Kamihate

**Kamihate** (上カミ終ハテ, *****Kamihate*****?) is a member of the Order, a group consisting of the strongest assassins in the JAA. He is recognized as the greatest sniper in JAA history.

## Appearance

Kamihate's appearance is mostly unknown, although he seems to be of relatively average build and stature (roughly the same size as Heisuke Mashimo). Due to his aversion to being seen, when outside for assassin work, Kamihate wears a dark, fluttering cloak over his entire body, its hood keeping his face hidden. His pants are a black, baggy pair.

## Personality

Extremely unsociable and preferring not to interact with associates face-to-face, Kamihate is a *hikikomori* (shut-in) whose face not even the other Order members have seen; a year ago, he claimed that his last time outside had been three years prior. When forced to collaborate, Kamihate goes so far as to have a fellow Order member carry a hiragana chart on a paper so that, if the sniper wishes to say something, he can simply shoot at the corresponding characters from afar to formulate messages. This, alongside Kamihate's ability to read the lips of whomever he has in scope, lets him know what his colleagues and/or targets are saying and get across messages to them without having to be anywhere near. When Kamihate does venture outside (whether forced to by his assassin's work or for any other reason), he wears a body-covering cloak to mask his identity, becoming extremely upset if his face is exposed.

One of Kamihate's idiosyncrasies is that he always carries his sniper rifle with him in almost any situation, even at home or off the job. Not only does he never set his gun aside, Kamihate frequently emotes through it as a running gag of sorts (such as trembling with the barrel when flustered or agitated), and his speech/thought bubbles and realization marks appear at its muzzle as if it were a head; this makes it seem as though Kamihate's rifle is an extension of his body, substituting his hidden face. Yet another quirk of the sniper is his apparent obsession with girls, first hinted at when he went out of his way to tell Osaragi that she is cute, and later confirmed by Sakamoto. The latter managed to fluster Kamihate and mess up his aim by holding up a picture of a morning news' weather girl. Kamihate claimed that it was not all girls whom he was crazy about but specifically weather girls, reasoning that, as weather means life or death for a sniper, it was only natural for him to consider weather girls goddesses.

Much like his fellow Order members, Kamihate has the cold, ruthless streak of a professional killer, allowing him to take out targets one after another without reservations and in a calculated manner. Still, Kamihate is agitated easily, such as by sudden movements from a target; when Heisuke was being apprehended by the Order, a brief escape attempt on the latter's part had Kamihate immediately fire a would-be headshot at the captive. When nearly struck by a countershot from Heisuke while he was targeting Sakamoto's gang, Kamihate was taken aback that he would be attacked by someone whom he had done nothing to, calling the outside world scary.

It is later revealed that Kamihate's reclusiveness, apart from his apparent paranoia about the outside world, stems from his strong belief that perfect strength resides within solitude — that forming connections with, trusting, and depending on others makes an assassin weak. It was proving this point (apart from his hurt pride) that made Kamihate so heavily care about preserving his image and world record according to Sakamoto, and it leads Kamihate to denigrate those (like Heisuke) whom he perceives to be too reliant on others.

Taking great pride in his sniper prowess, Kamihate becomes aggrieved if something or someone hurts that pride or threatens his cultivated image as the perfect, solitary sniper. Nine years ago, Kamihate was eager to complete the last hit needed for his Guinness World Record and to become the world's best sniper, showing that he attaches great importance to titles and accolades. When Kamihate broke a three-year shut-in streak to travel to another country and see an artifact indirectly commemorating the kill that had given him his record, he was distraught upon discovering that said kill had been Sakamoto's all along, having been misattributed to Kamihate. Thus, the sniper resolved to prevent Sakamoto from ever finding out about his record's "falsity" (by preventing the retired assassin from seeing the aforesaid artifact at the coming Assassin Exhibition of the Century), a resolve that Kamihate would hang onto for a year due to believing that both his record and "world's best sniper" title were on the line.

