Chapter 176

As the Rion persona finishes recounting the past, Akira realizes Asaki engineered the ruin of both X and Rion. Rion-Uzuki gently offers her the chance to walk away and live the ordinary life the pair never could, but Akira refuses to turn her back on them, earning a head pat. Inwardly the persona grumbles that kind people are a nuisance, all while hoping Uzuki's old friends will finally act.

At Granny Miya's clinic, Shin, Heisuke, and Lu daydream about the roles they might hold if Sakamoto turns his shop into a franchise. Wutang cuts the fantasy short, reminding them the Order still stands in the way. Conceding the gap in strength, Shin asks Sakamoto to teach them advanced fighting. Sakamoto privately agrees but struggles to pass on his skills, since Shin and Heisuke each fight in their own style, and he wishes for a proper master to drill them.

At an undisclosed JAA hospital, four operatives guard Kindaka's room. When one asks who the patient is, the leader explains that Nagumo has been paying the man's bills, so watching over him should eventually draw the traitor out. That subordinate then reveals himself as Nagumo in disguise and kills the other three, lamenting that this is his last visit now that his expulsion from the JAA has stripped his Order privileges. Accepting that Rion is gone, he sees no reason to keep Kindaka alive and bids his old ally farewell, only for Kindaka to suddenly wake, seize his hand, and ask what is going on.

Akira concludes that Asaki manipulated both Uzuki and Rion, and vows not to abandon them despite Rion-Uzuki's offer of escape. Sakamoto's group weighs the strength gap against the Order and seeks training, with Sakamoto wishing for a master. Nagumo, disguised, infiltrates a JAA hospital, kills three guards, and prepares to end the long-comatose Kindaka, whom he has secretly been funding. In the final beat, Kindaka abruptly awakens and grabs Nagumo's hand.

Titled Awaken (Sameru), this is the one hundred seventy-sixth chapter of the JAA Jail Arc. It ran in issue 35 of 2024 on July 29, 2024, and is collected in Volume 20. A translation note points out that Rion-Uzuki refers to Asaki with a slur rendered as bastard or scumbag rather than his name.