Chapter 56

Kill the Great General (大将軍を斬る, Daishōgun o Kiru) is chapter 56 of the Akame ga Kill! manga.

Summary
After Budo unleashes his storm of lighting, Esdeath runs up to and kicks Tatsumi, yelling to Budo that because she was tasked with executing him, he should leave him to her. As Budo calls Esdeath out for getting in his way, Akame sneaks up from behind and strikes with Murasame, which Budo blocks with Adramelech. After he blows her away, he tells her and all of Night Raid that they possess admirable determination, and that it's a shame they are part of the Revolutionary Army. Mine notices swirling clouds above her and fires a shot from Pumpkin which Budo blocks, saying that now he and his Teigu are both enraged. He unleashes an attack called "Advent of the Thunder Emperor" which unleashes several lighting strikes everywhere. Tatsumi gets out of the way, but Esdeath reminds him that she is his enemy, and strike him from behind which he blocks. Esdeath internally notes that while his evolution is impressive, he still has yet to reach her level of power. She determines to incase him in ice and capture him, but as she reaches out to grab him, he vanishes. She looks up in the air and sees him scream her name. She starts to blush at how much he has grown during the course of the fight, but Tatsumi says to her mentally that because she's enjoying herself despite saying she'd go at him with all she has, she has effectively left an opening for him to exploit. She blocks his spear with her ice but Tatsumi quickly lands a powerful punch to her gut that not even her ice could completely cushion, blowing her away and out of the fight.

After dodging his attack, Budo tells Akame and Leone that he's impressed they were able to avoid his attack by a hair's breath and they must be exceptional, but wonders if they can keep it up. Just then, Najenda flies in on a Danger Beast yelling if everyone is okay. Akame tries to keep her at bay because of Budo, who notices her and tries to attack, but Tatsumi blocks him, saying that he'd never be able to face Lubbock if he let Najenda get hurt, though it's this statement that makes Najenda realize that Lubbock is dead. After meeting up with Akame, she asks him about Esdeath, to which he tells her that he landed a blow on her, which surprises her. He also says that he should have bought them enough time to escape, but Budo is still a problem. Tatsumi tells his friends to get on the Danger Beast while he hold Budo back, to which he yells to Tatsumi to not make light of him. Tatsumi blocks his next lighting attack and strikes him as Budo realizes his lack of recent fighting experience has led to this situation for him, but he chooses to reflect later, as he doesn't intend to fall at the hands of him. Mine fires another shot from Pumpkin as she realizes she's pushing it too far because it has started to crack from the pressure. Budo blows Akame away and strikes Leone with a powerful punch to the gut, knocking her out. He cuts off their escape with Adramelech as he coughs up blood, realizing he has sustained several internal injuries from this fight, but puts them aside to finish the job.

Tatsumi says with determination that the lot of them will escape alive, causing Budo to comment that his determination in the face adversity matched Lubbock's, but in the end, the fate of assassins will be execution. This statement, however, causes Tatsumi to realize Lubbock was fighting to his last breath, so he should do the same. Mine yells that she will use her Trump Card, which destracts Budo long enough for Tatsumi to punch him and blow him back several feet. As Najenda yells for her subordinates to get on the Danger Beast, Tatsumi picks up Akame, who commends him for being able to attack the two strongest generals. He tells her that he still has a long ways to go, but suddenly collapses, which scares the others.

Back inside the Palace, Honest is informed that Night Raid was able to break into the execution grounds, but Dorothea says they can't get past Esdeath and Budo. Honest confirms ths by adding that even if they escape, Tatsumi wouldn't be able to make it out alive because he wrapped Incursio's handle with poisonous barbs that can even bring down a Danger Beast. He evily grins and says the rebels were being too naive if they thought they could survive.

As Mine checks up on Tatsumi, she realizes that when he donned Incursio after touching the poisonous barbs, he was able to cut the poison back to an extent, but now had finally hit his limit and was in no condition to fight anymore. Najenda says that they will get him to a Teigu expert that was on standby, and that he'll feel better after getting treated. Leone and Akame, who were also on the Danger Beast, expressed relief that they made it out despite the injuries. Just then, a bolt of lighting strikes the Danger Beast, causing it to crash as the group look up and see Budo flying in the air, who reminds them that he won't let them live. As Budo summons forth even more electricity, Mine yells that they will escape and steps forward. Budo unleashes his Trump Card: Solid Shooter, at Night Raid, but Mine fires a powerful shot from Pumpkin. Budo yells that it's useless to resist an attack of this caliber, but Mine merely says that this puts her in a dangerous position. As more cracks appear on Pumpkin, Mine resolves to put all her spirit and energy into this final attack and increases the power output. As Budo tries to call forth more lightning, Adramelech shuts down as he realizes he used too much of its power fighting in the area, and the massive blast of energy fired from Pumpkin obliterates him and his Teigu. Pumpkin crumbles to pieces and Mine collapses as the others rush to her. Najenda starts telling Mine that she's amazing for finishing off Budo, but starts getting nervous when she doesn't respond.

Esdeath gets back up from the rubble in the arena as she tells herself that she never expected Tatsumi would be able to hit her. She acknowledged he was strong but also acknowledged she was too attached to him due to her love for him, and because of that, she felt she insulted him as a warrior. She says that the injury she got isn't a bad feeling and aspires to see him again.

News of Budo's death started spreading all throughout the Empire, leaving the Imperial Army's morality in shambles and allowing the Revolutionary Army to take Shisuikan, and that those who held power in the Empire and saw the Revolutionary Army's progress started revolting and siding with them, and now armies of immense power were approaching the exposed Capital.

At Night Raid's hideout, Tatsumi tells a comatose Mine that thanks to her killing Budo, the Revolution is reaching success. He somberly acknowledges that because Budo was so powerful, she of course had to go all out on him. He tells her to rest and return to them at the end of it, and until it's all over, he will fight her share, as a mark is revealed to be on his right eye.

Night Raid: Four left.