Due to his pride, bordering on arrogance, Kamihate is offended when one-upped in any way during sniper engagements, indicated by him trembling out of frustration. During his shoot-out with Heisuke, Kamihate grew increasingly irritated at his foe's boldness and was embarrassed by Heisuke predicting a shot from him. When Heisuke made a bullet of his ricochet in an effort to hit Kamihate, the latter called Heisuke annoying for what he deemed a show-off move, yet felt compelled to respond by making his own bullet alter its course just to prove himself capable of the same feat, while declaring that whoever hurt his pride had to pay. Indeed, Kamihate's annoyance only continued to grow the more Heisuke countered him during their confrontation, such as when Kamihate used the trajectory of Kamihate's shot to ascertain his location, then had his own bullet take the exact same course to land a hit, Kamihate's response being to call Heisuke a loser. Out of embarrassment, Kamihate will likewise downplay unsuccessful snipe attempts on his part, explaining them away as practice shots or deliberate misses, or blaming a broken scope. Somewhat hypocritical too, Kamihate made note that a sharpshooter ought to perform as quick-and-efficient-as-possible kills rather than use rebounding "trick shots" like Heisuke was, despite Kamihate's own reliance on extravagant shots to prove his superiority over Heisuke. Once having the latter at gunpoint, Kamihate again insulted the less experienced sniper, claiming that Heisuke's curved bullet had surprised him only a little before lecturing him about his lack of vigilance of his surroundings.

However, when Heisuke saw his face, Kamihate had an emotional about-face and gave up finishing their fight (despite having had Heisuke on the ropes), falling to his knees and exclaiming in overdramatic fashion that it was all over. Kamihate reasoned that nobody should ever see the ultimate sniper's face and that, now that his was revealed despite him having dedicated his whole life to sniping, which demands absolute solitude, he should end it all. When Kamihate acting like wanting to shoot himself failed to provoke a reaction in Heisuke, Kamihate demanded explicitly that the latter apologize for hurting his pride and to cheer him up. When Heisuke expressed his gratitude for what he misapprehended as Kamihate's goal with their fight — to help Heisuke recover his lost sniping skills — Kamihate played along to save face, affirming that indeed he had known Heisuke's problem and been trying to help. Subsequently, while initially rebuffing Heisuke's offer to become friends, thinking that as an Order member he was above that, Kamihate envisioned what having friends would be like. Ruminating over how he had always prided himself on fighting alone, Kamihate acknowledged the possibility that finally making friends may allow him to reach still greater heights as a sniper. Once Sakamoto appeared, revealing that he knew of Kamihate's concerns about his record and that he cared nothing for it, Kamihate took offense, though internally admitted feeling relieved about no longer being alone and that he could finally talk even to Sakamoto. Upon suggesting that Heisuke leave with him, Kamihate was annoyed at being rejected, yet still left Sakamoto and co. with the tickets for the exhibit that they had been after.

## History

### Past

An unknown number of years before the present day, Kamihate was sent on a mission alongside Taro Sakamoto, Nagumo, and Hyo in some foreign, war-torn city. As Sakamoto, Nagumo, and Hyo found themselves in a pinch, surrounded by at least 10 enemy snipers aiming to kill them, they watched on as Kamihate, hidden someplace away, shot down all opposition for them in rapid succession, sealing their victory.

Nine years ago, Kamihate was on a mission to assassinate a foreign child murderer, the painter John Paichy, whom he was particularly eager to gun down as the last kill needed for his Guinness World Record — to become the world's best sniper. Preparing to take the shot from eight kilometers away while his target was busy drawing a painting inside his country residence, Kamihate was surprised to see a rookie Sakamoto suddenly arriving at the scene, sneaking up behind the target and aiming to shoot, which Kamihate tried to preempt by firing his rifle first. Thinking he succeeded, Kamihate was awarded the kill and recognized by the Guinness Book for his record in long-distance sniping, and in the following year become the first Japanese person ever included among the *KILL TIME*'s list of the world's most influential assassins. However, a year before the present day, Kamihate found out that the painting drawn by Paichy when he was shot was to be shown in the Assassin Exhibit of the Century, held in France. Wanting to see what he considered an artifact commemorating his kill, Kamihate traveled in order to see the painting in person, despite not having been outside in three years. Once at the exhibit however, to his shock, Kamihate realized that the killshot had been Sakamoto's all along. The painting was blood-splattered, which could have only been caused by Sakamoto's bullet given the shooting angle. Now knowing that Sakamoto had been faster and the kill that earned Kamihate his acclaim was, in truth, not his own, the sniper swore on his assassin's pride that he would never let Sakamoto see the painting and find out.

