The following recap contains spoilers. Proceed with caution.
2019
A woman steps out of a club and is joined by Kazuma Kiryu, who is wearing a black suit and tie. He speaks into an earpiece asking when his ride home will arrive, and is told it is three minutes out. The woman (revealed to be the granddaughter of Yutaka Ogikubo) suggests taking a taxi instead, but as the two of them walk, a group of men approach them from the front and back, and attempt to coerce the woman into going home with them. Kiryu again speaks into his earpiece, informing the man on the other end that there's been a situation, and proceeds to fight the men off.
After the fight, the woman recognizes one of the men as the son of an influential CEO. Terrified as to what might happen if word of this incident got out, they agree to leave her alone and never speak of this again. His job done, Kiryu waits to be picked up at a nearby bar by himself, ignoring a phone call from an unknown number as he waits. Eventually, a black car pulls up to take him home. He starts to light a cigarette, but the woman driving reprimands him for doing so, causing Kiryu to lament not smoking another while he had the chance.
A few months later, Kiryu is seen meditating at a temple while the head priest arranges pieces on a Go board, as he reflects on the events that led to his current position — taking a bullet meant for Haruka and Haruto and faking his death, and being approached by an agent from the Daidoji Faction to make the latter happen. As he does so, he's approached by Kihei Hanawa, his handler and the man he spoke with earlier via earpiece. He has another job for him as "Joryu" to stand guard over a shipment of gold going to a revolutionary group in mainland Asia. Hanawa further explains that this revolutionary had gone to the CIA for help, and they turned the job over to the Daidoji Faction. Kiryu agrees to take the job after Hanawa threatens to cut the Dajdoji's funding of Morning Glory, and the two set off for the Port of Yokohama.
At the port, waiting for the delayed truck containing the gold, one of the other agents approaches "Joryu", having had a hand in the faking of Kiryu's death. He goads Kiryu into letting loose and fighting a group of other agents, stopping after Hanawa scolds them for goofing off. One of the agents then gets a visual on the truck, as well as a black van. Hanawa is suspicious of this, as the truck was supposed to be alone. He orders the agents to stop both vehicles, but the truck rams through and masked men pour out of it, led by a man in a hannya mask wielding a baseball bat. Hanawa calls off the deal upon realizing the gold isn't in the truck, and both he and Kiryu fend off the masked men. In the chaos, the men nearly capture Hanawa, but Kiryu intercepts them as Hanawa regains consciousness. After the two of them fight them off, the men retreat, as do the agents after confirming that three of them had died in the attack.
The next day at the temple, Hanawa briefs Kiryu on what the Daidoji Faction knows about the attack. One of the agents that died was the one that picked the fight with Kiryu, and more importantly, the leader had an elaborate tattoo that only yakuza would have. Additionally, he contacted the revolutionaries, who claimed to have not contacted the CIA — in other words, somebody impersonating the leader, who Hanawa refers to as Mr. X, set the deal up in order to target the Daidoji Faction. Hanawa wants Kiryu to find Mr. X and bring him in, going off the lead that because the leader had a yakuza tattoo, he was likely a member of Yokohama's Seiryu Clan. Though Kiryu expresses (and Hanawa agrees) that this is a weak lead, he agrees, heading to Ijincho to scope out the Seiryu Clan.
Observing the Seiryu Clan office from a nearby rooftop, Kiryu concludes they couldn't have been behind the attack because the office is too quiet. Just then, the yakuza he was observing show up behind him, revealing they had received a photo of Kiryu on that rooftop identifying him as a Daidoji agent. Kiryu fights them off and calls Hanawa, informing him that he has two people tailing him and to come get him after he fights them off. He then walks into a parking garage to fight off his pursuers, although there are far more than two of them, as well as a man in a suit who fights Kiryu (identifying him as the Dragon of Dojima, who's supposed to be dead) after he fights off the other men. Hanawa arrives after Kiryu defeats the man in the suit, and the two of them take him back to the temple to interrogate him about the port attack
The man in the suit is a member of the Omi Alliance as well as the "Mr. X" Hanawa was looking for. According to him, several Omi officers refused to believe that Kazuma Kiryu actually died in Onomichi, believing he had faked his death instead. They deduced that Agent Joryu is in fact Kiryu, and set up the port deal for the express purpose of capturing Hanawa and torturing Kiryu's location out of him — however, as Joryu/Kiryu happened to also be at the port, taking Hanawa was then deemed unnecessary. The man in the suit makes a comment about how Hanawa is the only one looking after Kiryu, and immediately after he does, a black van rams Hanawa's car, allowing the man to escape. The man in the hannya mask (who the suited man refers to as Shishido) drags Kiryu and Hanawa out of the car, and is then ordered to kill Hanawa. However, Kiryu stops him, and then they fight, in the process breaking Shishido's mask. Shishido comments on how Kiryu is using a fancy new fighting style, and in response Kiryu switches back to his old "Yakuza" style and proceeds to beat Shishido down. After he's defeated, Shishido tries to goad Kiryu into killing him, but the man in a suit interrupts them with Hanawa at gunpoint. Hanawa tells Kiryu not to worry about him, and the man in the suit tells Shishido that they are out of time and need to take Hanawa and leave. Before they do, he introduces himself to Kiryu as Yuki Tsuruno, captain of the Omi Alliance's Watase Family, and gives Kiryu a burner phone that he intends to contact Kiryu on later.
