Tokushirou Tsurumi/Story

****Spoiler Warning!****

*This article contains **heavy spoilers** for **Golden Kamuy** story. Please read at your own risk.*

Overview
**Story**
Gallery

## Background

### Early Years

Tokushirou Tsurumi was born on the Niigata mainland to a father named Tsurumi and a mother named Hasegawa. While talking to the Herring Magnate, Tsurumi mentioned that his family used to be wealthy but fell on hard times. This is further proved by Tsurumi's skillful piano playing and his rank as First Lieutenant, which is also evident of him finishing Imperial Japanese Army Academy.

### In Russia

Tsurumi joined the Imperial Japanese Army and he was sent to Russia to act as a spy under the guise of Kouichi Hasegawa, a photographer who came to live in Vladivostok because of his father's work. He met and married a Russian woman named Fina and together they had a daughter, Olga. The three of them lived peacefully in Vladivostok with Fina taking care of the baby and Tsurumi out doing field work as a spy while taking photographs with his camera.

One day, Tsurumi was taking photographs of the town of Vladivostok when he hears a howl coming from behind. Upon seeing a wolf nearby, he attempted to take a photo of it, but by then it had already ran away and he notes how rare it was for one to come close to a human dwelling. Tsurumi then returned to his store where he was welcomed by Fina and he asked if Olga had been good. When Fina notified him that they have customers, Tsurumi heads up front to see two men and a woman, greeting them. The woman, Zoya tells him that they didn't come to have their picture taken and one of the men, Grigori says that they are interested in Japan and would be willing to pay him for teaching them the Japanese language.

Tsurumi agreed to teach them Japanese and over the course of several months, would oversee their lessons and report their progress to Fina. He notes that both Grigori and Philip are learning Japanese at an amazing rate, especially the former. However, he says that Zoya is simply not interested in learning Japanese while noticing that she is able to speak French. Grigori and Philip takes Tsurumi out to teach him to hunt and he comments that he could buy himself a new camera if he sets a lot of traps. Meanwhile, Tusrumi noticed that the two men were constantly on guard and asked them where they came from. He notes the differences between them and Zoya, saying that she seemed like she came from a noble class unlike the two of them. Sometime later, Tsurumi finds wanted posters of Grigori and Philip and looks at them with a grim look on his face.

As Tsurumi prepares to take a photo of the revolutionaries, he begins to talk about the Three Great Nobles of the Restoration and how they played a central role in bringing about a successful revolution that would result in Japan becoming the only country in Asia to proceed on the path to modernization. Tsurumi would go on to warn Fina to head to her family home and not to return until he comes for her and Olga. When the revolutionaries arrived at his store for their lesson, Tsurumi tells them not to come anymore and to immediately leave. Just then, they hear a knock on the door and Tsurumi goes to answer it to find himself coming face to face with an Okhrana officer.

Suddenly, Zoya hits the officer with the butt of her rifle which allowed Philip to grab and bring him inside for Grigori to interrogate. The Okhrana officer does not know who the three people are and that they only came for Tsurumi, revealing him to be a spy for the Japanese army. With his secret now out, Tsurumi takes Philip upstairs to his studio where he reveals that his camera stand was actually a machine gun, much to Philip's surprise. Philip then used the machine gun to kill most of the Okhrana officers, but one was able to escape. Grigori exclaimed that not one should be allowed to escape or else he will be back with reinforcements, which caused Zoya to head out and kill the lone survivor. Upon turning around, Zoya finds Fina lying on the ground with blood coming out of her body.

Tsurumi takes Fina in his arms and upon examining her, says that she cannot be saved. He turns to the revolutionaries and tells them to get going, but when Zoya attempts to apologize to him, he coldly tells her to hurry up and leave. Tsurumi then turns his attention back to Fina as she calls him by his fake name, reaching out to touch his cheek. Tsurumi grabs her hand, saying that his name is not Kouichi Hasegawa, which leads to her asking who he is. He reveals his true name to Fina before taking Olga in his arms one last time. Tsurumi takes Fina and Olga's body back to the store, laying them in the bed before lighting the store on fire, and walks away from his life in Russia.

