Hanged Man

Kaneki and Ayato halt a truck carrying Naki, one of Yamori's followers. The twins Kurona and Nashiro strike at Kaneki, unmask themselves to reveal that they are one-eyed ghouls, then vanish. Naki bursts from the burning truck, brawls with Ayato while wailing for Yamori, and is finally subdued. Later, mourning in a wrecked toy store, he struggles to write Yamori's name until Kaneki spells it out for him in hiragana. As Kaneki departs, Eto watches him alongside Tatara. Among Aogiri's guards, rumors spread that Kaneki is strong and even ate Yamori, news that thrills Tsukiyama, who reveals he has been posing as one of the guards. Banjou, Ichimi, Jiro, and Sante arrive as support and seize a guard to interrogate.

In Touka's apartment, Hinami reads aloud from The Hanged Man's MacGuffin and mentions Takatsuki's upcoming signing. A broadcast then reports a ghoul-led attack on the Shuto Expressway involving a figure in an eyepatch, and Touka shuts off the television, refusing to hear Kaneki discussed now that he has left Anteiku. The next day Irimi nudges the gloomy Touka to make peace, but Hinami arrives dressed in Touka's clothes and insists on attending the signing alone so as not to be a burden, unaware that Koma is trailing her for safety. Nishiki, who forgot his notebook at Kamii, offers Touka a campus tour.

At the university Nishiki soon leaves to meet Kimi Nishino, and Touka, wandering alone, finds a missing-persons flyer for Kaneki that Hide pulls down. Over coffee, Hide tells her about Kaneki's past, his talent in a school play, and his habit of hiding behind masks, then shares that Kaneki touches his chin whenever he conceals something. At the signing, Hinami tells Takatsuki the book is a gift for Kaneki, calling him her older-brother figure, which leaves the author reflecting on him.

Meanwhile Shinohara takes Juuzou to the CCG's laboratory, where Kouitsu Chigyou presents a quinque forged from Jason. Juuzou claims it and names it 13's Jason. In the branch office archives, Houji and Takizawa dig through old records; Takizawa lets slip too much about the ghouls to Hide, whose sharp questions draw a rebuke from Akira. The investigators later connect Eyepatch to an accident four months earlier involving Kaneki and a woman, after which both Kaneki and the transplant doctor vanished, and Akira notes that Kaneki had been a Kamii student.

Kaneki and Ayato capture Naki as the one-eyed twins Kurona and Nashiro reveal themselves. Hide shares details of Kaneki's past with Touka, including his chin-touching tell. Juuzou receives his quinque made from Jason, and CCG investigators begin linking Eyepatch to the steel beam accident and Kaneki's disappearance.

The episode draws on chapters 82, 85, 90, 108, 109, 117, and 118 while blending them with an original Root A storyline. In this version the signing features only Hinami and Takatsuki, whereas the manga placed Kaneki there as well.