### Assassin Exhibition of the Century Arc

After having returned to Japan not long ago, Kamihate joined his fellow Order members Shishiba, Osaragi, and Nagumo in apprehending Heisuke Mashimo, who had borne witness to the recent killing of Order member Hyo in Bangkok, Thailand at the hands of a member of Slur's Group. While Kamihate kept at a distance, the other Order members snatched Heisuke into a car to question him about Hyo's killer. When Heisuke made a hurried escape attempt on the back seat, Kamihate was flustered enough to immediately shoot at the captive, missing only due to Nagumo pushing Heisuke's head down. As the conversation in the car proceeded, Kamihate, wanting to say something, phoned Shishiba and had him hold up a hiragana chart on a paper, allowing Kamihate to shoot the characters that spelled out "Osaragi cute".

Later, Kamihate — anticipating Sakamoto's aim to infiltrate the upcoming Assassin Exhibition of the Century at the Okutabi New National Museum of Art — sought to prevent the retired assassin from doing so. Predicting Sakamoto's plan to submit his Colt Government pistol to be able to enter as an exhibitor, Kamihate submitted a fake gun posed as the real one, under the alias "The end". Thereafter, when Sakamoto tried buying a ticket for the exhibition on a black-market auction website, Kamihate used the aforementioned alias to outbid Sakamoto's one million yen. Subsequently, the two assassins had a bidding war trying to rapidly bid over the other, ending with Sakamoto offering 500 million yen. Kamihate, revealed to be located in some high-rise building downtown, then opted to simply snipe the laptop that Sakamoto was using inside his shop, before complaining about Sakamoto forcing him to spend his savings.

Examining the leftover bullet that had entered his store, Sakamoto immediately identified the shooter as Kamihate. The latter aimed a second shot at Shin Asakura, who avoided being hit thanks to Sakamoto pushing his head down. Kamihate's third snipe was yet another miss, due to Sakamoto throwing his aim off by holding up a picture of Haruko Wataru, a female weather girl of the morning news. Sakamoto revealed Kamihate's status as a girl-crazy shut-in, causing the lip-reading Kamihate to retort that, for a sniper like him to whom the weather matters, adoring weather women only made sense. Sakamoto's group then made for the shop's garage through a secret passage, quickly taking to the streets in Sakamoto's car and speculating on Kamihate's motives for targeting them, with Sakamoto deciding on beating Kamihate and snatching his ticket for the exhibition. Kamihate responded by shooting a civilian's car tire in front of Sakamoto's group, causing the former's vehicle to pull sideways. Quick to react, Sakamoto grabbed hold of a streetside post to stop their own car and prevent a collision. Kamihate promptly took this chance to shoot Sakamoto's arm outside his car window. Yet another snipe attempt followed, deflected by Sakamoto using said signpost like a bat. With his sight still set on Sakamoto, Kamihate's follow-up shot was thwarted by Heisuke, who had arrived at Sakamoto's location and countered with a snipe of his own, hitting the window at Kamihate's hiding spot and startling the latter.

