Episode 21

## The Sound of an Ambush

**The Sound of an Ambush** (奇襲の音, *Kishuu no Ne*) is the twenty-first episode of the *Golden Kamuy* anime series.

## Synopsis

While visiting a hot springs, the Saichi Sugimoto and his group are ambushed by a gang of blind thieves led by an Abashiri convict. In the darkness, the thieves who navigate by sound have a tremendous advantage, and the group is in deadly peril.

## Plot

Sugimoto's Group arrives to Huci's 13th Sister's Son *kotan* at Lake Kussharo. Asirpa demonstrates the pekanpe fruits which she gathered while passing the Lake Touro. Sugimoto is surprised and, upon seeing how thorny pekanpe are, reminisces of how ninjas would dry those fruits and use them as caltrops. Hearing an owl hoot, Huci's 13th Sister's Son notes that *Kotan-kor Kamuy* has been noisy lately. Asirpa explains that it's a type of owl, a kamuy that protects the village and yells at demons that come from top of the mountain. Asirpa's relative tells the group about blind bandits that have been attacking people in complete darkness. However, someone was able to see a strange tattoo that covered the bandits' leader chest. The group realizes that it must be one of the Abashiri Convicts, and Shiraishi elaborates that it must be a prisoner who was doing hard labor on Mt. Iwo, the man named Toni Anji. According to Shiraishi, Warden Shirosuke Inudou has been lending prisoners to the secretly restarted labor works on Mt. Iwo, which were previously stopped after its dangerous effect on prisoners' health. Huci's 13th Sister's Son says the bandits always attack in groups and only on the new moon, when there's no light. He then recommends Sugimoto and his group to head to a hot springs nearby where they can gather more information. Asirpa walks outside, and Sugimoto follows her to ask if anything's wrong. She says that everything is fine, but she heard sounds that she had never heard before.

At the hot springs, a blind masseur is massaging Sugimoto's body and comments on how soft his muscles are. He makes note of Sugimoto's numerous scars as well, wondering how he managed to survive all of it. Sugimoto brings up the Ainu funeral tradition of damaging the kimono and the possessions of the deceased in order to pass it to them in the afterlife. He then says that if one would want to take out his soul, they would need a bigger wound than any of those. Asirpa rests her hand on Sugimoto's body and tells him that souls leave because they have finished their business in this world; the reason why Sugimoto's wounds didn't kill him is that he still has unfinished business here.

While the men of the group go to relax in the hot springs, Asirpa and Inkarmat have a conversation with the blind masseur. Asirpa asks the man if he is okay walking by himself, but he reassures her that at night he sees more things than she does. The masseur then warns Asirpa to watch out for the sound of clogs, as it signifies that the blind bandits are near. However, he claims that those are not sounds of clogs, but clicking of tongues. When the masseur demonstrates the tongue clicking, Asirpa rushes to Sugimoto, realizing they've been followed by the bandits this whole time. This moment, the bandits ambush Sugimoto and others. Shiraishi recognizes Toni Anji, and the bandits put out the lights by destroying the lanterns. Left in complete darkness, naked and unarmed, the group is unsure how to fight back. Toni has also recognized Shiraishi by his voice and accuses him of teaming up with the miners from Mt. Iwo. Shiraishi denies it and says they only want to copy his tattoo and then he can get his own share of gold. Toni tells them he doesn't want to shoot the kid and warns them to get him out before he starts shooting. However, he is stopped by Ryu who bites into his arm. Seizing the moment, Sugimoto and other men get out of the bath while Ogata manages to grab his rifle. One of Toni's bandits gets hold of Ryu, but the dog's barking obstructs Toni's hearing.

