Tsurumi's forces make their way inside Goryoukaku, and Asirpa must decide to stay or flee.

Lt. Tsurumi's assault on Goryoukaku begins in full force.

Sugimoto and Asirpa flee Goryoukaku and board a nearby train.

Asirpa learns of her father's dark past.

The final search for the gold begins at Goryoukaku as the 7th Division closes in.

The blue-eyed man confirms he is Wilk after seeing Asirpa's makiri[b], but says he will only reveal the location of the gold to Asirpa. Wilk tells Sugimoto that he wished to raise Asirpa to be the guerrilla leader of the Ainu, and that he did not kill the Ainu to acquire the gold. Sugimoto and Wilk are suddenly shot in the head by Ogata, killing Wilk. Tanigaki pulls them out of the line of fire, but finds Inkarmat stabbed, who warns him that Kiroranke has betrayed them. Shiraishi flees with Asirpa, where they are joined by Kiroranke and Ogata, who tells them that Wilk and Sugimoto are both dead. Sugimoto awakens heavily bandaged, while Inkarmat recovers nearby, watched by Tsurumi. Assuming that Kiroranke is taking Asirpa to his associates in Karafuto, Tsurumi sends Tsukishima and Koito with Sugimoto and Tanigaki to intercept them. Asirpa has a dream in which Sugimoto tells her that he is still alive.

The location of the gold is finally revealed.

As Asirpa remembers something important about her father, Ogata takes her away from the others and tries to get her to tell him the secret to the code. Unbeknownst to them, Sugimoto is following close. Meanwhile, Sugimoto's Group has finally caught up with Kiroranke.

Botaro has his own ideas about what to do with the gold.

The chaotic battle at the Sapporo Beer factory begins.

Under the guise of quelling a prison riot, Tsurumi leads an assault on Abashiri Prison. Tsurumi corners Sugimoto in Nopperabo's cell, but Kadokura releases the master prison lock to save himself, freeing all of the prison's inmates. Hijikata and Anji take Asirpa and follow Inudou to a chapel where Wilk is being held, but Asirpa flees. Sugimoto escapes, but is badly wounded by Nikaidō. As Sugimoto drags himself away, he encounters a crippled man with blue eyes.

Asirpa is captured by Lt. Tsurumi, and learns the truth about the gold.

Tanigaki goes after Inkarmat, who is pregnant with his child and being held by the 7th Division.

The group and Ushiyama separately check into a hotel run by Ienaga Kano, a tattooed prisoner who murders and eats her guests. Shiraishi and Ushiyama are held in a basement torture chamber while Ienaga attempts to kill Asirpa, but is thwarted by Sugimoto. A series of events triggers an explosion that destroys the hotel, burying Ushiyama and Ienaga in the rubble. Sugimoto's group continue on to Abashiri Prison.

Asirpa comes face to face with the 7th Division, and doesn't like what she sees.

Sugimoto's and Hijikata's groups secretly tunnel into Abashiri Prison and link up with Chief Kadokura, an associate of Hijikata's. On a moonless night, they launch the escape plan: Inkarmat, Cikapasi, Nagakura and Ienga wait behind; Ogata stands lookout; Kiroranke, Ushiyama and Hijikata stand by; and Sugimoto, Asirpa, Shiraishi, and Anji enter the prison. They find a substitute in Nopperabo's cell, who screams and raises the alarm. Amid the chaos, Tsurumi and 7th Division attack the prison from the river in warships, seeking both Nopperabo and Asirpa.

Kiroranke's Group is getting ready to free Sofia from Akou Prison. Kiroranke tells Asirpa a story of the man who taught him, Sofia, and Wilk Japanese language.

Asirpa reaches Kiroranke to witness his final moments and tell him that she has remembered something important. The group leaves Ako, but before going back to Hokkaido they need to find a doctor take care of Tsukishima's and Ogata's wounds.

The final attempt to crack the code begins.

Shiraishi is captured by the 7th, though Hijikata and Kiroranke attempt and fail to rescue him. Tsurumi meets his old friend Lt. General Arisaka, a weapon designer who gives Nikaidō a false leg that can fire buckshots. Hijikata introduces his companions to Kiyohiro Suzukawa, a con artist and tattooed prisoner. Suzukawa disguises himself as Shirosuke Inudō, the warden of Abashiri Prison, in an elaborate plan to rescue Shiraishi.

The members of the 7th hunt a strange man at the Noboribetsu hot springs.

Sugimoto, Tanigaki, Cikapasi, and Ryu get lost in a blizzard. Meanwhile, Kiroranke is taking Asirpa to see an old friend of her father's.

Caught by Ushiyama, Shiraishi is pressured by Hijikata into acting as his mole in Sugimoto’s group. Sugimoto, Asirpa, and Shiraishi hear rumors of Henmi Kazuo, a tattooed prisoner who is also a psychopathic killer. They go whaling and unknowingly rescue Henmi after he falls into the water. Henmi conceals his tattoo, but vows to either kill Sugimoto or die in the attempt.

