What Happens to Kazuma Kiryu in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth begins with you in the shoes of Ichiban Kasuga, but Kazuma Kiryu also figures into the story, despite only cameoing in Yakuza: Like a Dragon. So, if you’re wondering just what happens to Kazuma Kiryu in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, I’ve got the answer.

What Happens to Kazuma Kiryu in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth

There are going to be some serious spoilers here for both Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth and Like a Dragon: Gaiden. So, while I won’t be spoiling everything about the former, be warned.

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth has Kiryu more or less where he was at the end of Like a Dragon Gaiden. In return for their help in faking his death, he’s sometimes employed by the Daidoji faction to tackle difficult jobs as an “agent.” Officially, he’s dead, but an awful lot of people know he’s alive. His own adopted daughter and the other children at the orphanage he ran are almost certain he’s not dead.

At the end of that game, we see him heading to Hawaii to leave a gift for his late sort-of ex, the mother of Kiryu’s adopted daughter, Haruka. However, it’s revealed that he has other business in Hawaii. He’s there to find Akane, who we’re told is Ichiban Kasuga’s biological mother. But is she really? You’ll have to play the game to find out.

Kiryu and Ichiban cross paths, working together for some (though not all) of the game. He reveals to Ichiban and his friends that he’s got cancer and has been given half a year to live. He continues to fight alongside Ichiban as a party member, and in some parts of the game, you play as Kiryu. But as the game progresses, his illness affects him more and more, to the point where he’s captured and has to be rescued.

It’s revealed that the cancer could have been the result of an accident at a radioactive material storage facility. In true Kiryu fashion, he put his life on the line to save a fellow worker and inhaled toxic/radioactive fumes. His prognosis isn’t good, and he explains he’s going to “..put what time I’ve got left to work.”

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What Happens to Kiryu Kazuma at the End of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth?

Kiryu is instrumental in untangling Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth‘s story and helping save the day. But while fans suspected he’d die to save Ichiban and Co., he actually lives. He instead decides to seek treatment to at least give himself more time. We ultimately see him in hospital, with his adopted daughter Haruka and her son about to visit. He’s using his old name, so it appears that he no longer feels the need to remain “dead.” So, there’s some hope.

Does this mean we’ll see Kiryu again? It seems unlikely, and I doubt he’ll have more than a fleeting role if he does show up. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth feels like a changing of the guard, a formal handover from Kiryu to Ichiban.

So, the answer to what happens to Kazuma Kiryu in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is that he teams up with Ichiban, but he’s got cancer, and while seeking treatment, he isn’t fighting at full strength when the game ends.

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is available on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation.