"What?!"
Akira Mado recoiled in shock at the scene before her. Naki had actually shielded his two underlings, and her long blade had cut a gash across his back.
"I! I won't let my boys die! After... after Boss Yamori died, I don't want to suffer being alone again!"
Naki shouted hoarsely. Enraged, he began attacking Akira Mado, his movements completely uncoordinated. All he accomplished was exposing more openings.
Akira Mado struck from tricky angles, carving bloody wounds into Naki with several successive slashes. Seeing things turn against him, his two underlings hurriedly carried their boss away.
Tsukiyama, who was nearby, also began retreating at the sight. After sending Kōtarō Amon flying with a vicious blow from his Koukaku, he turned and ran.
Seeing them try to escape, Akira Mado lifted her long blade to pursue them, but Kōtarō Amon was in bad shape beside her. For a moment, she couldn't decide what to do. The thought of abandoning him crossed her mind.
"Go to the lowest underground level. I received a signal from Special Class Investigator Shinohara."
Kōtarō Amon struggled to his feet and called out.
"All right."
At that moment, Yukinori Shinohara was fighting Ken Kaneki in his Half-Kakuja form. The powerful lunges of Kaneki's body nearly broke Shinohara's bones. Kaneki attacked like a beast, his sturdy Rinkaku pounding against Arata.
A single blow left a thin crack across Arata's surface. Yukinori Shinohara struggled to hold him off.
Drawing on his years of combat experience, he finally spotted an opening during one of Ken Kaneki's attacks. He swung his massive blade Quinque, Oniyamada Ichi, hard into Kaneki's abdomen.
The blow dealt considerable damage, severely injuring Ken Kaneki and bringing him to his knees.
However, Yukinori Shinohara wasn't in good shape either. Although Kaneki hadn't inflicted much damage on