This is one of my favorite Gintoki moments because it's a rare display of vulnerability from him. After his defeat to Jirocho, Gintoki is in a weak emotional state, he might try to hide it but it's not hard to figure out that he's afraid and unsure of himself. Gintoki is scared-

of losing anyone he cares about again and he doesn't know if he can protect those he cares about, so he tries to do what's easiest for him which is to take the burden all on himself. He pushes Shinpachi and Kagura away in an attempt to keep them away from danger and while he-

knows he might well die, that doesn't matter to him as long as Shinpachi and Kagura are fine. But what Gintoki doesn't realize is that Shinpachi and Kagura care about him as much as he cares about them, as much as he doesn't want them to die, they feel the same way about him.

And Shinpachi calls him out for this, he makes him realize that like Gintoki protects them, they will protect him, that it's okay to rely on others and that he doesn't need to shoulder the burden himself. And as a result of this Gintoki understands what he needs to do and what-

he wants to protect much better and he knows that the same way he helps others, others will be there for him to help him when he's down and he's grateful for meeting all those people. All of this is a great representation of some of the main themes of the series and it's some of-

the most important and most impactful development Gintoki experiences which is evident through the fact that you see Gintoki using the things he learned here in later arcs to deal with different hardships he faces.