### Igogusa

Upon returning to Japan, Tsurumi heads back to the Imperial Japanese Army where he is placed in the 2nd Division and attains the rank of 2nd Lieutenant. It is during his time in the 2nd Division that he became acquainted with one of his subordinates, Hajime Tsukishima. Some time later, Tsurumi was transferred to the 7th Division.

In Meiji 29 (1896), Tsurumi paid a visit to Tsukishima who had been thrown into the army prison for commiting parricide where the latter recounted his early days to him, including the time that he spent with a girl called "Igogusa". After hearing Tsukishima's story, Tsurumi went out to tour the island as an excuse to fabricate his lie that "Igogusa" was still alive, in order to get Tsukishima to follow him into the 7th Division.

### Meeting Koito Otonoshin

In Meiji 33 (1900), Tsurumi travels to Kagoshima so that he could visit Takamori Saigou's grave, however he is knocked down by a 14-year old Koito riding his father's De Dion-Bouton vehicle. Koito approaches him to apologize for hitting him but Tsurumi says that he is at fault for stepping out so suddenly and that he never imagined something like Koito's vehicle would come flying at him. Tsurumi asks Koito about the vehicle and he reveals that his father got it from an acquaintance in France. Tsurumi wonders if it is alright for him to drive it and if his father will scold him for it but Koito reveals that his father won't.

Tsurumi then changes topic, asking where he could find the grave of Saigou and Koito takes him to the cemetery on the De Dion-Bouton. As they head uphill, Tsurumi notes that the De Dion-Bouton is slow going up and that a horse would be better. However, Koito says that horses can't run downhill on steep slopes so the De Dion-Bouton is faster going back. Upon reaching the cemetery, Tsurumi thanks Koito for the ride and gives him some Tsukisappu Anpan to eat. Tsurumi then asks Koito about some delicious foods in Kagoshima and Koito suggests Sakurajima daikon.

Koito breaks off the anpan and places a piece on one of the graves, revealing that it belongs to his older brother. He explains that his older brother had pale skin like their mother and so he would make fun of him, calling him "Sakurajima daikon". Despite the teasing, his brother never once got angry at him and Koito described him as being a really kind older brother. Koito laments that he should have been the one to die and Tsurumi asks him to tell him more about his brother.

Koito remained silent and Tsurumi tries to get him to open up but he apologizes, saying that he has spoken too much to a stranger he has just met. Tsurumi then tells Koito that he does not have any duty to his father to fill in the hole left by his brother, which causes Koito to hesitate momentarily before revealing how his brother Heinojou Koito had died in the Sino-Japanese War and how his death had affected both him and their father. As they leave the cemetery, Koito says that his brother might be feeling lonely soon as the Koito family will move to Hakodate due to his father's work. They say their farewells and Koito wonders if they will meet again with Tsurumi says that they just might.

Two years later in Meiji 35 (1902), Tsurumi is summoned to the Koito residence in Hakodate due to him being the only person in either the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy able of speaking fluently in Russian in order to help the Koito family with the kidnapping of their son Otonoshin. He took the liberty of entering their home through the back door and suggests that they close all of their curtains to prevent any leaks. Tsurumi, Heiji Koito, Yuki Koito, and Nakayama discusses how to rescue Koito and Tsurumi says that if Russia are involved in the kidnapping, then the situation becomes significantly more serious.

They hypothesizes that the Russians wants for Fort Hakodate and the Ominato Torpedo Division to be disabled in order to lower Japan's defense. When Nakayama states that it feels like the culprits should have sent a threat by now, Tsurumi and Heiji decides to investigate the Russian consulate and they hear a phone ringing from inside the consulate. Heiji goes to answer it but Tsurumi stops him, saying the timing of the call is too perfect and that the Russian consulate is being watched. He suggests that they should act as though nothing happened and to think ahead than their enemies.

