Just how bad does a person have to be for someone to throw away their pacifist ways? Do they have to simply lack a moral compass, or do they have to have committed way too many crimes against humanity? Shin finds himself pondering such a situation in the twenty-second volume of Sakamoto Days, as he faces off against X’s bow master Tenkyu. And after seeing what kind of person he is, Shin decides to go against the Sakamoto Family Code.

As he witnesses Tenkyu attacking Atari, Shin realizes that he can’t let him live. Taking off his name tag and giving it to Atari, Shin declares that he’s asking the path of an assassin once more. His fight with Tenkyu begins, dropping the two of them into B3, the deepest part of the JAA prison. Without holding anything back, both Shin and Tenkyu face off into a war between mind and physical strength.

Much of Sakamoto Days has shown Shin’s mind-reading power, and how it works to better his attack and evasion skills. But he’s never gone head to head with someone like Tenkyu, whose lack of empathy makes him the kind of guy who goes full throttle in battle. The bow master’s skills cause Shin to be at a disadvantage, especially when his leg is damaged. However, it takes some interesting mind-warping to convince himself that he can overcome the pain and take out Tenkyu.

Author Yuto Suzuki seems to be having fun with this fight, as it goes all out both visually and mentally. Seeing Tenkyu rip out a tooth and use it as a projectile is pretty damn crazy, but it keeps to the spirit of his series. But when he allows Shin to finally have the upper hand, it reaches a bonkers level of ridiculous that would make any fan of Hong Kong action flicks smile with glee. And when our titular hero arrives in the nick of time, it almost feels like a Marvel/DC movie moment.

Alas, the true end of the fight is paused for a moment, as a flashback shows what happened when Shin and Sakamoto first crossed paths. No, this is not a reboot of the first chapter, but rather an event that happened way before that. A teenage Shin, an always-slim Sakamoto, and a deadbeat dad make for a tale of loneliness and revenge. Naturally, since this was before Sakamoto became a happily married man, that family code of his is nonexistent.

It results in a big body count from Sakamoto, with Shin offering his mind-reading powers as an assist. When a battle involves a musical assassin, it leads to a Looney Tunes-like crescendo of an outcome. (Needless to say, Bugs & Daffy would be proud.) But when Shin’s father is put onto center stage, it ends with an ultimatum that’ll make the whole mission nearly impossible to complete.

Once again, Sakamoto Days continues to deliver with some amazing action with a slice of dry humor. It’s obvious that Shin’s current assassin path is a short one, if the head honcho has anything to say about it. But it’s in the back story where we may get a clear picture of why Shin joined the JAA in the first place, and perhaps a bit on why Sakamoto left. Volume Twenty-Two of Sakamoto Days gives readers not only a deep look into Shin and Sakamoto’s past, but also where their partnership will lead them to in the future.

Promotional consideration provided by Chantelle Sturt of VIZ Media.