Samanosuke Akechi v.s. Hotsuma

Who wins?

At his prime I think Samanosuke would have the edge.

But he'll have trouble since Hotsuma would do those Afterimage Dashes and scaling the area.

True.

Unless he uses a very powerful combo/spell to keep him grounded.

i think hotsuma's ninpo is an easy win and he can tate a lot easier than sam can issen

What about against Sam in his glowy god-like form?

Is that his Onimusha form?

I think.

Well it's stated that Onimusha form is not allowed unless Hotsuma has another form also.

Hotsuma wins since Samanosuke doesn't have his Oni form although he could win via issening or by performing a whirlwind attack using Shippu or a magical attack with Bishamon.

actually sam loses even with bishamon taking away the gameplay mechanics which made him invincible if you keep jamming the magic button.

hotsuma can use the huge fireball ninpo