Back at the Koito residence, they go over all of the telephone owners in Hakodate and narrows them down to the ones in close proximity of the Russian consulate. Tsurumi lays out a plan to figure out the location of the kidnappers and reassures Yuki that they will do everything that they can and to not give up hope. At the Russian consulate, Tsurumi, Heiji, and Nakayama manages to find a phone and readies themselves for the call the next morning. Heiji tells them that if the kidnappers demands that Fort Hakodate and the Ominato Torpedo Division be rendered defenseless, it would lead to an all out war with Russia and that for the sake of millions of innocent citizen's lives, there will be no other choice but to let Koito die.

When morning is about to break, Tsurumi goes over their plan to rescue Koito with Heiji and Nakayama before the phone begins to ring. Heiji stops Tsurumi from answering it in order to tell him that if the kidnappers thinks he will betray the Navy out of love for his son, they are underestimating him and that he plans to tell his son to die for the sake of the country. Tsurumi then speaks to the operators and they prepare to connect them to the kidnappers. The three of them listen as the kidnappers demands the destruction of the destroyers and the fort, which they had predicted and Tsurumi tells them to put Koito on the line to speak with Heiji.

They hear a commotion coming from the other end of the phone and Tsurumi quickly grabs the phone to ask the operator for the number, finding out that it belongs to 144. Nakayama frantically searches through the telephone number regristry book and they find that it belongs to an army training camp. Tsurumi tells the operator not to let anyone else connect with number 144 and Nakayama states that if the kidnappers are at an army training camp in Hakodate, they must be at Fort Goryokaku. Nakayama tells Tsurumi to send a signal to his men to head there but Tsurumi says that they do not know the number of Fort Goryokaku.

Tsurumi and Nakayama attempts to head to Fort Goryokaku themselves but the horses are too scared of the steep slope. Just then, Heiji comes roaring through on his De Dion-Bouton and Tsurumi jumps on, joining him. As they ride through Hakodate, Tsurumi realizes they are being chased by a pursuer who is trying to reach the fort before them, but Tsurumi manages to shoot him off his horse. However, they find that they are on a collision course with a horse drawn carriage and Tsurumi falls off as they crash into the other vehicle. Despite the obstruction and the destruction of the De Dion-Bouton, Heiji was able to keep on going as he screamed the name of his son.

Tsurumi is able to quickly recovers and heads to Fort Goryokaku. Upon arriving at the fort, Tsurumi tells Heiji that he will break in from the back while Heiji go in from the front to draw the kidnapper's attention. He engages in a gunfight with one of the kidnappers and emerged victorious as he opens the door and presents himself to Koito, saying that they did meet again after all. Tsurumi and Koito waits for Heiji to regain consciousness and as Tsurumi takes off the mask of one of the kidnappers, he says that he will investigate them but doubts that they will be able to connect them to the Russian government.

Koito tells Tsurumi that the kidnappers had given him some Tsukisappu Anpan, which had reminded him of their first encounter. Tsurumi reveals that the food was only distributed within the Imperial Army's 25th Infantry Regiment and that the fort had been used by them until recently with the food having been left behind. Koito says that he had never imagined that the "Tsukisappu Anpan person" from before would come and save him, believing that it must be fate that they met again. As he pulls on Heiji's overall straps, Tsurumi says that perhaps Tsukisappu Anpan has brought the both of them together. He lets go of the strap, causing it to hit Heiji's chest but the three of them have a laugh together.

Sometime later at the 7th Division's headquarters in Asahikawa, the Koito father and son meets with Tsurumi to inform him that Koito has successfully applied to the Army's military academy. Heiji says that if his son becomes a great officer, it does not matter to him whether it is in the Army or the Navy and he asks Tsurumi to take care of his son. Tsurumi tells Heiji that he is sure that Koito will become an important person to both the Army and the Navy. Noting that both groups have never gotten along, Tsurumi vows that Koito will become vital in bridging the gap between them. Hearing this, Koito begins to speak in the Satsuma dialect and Tsurumi wonders if he is nervous.

### Recruiting Hanazawa Yuusaku

Tsurumi visits Hyakunosuke Ogata at a brothel and they talk about Ogata's younger half-brother, Yuusaku Hanazawa's personality. Tsurumi comments that Hanazawa's sense of justice is too strong for them to control him since he comes from a noble bloodline which Ogata refutes. Tsurumi observed Hanazawa's leadership skills in the Battle of Port Arthur and spoke to Ogata, saying that Hanazawa is a more gallant soldier than they'd imagined, having won over the hearts of all the other men. Ogata then agrees not to kill Hanazawa in order to avoid the consequences from the act.

