:re Chapter 139

Mutsuki presses Yomo with a flurry of knives, and Yomo privately marks how quick and skilled his foe is before Aura ambushes him with a feint that springs traps from the pipes. Yomo answers by ringing himself in electricity from his kagune. Studying him, Mutsuki judges Yomo a flawless fighter in close range, at distance, and with that electric kagune, yet decides that his own greater feeling can beat the older ghoul's greater experience. Fixated on his love for Kaneki and his hatred of Touka for stealing him away, Mutsuki hurls his quinques.

The fight shifts to Squad Zero, where a quinque grazes Take Hirako's cheek as he redirects it. Hazuki claims he has the situation in hand, but Ui, holding the weapon, warns him not to underestimate the squad. Hirako blocks Ui's strike and directs Shio and Rikai at Hazuki while sending Yusa against Ui, who kicks Yusa aside and coolly critiques his form.

Shio and Rikai push Hazuki back until he flips clear, boasting they will die without Kaneki present, then kicks Shio into the air and tries to impale him. Shio survives only by scraping his knuckles along the kagune and tumbling to safety near Hirako, who tells the crying boy to treat Hazuki as a ghoul rather than a human. Meanwhile Touka leads the surviving ghouls toward safety, straining to put distance between them and their pursuers and fearing there are too many to save and that Kaneki would grieve. Without warning, a knife lodges itself in her shoulder.

The title 彼は笑う (Kare wa warau), He Laughs, is the one hundred thirty-ninth chapter of Tokyo Ghoul:re, printed in issue 2017-41 on September 7, 2017. The name nods to the meaning of Isaac, and its Japanese reading Isaku puns on the chapter number, with I as one, sa as three, and ku as nine.