Chapter 170

Torres and Oki spot the disguised group and, mistaking Sakamoto for his wife Aoi, press for the real Sakamoto's whereabouts. When Torres floats the idea of kidnapping the supposed Aoi, breaking JAA rules and rattling Shin, the disguises abruptly fade. Torres lunges for Shin, but Nagumo drives a knee into him and the three break away. Since the cluttered street would hamper gunfire, Oki hands the pursuit to Tanabata, who jacks his guitar into a manhole cover, strums a sharp note, and channels a shockwave through the sewers that blows another cover open in their path.

Tanabata plugs a cable into Sakamoto's arm and plays, scrambling his senses while his mind drifts to Hana's cake. Kamihate and Osaragi close in, but Shin cuts between them and screams at them to halt; both freeze and crumple, letting the trio flee. The Order lets them go. Racing home, Sakamoto asks what Shin just did, and Shin admits he isn't sure, guessing at a telepathic knack that rewires people's thoughts when he forcefully orders them to stop. Nagumo calls the ability suspiciously convenient and warns it may carry hidden costs.

They reach the store to find Hana's cake destroyed. As her birthday is celebrated inside, Sakamoto stays out of view beside Nagumo, who eats the wrecked cake, and voices his doubts, confessing he feels he is endangering his loved ones and never truly left the world of killing behind.

The Order ambushes the disguised trio, with Torres proposing a rule-breaking kidnapping before the disguises wear off. Tanabata debuts his weaponized guitar, using sewer-conducted soundwaves to halt the escapees. Shin's latent telepathic command power surfaces, freezing Kamihate and Osaragi and enabling the getaway, though Nagumo cautions it may have a drawback. The trio escapes, but Hana's birthday cake is ruined, deepening Sakamoto's fear that his family is unsafe as long as he is present.

Titled Cake (Kēki), this is the one hundred seventieth chapter, set in the JAA Jail Arc. It ran in issue 29 of 2024 on June 17, 2024, and is collected in Volume 19. The chapter marks the first clear appearance of Shin's forceful command ability, and Haruma features in a brief flashback.