### Russo-Japanese War

In Meiji 38 (1905), on Mukden during the Russo-Japanese War, Tsukishima finally realizes that he was lied to and confronted Tsurumi as he coldly stares back at him.

As Tsukishima screamed, he punched Tsurumi and grabbed him, asking if he had been lying to him for the past nine years to which Tsurumi replied that he had done it because Tsukishima had already come to accept his execution. Tsurumi then took a moment to tell the rest of the 7th Division, who had gathered due to the commotion, to leave the two of them alone. Turning back to Tsukishima, he tells him that if had found out Igogusa was still alive, then he would feel regret about being on death row and that his own life was more valuable than his father.

Tsurumi then goes on to praise Tsukishima, which causes him to break down, saying that he never wanted Tsurumi to use Igogusa to deceive him. As Tsurumi was about to tell more about the story, the Russians began to bombard their location with cannons and Tsukishima pushes Tsurumi down in an effort to protect him. However, this causes Tsurumi's face to become severely wounded and sends Tsukishima flying. The 7th Division tries to rescue the both of them as Tsurumi, blinded from his wound, screams for Tsukishima, asking if he was still alive. The other soldiers then brings the both of them to a frozen body of water to be carried away on sledges, unknowingly running into a soldier whom they would have a fated encounter with in the future.

Sometime later, once their injuries had been treated at camp, Tsurumi continue to tell more about Igogusa and spoke of the Ainu plan that he plans to execute once the war is over. He tells Tsukishima that he needs men with resolve at his side and that he is the only one whom he can trust. When Tsukishima says that he will use his life for his service, Tsurumi pats him on the shoulder, saying that he is glad to hear him say that while staring at the soldier from Sado who peeks in momentarily before walking away.

### After The War

Sometime during one of the 7th Division's excursions, they stayed in a wooden building in the midst of a heavy snow storm. While the rest of the platoon were resting, Tsurumi was in another room with Genjirou Tanigaki, listening to him talk about his Matagi heritage as well as his past about how his younger sister was murdered and his reasons for joining the 7th Division. After hearing his story, as well as him questioning what his purpose in life is, Tsurumi tells him that he is a man that he needs, and asks if he would be willing to make kane mochi with walnuts for him.

## Plot

### Introduction Arc

Tsurumi is seen with his soldiers who have found injured Hyakunosuke Ogata. The soldiers report that Ogata was found on the riverbank at dusk and that his condition was so severe that any later he would have succumbed to hypothermia. The soldiers wonder what Superior Private Ogata was doing out there all alone. They decide to wait for him to regain his consciousness so they can interrogate him.

### Escape King Arc

In Otaru, a soldier from the 7th Division reports to Tsurumi that Ogata has awakened; Tsurumi exclaims that he wants to pay a visit to Ogata. In Tsurumi's room, a fleshed and tanned tattooed human skin can be observed on the wall, signaling that the 7th Division has started their gold hunt as well.

Days later, Tsurumi and his soldiers are looking for the four men that disappeared earlier. A soldier reports to Tsurumi that continuing the search will be difficult as heavy snowfall will likely cover any tracks. Tsurumi says that all four men were experienced mountaineers, especially Tanigaki, who comes from a Matagi family. As such, Tsurumi finds it difficult to believe that his soldiers would simply get lost or stranded. Tsurumi is alerted by Captain Wada, who appears accompanied by another soldier. Wada is furious with Tsurumi, shouting that he took four of his men to Otaru without his permission. Moreover, Wada accuses Tsurumi of secretly taking ammunition and weapons from Asahikawa. Tsurumi takes out a handkerchief and wipes cerebrospinal fluid from his face. He apologizes and explains that part of his frontal lobe and skull were injured during the Battle of Mukden, and sometimes an odd fluid leaks out of the wound. Wada tells Tsurumi he can't cover for him anymore, and with an injury like his he shouldn't have managed to keep his rank of First Lieutenant. He points his index finger at Tsurumi, exclaiming that he has no place in the Imperial Japanese Army. Suddenly, Tsurumi sinks his teeth into Wada's finger and bites it off, much to Wada's shock. Tsurumi wipes his mouth with the handkerchief and apologizes, saying he's been having troubles with controlling his temper after his frontal lobe injury. Aside that, he claims to be in good health, and adds that a warrior takes pride in his scars. Wada is appalled by Tsurumi's lunacy and orders the soldier that came with him to fire at will. However, the soldier shoots Wada instead, killing him. Tsurumi tells his men to strip off Wada's body of his uniform and bury him, saying that he will make nice fertilizer for the plants when spring comes, unlike their comrades in Manchuria, whose graves are cold and barren stones. Tsurumi stands before his men, declaring that they still haven't received reparations from Russia, and so the soldiers who defended the frontier were left with nothing but barren, worthless land. As he looks in the distance, Tsurumi announces that their war is not over.

Next time, Tsurumi appears when his soldiers seize Saichi Sugimoto in front of the soba restaurant. He fires his gun in the air, demanding the soldiers stop attacking Sugimoto as he doesn't want him dead yet. Tsurumi smiles at Sugimoto and says that it's him who decides when Sugimoto will die.

Sugimoto is restrained and taken to the 7th Division barracks for interrogation. He tells Tsurumi that he is working for a man whose favorite proustite got hurt, so he is looking for some guy with a tattoo to pay him back for what he did. However, Tsurumi doesn't seem to believe Sugimoto's words; instead, he asks him if he likes sweets and offers Sugimoto a dango skewer. While Sugimoto eats a dango, Tsurumi mentions how they found one of his men washed up on the riverbank, barely clinging to life. When the man came to his senses, he wrote a single word with his finger: "immortal".

Hearing this, Sugimoto attempts to leave, and Tsurumi accuses him of attacking Superior Private Ogata The twins order Sugimoto to sit down, but Sugimoto mocks them, asking if he can mark one of them to tell apart, which angers the brothers. Sugimoto sits down and tries to explain himself, claiming they got the wrong guy and his name isn't even Sugimoto. Tsurumi says that he's seen Sugimoto the Immortal once, back in Port Arthur. He watched him cut his way across the battlefield "as though he was possessed by the devil himself", a sight so fascinating Tsurumi couldn't tear his eyes away. The First Lieutenant tells Sugimoto that he recognized him when he saw him fight in front on the soba restaurant, but Sugimoto denies being at Port Arthur. Tsurumi asserts that Ogata must have fought Sugimoto because he was in possession of tattooed skins and was looking for the hidden gold; that also explains why Sugimoto tried to run away from the 7th Division. Sugimoto keeps denying knowing anything about the tattoos or the gold and asks if Tsurumi is all right in the head. Tsurumi laughs and replies that a shell blew away a small part of his brain. The twins let out a small laugh too, and Sugimoto joins them, thinking it was a joke. Suddenly, Tsurumi stabs Sugimoto with the dango skewer, piercing it through his cheeks and mouth. Sugimoto remains silent, and Tsurumi compliments him on his toughness, saying he knew he really is Sugimoto the Immortal. Tsurumi warns Sugimoto that there's a way for him to destroy his "life's candle".

Tsurumi offers Sugimoto to join his unit. He reveals that he's lost a lot of good men in the war and is short on soldiers as he has less than a hundred men scattered all over Hokkaido. Sugimoto argues that less than a hundred is still a big number of people to share the gold with, but Tsurumi explains that the gold will be used for military expenditures. He reveals that he is planning on buying weapons from Americans, take over the 7th Division, then commander the ports that ship vital resources from Hokkaido to the rest of Japan, and finally take over Hokkaido altogether. Tsurumi claims that the soldiers who were heroes on the battlefield returned home to the life of a vagrant; they've lost more than they've gained for service. Tsurumi once again asks Sugimoto to join forces with him, saying a courageous soldier like him is exactly who he wants in his army. Sugimoto takes out the skewer that Tsurumi stabbed him with and rejects the Lieutenant's offer.

