Rurouni Kenshin Vol. 4

Kenshin's respect for Han'nya begins with a distinction Sanosuke initially misses. The gauntlets absorb impact, but the earlier defense also demonstrated martial skill; equipment alone does not explain it. That careful assessment still leaves Kenshin vulnerable. He believes he has narrowly avoided the punches, yet their apparent reach changes at the last moment. Han'nya calls the effect a spell and invokes his experience as a spy, while Aoshi describes seeing through a trick as the condition of defeating it. The encounter makes observation part of combat rather than an alternative to it. Kenshin changes to a defensive stance prepared for sudden variation, but the excerpt does not yet show that adaptation succeeding. Recognizing skill, recognizing a deception and overcoming it remain different stages of the problem.