Kiryu tends to his wounds at a nearby homeless camp, where a gangster with crazy hair had recently been treated by a homeless ex-nurse. Intending to kill time before Tsuruno calls him, he walks through Ijincho, avoiding the police and picking up cigarettes at Poppo. As he leaves Poppo, Daidoji agents appear, confiscate the phone, and drag him back to the temple. The leader of this group, Yoshimura, explains that he is Kiryu's new handler, and that he will get no more special treatment within the Daidoji. Yoshimura goes on to explain that they are leaving Hanawa to die, as if he was truly loyal to the Daidoji, he would have killed himself by now. Kiryu is disgusted by this and insists on going to rescue Hanawa. As Yoshimura leaves the other agents to beat Kiryu up, the head priest arrives to stop them and return the burner phone to Kiryu, having stolen it out of Yoshimura's pocket on his way there. Kiryu fights the agents off, and the head priest explains that not only is he not a real priest (nor is the temple a real temple), he is also interested in rescuing Hanawa as he is the one who recruited him to the Daidoji Faction in the first place. To escape the temple, Kiryu fights through a legion of Daidoji agents, including Yoshimura, who is surprised that Kiryu would make an enemy of the Daidoji to rescue his handler.
After Kiryu defeats Yoshimura, Tsuruno calls Kiryu, who makes the excuse that the phone died unexpectedly. Tsuruno instructs Kiryu to head to Survive in Ijincho if he wants Hanawa to live, and to come alone. When he arrives, Kiryu asks why Tsuruno chose this location, to which the latter explains it's the "safest place" in Ijincho thanks to its bartender — however, said bartender seems to have taken the night off. He also explains that the Omi Alliance knew about Minoru Daidoji and his faction, and there was no way the Yomei Alliance of Hiroshima would have been able to fake Kiryu's death — hence their certainty that the Daidoji Faction was involved. Tsuruno then cuts to the chase and uses a photo of Kiryu with the Morning Glory orphans to confirm that Joryu is indeed Kiryu, before offering him a deal. They will release Hanawa from captivity on the condition that "Joryu" fakes his death again, this time to get out from under Dajdoji's thumb...
Back in Ijincho, Kiryu turns down Tsuruno's deal, making the point that it would only work if they were certain that Joryu was indeed Kazuma Kiryu, a fact he continues to deny — he additionally figures that there's no telling whether Tsuruno would actually keep his end of the bargain and let Hanawa live. Tsuruno then gives Kiryu a figurine of a red tiger, and tells him to give it to someone named Akame in Sotenbori in order to find Hanawa, additionally giving him a hint that Akame works closely with Osaka's homeless population. As he leaves Survive, Kiryu contacts the head priest to let him know what's going on, and to tell the Daidoji that he's dead if he doesn't make contact again within three days. With that, Kiryu sets off for Osaka.
In Sotenbori, Kiryu asks a few homeless people where he can find Akame, eventually being pointed towards a parking lot in Shofukucho. He asks the gangsters there if they know Akame, showing them the red tiger he was given by Tsuruno, which causes them to attack him. After Kiryu beats them down, he interrogates one of them on Akame's whereabouts, but is stopped when a woman arrives, introducing herself as a "jack of all trades" and the Akame he's been looking for. Kiryu shows her the red tiger, which turns out to be a symbol of him being a guest of the Watase Family as well as a way to gain access to a certain venue. Kiryu introduces himself as Joryu to her, and explains that Tsuruno said to find her in order to locate Hanawa, but she denies knowing anything about that. Kiryu then follows her back to her hideout, the former warehouse of the Odyssey cabaret club, and after Kiryu asks some questions about who she is and what she does, Akame allows Kiryu to spend the night there.
The next morning, Kiryu wakes up to find Akame gone, but she returns right as he goes to look for her. Akame then explains that she wants Kiryu's help with homeless people going missing around Sotenbori. She already knows the cause of it — welfare thieves, yakuza who approach the newly-homeless and promise them a place to stay, only to lock them away, force them to sign up for welfare checks and steal the money from them. Kiryu approaches these yakuza, undeterred by their threats that they are with the Omi Alliance, and gets the location of all the people they've locked up — the second floor of the Yotsudera Kaikan building. He heads there and, when the yakuza standing guard try to turn him away, notes that the doors to the rooms are locked from the outside, meaning that it's highly likely the homeless people they've abducted are there. To confirm his suspicions, he rips the lock and deadbolt off the door, freeing the people inside. The yakuza then try to kill Kiryu, to no avail. Afterwards, Akame shows up and says she'll take it from there. Kiryu wonders why Akame is so supportive of the homeless, to which she explains that Osaka has the biggest homeless population in Japan, and it was them who helped her out when she was destitute. Additionally, she sources all of her information through the homeless, and to that end asks for Kiryu's help with beefing up the "Akame Network". After Kiryu does a few tasks to this end, Akame finally explains what the "venue" is that she's been referring to — a high-end entertainment district known as "The Castle", which is open to only those who are invited. She promises to keep her end of the bargain and take Kiryu there, but it has to wait until nighttime.
