As Ryuji and Fusako's wedding draws near, Noboru begins to grow more angry and calls an “emergency meeting” of the gang. Due to the philosophy of the gang they decide that the only way to make Ryuji a “hero” again is to kill and dissect him, yielding a preferably honorable death. The chief reassures the gang by quoting a Japanese law, which says, “Acts of juveniles under the age of 14 are not punishable by law.” He sees this as their last chance to fill the emptiness of the world and have witness over the life of men. Their plan is that Noboru (number 3 in the gang) will lure Ryuji to the dry dock in Sugita. The members of the gang each bring an item to assist in drugging of Ryuji and his dissection. The items include a strong hemp rope, a thermos for the teaspoons, cups, sugar, a blindfold, pills to drug the tea, and a scalpel. Their plan works perfectly; as he drinks the tea, Ryuji muses on the life he has given up at sea, and the no-longer-possible heroic life of love and death he has abandoned. The novel ends when Ryuji sees the chief putting on his gloves and, giving no attention to it, drinks his tea while lost in his thoughts.