Kihei Hiruma

En Po - Ren Mishiro / Makara Shinjou, Matsu - Kou Matsui

Appears from the first episode. A villain who appeared several times in the early part of the story. Refers to himself as "Washi." He was scheming to take over the land of the Kamiya Dojo. Despite his appearance as a kindly old man, he is cunning and ruthless. He and his younger brother Gohei are from a samurai family. Did not appear in the first anime adaptation. Height 145cm, weight 60kg. Born in March of the 5th year of Tenpo (1834). Hobbies: Evil schemes. Special skills: Money counting. First appearance at age 45.

After being found collapsed in front of the Kamiya Dojo and helped by Kaoru, he worked as a servant at the dojo and gained Kaoru's trust. However, it was all a plot to seize the dojo's land. He nearly succeeded in taking over the land, but Kenshin, the Battousai, appeared and stopped him, leading to his arrest by the police. Later, he and Gohei escaped from prison and hired Sanosuke to fight Kenshin. They attempted to use Sanosuke to get revenge on Kenshin but were ultimately defeated by the two. He later became a bodyguard for Fudousawa in Nagano Prefecture but was again defeated by Sanosuke (the battle scene was completely omitted). Afterwards, he attempted to redeem his reputation by trying to kill Sanosuke's father with an arrow message but was intercepted and failed. Once again, he and his brother were defeated by Sanosuke in a completely omitted battle scene.

He possesses even more cunning and cruelty than his brother and believes in the principle of "increasing the effectiveness of a plan by layering it two or three times." In volume 2, he orders Gohei to break Kaoru and Yahiko's legs to prevent them from escaping, and if Sanosuke lost, he planned to use a gun (he possessed three percussion lock revolvers obtained from the foreign settlement in Yokohama) to kill Kenshin. Kenshin, in response to his methods, became ruthless and adjusted his attack to cause severe injury without knocking him out, giving him a living hell. Despite his intelligence, he is cowardly, and in his first appearance, he wets himself and faints just from being glared at by Kenshin. In volume 1, when he reunites with Kihei and is taunted with "I will definitely take this land and mansion!" Kaoru's reaction is neither to insult nor to look away but to silently stare, indicating that even after knowing his true nature, she couldn't completely hate him.

According to the author, "The Hiruma brothers' cut can be drawn in 2 minutes" (cf. the comic book).

In the PSP game 'Sai Sen,' he appears in the background of the riverbank stage along with Gohei.

In the complete edition volume 22, he is drawn but not redesigned at all along with his brother Gohei. The author states, "The invincible completed form. Absolutely unchangeable. Wonderful."

In the first TV anime adaptation, he did not appear as Gohei took on his role, so when he appeared in the second adaptation, it was reported that viewers expressed their congratulations.