Shiraishi tries to escape in the forest but runs into a tree and loses consciousness. Sugimoto is caught by two armed bandits and manages to fight them off. He then hears the tongue clicking followed by a gunshot. Tanigaki deduces that Toni must be the only one who wields a gun. Toni hears how Ogata loads his rifle, but he is then distracted by the smell of burning torch that Asirpa is carrying. A bandit appears in Asirpa's way, ordering her to put out the light. Toni warns his men to stay away from the light as he knows someone in Sugimoto's group has a rifle, but he is too late — Ogata kills the bandit. Enraged, Toni fires at the source of the gunshot but misses. Ogata tries to aim at Toni but decides against it, as he doesn't have many bullets left. Asirpa is running in the darkness and is suddenly grabbed by someone who turns out to be Sugimoto, who was hiding behind a tree. The blood from Sugimoto's wounds gets on Asirpa's hands, but he reassures her that he is okay and they just need to survive till dawn to start their counterattack. The two are then interrupted by Toni Anji, who has walked right behind them; smelling the air, Toni says that he can scent blood. Toni clicks his tongue a few times and walks forward. He turns his head and his gaze meets Sugimoto's.

In her memories, a young Inkarmat is asked by Wilk if she is really going away; he says that he will miss her. Inkarmat tells him goodbye, but before she leaves, Wilk gifts her a clothing that once belonged to his mother. He says that even though she will grow up and change in the future, if she is wearing this clothing, he will always recognize her. Inkarmat is surprised because she thought the clothing was important to Wilk, to which he replies that as his friend she is equally important to him. Inkarmat thanks him for that but says that her *Sirakki Kamuy* told her she would never see Wilk's face again.

In the present, Inkarmat is wandering alone in the darkness, carrying a lantern. She is called out by Tanigaki who was hiding from bandits with Kiroranke. Inkarmat asks Tanigaki where Cikapasi is, so he explains that he told the boy to find a place to hide and stay there. Their conversation is overheard by Toni Anji, who then walks their way. Realizing it's the bandits approaching, Kiroranke tells Inkarmat and Tanigaki to follow him and leads them to the lake shore. He suggests they cross the lake and take the long way back to get to the inn safely. However, Inkarmat hesitates to get in the boat, as she can't swim and has a terrible premonition about it. Kiroranke reassures her that he has handled boats like that since childhood and has gone fishing at night. He urges Inkarmat to get in the boat, telling her that if he really wanted her dead, he would simply leave her on the shore.

Meanwhile, Toni and his bandits throw rocks in the water to find out the boat's location. As one of the rocks hits the boat and Toni starts shooting, Tanigaki grabs Inkarmat and shields her with his body, saving her from a bullet. The boat overturns with everyone on board falling into the water, and Inkarmat starts drowning. Underwater, she has a vision of several bears sending her off to the next world. She realizes that the prophecy was true and she indeed never saw Wilk's face again. Suddenly, a giant figure of Tanigaki descends from the sky, with the buttons on his shirt coming undone. The bears disappear, and Tanigaki takes Inkarmat into his hands. Next moment, Inkarmat comes to Tanigaki saving her from drowning and carrying her to the lake surface. After getting safely to the shore, Inkarmat asks if Tanigaki is alright after being shot. He says he is okay since the bullet passed through his buttocks. Hearing this, Inkarmat laughs and kisses Tanigaki, thinking to herself that fate can be changed. Kiroranke apologizes for interrupting their fun but reminds them that they need to get going.

As dawn is coming, it's becoming easier to see. Ogata kills one of the bandits, and Toni rushes with his bandits to retreat. After defeating another bandit, Sugimoto and Asirpa spot Ogata, who is observing the bandits' lodge from a distance. Sugimoto tells Asirpa to wait outside while he and Ogata go in and fight Toni and his men. When Sugimoto tries to open the windows, they get locked in the lodge. Hearing the tongue clicking, Ogata shoots and damages Toni's echolocation aid. Sugimoto runs and splits from Ogata. Asirpa gets inside the lodge and finds Sugimoto. They manage to find one of the bandits who stepped into pekanpe that Asirpa set up as traps. Toni assaults Sugimoto and the two fight. Having Sugimoto in a chokehold, Toni accuses Sugimoto of being a miner in cahoots with Inudou, who has profited of the prisoners' deaths. Sugimoto throws Toni over and slams him against the floor, overpowering him. He takes the metal weapon in his hands and tries to stab Toni, saying they were attacking innocent Ainu villagers. Toni justifies their attacks by claiming they are blind and starving and that's their only way to survive; besides, they haven't killed anyone innocent. Sugimoto says that eventually they will, but Toni argues that Sugimoto himself is far from innocent and he will not go back to who he was before. As memories of his past with Toraji and Umeko overcome him, Sugimoto freezes, and Toni puts a gun to his head.

