Deadly Magic Object

With the gang insisting the old man go back into the diorama to free Unji, Momo defuses the tension and coaxes his history out of him. He recounts being sealed inside the cursed model since childhood, a birthday present from his parents, and finally slipping free only when he touched one of the gang's girls, who afterward switched places with Unji. She notes that every member carries a painful past and owes a debt to Unji for sheltering them.

A delinquent adds that Unji barred anyone else from entering, vowing instead to "wreck the world" himself. Piecing together Toriumi's cryptic remark, Momo asks about a golden ball, and the gang confirms a stranger handed Unji such a tool for his scheme, though they fret he has been stuck inside for a week. Believing the old man's return is the only fix, they press him to go back. Terrified, he flails his blade about, and as Momo dodges she stumbles backward, brushing the diorama and vanishing into it before Okarun's stunned eyes.

The old man explains the diorama arrived as a birthday gift before it swallowed him whole. Reaching adulthood inside, he broke free the moment he made contact with a gang girl. That same girl describes how Unji guards them from dangerous people and lets them enjoy themselves despite hard lives. According to the leader, Unji swapped in to ruin the world within and accepted the kintama from an unknown figure. The old man's frantic blade-work causes Momo to topple into the diorama by accident.

This Volume 16 chapter spans nineteen pages and continues the Danmara Arc under the Kintama Hunt Saga. Published on December 26, 2023, it uncovers the diorama's backstory through a flashback tied to Saint-Germain and traps Momo within the cursed object.