In the meantime, Akame tells Kiryu about rumors of a black market weapon shop in Sotenbori near Bishamon Bridge. Kiryu heads there and finds a man drunk in broad daylight, who turns out to be the proprietor of the shop he's looking for and a legendary craftsman. He helps the craftsman to his feet, who then leads Kiryu into his workshop, where he demonstrates a special drone he calls the "Hornet". He then lets Kiryu test it out on him, which raises his spirits considerably. After the fight, he recognizes Kiryu's fighting style as that of a Daidoji agent, and when Kiryu tries to play dumb, he formally introduces himself as Akira Mizorogi, the author of many of the combat manuals available to Kiryu. Additionally, Mizorogi points Kiryu in the direction of a smoke shop on the south side of town, and says that the old lady running the shop will have something for him. Kiryu goes there, explaining that Mizorogi sent him, and the lady pulls out a pack of "Hotaru" (firefly) brand cigarettes. She can tell Kiryu is confused by this, so she offers a demonstration on a yakuza that littered outside her shop. She throws one of the cigarettes, which she refers to as a "Firefly", at the ground near the litterer, and it explodes in his face. This causes Kiryu to realize that these cigarettes are in fact miniature bombs, which could be useful in combat. With all of this out of the way, night falls, and Kiryu makes his way back to Akame's hideout.
Akame flies Kiryu to the Castle's location, a ship in the middle of the ocean containing a castle (hence the name), as well as a casino, gambling hall, coliseum, and cabaret club, among other things. She explains to him that the Omi Alliance own the ship, and that it is managed jointly by the Kijin Clan and Watase Family — additionally, smartphones are not allowed in order to prevent information about the Castle leaking, and anyone who loses all their money here is kept as a slave until they work off their debt. Here, Kiryu is also finally told the true meaning of the red tiger figurine — it will grant him access to the coliseum as a competitor. On his way to the coliseum's reception, Shishido appears before Kiryu, explaining he had been roughing up Hanawa on Tsuruno's orders until he was told to stop. He adds that Homare Nishitani III, current patriarch of the Kijin Clan, is watching over the Castle tonight, and that "Joryu" will need to come out on top in tonight's coliseum matches if he wants to learn Hanawa's whereabouts. As he leaves, Akame guides Kiryu to the coliseum reception. As he registers, he asks if there is a way he can put on a disguise, but to his dismay, the only one Shishido has is a frilly pink luchador mask with cat ears. He begrudgingly takes it and heads into the coliseum.
High above the coliseum, Nishitani III is getting his nails painted by Castle slaves, watching as the matches unfold. Shishido appears beside him, saying that he found a very interesting competitor for tonight's events, and jokingly challenges Nishitani to guess who it is. As Kiryu and the other competitors walk out, the announcer explains that the matches will recreate historic events from the Omi Alliance; first up, the event that led to the creation of the Watase Family, a young Masaru Watase wiping out the Blue Dragon crime syndicate (with a nail bat-wielding impersonator as Watase and Kiryu and the other competitors as Blue Dragon). The masked Kiryu defeats the Watase-ish man and moves on to the second match; a mob of yakuza swarming Kiryu on Akira Nishikiyama's orders. Again, Kiryu is in the mob, with an impersonator wielding a katana and pistol playing the part of "Kiryu" (with the real Kiryu musing that the impersonator sounds nothing like him). The real Kiryu defeats the fake and moves on to the final match, a recreation of the fight between Kazuma Kiryu and Ryuji Goda. Halfway through the fight, the Ryuji impersonator pulls a lever and drops Kiryu down to the coliseum floor, where he fights a pair of tigers, and then "Ryuji" drops down to finish the fight. Kiryu comes out on top and lectures the Ryuji impersonator about how the real Ryuji would never have thrown someone to tigers instead of fighting them himself, with Shishido and Nishitani musing about his talents.
After the fight, Kiryu meets Shishido in the castle's throne room, where Kiryu continues to insist he is Joryu and not Kazuma Kiryu. Shishido explains to Kiryu that he was sold to the Kijin Clan when he was 15 to settle his abusive father's debts. He was forced to fight and kill others in the coliseum, even well after Nishitani took a shine to him. Eventually, Tsuruno rescued him from this way of life and got him into the Watase Family, giving him the name "Shishido" as a way of breaking from his past. Shishido ultimately gives Kiryu the information he came to the Castle for — he reveals that Tsuruno has Hanawa locked up in the Namiki No. 3 Building in Sotenbori. Kiryu has Akame fly him back to Sotenbori, where he proceeds to fight his way all the way to the top of the Namiki No. 3 Building in order to rescue a tortured Hanawa. Hanawa sarcastically praises Kiryu for how "fast" he arrived, while Tsuruno chides him about how if he had just accepted his offer to fake his death again and join the Omi Alliance, he could have let Hanawa die a painless death. Kiryu defeats Tsuruno and frees Hanawa, and then proceeds to grill Tsuruno on why, exactly, he wants Kiryu to join him so badly. Tsuruno fills Kiryu in on Watase and Daigo Dojima's plan to dissolve the Omi Alliance and the Tojo Clan, and insists that Kiryu's help is needed for this. He gives Kiryu one last chance to take him up on his offer — just kill Hanawa, and the Omi Alliance would do the rest, with the added bonus of being able to see the orphans in Okinawa again. Kiryu becomes angry at Tsuruno trying to use them as a bargaining chip, and refuses for the final time. The two of them make their way down to street level and have Tsuruno detained at a Daidoji hideout somewhere in Sotenbori.
