The Future Rules

Irritated by their tardiness to training, Kishibe heads for Denji and Power's apartment. Power catches his scent from inside, and the two, now sporting glasses, launch their so-called Operation: Super-Smart. Power rams a blood spear through the doorway, but Kishibe reads it and slips aside. Bottles of blood the pair stashed on the floor above let her stab down through the ceiling at him, yet he again blocks and evades. Denji slips down behind him hoping to land an axe blow, only for Kishibe to boot him in the head without even looking and drop him.

Kishibe praises the effort as their best so far, but notes they were hampered by Power's heavy blood loss and Denji's failure to anticipate strikes. Declaring the day done, he waits for Denji to lower his guard, then hurls a knife with the warning that prey should never trust a hunter's word. Elsewhere, Tendo and Kurose escort Aki down to the Devil Holding Facility run by the bureau. They caution that contracting with these devils brings steep costs, yet will shield him in the battles ahead. Kurose brings up the girl who visited his hospital room, and Aki says the visitor was Himeno's kid sister, who passed along letters Himeno had written over the years, many mentioning him; one highlighted line asks whether there is anything she could do to make Aki quit. Reaching a chamber, Kurose explains the plan for Aki to contract the Future Devil, citing two earlier agents who did so, one trading half a lifespan and the other both eyes plus taste and smell. Aki steps in and watches a humanlike, tree-shaped Future Devil rise from the dark, chanting that the future rules.

Denji and Power attempt a coordinated ambush on Kishibe and fail, learning their weaknesses in blood reserves and attack prediction. Kishibe drives home that prey should not trust a hunter's words. Aki is led into the Devil Holding Facility operated by the bureau and reads letters from Himeno via her kid sister. He prepares to contract the Future Devil, which emerges declaring that the future rules.

A Volume 4 chapter of the Katana Man arc, this entry ran in issue 2019-34 on July 22, 2019, and was adapted across Episodes 10 and 11. It introduces the Future Devil and its steep contract costs, setting up Aki's fateful pact, while reinforcing Kishibe's brutal training philosophy.