Chapter 166

Karasuma tracks down the operation's commander and presses him to justify keeping Class 3-E locked away. The imposing Hojo answers that the students endanger the assassination effort, then departs toward the mountain, leaving Karasuma unsettled. Inside the school's main building, a press conference turns on Chairman Asano, who fields sharp questions about permitting a creature onto campus.

Asano nearly deflects the blame elsewhere, yet a glance at a lapel pin from his younger years changes his mind, and he calls the octopus a genuinely gifted instructor. His charm sways a handful of journalists, though he privately dismisses the win as trivial and concludes that humanity as a whole will become Korosensei's ultimate killer. Watching broadcasters offer pity over their supposed mistreatment sickens the students.

Karasuma enters the students' holding room, and Nagisa requests their freedom. The instructor refuses, noting that five more days of waiting would have let security relax, and pointing out that Hojo's squad now protects the mountain. When Nagisa keeps arguing, Karasuma flings him down and warns him against causing problems. Once he departs, Nagisa realizes the man was quietly feeding them useful intelligence, an act that signals his faith in the class.

The chapter's Japanese title reads Seiron no Jikan. In the running order it sits between Perfect Argument Time and Trust Time. The closing panel shifts to the old Kunugigaoka campus, where Korosensei cheerfully assembles the graduating class's yearbook.