Chapter 119

Left to manage Anteiku on her own, Roma frets over what Kaneki and Yoshimura might be discussing behind closed doors. Kaneki, recalling Yomo's hint that Yoshimura shields the true Owl's identity, tells the old man he wants to understand his ties to Aogiri Tree.

Yoshimura then recounts his history under the name Kuzen. He once killed both humans and ghouls freely until V approached him, and he agreed to serve. Working as their hired killer, he eliminated rival human and ghoul factions in exchange for shelter and food. In a coffee shop he met Ukina, grew close to her, and she taught him to read. He weighed killing her before she could expose him, but she embraced who he was, and the two had a child, with Ukina eating human flesh to sustain the infant.

When Kuzen found Ukina's diary detailing V's secrets, the organization forced him to murder her. Afterward he placed his child in another's care in the 24th ward along with the diary. Years on, recognizing the One-Eyed Owl as his daughter, he took her place to keep V from discovering her. He urges Kaneki that he belongs to both worlds, asks him to rescue others from loneliness, and pleads with him to save his child. Touka then reaches Anteiku, learns Kaneki has just gone, and rushes out to confront him.

Yoshimura confesses his origins as the V assassin Kuzen, his relationship with Ukina, and her death at his own hands on V's orders. He reveals that the One-Eyed Owl is the daughter he hid in the 24th ward, and that he impersonated her to protect her from V. He begs Kaneki to save his child. Touka discovers Kaneki has left and hurries outside to face him.

The title's reading Kyūkyū also carries the meaning of emergency, a pun on the chapter number, since 119 is Japan's emergency phone line. Some read the title 旧九 as a nod to the tarot's Hermit card, casting Yoshimura as an aged recluse. The chapter belongs to Volume 12 and ran in the 2014-16 issue on March 20, 2014.