Intent on fighting Kamihate alone to recover his recently lost confidence as a sniper, Heisuke (outfitted with a bulletproof vest from Sakamoto) went off to find the opposing sniper, with Sakamoto and company staying close by. Kamihate, in the meantime, had moved to another building. Assuming that his targets were trying to disturb him by splitting up, Kamihate remarked that such teamplay was unbecoming of Sakamoto. The Order member then observed as one of his fired bullets was picked up by Heisuke, who threw it up to shoot out of the air. Taking this as an invitation to battle, Kamihate declared that he was going to kill Heisuke first and aimed for his head. Heisuke, however, predicted that Kamihate would go for a headshot, jumping up to instead take the bullet with his protected abdomen, at the same time spotting Kamihate's location. Changing places yet again to a window somewhere else (in turn spotted by Heisuke's bird Piisuke), Kamihate subsequently read Heisuke's lips as the latter proudly declared having seen right through Kamihate, causing the latter to embarrassedly insist that his shot had just been for practice. Thereafter, the Order member sniped the jib of a crane on some roof near Heisuke, causing its rope to fall complete with the hook. Kamihate's second shot was made to send a street sign flying at just the right angle to have its pole end pin the falling crane rope into a nearby house wall. This made the hook swing around to strike Heisuke, sending him flying. Heisuke, undeterred, fired a twice-ricocheting bullet at the window that Kamihate was now at but missed, recognizing that his aim was still off. Angrily saying that Heisuke was a show-off and not the only one able to change a bullet's trajectory, Kamihate shot down a civilian motorcycle, causing its wheel to fly off, spinning in the air, and then fired a bullet at its rim so perfectly, the spin altered its course to go into the side street where Heisuke was, squarely hitting him (but still only his vest). Upset, Kamihate declared that anyone who hurt his pride would pay.

Thereafter, Kamihate changed locations again to the top of some other building, which Shin tracked with his mind reading. After Shin had inquired of Sakamoto why Kamihate might be targeting him, which Sakamoto had no clue about, Shin then conveniently received Kamihate's thoughts of him narrating what happened 9 years ago. On a certain mission to kill a foreign painter, Kamihate tried to go for the very kill that would earn him his sniping world record and thus recognition as the world's best sniper. When Sakamoto unexpectedly arrived at the target's scene, also aiming for the same kill, both assassins took the shot. Kamihate assumed that he had been faster and only found out eight years later, during the Assassin Exhibit of the Century in France, that Sakamoto's bullet had outsped his (since the aforesaid painter had been shot mid-painting and his artwork was exhibited in a blood-splattered state, Kamihate deducing that Sakamoto was responsible based on the shooting angle). Realizing that the kill that had earned him his record was actually Sakamoto's, Kamihate swore at that moment that he would never let Sakamoto see the painting, hence his current efforts to keep Sakamoto away from Japan's exhibit. Meanwhile, back in the present, Kamihate's duel with Heisuke continued. Kamihate grazed the wheel of a car with a bullet to make it swerve off-course and nearly hit Heisuke. Another snipe from Kamihate followed, barely missing the bystanders in-between him and Heisuke, yet still hitting the latter. Kamihate asserted that he and Heisuke were on different levels as snipers since the latter's trust in others made him weak, and then attempted to take the finishing shot. Via Kamihate's bullet, perfectly on course to hit Heisuke's rifle scope, Heisuke discerned a pathway that he could absolutely trust would lead back to Kamihate. As Heisuke's scope was thus struck with inch-perfect precision, Heisuke responded in kind by taking the same trajectory with his own bullet, which in turn hit Kamihate's scope back.

An increasingly frustrated Kamihate went on to respond with two successive shots, one bullet hitting a water hydrant to make water gush out and form a puddle below Heisuke's feet while the second one snapped an overhead power line, causing its cables to fall at Heisuke. The latter was saved by Piisuke flying into and knocking him away before he could be electrocuted. Upon seeing Heisuke (on accident) make a rebounding shot like Kamihate had before, Kamihate noted how ricocheting bullets required convenient walls and perfect angles, making such trick shots ill-suited for sharpshooting — which should be as swift and efficient as pizza delivery. While saying as much, Kamihate began moving again, jumping between rooftops. While in midair facing an office tower, the Order member fired a bullet into a window to go straight through and out the other side of the building, straight at Heisuke. The latter responded immediately, swiping his rifle to make a countershot that instead curved around the same building. Both snipers' bullets successfully struck the other person, and they fell down next to each side of a railway crossing. Just then, a train ran between them, but that did not deter the two assassins from continuing their gun battle, each firing a bullet right through the train windows over the passengers' heads, with Kamihate's bullet striking Heisuke and hitting him where a bullet had before, thus piercing his vest. Once the train had passed, Heisuke saw Kamihate had vanished, the latter revealing himself to be standing behind Heisuke as he lay on the ground. Kamihate admitted that Heisuke's rebounding shot had freaked him out a little but noted that Heisuke, too concentrated on the shooting itself, was not vigilant enough about his surroundings. Heisuke smiled, pretending to be about to fire yet another rebounding bullet, before turning around instead to try to land a surprise shot up close. Kamihate was able to dodge, and as the hooded cape he was wearing fluttered, Heisuke caught a glimpse of Kamihate's face.