Back at Akame's safehouse, Akame reveals that there was a clause in Kiryu's coliseum contract that requires him to participate in another fight, this time against a man known as "Hammerhead", and also that Mizorogi has a new gadget for Kiryu, a pair of Tricked-Out Shoes he calls "Serpent". Kiryu fights and defeats Hammerhead, which is enough to boost his ranking at the Castle to silver. He gains a few allies (Hammerhead included) to fight alongside him in the coliseum's inaugural Hell Team Rumble, after which he returns to Sotenbori in order to thank Mizorogi for all his work with his gadgets. On his way out of Mizorogi's workshop, Kiryu gets a call from Hanawa telling him to head to the hideout near Bar New Momoko.
At the hideout, Hanawa tells Kiryu that Tsuruno hasn't told them anything they don't already know. Yoshimura then arrives, telling Hanawa that the Daidoji Faction's "Boss" wants a word with him and Kiryu. The boss isn't happy that Hanawa was captured and even less happy that Kiryu allowed his real identity to leak. In order for Kiryu to stay in the faction's good graces, the boss tells him that he'll need to erase every shred of evidence connecting him to his old life; in other words, killing the entire Watase family, Masaru himself included. To carry this out, Kiryu steps into Tsuruno's cell with a revolver... and then turns the gun on Hanawa to hold him hostage, while also letting Tsuruno escape. After a brawl with Hanawa, Yoshimura, and an entourage of Daidoji agents, Kiryu attempts to call Morning Glory and tell everyone at the orphanage to run, only for Hanawa to reveal he has agents stationed outside the orphanage ready to storm in and kill everyone. Kiryu hangs up and surrenders, and Hanawa calls off his agents.
Just then, the boss rolls in, revealing that the events of the past few days were a Secret Test of Character for both Kiryu and Hanawa. Had Kiryu complied with the order to exterminate the Watase Family, he would have gotten himself killed; meanwhile, Hanawa's gun was loaded, and if he got Kiryu killed that would mean he failed as a manager. After this, Tsuruno returns to the hideout, with 50 billion yen worth of Omi Alliance assets in tow, having struck a deal with the Daidoji in order to get Kiryu to work with them (under his real name) in addition to the Daidoji. Kiryu agrees to this, on the condition that the Daidoji leave Morning Glory alone. While Hanawa is shocked that Kiryu would make demands like that in his position, Boss accepts the condition and leaves the hideout. He meets the head priest outside, and it is revealed that the boss spared Kiryu and Hanawa based on an appeal from him as the head priest wheels him away.
An exhausted Kiryu returns to Akame's office to rest. The next morning, with nothing pressing going on, she suggests that Kiryu raise his rank at the Castle to Gold by clearing more bouts in the coliseum. After doing so (and becoming acquainted with the Castle's boutique store) and returning to Sotenbori, Tsuruno contacts Kiryu and tells him he wants to meet at the Castle's VIP lounge; when asked why not at the Daidoji hideout, Tsuruno says the faction doesn't need to be privy to every single conversation between the two of them, to which Kiryu agrees. When they meet at the lounge, Tsuruno explains that jobs from the Watase Family will go through him instead of the Daidoji, and starts by talking to Kiryu about Homare Nishitani III.
Tsuruno gives Kiryu more details about the plan for the Omi Alliance and Tojo Clan's dissolution — in a month, when Watase is released from prison, he and Daigo Dojima will give a statement proclaiming that both organizations are officially dissolved. This will naturally be met with opposition, but Watase has some other allies lined up, namely Goro Majima and Taiga Saejima in addition to Kiryu and Dojima. Tsuruno also explains the role Masumi Arakawa had in "betraying" the Tojo Clan and dividing the Omi Alliance before becoming its acting captain, and how he is also on Watase's side. To ensure the dissolution goes off without a hitch, Tsuruno tasks Kiryu with eliminating Homare Nishitani III before Watase gives his statement, as he is the one who would be most opposed to the dissolution, and also the one most likely to build a new organization to replace the Omi with him at its center. Kiryu initially objects to this, saying he doesn't kill people, until Tsuruno clarifies he doesn't need Nishitani to die, just to be put into a situation where he cannot interfere. Kiryu figures the way to deal with Nishitani would be to lure him away from the Castle somehow, but Tsuruno counters that him being lured away would not be easy because of how long Nishitani has been watching over it.
Just then, a bartender hands a walkie-talkie to Tsuruno, saying the patriarch wants a word with him. It turns out Nishitani had seen his entire conversation with "Joryu", and asks Tsuruno to bring the both of them to him. When he refuses, a group of Castle employees (actually Kijin Clan yakuza) attempt to bring them to Nishitani by force, but Kiryu fights them off, and also punches Tsuruno to give him an alibi. Kiryu then fights his way through the Castle and the interior of the ship it's on top of, fighting both the Kijin Clan and some of the people they forced into slavery, but is stopped by Nishitani right before he reaches the helipad. Nishitani goads Kiryu into taking off his shades as his real identity wouldn't leave the boat anyway, but Kiryu refuses, saying he doesn't take orders from anyone he can wipe the floor with. This gets Nishitani excited, as he is too far up the ranks for most fights to be of any challenge to him, so he tells his men not to interfere with their fight. The two battle, and after Nishitani loses, he recognizes "Joryu" for who he really is — the Dragon of Dojima.
