Bat Devil arc

Running across chapters 5 through 13 and animated in episodes 2 through 5, this arc follows the opening introduction story and leads into the Eternity Devil events. It marks the formal teaming of Denji with Power inside the Public Safety squad, and it pushes the larger plot forward by naming the Gun Devil as Denji's true target.

Assigned to patrol the city together, Denji and the reckless Power butt heads early when she carves up a Sea Cucumber Devil and leaves a mess behind. Power eventually confides that a devil snatched her beloved pet, Meowy, just as Makima pulled her into the organization. Sensing leverage, Denji agrees to help recover the cat if Power lets him grope her chest in return.

The bargain turns sour when Power knocks Denji unconscious and hands him over to the Bat Devil as a peace offering. The creature laps up his blood to mend its wounded limb, then swallows both Meowy and Power instead of honoring the trade. When the devil takes flight to menace civilians, Denji clings to its leg, pulls his cord, and tears into it as Chainsaw Man, hacking the monster apart and freeing his teammate and her pet. The Bat Devil's lover, a Leech Devil, ambushes the weakened Denji, but Aki Hayakawa intervenes and feeds the attacker to his Fox Devil.

Recovering in a hospital bed, Denji shields Power when Aki presses him for the truth. Makima soon moves Power into the apartment shared by Aki and Denji, and the promised reward leaves Denji oddly hollow. Reading his mood, Makima coaxes out his frustration and shows him a more tender brand of intimacy, then turns the moment into a request: hunt down the Gun Devil in exchange for a single wish.

Makima lays out the Gun Devil's history and the method for tracing it through scattered fragments of its flesh embedded in people. The arc closes with a fresh extermination request at the Morin Hotel, sending the squad off on what becomes the next ordeal. New faces brought in here include the Bat Devil, the Leech Devil, Himeno, Hirokazu Arai, Kobeni Higashiyama, and Meowy.