there are seven members of the Hachiou Executioner Blade members on the ship, to which Sakaki angrily leaves with the other masters to help Shigure.
On their way to the docks, Sakaki gets a call from Christopher Eclair, shocking Sakaki as Christopher. Christopher mocks Sakaki for being caught in a diversion and confirms that Kenichi and Miu are onboard with him. Sakaki requests for Christopher to protect them, who says that guarding them is not part of his assignment and that would mean he would be doing it for free, teasing Sakaki. However, Shigure appears next to Christopher and hands him a gold bar from Yami's military funds as payment, and Christopher and Mycroft agree to do their jobs as professionals.
Once Kenichi and Miu are back at Ryozanpaku safe without Shigure, Sakaki angrily calls Christopher an idiot while punching him in the face. While Eclair comments on Sakaki's lack of gratitude, Sakaki angrily questions why he didn't save Shigure also to which Sakaki wishes Mycroft was also there so he could beat him up also. While Christopher laments working as "an ally of justice" he is thanked by Kenichi and Miu, which made him excitedly ask them to be his disciples and he is angrily struck by Sakaki. When Akisame states this ordeal is all Shigure's fault, Sakaki is held back by Kensei and Appachai from attacking him but calms down seeing how angry Akisame is about her capture.
Sometime later, as Kenichi is kidnapped by gunmen, Akisame tosses the kidnapping vehicle and saves Kenichi. Now knowing that Shigure is alive, Sakaki angrily approaches the gunmen stating he has a lot of questions about Shigure. After getting the information they needed, Sakaki along with Akisame, Miu and Kenichi rush to the location they were going to take Kenichi. He has to save Kenichi from falling due to Kenichi not able to keep up from jumping on roof tops. They then arrive at an empty long hallway. When they sense powerful auras, they also smell steel as weapons are thrown at the two that takes out the electrical wiring. The two attackers are happy to encounter such able opponents and introduce themselves: "Francisca Freaks" Sherman Camus and "Scramasax Master" Cedric Casken. Despite Akisame and Sakaki easily throwing their opponents away, they get up with little effort and calmly face them. However, once the Ryozanpaku masters went all out they easily defeated their opponents. Just then, someone from the shadows appears under the name Okamoto, who states he works for the government. Okamoto shares the sentiment and gives them a name, Kiyoi Kidou, and says that they might find more information if they locate that person. Okamoto adds that the government has not been able to find Kidou, though Ryozanpaku might have better luck since they know more about the weapons group than they do.
The next day, when Kenichi suggests they use Niijima to track down Kiyoi, they go to the Shinpaku Headquarters and locate her location. They find her as a young girl who is blind. Introducing themselves, Kiyoi reveals that Rin Tachibana of the Hachiou Executioner Blade is her half brother, much to the others surprise. As she reveals a phone Rin uses to talk to her she states only he can call her and its impossible to make calls for herself. Just then, the phone rings as its non other than Shigure, shocking everyone while Sakaki cries in joy that she's alright.. Shigure is able to give her location out just before the connection is destroyed. As Kenichi is upset, Akisame and Sakaki tell him not to be as they now know where to find her and will save her. As they leave, they are greeted by Okamoto as Akisame says that Okamoto should have heard what happened, knowing that he has put wiretaps in Kiyoi Kidou's room, while Sakaki comments that Okamoto is skilled at hiding his ki and tells him to identify himself.
Much later, as a fleet of airplanes are heading towards the Yami base, all of the Ryozanpaku masters, including James Shiba, Danki Kugatachi, and Kagero Sai all walk out after Sakaki saves the pilots. All the masters walk across the water to the Yami base. They all engage battle with the military and easily crush them. After the military is dealt with, Sakaki forces Yami to reveal themselves as he and the others are confronted by Yami and the Hachiou members. Taking no time to wait, Akisame holds an angry Sakaki back and demands Shigure's condition. After Mikumo confirms she's alive, Apachai joins the others masters as they help Kensei go after Mildred, to which he only took her garments, to which Sakaki is embarrassed at his actions. It was later revealed he broke her bow and attacked Schtilvay, Agaard, and Rin all at once. Once they prepare to go another round, all the masters engage the Yami forces.
After Edeltraft splits the masters up, Sakaki attempts to choose his opponent, but is attacked by Cyril. Remembering they did not settle their match before, Sakaki engages battle with him. Just then, Agaard and Hongo head to them as Sakaki notes they've all been split up in three groups. As Hongo asks if they give up, Sakaki and Apachai take their stances as Sakaki retorts that the'll fight to the end despite having the odds against them, adding that Kenichi has influenced him.
