Elsewhere, Tokyo, Japan.
Ito Makotou left the house for the first time in nine years. The moment he appeared in public, he saw news related to Makoto.
"Bastard!"
Seeing Makoto's name in the news, Ito Makotou gritted his teeth in rage.
'You bastard, all that time you told everyone not to make contracts with Devils, and then you went and made one yourself!'
'What was your game, huh?!'
"Ah~~ So the rumors are true. That chainsaw bastard has revived."
Just then, a voice echoed in Ito Makotou's mind.
"Is that Devil strong?" Ito Makotou asked with a frown.
"It's not a matter of whether he's strong or not. He's the kind of rare..."
The voice paused mid-sentence, falling silent for a while before speaking again:
"In short, whatever you do, don't mess with him."
Ito Makotou frowned even deeper.
He had accepted that Makoto was stronger than him, even though it pissed him off.
But he hadn't expected that the Devil his enemy had contracted with was stronger than his own!
That's right. This voice belonged to the Teddy Bear Devil, whom Ito Makotou had made a contract with not long ago.
It didn't sound strong at all. In fact, it sounded a bit ridiculous.
But it had offered a condition that Ito Makotou simply couldn't refuse.
If he let it possess him, it would allow him to grow back his lower body.
Although that thing would belong to the Teddy Bear Devil, Ito Makotou could share its sensations.
Hearing that, Ito Makotou perked right up.
Needless to say, being possessed by a Devil greatly enhanced one's physical abilities.
Ito Makotou had tested it. His current physical condition was no worse than Yukino's.
Of course, he meant the Yukino from the real world nine years ago.
As for how much she had grown in all those years, he had no idea.
"Can we hurry up and do that?"
Withdrawing his gaze from the television, Ito Makotou was itching to use his newly regrown equipment.
Though, to be precise, it wasn't 'regrown' but borrowed from the Teddy Bear Devil.
Ever since the Teddy Bear Devil possessed him and restored his abilities, Ito Makotou had been eager to give it a try.
"You're a man after my own heart, brother."
The Teddy Bear Devil silently gave its host a mental thumbs-up.
The reason it had sought out a human to possess and contract with was because it had heard the Chainsaw Devil had revived and was afraid of being targeted.
If it ended up possessing someone who was detached and had no desires, that would be a problem.
Fortunately, this guy was also a sex-crazed glutton!
"Keep a low profile, kid. Keep a low profile. I don't want to get on the radar of Devil Hunters or the Public Security Bureau. Neither do you, right?"
Hearing the Teddy Bear Devil's words, Ito Makotou swallowed hard, his bigger head barely regaining a bit of control.
The two wandered the streets for quite a while but couldn't find a suitable target.
Before they knew it, they had ended up at the entrance of the Tokyo University Hospital.
Just then, a middle-aged man pushed a wheelchair out of the hospital.
In the wheelchair sat a young man around twenty-five. If you looked closely, you could see he was quite handsome, but his overly dispirited demeanor made him easy to overlook.
"Has Mother gone to work again, Dad?"
Shinichi, who had just finished his check-up, turned to ask Yusaku.
Yusaku nodded with a bitter smile. "Yeah. The family's financial burden is on Yukiko now. Don't blame her, Shinichi."
He had been with the Public Security Bureau for a few years now, but he wasn't a frontline combatant. His reasoning skills were of limited use in this world, so his compensation had never been high.
So, all these years, the financial pressure had been on his wife.
"I won't, Dad. Besides, didn't the doctor just say? From now on, I don't need to take as much medicine. Mom won't have to do that kind of work anymore."
Shinichi also knew that his mother had been using her disguise skills to steal over the years to cover his medical expenses.
Before, he would have looked down on such behavior.
But since the money was being used for him, it was a completely different matter.
Yusaku smiled bitterly again and nodded.
Honestly, he always felt that what his wife was doing out there was far from simple theft.
After spending so many years in the Public Security Bureau, he had some understanding of the underworld.
He knew his wife's true identity had been exposed in the criminal underworld, yet the yakuza hadn't retaliated, and his wife kept bringing money home.
All these anomalies told Kudo Yusaku that things were not that simple.
But he hadn't chosen to confront his wife.
On one hand, whoever made the money had the say.
On the other hand, Yusaku had a vague feeling that if the truth came out, this family would completely fall apart.
Yusaku pushed the wheelchair, walking past an electronics store with his son.
A television in the store window was playing news about the Chainsaw Man.
Ring ring ring.
Just then, Yusaku's phone rang.
"Hello? What? Right now?"
Yusaku's expression changed as he answered the phone.
After hanging up, before Yusaku could speak, Shinichi had already turned his head and asked, "Dad, is it work?"
"Yeah."
Yusaku nodded gravely. After a moment's hesitation, he still didn't tell his son what his superior had just said.
"Then go ahead. I can get back by myself."
"Are you sure?"
Shinichi patted the armrest of his wheelchair. "I don't want to admit it, but I've gotten quite used to this thing. And it's not far from home, right?"
Yusaku was silent for a few seconds, then nodded. He hailed a taxi. "Call me immediately if anything happens."
With that, Yusaku drove off.
Shinichi sat alone in his wheelchair, heading back to the rental apartment not far away.
Remembering the image of Makoto's massacre on the news, he ground his teeth in anger. "I will arrest you."
But at that moment, Shinichi was completely unaware that someone across the street had already set their sights on him.
"Him! Pick him!"
The Teddy Bear Devil stared intently at Shinichi, shouting wildly in Ito Makotou's mind.
Ito Makotou was completely stunned.
"Y-You're serious? H-He's a guy, you know?"
To be honest, Ito Makotou didn't recognize the man across the street as the savior of the Japanese police from the real world.
After nine years, both his appearance and Shinichi's had changed considerably.
"Huh? Since when did I say the target had to be female?" The Teddy Bear Devil retorted.
"For me, male, female, a telephone pole, an attack helicopter, a Walmart bag… anything works. Now get going, or I'll find someone else to possess!"
That's just how Teddy Bears were. They didn't care about gender, or even whether the target was a living thing.
Such thing makes sense.
Hearing this, Ito Makotou gritted his teeth and looked at the figure in the wheelchair.
Maybe it was because he hadn't touched anyone in nine years, hadn't even been able to take care of himself, but...
Ito Makotou found himself strangely drawn.
He thinks Kudo Shinichi still has some charm left.
"Now! Move!"
The Teddy Bear Devil's voice rang out again.
Using the Devil's power, Ito Makotou dashed across the street in an instant.
As Shinichi wheeled past the entrance of a narrow alley, Ito Makotou suddenly grabbed him and dragged him into the shadows.
"Who are you… ghhk!"
Before Shinichi could react, he was thrown to the ground.
He was face down, trying to turn around, but a hand pressed firmly against the back of his head.
'This strength… definitely not human!'
Shinichi gritted his teeth and asked, "What do you want? How much money? I'll pay!"
But the man didn't answer.
The sound of tearing fabric echoed.
With a rip, his pants were torn off, and Shinichi immediately felt a chill on his lower body.
Then, an indescribable, excruciating pain shot through his rear end.
"AAAAHHHH! AAAHHHH! AAAHHHH——!!!"
A heart-wrenching scream echoed through the dark alley.