Hiko Seijūrō XIII

Hiko Seijūrō XIII (比古 清十郎 十三代, Hiko Seijūrō Jūsandai) is the twelfth successor of Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū and the teacher of Kenshin Himura. While incognito as a potter, he assumed the alias Ni'itsu Kakunoshin (新津 覚之進).

Appearance
Physically, Hiko is a tall man with a somewhat angular face and a very developed physique. Like Kenshin, he has a rather youthful appearance, despite being 43 years of age. He has long, jet black hair, usually kept in a pony tail. He wears a short-sleeved gi, colored blue in the anime and red in the manga, and black hakama pants tucked into knee-high boots. He also wears an ankle-length, white cloak with red lining. The cloak is an heirloom of the Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu, and is comprised of several heavy materials that weigh down the wearer, as well as counter-springs in the shoulders that constantly apply a pressure of roughly 200lbs (90kgf or 900N). The garment acts as a training device, helping to maintain Hiko's strength as well keep the powers of Hiten Mitsurugi under control out of combat.

Personality
Hiko is shown to be very sarcastic, egotistical and a punishing taskmaster, often referring to Kenshin as "my stupid/idiot apprentice," and bringing up embarrassing incidents in Kenshin's past to provoke him into training harder. Kenshin describes his personality as "twisted, brusque and misanthropic", being vindictive to the point that he remembers more embarrassing and negative things about a person than who they really are.

He dislikes the complications of socialization, and hearing of the ills of society, both of which he finds annoying, and to the latter's weight, ultimately incessant and depressing. In order to avoid having to work with people, he makes his living as a pottery artist alone on a mountain (a profession that he is reported to excel at). He also comes off as somewhat lazy, professing to have retrained Kenshin to save himself the bother of having to deal with Shishio, and later on, he complains about having to protect Kenshin's friends, after the latter pleads with him to do so (though he does).

Despite this rough exterior, he has a deep sense of responsibility to Kenshin and those he protects in the rare cases when he does get involved. He loves sake, himself, and teasing Kenshin, and while he is frequently seen drinking copious amounts of sake alone, he never becomes drunk. He and Kenshin frequently have bouts of slapstick conflict between them, and although he treats his apprentice rather roughly during training, he does so mainly to only to get his attention; he remarks to him as his idiot apprentice as he desires Kenshin to be more knowledgeable and insightful, while also to see him have more confidence in himself. Also knowing the ultimate destiny as a master of the Hiten Mitsurugi style, he also wants to ensure Kenshin would not bear regrets when that day would come, and for him to know that, despite his rough teachings, that he never wanted his apprentice to be miserable using the style.

His philosophy as a swordsman is that the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryū should be used to protect people from suffering, but only if it is used independently from any political power. He also seems to possess considerable insight, wisdom, and foresight. He was correctly able to predict exactly what would happen to Kenshin if he participated in the revolution, was able to correctly identify Kenshin's psychological problems during their second training, and was able to both explain to Kenshin what was wrong and help him overcome it. Also, during his confrontation with Fuji, he correctly identified Fuji's despair at being so freakishly large that people saw him as a monster and not a warrior, and helped him overcome it by giving him a respectful opponent that he need not hold back against.

Abilities
Hiko is the most powerful swordsman in the series, vastly superior to all other characters. Unlike Kenshin and most successors of his style, Hiko has perfectly mastered the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryū and can wield it to the maximum limit. Additionally, it is because of his superbly well-developed and muscular physique that he can use this legendary style so regularly without any debilitating side-effects, as the Hiten-Mitsurugi-Ryu puts so much strain on a body that it will gradually cause permanent damage to a user with any less of a conditioned body than Hiko himself.

In addition to pushing himself to peak human conditioning, Hiko possesses tremendous sheer physical strength, able to block the gigantic swinging blade of Fuji and likewise repel it. During Kenshin's second training, Kenshin strikes at Hiko with his "entire body and soul" at one point (devoting so much attention that he fails to land properly and passes out), and only manages to graze one of Hiko's bracers. While Kenshin seemingly is on par in sheer speed to his master, Hiko in fact greatly suppresses his true capacities beneath his 90-kilogram cloak, only able to match his master when unleashing the Amakakeru Ryū no Hirameki. In addition to possessing a superior sense of judgement in combat compared to Kenshin, Hiko is extremely perceptive and analytical, able to instantly see through his opponent's strengths and weaknesses, letting him easily exploit them, likewise able to understand the nature of his opponents.

Even though Hiko is 43 years old, he looks as if he were in his late twenties, looking the same as he did in a flashback to when he was only in his 20's while also showing no signs of weakening despite being chronologically past his prime. When Hiko told Yahiko and Misao his real age (43), the two were shocked and pondered if Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu is some sort of fountain of youth.

According to Kamiya Kaoru, a master swordsman of Hiko's caliber takes his level of skill and makes the space measured from his own sword's reach and length from himself into a barrier-like zone which any seasoned fighter would be wise enough to sense and not cross into; taken in the context of martial arts and kendo, Hiko's ma'ai is at such a level of skill that, if one were to enter this zone, it would only mean instantaneous defeat.