Secrets & Lies

Rattled, Sawatari urges Katana Man to relocate Denji before Makima strikes again. As he moves, a knife-wielding Kobeni closes in. A brief flashback shows Arai gunned down by an elderly Gun-Agent during their shift, throwing his body over Kobeni to save her with his last breath. Back in the present, Kobeni asks if the two are the Gun-Agents. Sawatari lashes out with the Snake Devil's tail, but Kobeni slips past it, sprints along its length, severs Katana Man's arm, snatches his pistol, and shoots him in the back. She rounds on Sawatari, deflecting her gunfire with Denji's hardened chainsaw head.

Sawatari hauls Katana Man into the car and flees. Kobeni kneels by Denji's torso, apologizing for once trying to kill him, then dissolves into a creeping, hysterical laughter as Arai's death replays in her mind, settling on a decision to tell Himeno she is quitting. In Tokyo, Madoka meets Makima with news that nearly every human across Divisions 1 through 4 is dead. Headquarters has ordered all the divisions merged under her command, which makes her smile. Sensing the conflict ahead, Madoka resigns on the spot, asking how much she foresaw, and she replies only that classified matters cannot be shared with a civilian.

Kobeni cripples Katana Man and drives off Sawatari, freeing Denji's torso. Arai's death protecting her is revealed in flashback. In Tokyo, the depleted Divisions 1 through 4 are consolidated under Makima, and Madoka quits, deflected by her refusal to explain what she anticipated.

This fourth-volume chapter of the Katana Man arc was published in issue 2019-31 on July 1, 2019 and was adapted in episode 9. It cements Kobeni's lethal hidden talent and quietly advances Makima's accumulation of organizational power after the slaughter of the human hunters.