Chapter 137

Heisuke starts to question whether he can actually beat a marksman of Kamihate's caliber, while Amane and Shin struggle to work out why the sniper has fixated on Sakamoto, who insists he has never crossed the man. Shin pinpoints the hideout and begins reading Kamihate's intentions.

Nine years earlier, Kamihate lined up a shot on the celebrated killer John Paichy from roughly eight kilometers out. That strike won him the record book entry for long range shooting and a spot on Time Magazine's roll of notable assassins. Recently, though, he learned that Paichy did not fall to his bullet at all. Sakamoto was the one who ended the man's life.

The revelation came when Kamihate studied Paichy's last painting, due to hang in a museum. Blood on the canvas sat at an angle that could not match his firing line, proof his round never landed the kill. Shaken, he set out to keep Sakamoto away from the exhibit so the truth would stay buried. Hearing all this, Sakamoto observes that Kamihate draws his power from a faith in isolation, having hidden himself so completely that not even fellow order members know his face, which makes the loss of his title as the world's finest sniper an unbearable prospect. Meanwhile, Heisuke starts grasping how his opponent thinks, and unable to find a safe firing angle amid civilians, he chooses to turn Kamihate's own bullet path against him instead of ricocheting his shots.

Shin locates Kamihate's hideout and reads his thoughts. A flashback shows Kamihate's celebrated eight kilometer shot on John Paichy nine years prior. Paichy's final painting reveals the blood angle proves Sakamoto, not Kamihate, made the kill. Kamihate resolves to stop Sakamoto from reaching the museum and learning the truth. Heisuke decides to exploit Kamihate's trajectory rather than bounce his own rounds.

John Paichy makes his debut here in the flashback. The chapter frames Kamihate's strength as rooted in extreme solitude and his fear of losing his reputation. It appears in Volume 16 and features Kamihate, Heisuke, Shin, Sakamoto, and Amane.