Evil Eye Arc

Running across volumes 7 and 8 and chapters 51 through 62, this is the manga's fifth arc and the fifth chapter of the Kintama Hunt Saga, falling between the Cursed House Arc and the Kaiju Arc and adapted in episodes 17 through 21 of the second anime season. With the Evil Eye now bound inside Jiji, Momo, Okarun, Seiko, Aira, and Manjiro must keep watch until he can control it. The arc centers on Okarun's growth as a fighter through Turbo Granny's training and on his clever scheme to keep the volatile yokai in check.

Momo gathers Okarun and a dejected Aira to help subdue the Evil Eye should Jiji trigger the curse. Sleepovers at the Ayase house and hot water thermoses become the group's safeguards, since cold water unleashes the yokai. When a hired band of musicians called the Hayashi attempts a musical exorcism, Jiji, moved by the Evil Eye's suffering, begs his friends to spare it and promises to keep it controlled. Seiko cancels the exorcism and welcomes the Evil Eye into the Family, though Aira protests the burden it places on them. Okarun resolves to improve himself to keep the yokai in line, inspiring Momo and Aira to do the same. Momo takes a waitress job at Moe Moe Kikoho to pay for the wrecked house, but the Evil Eye nearly kills her after Jiji is splashed with a cold drink, straining Okarun and Jiji's friendship.

Determined to grow stronger, Okarun is turned down by Mantisian, who rejects violence, so Turbo Granny offers to train him. She takes Okarun and Aira to a school music room and summons the Music Room Portraits, demanding Okarun develop a combat rhythm to harness her speed. Paralyzed and overwhelmed at first, Okarun recalls the Hayashi's music, finds his rhythm, and saves Aira. After Aira uses her hair to take out the conductor and the giants concealing the musicians, Okarun strikes all five at once with a flurry that leaves five afterimages, defeating the tulpas and dispelling their illusion.

With his control mastered, Okarun challenges the Evil Eye himself, dodging its grudge balls and landing steady blows. After his transformation runs out on an All-Out headbutt, he refuses to keep fighting and goads the yokai into a deal: he will fight it weekly if it stops targeting anyone else. Realizing the Evil Eye has the mentality of a newborn that treats fighting as play, Okarun positions himself as its playmate. The Evil Eye hands over its briefs as a refusal to fully cooperate but returns control to Jiji until their next bout. With the threat managed, Manjiro secures the briefs as a cursed object, and the alien Ludris repairs the destroyed Ayase residence using nanoskin.

The arc confirms the government conceals paranormal events, showing only Mantisian's UFO from the Byakuja Village Incident. Jiji is freed from Taro's body and begins ki training that proves vital for resisting curses, while Momo reveals her childhood hand sign was a form of ki practice. The Hayashi, a band called Brave Force, will be recruited again later, and their music gives Okarun his battle rhythm. Momo starts her maid job at Moe Moe Kikoho, a setting that matters during the Space Globalists Arc, and grows closer to Okarun. Turbo Granny becomes Okarun's hands-on trainer and introduces combat rhythm, identifying the Music Room Portraits as tulpas, the second of the Seven School Mysteries. Okarun's weekly deal with the Evil Eye recurs throughout the story, and the yokai's surrendered briefs strip away its Cursed House and grudge ball powers, leaving only raw strength. The nanoskin provided by Ludris becomes Kinta Sakata's signature tool in future battles.