After Kouhei Nikaidou and Youhei Nikaidou try to attack Sugimoto, Tsurumi orders to keep the twins away from Sugimoto. However, it doesn't stop the brothers from attempting to take revenge. Later, Tsurumi arrives at the scene and witnesses the aftermath of another fight: Youhei is dead and Sugimoto is heavily injured, with his intestines sticking out of his gut. Tsurumi remarks that the candle of Sugimoto's life is truly on the verge of being blown out. Sugimoto asks Tsurumi to save him, promising to give up on the skins, much to Tsurumi's delight.

Tsurumi orders to prepare a sledge for Sugimoto and transport him to the bets hospital in Otaru. He tells Sugimoto that they will make every effort to save him so he should respond in kind and tell them where the tattooed skins are. Tsurumi whispers to one of his soldiers that he will follow the sledge with Sugimoto later on horse. While Tsurumi is waiting for his horse being prepared, he investigates Youhei's death site, which he finds strange. He notices a wound on Youhei's right hand and wonders if he really stabbed Sugimoto with it or Sugimoto just put it in his hand. Tsurumi sees bloody fingerprint on the underside of Youhei's belt. As a drop of liquid runs down Tsurumi's face, he wonders why Sugimoto readjusted Youhei's belt after killing him. Tsurumi unbuttons Youhei's jacket and realizes that Sugimoto took the dead man's intestines and tricked them.

Tsurumi immediately follows Sugimoto on horse and soon catches up with him. The First Lieutenant grabs his gun, but his horse is struck by Asirpa's poisoned arrow and falls to the ground. Tsurumi falls but quickly gets on his feet and chases Sugimoto on foot. He aims at Sugimoto but at the last moment chooses to let Sugimoto go. Tsurumi examines his dead horse and sees a strange wound on its body. Tsurumi goes back to the 7th Division barracks and one of the soldiers reports that someone set fire to the barracks. Tsurumi looks at the building on fire and comments that maybe the 7th Division should leave finding the tattooed skins to Sugimoto and his accomplices as they seem to be somewhat more competent than them. Another soldier tells Tsurumi that they were unable to retrieve the tattooed skin from the First Lieutenant's personal quarters. Tsurumi replies that they don't have to worry about it and unbuttons his jacket, demonstrating a shirt made from the tattooed skin. Shiraishi, who has disguised himself as one of the soldiers, notes that this is why he couldn't find the skin.

### Immortal Beast Arc

Sometime after subduing Nikaidou and before heading to Yubari, Tsurumi met with a fortune-teller named Inkarmat and advised her to make use of one of his soldiers, Tanigaki, whose leg should have be healed by now.

### Edogai Arc

in Yubari, Tsurumi is staking out a graveyard with Sergeant Tsukishima and Nikaidou in order to capture a grave robber. As he and Tsukishima are talking about the latest events in town, he notices Nikaidou holding his brother's ear to his, and he asks if he could have Tsurumi's left ear. Tsurumi humours him saying that he could have it if he dies, just then Tsukishima calls out to him to spot a silhouetted man in front of a grave. However, Nikaidou steps on a branch which alerts the man causing him to flee. He tells Tsukishima and Nikaidou to chase after him as he stops to pick up a glove that the man dropped. He sees that it is made out of human skins, and supposes that he'll have to bring it back to him as he puts it on his left hand.

Tsurumi is seen approaching a big store and knocks on the door. He is greeted by a kind-faced man who Tsurumi confirms as Yasaku Edogai and is let into the store. Inside, Tsurumi asks Edogai several questions about his duties as a taxidermist and pats his shoulder, praising him for his skills. Edogai sees that he is wearing a glove made of human skin, and pretends to not know anything. However, approaching a window, Tsurumi tells him that they were able to track him down as Nikaidou and Tsukishima are in the next house over prepared to fire in case anything happens. He surprises Edogai by saying that he would like a pair of human gloves made for him as well. When Edogai goes into the next room to retrieve them, Tsurumi throws the door open to see that the other people in the house aren't alive, seemingly unaware that Edogai is behind him waiting to kill him.

