Chapter 148

Having pulled Toramaru clear of Samejima's agents, Sakamoto asks why she is being hunted. In tears, she confesses she has no idea what X wants from her, longing instead for an ordinary life back at JCC rather than this danger.

Gunfire cuts the talk short. Sakamoto warns that she is attracting too many eyes and insists they lose themselves in the crowd. When Toramaru admits a bomb sits inside her body, his fury rises at how far Uzuki has been willing to go. She tells him the exits are shut and escape means fighting through every assassin present, yet he assures her it is doable so long as she stays close, a confidence that makes her notice how much he has changed since they last met.

As the pair press farther in, the assassins let them pass, clearly waiting for someone important up ahead. Ducking into a gift shop, the two swap clothes; alongside T-shirts, Sakamoto also grabs origami paper. At the register the cashier casually asks about a bag, and sensing the trap Sakamoto orders Toramaru down, dodges the shot, pins the man's arm with a toy, and uses him as cover while firing on the rest.

They break for the Japan's Historic Assassin Area, where a foe dressed as a ninja swings a kusarigama. Improvising, Sakamoto turns a music player and earphones into a matching chain weapon to answer the attack. The ninja underestimates him and is beaten back hard, then draws a katana and lunges, only for Sakamoto to fold an origami shuriken and shatter the blade in the air.

With more killers gathering, Sakamoto shares a lesson with Toramaru: looking up to others has its place, but she must also learn to root for herself and become her own fan. Drawing on that self-belief, he cuts down the last of the attackers and stands victorious against the odds.

Sakamoto questions a distraught Toramaru, who admits she does not know what X wants. She reveals the bomb implanted in her body, deepening Sakamoto's anger at Uzuki. The two disguise themselves in a souvenir shop, where Sakamoto also picks up origami paper. He fights off a gun-wielding cashier, then a kusarigama-armed ninja, improvising weapons from a music player, earphones, and folded paper. Sakamoto urges Toramaru to become her own supporter and defeats the assassins closing in.

This Volume 17 chapter of the Assassin Exhibition of the Century Arc carries the Japanese title Oshikatsu, rendered as Fan Activities, which frames Sakamoto's advice that Toramaru should become her own fan. The chapter debuts the ninja assassin Ninnin Man and showcases Sakamoto's improvised-weapon fighting style at length.