Upset about his face reveal, Kamihate dramatically exclaimed how it was all over: his streak of letting no one see his face as the ultimate, solitary sniper was broken. Pretending to be about to shoot himself, Kamihate failed to get a reaction out of Heisuke, who saw fit not to interfere. Upon telling Heisuke to take responsibility for hurting his pride and cheer him up, Heisuke agreed and, having misunderstood Kamihate, remarked that he was grateful for Kamihate battling him, assuming that he had wanted to help Heisuke overcome his complex. Kamihate played along, confirming that wrong assumption along with Heisuke's thinking that Kamihate had missed shots on purpose. Just as Sakamoto and Shin arrived at the scene, Heisuke happily expressed a desire for him and Kamihate to become friends, which Kamihate was about to reject initially (believing himself as an Order member to be above that). He then reconsidered allowing a friendship in earnest, as no longer being alone might allow him to reach yet greater heights as a sniper. Sakamoto subsequently greeted Kamihate, who first felt relieved about seeing a familiar face but was then irked to hear Sakamoto state that he cared nothing for Kamihate's world record, wondering how Sakamoto knew of his dilemma anyway. When Heisuke declined coming with Kamihate but offered to hang out soon, a sullen Kamihate left in a cab, but not before leaving Sakamoto and co. with a phone that held tickets to the exhibition.

## Relationships

### Taro Sakamoto

Kamihate and Sakamoto know each other from the time that Sakamoto was still in the Order, and both were dispatched on missions together. Sakamoto is aware of Kamihate's sniper prowess, having seen it firsthand, and can thus recognize Kamihate from his shots and bullets, claiming that all he knew about Kamihate is him being a girl-crazy shut-in; Kamihate took offense to this statement, claiming that it is only weather ladies whom he obsesses over, as is natural for a sniper reliant on the weather, and that he had tried telling Sakamoto as much ages ago, but he never listens.

Kamihate seems to hold respect for Sakamoto and mentioned that being a loner, not a team player, was something that he had assumed the two of them had in common.

It is later revealed that, nine years ago when Kamihate was about to achieve the final kill needed to land himself a Guinness World Record and become the best sniper, a rookie Sakamoto appeared at the scene of his target, to go for the same kill. Though Kamihate initially believed that he had been faster in making the killshot, which had earned him his title and record, he found out eight years later at France's Assassin Exhibition of the Century (by examining the blood-splattered painting drawn by his target nine years ago during the hit) that Sakamoto had actually been faster, his bullet having done the kill. On that day, Kamihate vowed never to let Sakamoto find out about this lest his record and title might be taken from him (or so he thought). Hence, a year later in the present day, Kamihate vehemently tried to keep Sakamoto from attending said Assassin Exhibition, now held in Japan, even spending his savings to try to outbid Sakamoto in an online ticket sale and later targeting him and his group with repeated snipe attempts.

Following Kamihate's duel against Heisuke, the Order member came to realize that, perhaps, making friends would not be so bad after all, even feeling relieved upon seeing Sakamoto face-to-face and being able to talk to him. When Sakamoto clarified that he had learned about Kamihate's issue and did not care for his record, hence Kamihate had nothing to worry about, the sniper took offense to this, even suggesting that Heisuke leave with him instead of staying with Sakamoto. Ultimately however, the sniper left Sakamoto and co. with the tickets to the exhibition that they had been after.