Their deadly fight is interrupted by Toshizou Hijikata, who walks into the lodge, greeting Toni. When asked what he is doing there, Hijikata says he is fighting Warden Inudou. Tatsuma Ushiyama breaks through the walls of the lodge and greets Asirpa, who is equally happy to see him. Sugimoto wonders how Hijikata found them and is told that the dog outside helped them. Nagakura asks Sugimoto to leave Toni to them, to which Sugimoto agrees if they let him copy his tattoos. However, as Asirpa's relatives live nearby, Sugimoto muses that he'd feel safed if they killed and skinned Toni instead. Asirpa walks to Toni and tells him that if he continues to live like that, lurking in the dark and only coming out to harm others, he will never manage to escape that darkness. Toni is surprised to hear that but smiles and agrees with Asirpa.

In Nemuro, Tokishige Usami is reporting to Tokushirou Tsurumi about what he learned while undercover in Abashiri Prison. Usami tells Tsurumi about the weapons Inudou is gathering, but Tsurumi reprimands him for getting discovered before he could find out where the weapons are stored. He then orders Tsukishima to sit Usami down. Tsurumi grabs Usami's face while holding a fountain pen and pointing it at his eye. As Tsurumi scolds Usami for wasting his efforts of getting him hired as a guard, Usami blushes and breathes heavily, thinking of how close Tsurumi is to his face. Tsurumi turns the moles on Usami's face into drawings of two running men. As he does that, Nikaidou laughs while Koito watches with jealousy in his eyes. However, when Tsurumi mentions the men never being able to meet, Nikaidou starts weeping. Usami remains ecstatic during the whole process.

Sugimoto tells Hijikata and Nagakura about what went down between Inkarmat and Kiroranke and theorizes it might be one of Tsurumi's schemes. Hijikata says he has invited an old friend of his into town, and the group goes to the photo studio. After taking photos of the group, the photographer gives Hijikata something he has been holding on for a long time — a photograph of young Hijikata. As Hijikata holds the photo in his hands, he remembers Toni Anji comparing Sugimoto to him back in Abashiri Prison: as fierce as a demon, but somehow kind.

## Adapted Chapters

* Chapter 118 (p. 16-18)
* Chapter 119 (p. 1-3,9)
* Chapter 120
* Chapter 121
* Chapter 122
* Chapter 123
* Chapter 124

## Character Appearances

* Asirpa
* Saichi Sugimoto
* Yoshitake Shiraishi
* Hyakunosuke Ogata
* Genjirou Tanigaki
* Kiroranke
* Huci's 13th Sister's Son *(Debut)*
* Inkarmat
* Cikapasi
* Shirosuke Inudou *(Mentioned)* *(Flashback)*
* Toni Anji
* Ryu
* Anma *(Debut)*
* Wilk *(Flashback)*
* Toraji Kenmochi *(Flashback)*
* Umeko Kenmochi *(Flashback)*
* Toshizou Hijikata
* Tatsuma Ushiyama
* Shinpachi Nagakura
* Tokushirou Tsurumi
* Hajime Tsukishima
* Otonoshin Koito
* Tokishige Usami
* Kouhei Nikaidou
* Kenzou Tamoto *(Debut)*
* Kano Ienaga