Chapter 153

Uzuki feels both surprise and satisfaction that Gaku has apparently felled Nagumo, counted among the Order's deadliest assassins. Noting Gaku's relaxed air, though, he reminds him the job is not finished, since one last enemy remains.

Sakamoto finds faint signs of life in the fallen Nagumo and moves to help, but Shin, reading the man's mind, senses only despair, a hint that his end may match that of his fallen comrades. Kashima, who has been following the crisis through the news, arrives in time to give medical aid. As they try to revive him, the man's tattoos start fading, exposing that Gaku had been posing as Nagumo all along.

Deeper in the museum's private wing, Asaki tires of admiring the artwork and challenges Muto over where his loyalty truly lies. Reading the man's small tells, he realizes his own colleagues have cut him off, and though he cannot yet name who is hunting him, he is shaken to learn Uzuki means to take his life. Uzuki states his aim to kill Asaki, meaning to end the suffering born of a failed program at the Al Kamar orphanage that tried to raise assassins equal to the Order. Muto suddenly detonates, yet Asaki walks away unhurt, and Uzuki is blindsided when Nagumo, shedding his disguise, drives a blade into his chest.

Uzuki believes Nagumo has been killed and tells Gaku to finish the mission. Kashima arrives to treat the downed man, whose fading tattoos reveal that Gaku had been impersonating Nagumo. Asaki confronts Muto and learns Uzuki intends to kill him to avenge the failed Al Kamar orphanage program. Muto explodes but leaves Asaki unharmed, and the real Nagumo emerges from disguise to stab Uzuki in the chest.

Part of Volume 18 and the Assassin Exhibition of the Century Arc, this chapter's Japanese title Koroshi ni Hitsuyonamono means What It Takes to Kill. It uncovers the swapped identities of Gaku and Nagumo, ties Uzuki's vendetta to the Al Kamar orphanage project, and turns the confrontation with Chairman Asaki with Nagumo's surprise strike.