### Heisuke Mashimo

Kamihate's first indirect encounter with Heisuke Mashimo was when, from a distance, he watched as his fellow Order members captured Heisuke for interrogation; when Heisuke made an escape attempt, Kamihate tried to shoot him. Later on when Kamihate was going after Sakamoto, Heisuke interfered by firing a countershot at Kamihate, leaving the latter confused as to why someone uninvolved was attacking him.

Heisuke, in turn, decided on engaging Kamihate one-on-one as a way of reclaiming his recently lost confidence as a sniper. He entered a duel with Kamihate by shooting one of the latter's bullets out of the air as a declaration of war, though he found himself quickly under pressure from Kamihate's tremendous sniping ability. The Order member, in turn, became flustered and irritated by Heisuke's increasingly bold maneuvers, first calling him a "loser" upon seeing his invitation to battle, while later seeming to grow embarrassed when Heisuke predicted and dodged a headshot before suggesting that he had seen right through Kamihate, with the latter brushing off his miss as just a practice shot. When Heisuke thereafter fired a ricochet bullet at Kamihate, the latter grew even more annoyed, calling Heisuke a show-off and going out of his way to fire a ricocheting bullet of his own, just to prove himself capable of the same feat.

As their duel went on, Heisuke felt that he was starting to feel Kamihate's emotions through his bullets — of someone who has invested everything in sniping. Kamihate, on the other hand, expressed his belief that Heisuke, as someone who too much cared for and relied on others, could never reach his level as a sniper, increasingly aiming to kill him to prove his point. When Heisuke managed to use the trajectory of one of Kamihate's bullets to fire a countershot along the exact same course, successfully hitting Kamihate, the latter grew more frustrated, repeatedly insulting the younger sniper. He then went more mobile, jumping over rooftops to close in on Heisuke before ultimately having him at gunpoint after a final bullet exchange. Once Heisuke caught Kamihate off-guard with a surprise closeup shot, the former caught a glimpse of Kamihate's face, causing the latter to suffer a breakdown due to his perfect streak of letting no one see his face — as the ultimate, solitary sniper — was ruined.

For an unknown reason, Heisuke seemed surprised at seeing Kamihate's face.

First pretending to shoot himself to get a consolatory reaction out of Heisuke, then demanding outright that Heisuke make up for what he had done, latter misunderstood and thanked Kamihate instead, believing that the Order member had purposefully not gone all out to train Heisuke and help him recover his lost confidence in sniping. Kamihate played along to save face, falsely confirming what Heisuke was assuming. He then rejected Heisuke's offer to become friends, before changing his mind after mulling over what making a friend would be like, and how having a friend could help him reach even greater heights as a sniper. Seemingly accepting the offer of friendship, Kamihate even suggested that Heisuke leave Sakamoto do go with him, before being upset when the latter declined.

### Osaragi

Kamihate's obsession with women seemingly extends to fellow Order member Osaragi (despite his own claim that it only pertains to weather girls), as seen when Kamihate had Shishiba hold up a hiragana chart just to make an off-the-subject statement about finding Osaragi cute. Osaragi claimed to have seen Kamihate's face, but Shishiba called that a lie.

### Shishiba

Kamihate seems to be on good terms with Shishiba, who also has never seen his face. Shishiba carries a paper with a hiragana chart on his person to allow Kamihate to speak from afar by shooting the relevant characters.

## Skills & Abilities

**Overall Skill Level**: As a member of the Order and the greatest sniper in the history of the JAA, Kamihate is among Japan's strongest assassins.

**Master Sniper**: Kamihate is distinguished by his unrivaled sharpshooting prowess, being accounted the "strongest sniper in JAA history" according to Sakamoto. Having earned international acclaim, Kamihate has both held the Guinness World Record for long-distance sniping and been the only Japanese person ever included among *KILL TIME* magazine's list of the "World's 100 Most Influential Assassins" for the past nine years. As noted by Sakamoto, there is no escape for anyone targeted by Kamihate given his effective shooting range of eight kilometers, across which he can snipe targets with infallible aim. His shots seem accurate to within a millimeter, and he (at least for his most important shots) accounts for every atmospheric condition like weather, temperature, humidity, and crosswind. Sakamoto has further expounded that Kamihate is an impressive shot not only for his sniping range but, also, his ability to control an entire area with a single bullet. Indeed, the sniper has demonstrated incredible spatial awareness and ingenuity in using a target's environment against them, shooting extraneous objects near targets to either make or facilitate kills (by launching such objects into targets or using them to alter a bullet's trajectory mid-flight), as well as to obstruct escape attempts or otherwise impede targets.

