Chapter 203: Human Shield

Weaving around the imposter's punches, Denji hears one of the captives fused inside the Devil warn that every blow the creature throws also injures the trapped people. Unwilling to keep absorbing hits, Denji jokes about handing the man a pillow, but the bystander offers a real plan: strike the heart and everyone inside should be released. Denji likens the idea to a video game boss, which another panicked captive misreads. With fresh determination, he keeps dodging until a clean opening appears, only to spot that the Devil's heart sits shielded behind yet another captive's face. The shock costs him, and a blow flings him into a nearby building.

Yoru drops into the wreckage and offers to simply kill the imposter, lives of the hostages be damned. Denji objects, disliking how that would sink his reputation further, but Yoru argues his decline was always coming and points to Asa being feared because of the Chainsaw Man Church as proof. Before Denji can dwell on it, Falling Devil lifts the entire building they occupy, intending to drop it onto a crowd of spectators that includes even her so-called partner Fami.

A fused captive reveals that striking the imposter's heart could free everyone trapped inside. Denji finds the heart guarded by a human face, leaving him unwilling to attack and vulnerable to a hit that hurls him into a building. Yoru pushes to kill the Devil regardless of casualties, while Falling Devil raises the building to crush onlookers, Fami among them.

Featured in Volume 22 with the Japanese title Hito Shirudo, the chapter deepens the dilemma of attacking an enemy built from living shields and ties Denji's struggle to Asa's reputation. Asa Mitaka is mentioned only. The cast includes the Fake Chainsaw Man, Denji, Yoru, Falling Devil, and Famine Devil.