Peak (頂, Itadaki) is the 567th chapter of the Gintama series. Sakamoto is left to fight against Hankai through his own means while fending off an infected Mutsu and Nobunobu.
Story[]
Mutsu collapses after getting stabbed by Hankai's tendril emerging from Nobunobu. Moving against his will, the shogun realizes the pirate already imbedded him when he was still locked in the room. Trailing off Nobunobu’s thoughts, Hankai adds that its true form is a small mechanical sphere that is now residing in him. Sakamoto suspects that Hankai possessed Nobunobu in order to go after him, to which the pirate corrects him: His real aim was to gain control over the whole of Kaientai. An infected Mutsu then picks herself up and attacks her leader, and Hankai proceed to mock Sakamoto on losing his crew to him and getting killed by them.
Sakamoto shoots at Mutsu just as she is about to attack him again, much to Nobunobu’s surprise. Implying that the pirate has underestimated him, it turned out the leader was aiming his gun at the Kairinmaru's core instead, sinking the spaceship. Horrified that Sakamoto will go to such extreme to protect his company, Hankai leaves Nobunobu’s body in attempt to repair the damaged core before the ship crashes. Speculating that Sakamoto’s motive is to shoot Hankai by forcing him to out of his body, Nobunobu is shocked at the leader’s resilience in not wanting to abandon everyone despite the danger, including an enemy like himself. Unfortunately, Hankai manages to intercept Sakamoto’s plan as he was able to hear Nobunobu’s inner thoughts while in his body. Sakamoto falls after Hankai’s bullet hits him in the face.
The pirate continues his speech by reminding Nobunobu of his past, where the latter followed along a path with constant manipulation by others to get to the shogun position. The shogun agrees, adding that he has done the same thing to the others as well. However, he could no longer understand the purpose for holding that power after he realized he was left all alone after ascending to the peak with the help from people whom he disposed of after using. Hankai simply point out that the shogun was nothing without the manipulation and could only follow a goal set by others blindly. In fact, he is merely standing on the top of his junk graveyard rather than the peak he originally thought he was on.
Recalling Sakamoto’s words, Nobunobu immediately grabs Hankai's tendril, catching the pirate off guard. The shogun angrily wonders the reason for Sakamoto to save him before deciding to find the answers through his own means; he will no longer be manipulated. Nobunobu then shouts at Sakamoto to take action after pulling out the tendril from his mouth. Shocked that the supposedly infected Mutsu has managed to regain herself and grabbed his bullet before it hits her leader, Hankai gets hit by Sakamoto’s bullet.
Quotes[]
- Sakamoto: If ya want my ship and my crew, then let me give ya some advice as a merchant. If ya wanna buy my company, then ya'd better do a thorough primary investigation, first. Too Bad fer you, we're an accident-prone company that's headed straight ta hell. Anyone not prepared to go down with their ship, does not deserve to go up with it.
- Nobu-Nobu: Sakamoto Tatsuma, why did you let me live? Just what do you want me to do?... No, there are no more questions to ask. That is an answer I must find on my own. I will not use anyone or be used by anyone. That is the peak I must reach with my own two feet.