* From four kilometers away, Kamihate was seen taking out enemy snipers with perfect headshots, hitting a man through his own rifle scope, triggering a grenade (that he made fly off a target's body with an initial shot) by sniping off its pin, and even hitting a knife midair at such an angle as to make it ricochet sideways into an enemy's head behind a wall.
* When Heisuke was being apprehended by the Order, Kamihate was aiming a perfect headshot at the captive inside a car while being too far to see from the target location, and shortly thereafter (from that same distance) struck several small hiragana symbols on a paper chart in rapid succession just to make an offhand statement; the latter feat impressed even Heisuke who, in his own right, is an extremely accurate shot.
* When targeting Sakamoto and his gang, Kamihate was again seen firing shots over a multi-kilometer distance, out of a high-rise building's window straight into Sakamoto's Store with flawless aim. When Kamihate's targets made to the streets in a car, the sniper struck another vehicle's tire to make it veer to the side as an obstacle, forcing Sakamoto's group to stop, and then immediately struck Sakamoto's arm the very moment he was stationary.
* When Heisuke (himself a sniper genius whose shooting skills exceed Sakamoto's) entered a duel with Kamihate, he quickly found himself overwhelmed by the Order member's uncanny ability to use the environment to his advantage. In particular, Kamihate shot a crane's jib on a roof near Heisuke from many blocks away, causing its rope and hook to fall, before taking another shot that made a street sign fly off at just the right angle to nail the rope into a nearby house wall, causing the hook to swing around and strike Heisuke. Afterwards, Kamihate destroyed a motorcycle mid-drive with one shot, then made a second bullet strike the inner rim of the bike's still-spinning wheel, in midair, so that it could ride the wheel's angular momentum like a ramp, shifting its course sideways to precisely hit Heisuke. Later, Kamihate was seen hitting a civilian car's steering wheel through an open window with a graze shot, angled to make the wheel rotate and thus the car veer off into Heisuke, before landing two more direct hits on Heisuke (the first bullet of which was, at best, a mere millimeter off from hitting a bystander, without the latter noticing).
* Once his scope had been destroyed by Heisuke, Kamihate's sniping accuracy did not overly diminish, and he still proved himself capable of "area-controlling" shots. He was seen hitting an overhead power line along with a water hydrant next to Heisuke with two near-simultaneous shots, causing the snapped cables to fall into the puddle that had formed below Heisuke's feet and nearly electrocute him (Heisuke only managing to avoid it thanks to Piisuke saving him, with Kamihate blaming his broken scope for the miss). Kamihate subsequently jumped in front of a high-rise office building to fire a bullet into a window, straight through a hallway and out the other side of the building without the office workers noticing anything, and still struck Heisuke on the other side of said building successfully. Subsequently, the two snipers had a final bullet exchange from opposite sides of a level crossing, while two trains ran between them, both firing their bullets through the moving trains' windows over the passengers' heads without arousing attention, and with Kamihate's bullet scoring another hit.

**Enhanced Speed & Agility**: Kamihate is rather fast and agile. When changing locations between shots, he was shown jumping from rooftop to rooftop casually, even taking a perfectly aimed shot in midair. After then exchanging bullets with Heisuke while two trains ran between them, Kamihate not only landed a hit on his foe through the train windows, but right after moved to Heisuke's side of the train crossing to take the latter's back and have him at gunpoint without the latter noticing anything.

**Enhanced Durability**: Kamihate is rather tough, shrugging off a multistory fall onto pavement.

**Enhanced Eyesight**: Even after having his rifle scope destroyed, Kamihate remained able to take incredibly precise shots from afar, thus proving his acute eyesight.

