Shouyou first met Gintoki in a battlefield, the latter surrounded by corpses and holding a katana. Shouyou heard the rumour of a corpse-eating demon, but eventually discovered that it was a child searching for leftover food among corpses. Gintoki appeared cautious towards Shouyou and quickly drew the Katana to defend himself, but Shouyou understood the helpless child was merely stripping the corpses to protect himself. Impressed by Gintoki's will to survive, Shouyou gave Gintoki his first lesson: a sword swung in self defence, while fearing others, should be thrown away. He threw his sword to Gintoki, offering to teach the child the proper way of using the sword. Gintoki was evidently attracted by Shouyou's words and decided to follow him. Gintoki's childhood experience as the corpse-eating demon officially ended when Shouyou carried the boy back to his school.