When Kiryu arrives, Mizorogi is unconscious on the ground, with the smoke shop lady attending to him; Akame arrives shortly after to get him to a doctor. The smoke shop lady explains that he was attacked and some of his gadgets stolen by a group of five or six people, and the only lead Akame has is some homeless people who've used the Akame Network being attacked by people looking for her in Ashitaba Park. Kiryu heads there and finds an unconscious man on the ground, but some witnesses say he wasn't attacked by anyone. The man gets up and introduces himself as Kanji Aotsuki, patriarch of the Kyokuso Family — the family behind the welfare scam that Kiryu and Akame busted earlier on. He reveals he was the one behind the attack on Mizorogi's workshop, summoning a few Hornet drones to prove his point. Kiryu beats up the Kyokuso men, after which Aotsuki promises Kiryu that this isn't the last he's seen of the family. Before Kiryu can get anything more out of him, Aotsuki throws a Firefly at him and escapes. Kiryu returns to Akame's hideout, and promises Akame that he'll deal with the Kyokuso Family when they resurface after she explains that Mizorogi was hurt worse than he initially let on. His promise made, Kiryu goes to get some rest.
The next day, Tsuruno calls and says the money is ready, and that he's waiting at Bishamon Bridge. When Kiryu arrives, he finally explains why Tsuruno asked him to bring so much cash (he managed to get 30 million yen); his plan is to lure Nishitani out of hiding by spending as much money as possible in a single night. Tsuruno agrees to the plan despite some initial hesitation, and calls up Shishido and a few lower-ranking yakuza to treat them as well. They start at Cabaret Grand, where Kiryu treats the club to a round of drinks; after they leave, the Kijin Clan arrives, having already gotten wind of Kiryu's actions. After fending them off, they spend a night on the town, playing golf and billiards, doing karaoke, eating high-quality sushi, buying expensive clothes, and spoiling some hostesses, all the while defeating any Kijin Clan members that cross their path. After this, Kiryu figures he must be on Nishitani's radar by now, so he heads to Akame's to call it a night.
The next day, Kiryu receives word that Nishitani has left the Castle, and also that Kijin Clan members are causing a ruckus at the Grand looking for Joryu. Kiryu deals with them, but does not get any information on Nishitani's whereabouts. He also apologizes to the Grand's staff for putting them in harm's way, and Hanawa shows up to say he'll pay for the damages. Outside, Hanawa scolds Kiryu for not thinking through his plan. Nishitani was out of the Castle, but what now? He could attack Kiryu at a moment's notice, and Kiryu has no clue where he could be. Hanawa says that Nishitani would likely go after something precious to Kiryu, which gives him an idea that he promptly relays to Tsuruno — they're going to take the Castle from Nishitani.
Kiryu, Tsuruno, Shishido, and some other Watase Family grunts show up to seize the Castle, and it goes smoothly despite initial resistance from the Kijin Clan. In the throne room, Kiryu suggests that they get the Castle moving in case Nishitani tries to attack them there, so Shishido goes to tell the captain to set sail. The scene then cuts to a newsroom, where a blurry photo of the Castle's ship is being displayed. Watching the news report, Kiryu thanks Hanawa for getting footage to the press as fast as he did; meanwhile, Tsuruno gets a call from Nishitani, and feigns ignorance when Nishitani accuses him of being involved with the hijacking. Tsuruno tells Kiryu that Nishitani wants to talk to him, and Kiryu obliges, calling him and sending a picture of him partying surrounded by women just to piss him off. Nishitani angrily asks why Kiryu, a supposedly dead man associated with the Tojo Clan, has hijacked an Omi vessel, and tells him to go to Yokobori Golf Center the next day so the Kijin Clan captain can escort him to their headquarters.
On his way back to the helipad, Kiryu is stopped by the coliseum receptionist, who tells Kiryu that the Four Kings of the Coliseum are not pleased with the takeover the Castle and that they have challenged Kiryu to a fight for dominance over it. The first of the Four Kings, Dan Brody, refuses to let Kiryu leave without a fight, and Kiryu's interest is piqued when Brody reveals he also has Hornet drones — in other words, the Kings are in cahoots with the Kyokuso Family. After defeating Brody in a Hell Team Rumble, the three remaining Kings throw down the gauntlet. It turns out Ugajin, their leader, was an underground fighter 20 years ago; he had fought Mizorogi in Las Vegas and defeated him without breaking a sweat, sending Mizorogi straight to retirement. For his sake, Kiryu swears to defeat Ugajin.
The next night, Kiryu arrives at the golf center, where the "escort" turns out to be an ambush by the Kijin. They have Kiryu surrounded, but Shishido (wearing the hannya mask) pulls up in his car to lend a hand. Shishido gives Kiryu the location of the Kijin Clan's headquarters, but when Kiryu suggests they just get in Shishido's car and go there, Shishido insists they still fight the ones present as a warmup. After fending them off, the two drive to the headquarters, where Shishido brings up the fact that Homare Nishitani III was originally a member of the Jingweon mafia who survived the massacre carried out by Sohei Dojima and Shintaro Kazama, who hid his Korean heritage until he had risen up the ranks of the Kijin Clan and become its patriarch — because of this, he'll likely have it out for Kiryu when they arrive. At the headquarters, Kiryu and Shishido team up to fight their way through the Kijin Clan (with Nishitani, watching via a surveillance camera, wondering what took Kiryu so long), with the duo at one point wiping out a group of them with a single, well-placed Firefly. Just before they reach Nishitani's office, they look outside and notice the building has been set on fire. Shishido says the Watase Family are behind it on Tsuruno's orders, but before he can explain further, they reach the office and confront Nishitani.