However, Tsurumi speaks up saying that the people seem like they may start moving any time, surprising Edogai. As Edogai is arguing with his mother, he comments on how Edogai is the only one who can hear her voice and that it is not healthy. In order to grab Edogai's attention, Tsurumi takes off his coat to reveal Tsuyama's skin to which Edogai is fascinated with. Back in the workshop, Edogai shows Tsurumi some of his skins to which he praises. When Edogai heads back into the dining room and sees Nikaidou on top of his mother, Tsurumi grabs him and gives him a gun to shoot at his mother to let go of his past. Afterwards, as Tsurumi and Edogai have one final dance, Tsurumi tells Edogai that he wants him to make fake skins with fake tattoos to throw off the other parties also in search of the skins.

Tsurumi and Nikaidou returns to Otaru leaving Tsukishima and Maeyama to watch over Edogai's activities. Some time later, he received a report from Tsukishima whose uniform had been dirtied in the Yubari mine explosion. Tsukishima was able to deliver the fake skins to him as well as Edogai's final word "iron". He says that he had received a report while he was on his way back to Otaru and assumes that Edogai had passed away. He tells Tsukishima that he has done an excellent job and that he should take a long rest. Later, Tsurumi muses on Edogai's final word while feeling the rain drops with his skin glove from a window. He then touched a pot which revealed markings on the gloves. At this, Tsurumi realized how to distinguish the real skins from the fake ones and swore that he would not let Edogai's sacrifice go to waste.

### Con Artists Arc

When Nikaidou was severely wounded on a mission against Sugimoto and Hijikata, Tsurumi paid him a visit at the hospital in Otaru. There he finds that Nikaidou has been stealing bottles of morphine and scolds him for it. He takes Tsukishima out to meet Lieutenant General Narizou Arisaka who supplies them with the latest weapon designs made by him and his subordinate. Due to Arisaka's hearing loss, they have a conversation in shouts as they talk about Asahikawa, opium, weapons, and Nikaidou's situation.

They return to the hospital where Tsurumi introduces a wonderful guest to Nikaidou but are interrupted by a strange man who Tsurumi shoos away. Arisaka then comes into the room and greets Nikaidou, giving him a prosthetic leg as a present. The leg is capable of firing off shotgun shells in close combat for a surprise attack, which Arisaka shows off to the injured man. After being scolded by the doctor, Tsurumi, Tsukishima, Arisaka, and the strange man all congratulates Nikaidou on his new leg.

### Youichirou the Manslayer Arc

After returning to Abashiri, Tsurumi visits Nikaidou at the clinic since he'd had heard from Usami that Nikaidou hadn't been eating due to having lost motivation from Sugimoto's "death". Tsurumi tried unsucessfully to convince Nikaidou to eat his food by rewarding him with morphine. They are then joined by by Arisaka who'd had made a new hand for Nikaidou and Tusrumi tries to get Nikaidou's attention by asking if it had anything special in it. However, after seeing that its special trick is a chopstick holder, Nikaidou, unimpressed, goes back under his covers.

### Border Crossing Arc

At some point in time, Tsurumi did some investigation into Kiroranke's background and found out about his involvement with the assassination of Emperor Alexander II of Russia]. He then took pre-emptive measures and gave information to the Russians that Kiroranke will secretly attempt to cross the border in the near future, hiding out among one of the nomadic groups. Tsurumi later spoke of this development to Nikaidou who was still recovering from his injuries.

Afterwards, Tsurumi begins to examine the tattooed skins that the 7th Division has collected thus far and talks about the code breakers and their personalities regarding their occupation. When Tsurumi notes the number of skins that they have, Usami asks if he should kidnap someone from the army and bring them to Abashiri. However, Tsurumi declines, saying that Wilk wouldn't have been able to create a code so complex that they would need a cryptanalyst and says that the code must have been designed so that only Wilk's daughter, Asirpa can solve it.

### Return to Karafuto Arc

Some time later, Tsurumi receives a telegram from Usami and informs him that he is coming to Noboribetsu to review the incident that occurred there.}}

## References

1. ↑ Golden Kamuy Manga: Chapter 70
2. ↑ Golden Kamuy Manga: Chapter 71