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Himura Kenshin was originally named Shinta. He was the son of a poor family and when his parents died of cholera when he was ten years old, he was taken by slavers. His only "family" among the slaves were three sisters, Akane, Kasumi and Sakura, who took care of him. When the slavers were attacked by bandits on the road, Shinta tried to defend the three sisters, but he was too small and weak. As they were dying, one of the girls told him how important it was for him to keep on living.
When Shinta thought he would be killed, a big man in a heavy white cloak appeared and killed the bandits. He saw that Shinta was still alive, but he left him there. When the man returned, he found that the little boy had burried all the dead, including the bandits who had killed his friends, and marked their graves with wooden crosses except for three graves marked with stones - the graves of the three sisters. When the man asked him why, Shinta said that it didn't matter what they had been in life. In death, everyone was equal. Amazed by the child's wisdom and compassion, the man decided to take the boy as his pupil. He would make the boy a warrior. At that point, he changed the boy's name to Kenshin, Heart of the Sword, saying that Shinta was far too sweet a name for a warrior.
The man was Hiko Seijurou the 13th, the master of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu. For years, he trained Kenshin, teaching him that, "a sword is born to kill. No matter what pretty words you use to disguise it, that truth never changes."
Kenshin became a master of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu and, one day, he told Hiko that he wanted to use his sword to fight for the Ishin Shishi. He wanted to help bring about the new era in which everyone would have a chance at peace. Hiko didn't think that he should get involved and he and Kenshin fought. He told Kenshin to leave his house and Kenshin left for Kyoto to become the Hitokiri Battousai...