When the two of them enter, Nishitani immediately sees through Shishido's disguise, and asks whether Tsuruno put Shishido up to this attack — he confirms that he did. Nishitani then once again tries to get Kiryu to take off his sunglasses and reveal himself, to which he obliges, getting Nishitani excited. This time, Kiryu tells Shishido to not interfere with the fight, as he points out that the last fight the two of them had left a bad taste in both of their mouths. After Nishitani is defeated and knocked unconscious again, Shishido finds a fire escape for the two of them, but Kiryu refuses to leave Nishitani behind and asks Shishido to help carry him out. Shishido tells Kiryu to get the door and he'll take care of Nishitani — Kiryu props open the door and turns around to see that by "taking care" of Nishitani, Shishido meant stabbing him to death, calling Nishitani a monster that deserved to die. Kiryu begrudgingly leaves Nishitani behind when the fire damage becomes too much to safely rescue him.
When they make it to ground level, he chews Tsuruno out for lying to him about the plan to deal with Nishitani, angry about having become an accomplice in murder. Tsuruno echoes Shishido's earlier statement, adding that the easiest way to make sure Nishitani couldn't interfere with the dissolution was indeed to kill him. He also mentions a personal story in which a 20-year old member of Tsuruno's family had ditched the family, and because he was young, Tsuruno pretended to look for him, but all the while planned to just let him slide. Nishitani, however, took it upon himself to find and torture the guy, giving Tsuruno no choice but to Mercy Kill him. Shishido also explains that Nishitani would torture and kill the losers in the Castle's coliseum, and says he already regrets what he did to Nishitani — he got off too easily. Before Kiryu can argue with them further, Tsuruno and Shishido turn to their men to celebrate their victory and await the release of Watase from prison.
The scene then cuts to Nishitani's burning office, with Nishitani nowhere in sight...
A shot of the Castle's empty throne is shown, followed by a message proclaiming Homare Nishitani III is dead. A recap of the events of Yakuza: Like A Dragon then plays, detailing the Geomijul burning down their money counterfeiting operation, Yutaka Ogikubo (revealed to be a Daidoji agent) being ousted as chair of the Citizens' Liberal Party, Ryo Aoki's rise to power, and Masumi Arakawa making his way to Osaka.
The night before Watase's release, Tsuruno and Shishido are at Omi Alliance HQ, talking to another officer about Nishitani's death and how he'd have been the most excited to see Watase again after his release from prison. The officer alludes to some less than savory things Nishitani did to Shishido, but Shishido claims he respected Nishitani and calls him the model of a Kansai yakuza. Tsuruno sends the officer on his way, and Shishido says the only thing he really regrets is lying to his fellow Omi men like this.
At the temple, Hanawa interrupts Kiryu's meditation to talk about how the Daidoji originally thought nothing of the yakuza dissolving, and likely would have continued to not be involved in it had it not been for the incident at the port at the beginning of the game. Hanawa mentions he's going to talk to his superiors about getting Kiryu some kind of reward, suggesting a vacation (to anywhere besides Okinawa or Kamurocho). Kiryu mentions wanting to visit Hawaii, revealing he kept the ring he was going to use to propose to Yumi since the beginning of the series, and mentions a specific church she talked about getting married at. Hanawa pries a bit too far, causing Kiryu to tell him to forget the whole thing — there's nothing he particularly wants, and even if he did, it's nothing the Daidoji can give. Hanawa counters that he does know what Kiryu wants, and it's the one thing he can't give him — to be able to see his kids in Okinawa again.
The day of Watase's release from prison arrives. Tsuruno meets Kiryu at Akame's hideout, tells Kiryu about Ichiban Kasuga and how he will be assisting at the Omi headquarters, and runs through the plan for the day — they're going to meet Watase at a construction site in Osaka, and from there escort him to Omi Alliance headquarters, where he will read out the declaration of dissolution in front of everyone gathered. Watase arrives, praises Tsuruno and Shishido for their good work, and addresses Kiryu by name. As the two of them converse, Shishido suddenly starts recording their conversation, saying that anyone from the Omi Alliance would flip out over seeing Masaru Watase collaborating with the supposedly-dead Kazuma Kiryu. It becomes clear that Shishido is no longer on Watase's side, and Kiryu, Tsuruno, and Watase find themselves surrounded by Shishido and everybody else. A truck then plows through the entrance to the construction site, from which more Omi Alliance men and Homare Nishitani III pour out. Everyone is shocked to see him alive, but Shishido explains that he didn't actually kill Nishitani, but instead faked his death using a toy knife that spurts fake blood. Shishido adds that he had been planning this ever since he heard the rumors about the Omi Alliance dissolving two years ago, and now it was time for it to come to fruition. Kiryu praises Shishido's planning ahead, but tells him he forgot one major detail — what happens if he doesn't kill Kiryu, Tsuruno and Watase here? Shishido fires back that it won't matter, and attacks.
