Chapter 8

Nishiki Nishio keeps goading Ken Kaneki, charging that he means to devour Hideyoshi Nagachika. The insult to his friend snaps Kaneki's patience, and he lashes back, only for Nishiki to plant a kick in his stomach and mock him as weak for swinging a bag as a weapon. Boasting, Nishiki claims that at full strength neither Touka nor Yomo could have beaten him.

Nishiki then airs his true opinion of Hide: the boy's goofy manner grates on him, yet he concedes that Hide reads a room far more sharply than the average student, which makes him hard to be around. He reveals that Hide had wanted to keep Kaneki away from their outing precisely because he sensed Nishiki's intent, a perceptiveness Kaneki had always chalked up to their long friendship rather than sharp instinct with everyone.

Tearing away Kaneki's eyepatch, Nishiki guesses it hides a kakugan Kaneki cannot yet control, and sneers that he would sooner kill Hide than let his own nature come to light. Enraged, Kaneki swings wildly and misses as Nishiki slips past his blows, and he privately despairs at his clumsy reflexes, having never struck anyone before, until he notices the gnawing hunger rising in him.

Nishiki unfurls his kagune and turns it on the unconscious Hide. As Kaneki recalls a lifetime of his friend's quiet concern for him, fury takes over and he throws himself at Nishiki to land his first real attack.

Kagune (赫子, Kagune) is the eighth chapter of the manga and part of the first volume. It marks Kaneki's first true fight and the moment his devotion to Hide pushes him past hesitation, establishing both his inexperience and his emerging ghoul instincts. Touka, Yomo, and Yoshikawa are referenced without appearing.