**Lip Reading**: Kamihate has the ability to read the lips of those in his sight.

## Equipment

**Sniper Rifle**: Kamihate uses a high-powered, semi-automatic anti-materiel rifle (not unlike the Barrett M82) that he has had since at least 9 years ago. It features a long, free-floating barrel within a large, squared quad-rail handguard, along with a large scope mounted on the top rail. The gun is fed from a large box magazine under the receiver (before the hand grip) and on its muzzle has been fitted with different brakes: a smaller, round one with multiple ports and more frequently a larger, rectangular, multi-slot brake. Kamihate tends to use his gun lying down, using a bipod, and is able to take shots with it over a maximum distance of 8 km, using bullets that mushroom on impact. Said bullets are of a high enough caliber that they can not only cover such a ludicrous distance, a single round can tear apart a motorcycle.

## Etymology

* Kamihate's name comprises the kanji ***kami*** (上, ******kami******? "above, high, up") and ***hate*** (終, ******hate******? "end, final"), a possible play on the idea of a sniper terminating a target's life from an elevated position.

## Trivia

* Kamihate's pseudonym **The end** likely references the so-named character from the 2004 video game *Metal Gear Solid 3* — a legendary "Ancient Sniper" who invented the art of modern sniping.
	+ Kamihate is not the first character in-universe to reference a Japanese video game franchise.
* The *KILL TIME*'s list of the "World's 100 Most Influential Assassins" is based on the real-life *Time* 100: *Time* magazine's annual listicle of the world's 100 most influential people.

## Notes

1. ↑ The official VIZ translation has characters refer to Kamihate using male pronouns.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 134 (Pages 10-19)
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 132 (Pages 18-19)
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 134 (Page 19)
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 135 (Page 8)
5. ↑ *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 138 (Pages 5-6, 10-12, 18)
6. ↑ *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 139 (Page 3-5)
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 135 (Pages 9-10)
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 137 (Pages 14-15)
9. ↑ *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 137 (Page 8)
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 133 (Pages 5-6)
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 135 (Page 10)
12. ↑ *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 139 (Pages 1-3)
13. ↑ *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 137 (Pages 7-9)
14. ↑ *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 139 (Page 6)
15. ↑ *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 135 (Pages 9-19)
16. ↑ *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 136 (Pages 5-19)
17. ↑ *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 137 (Pages 3-19)
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 139 (Pages 1-9)
19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 137 (Page 4)
20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 135 (Pages 1-7)
21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 135 (Page 19)
22. ↑ *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 137 (Pages 4-8)
23. ↑ *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 137 (Pages 3-11)
24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 136 (Pages 1-19)
25. ↑ *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 137 (Pages 18-19)
26. ↑ *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 138 (Pages 1-2)
27. ↑ *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 136 (Page 11)
28. ↑ *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 139 (Page 5)
29. ↑ *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 138 (Page 4)
30. ↑ *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 138 (Pages 5-6)
31. ↑ *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 138 (Pages 15-16)
32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 137 (Pages 3-10)
33. ↑ *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 135 (Pages 7-19)
34. ↑ *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 137 (Pages 1-19)
35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 138 (Pages 1-19)
36. ↑ *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 136 (Page 6)
37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 37.2 *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 135 (Pages 9-15)
38. ↑ *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 137 (Pages 7-9)
39. ↑ *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 137 (Pages 12-19)
40. ↑ *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 138 (Page 19)
41. ↑ *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 139 (Page 1)
42. ↑ *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 137 (Page 7)
43. ↑ *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 137 (Page 13)
44. ↑ *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 136 (Page 19)
45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 136 (Pages 12-15, 17-19)
46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 137 (Pages 12-13, 15-17)
47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 47.2 *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 138 (Pages 2-4, 7-10, 12-14)
48. ↑ *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 134 (Pages 17-19)
49. ↑ *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 138 (Pages 5-16)
50. ↑ *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 138 (Pages 6-11)
51. ↑ *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 136 (Page 7)
52. ↑ *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 137 (Pages 4-5, 18-19)
53. ↑ *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 135 (Page 7)
54. ↑ *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 136 (Page 17)
55. ↑ *Sakamoto Days* Manga: Chapter 66 (Pages 18-19)