Chapter 104

## A Life and Death Battle Vs the Horrifying Deadly Venom! Deep in the Forests of Hokkaido, a Massive Serpent Lurks!

* Color
* Magazine

### English Title

* A Life and Death Battle Vs the Horrifying Deadly Venom! Deep in the Forests of Hokkaido, a Massive Serpent Lurks!
* The Giant Serpent of the Hokkaido Wilderness! A Battle Against Fatal Poison! (VIZ)

### Arc

Lightning and O-Gin Arc

**A Life and Death Battle Vs the Horrifying Deadly Venom! Deep in the Forests of Hokkaido, a Massive Serpent Lurks!**, or **The Giant Serpent of the Hokkaido Wilderness! A Battle Against Fatal Poison!** (恐怖の猛毒大死闘！北海道奥地に巨大蛇は存在した！, *Kyōfu no mōdoku dai shitō! Hokkaidō okuchi ni kyodai hebi wa sonzai shita!*) is the 104th chapter of the *Golden Kamuy* manga.

## Synopsis

In Otaru at Hijikata's hideout, two men named Kantarou and Kamezou are talking about the Higashimatsuya store and the gambling hall there. Kantarou says that he heard a rumour about a man who kept losing there until he finally handed over a skin which he says could sell for a high price or that they could go look for the other tattoo themselves. The two men are reminded of the Barato incident and both agree to check it out. They want to succeed and have Hijikata acknowledge them so they decide to put their plans into motion at night once everyone has fallen asleep.

Outside, they run into Sakamoto and O-gin, the latter who says she recognize them from somewhere. As the two men realize who they just met, O-gin wonders if she had sex with them which led Sakamoto to get furious and asks if they really did it with her. When they denied it, Sakamoto gets even more angry and points his gun at them, asking why they didn't since O-gin is such a fine woman. O-gin finally remembers who they are and that they were bodyguards for the Hidoro family until they got killed. The two men lies and says that they were the ones who killed Umakichi, to which O-gin is impressed with. She asks them if they are bodyguards in Otaru now but they nervously deny it. Sakamoto then spoke up and says that they were probably going to rob the gambling hall and making plans to come at night to attack it. Their silence confirms their plans and O-gin asks if they want to join them. As O-gin and Sakamoto makes out in front of them, Kantarou asks if they are indeed talking about the robbery.

Elsewhere in a forest, Shiraishi falls over and a snake bit him in the head, causing Asirpa to overreact in disgust. Sugimoto sees the snake and notes that it is poisonous, and Asirpa asks if the snake is dead which Shiraishi confirms by smashing it with a rock. Shiraishi suddenly collapses, feeling the effects of the poison and asks Asirpa to suck the venom out but she refuses and says she will find some plants to use as medicine. Shiraishi then turns to Sugimoto and Ogata for help, but they just look at him. He then asks what would happen if he were to die and their way of getting into Abashiri would be lost, while demanding Ogata to suck it out but he refuses saying that he'd hate if the venom got into his gums.

Once night had fallen, Asirpa returned with some plants and spoke about how to effectively use the medicine to treat the bite but Shiraishi says it does not work as the bite is on his head which had noticeably swollen up. Asirpa asks Sugimoto if he stabbed the snake through the head with the mugwort which he confirms then asks why he had to do that. Asirpa reveals that mugwort is a plant that repels evil and that they should do that to a snake that has done bad things so it doesn't come back to life. She then tells Shiraishi that due to how effective the mugwort is, he should get better. However, she states that if it wasn't any other regular snake but Sak Somo Ayep, then Shiraishi would've been beyond saving.

Asirpa then tells them a tale about two brothers who were hunters in Hidaka that encountered Sak Somo Ayep, which would let out a horrible stench that would cause a person to have their entire body swell up. Sugimoto and Shiraishi are unable to believe it but Asirpa says that if you speak its name in the summertime, it will come and that she refuses to say the Ainu word for snake. She also says that if one were to play the mukkur in the summer, it would summon the snake. Sugimoto and Shiraishi both laugh at Asirpa's worries and begins to whistle only to be slapped by her. They get up, continuing to whistle and says that it's just a superstition that draws the thieves to people that are well off.

Sugimoto and Shiraishi attempted to sit down again only to fall over and wonder where the log they were sitting on earlier had gone. Shiraishi notices that Sugimoto's face had swollen up and asks if he had been bitten too but he denies it. They look behind them and sees a giant snake staring back at them and screams that it's Sak Somo Ayep as Asirpa and Ogata flees. Back in Otaru, two men standing guard begins to whistle as O-gin, Sakamoto, Kamezou, and Kantarou are getting ready to rob the gambling hall.

## Character Appearances

* Hyakunosuke Ogata
* Saichi Sugimoto
* Yoshitake Shiraishi
* Asirpa
* Kantarou
* Kamezou
* Tsukishima *(Flashback)*
* Keiichirou Sakamoto
* O-gin
* Umakichi Kusuda *(Flashback)*
* Huci *(Flashback)*
* Osoma *(Flashback)*