:re Chapter 157

Kaneki comes to inside what looks like a shrine set upon a limitless sea and lined with rows of gates. Bewildered, he wonders where Touka has gone and wanders the halls calling her name and asking if anyone can hear him. Slowly the events return to him: his return to the Goat headquarters, the battle against the CCG, his defeat at Juuzou Suzuya's hands, and his devouring of the Oggai afterward. Beyond that, all he can recall is being swallowed by something immense before his memory gives out.

Gripped by dread, Kaneki cannot tell whether he is awake, dreaming, or dead. In tears he races outside and plunges into the water, wading and then swimming as he insists he has to get back. While he pushes through the gates, enormous eyes beneath the surface silently track him. Fighting the waves, he dives under and finds himself among countless corpses; horrified, he surfaces again, only to discover Rize Kamishiro perched atop a pillar, asking where he thinks he is going and branding him a murderer.

The Japanese title Shirushi is rendered in English as Sign. Kaneki's inner landscape draws on Itsukushima Shrine, celebrated for its torii gates that appear to float on water; the site ranks among Japan's National Treasures and is inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The chapter was published on January 25, 2018 in Issue 2018-08 within Volume 15.