Chapter 157

Shin argues that ending a life follows no rulebook, but Haruma answers that honoring the conventions of a sport keeps any contest honest and just for both competitors. He tallies the wide gulf separating them, measuring build, athletic gift, killing power, and sheer presence. Making his move, Haruma snaps the head off a nearby statue and drives it toward Shin like a spot kick, indifferent to the museum visitors standing in its path.

Left with no other choice, Shin throws himself into the role of a goalkeeper, yet he cannot arrest the projectile's flight. Haruma then repurposes a second statue head as a bowling ball, and the impact hurls Shin off his feet. Picturing the next beat as a play from American football, Haruma sends his opponent smashing down through several floors until he splashes into a pool.

Bruised but unbroken, Shin gets back up, buoyed by the confidence Sakamoto has placed in him, and he condemns Haruma for gambling with the lives of the people around them. Hoping to level things out, Shin puts a sumo match on the table as a cleaner and more honorable way to decide the outcome.

Haruma weaponizes the museum's statuary, staging each strike as a sports metaphor that treats bystanders as acceptable collateral. Shin is battered through multiple floors and drops into a pool, only to rise again on the strength of his belief in Sakamoto. A young boy named Hiro and his mother appear for the first time, caught inside the danger zone. The chapter closes with Shin challenging Haruma to a sumo showdown in a bid to even the contest.

Titled Sportsmanship, this is the one hundred and fifty-seventh installment of the Sakamoto Days manga and part of the Assassin Exhibition of the Century Arc. It ran in the fourteenth 2024 issue of the magazine on March 4, 2024, and later filled sixteen pages within Volume 18. The cover pairs Shin Asakura with Haruma. Sakamoto is referenced through Shin's resolve, while Hiro and his mother make their debut.