The trio fight off all of the attackers. Shishido is shocked that he lost, and when he tries to attack Kiryu again, the latter punches him towards a scaffolding, where Shishido loses his balance and falls. Watase destroys Shishido's phone with a cinderblock to keep his men from uploading the video he recorded. When Tsuruno goes to check on an unconscious Nishitani, he stabs Tsuruno in the leg with a knife, before attempting to run him through — however, Watase takes the knife to his gut instead. Nishitani says he had dreamed of killing Watase, and is angry that he would dissolve the Omi Alliance. Watase headbutts Nishitani and pulls the knife out, but before he can attack Watase again, a limousine speeds up to the construction site. Kiryu, believing it to be more Omi Alliance men, runs towards the car, and it swerves... directly at Nishitani.
Hanawa and Akame step out of the limo, and Hanawa explains that he gunned it over to the construction site after a tip from Akame that somebody saw a man who looked an awful lot like the supposedly-dead Nishitani. Hanawa didn't want to intrude, but also figured Kiryu could use the assistance; Akame then opens the trunk to give both Kiryu and Watase a change of clothes. Unfortunately for Watase, there's no time to get his stomach wound looked at, as they have to go to the Omi Alliance HQ right away, though Akame does briefly tend to his wounds and covers the new scars on his face with makeup. Meanwhile, Hanawa tends to Tsuruno's leg wound, and advises that Tsuruno get some rest, but Tsuruno refuses, saying Watase got it worse than him and also that he's not going to bail on something he worked hard to see through to the end. Hanawa is puzzled that Tsuruno would stick his neck out for anyone like this, saying the yakuza lifestyle is alien to him. Kiryu says yakuza like Tsuruno are rare these days, and asks what's going to happen with Nishitani; Hanawa says the Daidoji will take care of him. Akame finishes Watase's "makeover" and sees the group off, but not before Kiryu thanks Akame for all of her assistance.
Hanawa drives Kiryu, Tsuruno, and Watase to the Omi Alliance HQ. On the drive there, Watase reflects on the letter of dissolution he wrote, saying it feels like he wrote his last will and testament, acknowledging that this statement will be the equivalent of lighting a powder keg. They soon arrive at headquarters, and Watase says he'll try to keep a straight face despite the pain he's in. He is escorted in, and Hanawa says it's time for him to leave, wishing Kiryu and Tsuruno good luck. Tsuruno thanks him despite the crap the two of them had been through, and steps out of the limo; Hanawa then tells Kiryu that it's imperative he come back in one piece.
Masaru Watase makes his way to the podium, where he reads off the letter of dissolution to the crowd. Kiryu and Tsuruno slip into the crowd through a side door when Daigo appears, and Kiryu stops an Omi member from stabbing Watase with a well-timed punch to the face. Majima, Saejima and Daigo are excited to see Kiryu again, while Watase downplays him as just some muscle he hired. The situation escalates into an all-out brawl, with Kiryu needing to take his battle out to the hallway and close the doors behind him in order to make sure nobody else gets in and tries to attack Watase. After Kiryu (and Ichiban's party) finishes all of the yakuza, Daigo calls out to Kiryu, but Watase stops him, saying that his "bodyguard" is nobody Daigo would know; Daigo gets the hint. As Kiryu, Daigo, Watase, Majima, and Saejima leaves the room, Kiryu says goodbye to Ichiban, and says he has great things ahead of him.
It is sunset by the time the Feast ends. Majima insists on throwing a party for Watase and inviting the "bodyguard", but Kiryu continues to insist they don't know each other. However, their path outside is blocked by Shishido, who survived his fall at the construction site and refuses to let the Omi Alliance be dissolved while he's still alive. Shishido charges at Watase with a katana, but Majima and Saejima intercept him — however, despite taking Majima's knife through his hand, he's able to fend the both of them off. As the defeated Omi members shuffle out into the garden, Shishido rallies them as he pulls the knife out of his hand, taking off his jacket to reveal his irezumi tattoo of a Chinese guardian lion. Daigo tells the group that they need to shut Shishido up, but Kiryu lets him speak his mind. As the crowd gets more and more riled up, it becomes clear that they won't take no for an answer. Kiryu rallies his group by saying Shishido and Nishitani are old-school yakuza — they show off their power to rope people in, with nothing off-limits as their means to an end. If they really want to dissolve the yakuza, men like them need to be stopped. Watase agrees as his wound re-opens, and Daigo feels like he's the only one lacking the balls that the rest of them do, but Kiryu argues that standing with Watase for the declaration of dissolution took balls of steel. Daigo declares that the Tojo Clan will be going out with a bang, and he, Majima, and Saejima rip off their shirts to battle the Omi Alliance, with Kiryu following suit.
