Lieutenant Tokushirō Tsurumi serves as a First Lieutenant in the Imperial Japanese Army's 7th Division. His appearance features dark, slicked-back hair, a handlebar mustache, and a goatee. A porcelain enamel plate permanently covers his forehead, hiding severe cranial trauma from the Battle of Mukden; this injury sometimes causes brain fluid leakage. He maintains a lean, muscular physique and wears standard dark blue military uniforms or white summer variants, often adding a fur-collared coat in cold weather. He speaks fluent Russian and, on rare occasions, wears garments crafted from human skin. Tsurumi possesses a manipulative nature defined by sharp intelligence, charisma, and strategic patience. He recruits capable soldiers—including Otonoshin Koito, Hyakunosuke Ogata, Tokishige Usami, and Hajime Tsukishima—through calculated psychological exploitation of their vulnerabilities. He displays kindness to loyal followers but extreme cruelty towards perceived traitors. Erratic behavior and violent outbursts occur, which he attributes to his brain injury, though the truth of this explanation is unclear. He harbors an intense obsession with his archenemy, Wilk, which can shatter his usual composure. Born in Niigata, Japan, Tsurumi's family experienced wealth followed by decline. Trained as a spy, he operated in Vladivostok, Russia, under the alias "Kouichi Hasegawa," posing as a photographer. There, he married Fina, a Russian woman, and they had a daughter, Olga. An Okhrana raid targeting Russian revolutionaries he was surveilling compromised his cover. During the chaos, stray bullets fired by Wilk killed Fina and Olga. Tsurumi burned their bodies and his studio before returning to Japan. This loss, coupled with perceived betrayal by the Japanese government, fueled his disillusionment and thirst for revenge. He joined the Imperial Japanese Army, starting in the 2nd Division before transferring to the 7th. His recruitment tactics involved exploiting personal tragedies; he falsely claimed Tsukishima's lost love "Igogusa" survived to secure loyalty, and later manipulated the grieving Koito Otonoshin after a chance encounter in Kagoshima. Tsurumi's primary goal is locating a cache of Ainu gold to finance a military coup establishing an independent state in Hokkaido. He frames this as creating a refuge for soldiers betrayed by the government after the Russo-Japanese War. This quest pits him against rivals like Saichi Sugimoto and Asirpa. He employs ruthless methods, including orchestrating the Abashiri Prison massacre to capture escapees whose tattooed skins form a map to the gold. He later acquires destroyers and heavy artillery for his campaign. His abilities encompass intelligence analysis, taxidermy, physical combat proficiency, and masterful oration. He frequently uses metaphors and historical references in speeches to inspire his men. Key equipment includes various firearms and preserved human skins bearing tattooed map fragments. Tsurumi's story concludes during a train confrontation with Sugimoto. Shot through the heart, he repeats his earlier "Shinigami" threat to extinguish Sugimoto's life before succumbing to his wounds as the train derails.