Now with the reveal of there being potential fake tattoo skins, this leaves Sugimoto & Hijikata’s groups in a bind. From a practicality aspect, it would only make sense to cooperate at the time since each learning of being able to detect the fakes would only benefit both. Though Sugimoto is fair to have his suspicions of Hijikata. Though he decides not to answer any of those questions and suggests we cooperate or fight. Basically tying Sugimoto’s hand because he isn’t irrational like that. Though Ogata figuring out that Asirpa is Noppera-Bo’s father is one thing that Hijikata didn’t want Ogata to know. Of course you also have Shiraishi’s angle of playing with both sides but clearly betraying Sugimoto’s group. At this point the guilt of it is eating him alive enough that at the end of the volume he panicked to be in front of the 7th division.
The volume focused on looking for Choan Kumagishi, who makes counterfeits. Even if the volume ends with his death, there was some interesting stuff learned. Like how Shiraishi became known as the Escape King even if his motivation for it was beyond dumb. An interesting conversation between Hijikata & Nagakura when they split up. Their respect for each other is very inspiring, especially given their current age. Also, the fake Ainu village was a good change of pace, as all of them had been legit, but Asirpa not knowing about this one should have been a red flag. Though it would have been a false one because this one was taken over by prisoners. Though it does show how perceptive Ogata is, even more so again, what screwing with Sugimoto and what getting him pissed off can lead to.