After fending off the initial wave of yakuza, Daigo spots Shishido making a run for the headquarters. The yakuza get back up, but the others tell Kiryu to leave it to them and pursue Shishido. Kiryu thanks them, "even though this is the first time they've met", and follows Shishido to the Great Hall of the headquarters. Shishido says that the power that the Omi Alliance wields is so strong that the man sitting at the head of the Great Hall would be able to mobilize all the yakuza of Japan with a single world. Kiryu tells Shishido that this simply isn't the world they live in anymore, but Shishido refuses to accept it, saying the yakuza life is all he and countless others have; he says Kiryu could never understand, but Kiryu says he can. He explains that he can erase his name and deny the life he's led, but when he hears there's someone stronger than him, deep down he wants nothing more than to prove his power to them. Shishido then angrily asks why he would take part in tearing it all down if he understands that, and Kiryu responds that compared to the dreams of the average people just struggling to live their lives, the yakuza's dreams aren't worth much of anything. Shishido then says he's looking forward to killing Kiryu and paying the orphanage in Okinawa a visit, but Kiryu is unfazed by the threat and fights Shishido head-on. The two fight their way through Omi HQ, shattering the Omi symbol in the Great Hall in the process.
Kiryu defeats Shishido, who lies on the ground. Tsuruno tells Shishido that for all of his kicking and screaming, he couldn't do anything to stop Watase or the remaining pillars of the Tojo Clan. Watase praises him for putting up a good fight, and as Kiryu, Watase, and Tsuruno walk towards Daigo, Majima, and Saejima, Hanawa and Akame pull up to give everyone a ride out, Akame having brought Watase another change of clothes. Shishido crawls towards the group, but is intercepted by Yoshimura, who tells him they're going to keep him and Nishitani alive as Daidoji agents, before knocking him out and dragging him to the trunk of a car.
2020
One year later, Hanawa comes to Kiryu while he is once again supposed to be meditating, but is instead taking a smoke break. He admits that he wasn't able to fully free himself of his worldly desires, and the head priest obliged and gave him a pack of cigarettes. Musing that Kiryu will probably never reach enlightenment here, he and Kiryu talk about Ichiban and how he has become something like Kiryu's successor. Kiryu doesn't think of it that way, but rather that he merely wanted to help carry Ichiban's burden. Hanawa says that Ichiban was just a two-bit thug who couldn't have taken down Ryo Aoki without his help, but Kiryu says it isn't like he gave Ichiban superpowers; he was already strong, and Kiryu just gave him a push towards the finish line. He then tells Hanawa to stop beating around the bush and asks why he's here.
Hanawa is here because he wanted to give Kiryu a reward, and hands him a tablet. The tablet is displaying camera footage of the graveyard hosting Kiryu's grave, with the orphanage kids having come to pay their respects throughout the day. Taichi and Ayako discover the camera, and figuring Kiryu or someone who knows him set it up, leave a message for him giving updates on how they're all doing; Taichi became a firefighter, Ayako and Koji became office workers, Izumi became an animal groomer, Riona is in the fashion industry, Mitsuo does odd jobs, Eri wants to work with kids, and Shiro is majoring in science. Haruto is also doing well, but has been quite a handful for Haruka and Yuta at times. Kiryu, watching this video, openly weeps for the first time in the entire series, as Taichi and Ayako tell him that nobody at the orphanage believes he's really dead and Ayako asks him to give them some sort of sign that he's still alive; they're doing fine, but Ayako figures Kiryu must be lonely. They promise to return the next day with everybody and show Kiryu something. Hanawa admits that he was unsure whether this would have constituted a reward, but Kiryu thanks him for showing it to him.
Unfortunately, the Daidoji could not allow the camera to remain where it was after Taichi and Ayako discovered it, so they left something by Kiryu's grave instead — the Daidoji took it briefly but returned it to its original position. It is a drawing Haruto made of everybody, with Kiryu at the center. This makes Kiryu cry again, happy to see that Haruto is old enough to read and write now, especially given the last time he saw him he couldn't even talk. Hanawa says he, Haruka, and all the other children are growing up splendidly. Kiryu realizes he needed those kids more than they ever needed him, and when the high priest says Taichi was inspired to become a firefighter by Kiryu, Kiryu says that only makes him feel worse; all he can do is sit at the temple and meditate. This reminds the high priest that Kiryu's vacation has been approved and has no set time limit. However, Hanawa advises that the Daidoji will still be watching him, no matter where he goes or what he does. Kiryu turns to the head priest, saying he figures his training is over, and the priest reminds him that he and the temple itself are just for appearances; he can train wherever and whenever he likes.
At the gates of the temple, Kiryu is ready to head off for his vacation. Hanawa asks if he's going straight to Hawaii, but Kiryu says no; he wants to save the best for last. Watching from afar, the head priest notes that Boss seems to have grown to trust Kiryu, but Boss denies it, saying that if you distinguish yourself, you'll be rewarded appropriately; plus it sets a good example for the other agents. Hanawa hands Kiryu some documents, including an ID and credit card under the name "Taichi Suzuki", figuring "Joryu" wouldn't have worked so well as a name. Kiryu mentions that he used to go by that name a few years ago, and Hanawa says he's aware. Kiryu is surprised by this, as he never said this to anybody at the Daidoji, but Hanawa claims he had met Kiryu before becoming a Daidoji agent; he refuses to elaborate on this, however.
Hawaii, 2023
Nanala Hill Memorial Church
Three years later, Kiryu has made it to Hawaii. He enters Nanala Hill Memorial Church, the place Yumi had wanted to get married at, places the ring engraved with her name upon the altar, and walks away.
TO BE CONTINUED...