The collected groups search Edogai's workshop for a way to identify the fake tattoos, but are attacked by the 7th. The groups split up, with plans to reunite in Ashibetsu. Elsewhere, Tanigaki and Inkarmat agree to travel with the orphan Cikapasi. Hijikata makes plans to break into Abashiri Prison to question Nopperabo, utilizing Shiraishi's escape skills. After a dream where Sugimoto kills him for his betrayal, Shiraishi flees, but encounters the 7th.

Tanigaki informs Asirpa of Huci's failing health, though Asirpa wishes to continue the search for the gold. They are joined by Nihei's dog Ryu, who has followed the scent of his former master's gun, now carried by Tanigaki. Meanwhile, Tsurumi tells Koito the truth behind the death of Lt. General Kōjirō Hanazawa, former commander of the 7th. Hanazawa abandoned Ogata, his illegitimate son, rendering his mistress neurotic. Ogata poisoned his mother, killed his half-brother (Hanazawa's legitimate son) at the Battle of 203 Hill, and murdered his father, staging his death to resemble a ritual suicide in penance for the loss at 203 Hill. Tsurumi exploited Hanazawa's death to motivate the 7th against the Japanese government.

Shiraishi meets Ushiyama and Ienaga, who survived the explosion, but does not disclose this to Sugimoto. Sugimoto’s group encounter Inkarmat, a traveling Ainu fortune teller who Asirpa does not trust. Shiraishi takes Inkarmat to a horse race, where they win two races on Inkarmat’s predictions. Kiroranke meets old friends at the track, who ask him to ride a horse and throw the race at the behest of a yakuza boss. Shiraishi bets all his money on the last race, but it is won by Kiroranke, who defies the yakuza boss. In Barato, Ogata meets with Hijikata and joins his group.

The sniper duel is finished, and, although victorious, Ogata is sick and needs immediate help. A strange apparition appears in front of him, reminding of something terrible from his past.

Hijikata's Group is looking for information about a mysterious item they found in the hidden room in Abashiri Prison. The clues lead them to a legendary assassin, Youichirou the Manslayer.

While searching for the body of a tattooed prisoner stolen from his grave, Tsurumi encounters Edogai Yasaku, a taxidermist who creates clothing from human skin. Tsurumi wins Edogai's affections by praising his skills, and commissions Edogai to create fake tattooed skins to confuse the other treasure hunters. At Asirpa's village, a recovered Tanigaki promises Huci that he will bring Asirpa home safely. He is joined by Inkarmat, unaware that she is working for Tsurumi.

Nihei tells Tanigaki that he wishes to hunt Retar, the last Hokkaido wolf. Asirpa and Sugimoto are joined by Shiraishi, who tells Asirpa and Sugimoto that Nihei is a tattooed prisoner. Asirpa, Sugimoto and Shiraishi track the hunters and ambush them.

Tanigaki, a Matagi, escapes his pursuers by using his skills in hunting and trapping. Tsurumi arrives, and forces Nikaidō to expose the traitors in the 7th after cutting off Nikaidō’s ear, though Ogata evades capture. Elsewhere, Shiraishi is grabbed by a massive huchen after falling in a river, but is saved by Kiroranke, a former friend of Asirpa’s father. Kiroranke reveals that Asirpa's father is Nopperabo, and that he is now in Abashiri Prison. They begin to travel towards Abashiri to confront Nopperabo.

Saichi Sugimoto and his group have to enter a match of stenka and face one of Abashiri Convicts, a violence-loving man named Maiharu Gansoku.

Sugimoto's Group arrives in Toyohara, where they have to chase after a thief. The thief turns out to be a boy from a famous touring circus troupe. Sugimoto comes up with an idea that will help him reach Asirpa even when she is far away — he needs to become the star of the the circus show.

Asirpa looks for a way to pass down Ainu culture to later generations.

A locust swarm separates Asirpa and Inkarmat from the group, where Asirpa questions Inkarmat about her father. Inkarmat says that Asirpa's father is Wilk, a Polish-Ainu man with blue eyes who was killed by Kiroranke. Elsewhere, the men cook sea otter meat given to Inkarmat and Tanigaki, and become aroused from its aphrodisiac effects. Reunited, Kiroranke denies Inkarmat's accusation. Despite mounting distrust, the group agrees to continue on to Abashiri. In Abashiri, Inudō attempts to kill Usami, a new guard feeding information about Nopperabo to the 7th, but is unsuccessful.

Kiroranke's Group breaks out Sofia and her accomplices out of Akou Prison. After meeting Asirpa, Sofia shares her memories of Wilk with his daughter, who in her own stead remembers something very important...