Chapter 285

## Final Battle

* Volume
* Magazine

**Final Battle** (最終決戦, *Saishū kessen*) is the 285th chapter of the *Golden Kamuy* manga.

## Synopsis

Shiraishi frantically attempts to search for the remaining gold while Asirpa tries to get him to calm down when they are suddenly interrupted by a cannon shot exploding nearby. Nagakura tells the others to hurry to the trenches but the ongoing cannon fires and forces him to jump into the moat instead. Sugimoto wonders if the one responsible for the attack is Tsurumi, but Asirpa says that the 7th Division arrived at Fort Goryokaku way too early.

Ushiyama spots a military balloon off in the distance, which is scouting out their position, and Sugimoto realizes that the 7th Division got to the fort so quickly since they are using destroyers. It is revealed that as soon as Tsurumi began working on the tattooed code, he had sent a message to Heiji Koito to meet him so that they can reach the gold in the shortest amount of time no matter where the gold is hidden. Thus, the 7th Division took a train from Sapporo station to Muroran station where they boarded the destroyers waiting in the harbor at Muroran to arrive at the Hakodate harbor.

Kadokura, Kirawus, and Kantarou check on Nagakura in the moat. Nagakura is reminded of the Abashiri Prison siege before he swims to the other side of the moat. Nagakura tells Kadokura that he is leaving things to him before going off on his own to search for the 7th Division soldiers. Upon finding the soldiers, Nagakura asks them not to shoot him as he waves his white fundoshi as a sign of surrender so that he can talk to Tsurumi. Kantarou wonders if Nagakura went and surrendered in order to save himself, but Kadokura does not believe that he would do that and orders Kirawus to prepare to fight.

In the storehouse, Sugimoto's Group and Hijikata's Group hide in the trenches as Ushiyama wonders if the 7th Division will keep up the attack until the fort has been completely leveled, to which Asirpa exclaims that they must get out of the fort then. However, Hijikata warns them that the 7th Division are waiting to ambush anyone who attempts to flee through one of the three exits, so most likely there is a large number of soldiers hiding on the other side of the bridges.

Sugimoto explains that each destroyer can only carry up to 16 soldiers and, taking into account the four destroyers they used at Abashiri Prison, the 7th Division must have at least 64 men. As such Sugimoto believes that the 7th Division's numbers may be thin outside of those three points. Asirpa says that it is all the more reason that they should escape Fort Goryokaku while they have the chance. However, Shiraishi argues that since Wilk gave away half of the gold to the convicts as per the deed, they should figure out whether the other half truly is in Fort Goryokaku before they run away.

As Shiraishi begins to cry, saying that he at least wants to see a glimpse of the gold, Toni uncovers his ears, saying that the cannon fires have stopped. Outside of the fort's perimeter, Nagakura meets up with Tsurumi to tell him that there isn't any gold inside Fort Goryokaku, but Tsurumi does not believe his words. He threatens to blow up the fort along with Hijikata and the others inside so that he can see for himself whether the gold is inside the fort or not. Nagakura reveals that there was a land deal which the Ainu used the gold to buy land in Hokkaido and goes on to explain the history behind the deed. He inquiries Tsurumi if what he told him fits with some of the things he wondered about before that as an intelligence officer, like the Meiji government having a surplus of war funds.

Tsurumi asks whose name is on the deed, and Nagakura replies that there aren't any, as the rights within the deal belong to the Ainu people, but he believes that the rights would benefit Tsurumi as well since there are plenty of Ainu in the 7th Division, like Ariko. Nagakura then begins to prostate himself, asking that in exchange for the deed, he wants Tsurumi's guarantee that he will spare everyone's lives. He explains that at heart, "fighting" is all Hijikata cares about and that as Vice-Commander of the Shinsengumi, all he wants is to find a place where he can have one last spectacular fight and then die.

Nagakura continues that Hijikata somehow managed to survive the unwinnable Battle of Hakodate but he is trying to make sure that the next opportunity to die does not slip him by. He declares that he will return to Fort Goryokaku and try his best to convince Hijikata to surrender. Tsurumi tells Nagakura not to prostate himself any longer for he has already seen through his ruse to use the deed as a shield to keep the threat of the cannons at bay so that he can return to Fort Goryokaku to fight alongside Hijikata. As Nagakura quietly fumes, Tsurumi exclaims that the real crazed Shinsengumi survivor is Nagakura Shinpachi, who is the one truly itching for one last fight.

## Character Appearances

* Asirpa
* Saichi Sugimoto
* Yoshitake Shiraishi
* Shinpachi Nagakura
* Toshiyuki Kadokura
* Toshizou Hijikata
* Tatsuma Ushiyama
* Heiji Koito
* Tokushirou Tsurumi
* Kirawus
* Kantarou Okuyama
* Anji Toni
* Wilk *(Mentioned)*
* Takeaki Enomoto *(Mentioned)*
* Rikimatsu Ariko *(Mentioned)* *(Cameo)*