While fighting Cyril, Sakaki is attacked from behind by Schtilvay, to which Sakaki defends from his scythe and he parries the strike, catching Schtilvay off-guard. After seeing how Sakaki is fighting, Hongo looks at Sakaki and realizes that all the fighting is a diversion and he runs to leave the battlefield with Schtilvay joining him. Sakaki notices and becomes worried that they are being pushed back because of their numerical disadvantage. He suggests that they move back to gain an advantageous position and he notices that Mildred has placed a field of arrows around the masters. She declares that they have stepped into her territory as she releases a shower of arrows on the battlefield. Sakaki questions Mildred's indiscriminate attacks but Raki says that everything is merely preparation, as Mildred focuses her eyes and shoots at the Katsujinken masters directly, forcing them to dodge Mildred's strikes along with the falling arrows.
As Akisame is vulnerable because of his attack, Mildred takes advantage and shoots a volley of arrows at him. He manages to catch two of the arrows with his hand and Sakaki blocks the other arrows with his arm. He then watches shocked as Sai falls from Seitaro's sneak attack as he and the others masters are are surrounded by the Yami masters and Mikumo announces that the end of the battle is coming.
As they are continued to be overwhelmed, Akisame protects Sakaki and the others by stopping three weapons from striking them and from Sai saving Akisame at the last second. As Sai expresses his regret for his actions as a Satsujinken, Mikumo kills him, which angers the Ryozanpaku masters and they resume their battle.
As the battle progresses and Agaard and Sougetsu allies with Ryozanpaku for their own pride as martial artists, Mikumo threatens the Ryozanpaku masters with killing Shigure if they continue to resist against them. Rather than standing down, the masters are further angered and says that Shigure has been prepared for that possibility, as sacrificing one's life for the sake of others is the very principle of Katsujinken. Assisted by Cyril's mantra, the Ryozanpaku masters (along with Sougetsu and Agaard) stage a counterattack against Yami.
As the battle rages on, Mikumo finally decides to go all out. With that, she uses her Kushinada-Style Thousand Year Throw on them. Blood tricking down his mouth, Sakaki puts on a smile and comments that it does not even feel he is fighting humans anymore, as the battlefield is shown to be ablaze and the surroundings ruined. The Ryozanpaku masters, along with Cyril Rahman, Ma Sougetsu, and Agaard are seen to have many injuries throughout their bodies as they face down Mikumo's group, with Mikumo's aura bearing down on them.
The members of the Hachiou Executioner Blade take up their stances and utilize Shinto Kourenzan, and Kensei activates Seidou Goui. Sakaki announces that it is now the time to settle this fight but as the Ryozanpaku masters prepare to fight their new allies stand in front of them. Cyril proclaims that there is only one way to break through the enemy's formation and it would require cooperation from Ryozanpaku. Ryozanpaku makes their way up to Mikumo but is blocked by Ogata, who is hanging on to the mountain using his toes. Cyril and Agaard block him while Sakaki and the others charge foward. The Ryozanpaku masters make their way to the top of the mountain but they are once again blocked by the Hachiou Executioner Blade. Edeltraft aims a slash but his sword is caught by Akisame, and Sakaki appears to knock him out. Rin takes advantage of Sakaki's opening and attacks him from behind but Apachai saves him and incapacitates Rin with a flurry of punches. Raki attempts to attack Apachai from behind but she is caught by Ma Kensei, who breaks her naginata in two and binds her with her clothes. Kensei is rescued by Akisame and the four Ryozanpaku masters finally reach Mikumo. Ogata and Seitaro arrive at Mikumo's side as the masters begin their battle. A large explosion occurs at the masters' battlefield as the colloding auras cause a yin-yang symbol to form in the sky.
As the fight drags on they notice a missle launch and believe them to have been too late. Luckily, the missle explodes as the Elder destroys it at the last second. Afterwards, all of Yami's forces are defeated as the masters of the OSNF leave defeated. Just then, the Elder shows up alive and well as Sakaki celebrates with everyone else their victory.
Epiloque[]
In the Epiloque, Sakaki continues his daily activities training Kenichi as he later learns that Kenichi's novel he wrote became a best seller and won an award to which Sakaki realizes he used the adventures of Ryozanpaku in the story, to which other people believe non-fiction.
Trivia[]
Shio Sakaki bears a resemblance to Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star.
During the DofD tournament, Sakaki shrugs off much of Niijima's complaints of the Shinpaku Alliance's members suffering injuries, stating that he was shot by his enemies and told that he wouldn't be able to live. However, he was still able to enter a Karate tournament and win first place. This is an exaggerated parallel situation to one presented in The Karate Kid.(This feat did actually happen, and was mirrored by Hongou who came out of a coma to participate.)
Particular Kata Sakaki can be seen training the techniques of are Wansu, Sanchin, Niahanchi, Passai, and Seisan. His earlier matches with Hongo also showed proficiency in the sport karate style, though he used a more combat oriented version than otherwise shown in the manga. While Sakaki has trained the techniques or used the techniques taught in those Kata it is rare that we see him or Kenichi actually drilling Kata (More likely done off panel to avoid repetitive sequences)
