Ken Kaneki/Synopsis

Background
As a child, Kaneki liked eating the burgers that his mother made when she was still alive. He lost his father when he was four years old. He barely remembered his face and was awfully curious as to what sort of person he was. He knew that his father was an avid reader and had loads of books. Kaneki followed the sentences in the books his father had been reading, saying he felt like he was having a conversation with his father which calmed him down. This developed his hobby for reading and interest in literature.

When he was a child, his mother struggled to provide for them. All the work that she had to deal with was too overwhelming and the one who put the most stress on her was Kaneki's aunt (his mother's sister). His aunt was tight on money and hounded his mother for cash. Being left with nothing but burden, his aunt can be seen as the one who drove his mother to her death. Kaneki's mother, in turn, turned her frustration towards Kaneki, abusing and beating the boy. Kaneki, however, repressed these memories and convinced himself his mother treated him kindly. His mother finally died from overworking when he was 10. Now orphaned, Kaneki was then adopted by his aunt's family, the Asaoka family.

However, Kaneki's life with his adopted family was no less hostile. His aunt's son, Yuuichi, who she always compared with him since Yuuichi did not do well at school. This greatly angered her. When comparing her son with Kaneki, she also compared Kaneki with his late mother, saying how alike they were. Her feelings of inferiority regarding Kaneki's mother were turned on him as spite. As time passed, the family became a place that did not give Kaneki any comfort for long because nobody in the family would look after or care for him.

He barely had any friends during elementary school. During that time, Hide approached Kaneki, most likely because he noticed that Kaneki had trouble dealing with his classmates. Since then, Hide and Kaneki have been best friends. Hide was his only support during the time the Asaokas began to ostracize him, which really saved him from loneliness.

Prologue
Kaneki and Hide listened to the news about ghoul attacks in the 20th ward while in Anteiku. Hide then wondered if Touka was Kaneki's new crush that he wanted to show, which Kaneki denied. Instead, he pointed to Rize as she entered the café. After Hide left, Kaneki was able to arrange a date with Rize after they were able to talk when she bumped into his book. However, Rize later revealed herself to be a ghoul targeting Kaneki after tricking him into entering a isolated alley. During her attack, Kaneki was pierced through the abdomen by her kagune, but before she could finish him off and feed, steel beams fell and crushed her. To save his life, the staff of the Kanou General Hospital under the direction of Dr. Kanou decided to transplant Rize's organs into him. From then on, Kaneki became a half-human, half-ghoul.

After the accident, Kaneki hid the fact that Rize was a ghoul. He found that everything he ate tasted disgusting and he was hardly able to eat normal food, so he started to live on little more than water for days. Around that time he realized that ghouls were also unable to eat normal food, his hunger struck him. Unable to find anything to satisfy his hunger, he wandered the streets. At that time, he found out that the waitress, Touka, from Anteiku was also a ghoul when she killed a human in front of him. In terror, he ran away. Moments later, he saw that he could barely keep himself in check, salivating profusely. Since he thought the organ transplant was the reason for his transformation, he tried to get rid of the transplanted organs, but was unsuccessful. Desperate, he turned to Touka for help. Touka refused to give assistance to the former human, but Anteiku's manager Yoshimura kindly gave Kaneki human meat to satisfy his hunger.

However, Kaneki was still repelled by the thought of having to eat human meat, so he decided to continue rejecting it. Instead, he frantically looked for other digestible food. From there, he discovered that he was still able to drink coffee. Drinking coffee calmed him down, so he went off to buy more. In a store, a man revealed to be Nishio advised him to buy the instant coffee "Blondy". As Kaneki was returning home, he noticed the smell of delicious food. He traced the smell's source, which turned out to be a human corpse. The ghoul Kazuo Yoshida was eating the freshly slain body, but he was immediately killed by Nishio. Asserting that this was his feeding ground, Nishio attacked Kaneki as well. At that moment, Touka appeared and declared that this location was not Nishio's feeding ground, but Rize's. Nishio retorted that it was originally his feeding ground until Rize came, but Touka, unfazed, responded that the feeding grounds would be re-allotted among the weaker ghouls and that it was his own fault for being too weak. Angered, Nishio attacked Touka, but was immediately defeated. When Touka tried to force Kaneki to eat some of the meat, he hysterically screamed that he was human and different from ghouls. Angered, Touka retorted that Kaneki was neither human nor ghoul and no place where he belonged, before warning him that a ghoul's hunger was hell.

When Kaneki and Hide visited a senior student from the university to get the DVD of the previous year's college festival, they disturbed him and Kimi in the middle of lewd activity. Kaneki realized that the senior student was Nishio, the ghoul that attacked him shortly before. Nishio told them to help him look for the material, only to then claim that he took the disk home. He proposed that they should go with him to get it. In reality, he deceived Kaneki and Hide, knocked Hide out and started fighting Kaneki. He provoked Kaneki by puking on Hide and then standing on his face with his foot, but even an angered Kaneki was no match for the kagune-wielding Nishio. However, when Nishio tried to kill Hide, Kaneki was able to release his kagune in a fit of desperation. With his kagune, Kaneki heavily injured Nishio. As Kaneki started to lose control and was about to eat Hide, he was stopped by Touka.

Later, Kaneki awoke and found himself inside Anteiku. When he asked for Hide, the manager led him to the room he was sleeping in. Kaneki wanted to approach Hide, but stopped. Before, he had already noticed blood inside his mouth and his diminished hunger, so he asked Yoshimura what he had eaten. The manager told him that he already knew what the answer was, since there is only one way to satisfy a ghoul's hunger. Kaneki cried out that he was neither human nor ghoul and there was no place for him, but Yoshimura replied that he was wrong and that he belonged to both worlds. Yoshimura proposed that Kaneki to work at Anteiku. Yoshimura would teach him how to live as a ghoul so that Kaneki could keep his place as a human.

Doves' Emergence
After Kaneki started working part-time at Anteiku, he was visited by Hide. Hide thanked Touka for nursing Kaneki and him after the "car accident" (the lie the manager used to cover up what had really happened to Kaneki, Nishio, and him). After they moved out of earshot of Hide, Touka told Kaneki to make sure that Hide won't find out about him being a ghoul, stating that she would kill him to protect the ghouls' identities if that were to happen. Afterwards, the manager showed Kaneki how to eat sandwiches like a human. After Kaneki failed to successfully do so, the manager gave him special sugar cubes that he could use to curb his hunger, but warned him that he might have to eat meat when the time would come. During Kaneki's working time, Ryouko Fueguchi and her daughter Hinami came to Anteiku. He was informed by Touka that these two ghouls did not hunt themselves.

Later, ghoul investigators from the CCG entered the 20th ward looking for Ryouka and Hinami. As the news spread in the ward, the manager asked Touka to guide Kaneki to the mask shop, Hysy ArtMask Studio in the 4th ward. Here, Kaneki became acquainted with its owner, Uta.[22]

One day, the manager asked Kaneki to obtain "food supplies" with Yomo, i.e., they looked for humans who committed suicide. Afterwards, they picked Ryouko up, who was warned by Yomo that the investigators came because of her and that she should move more prudently for Hinami's sake. Ryouko agreed and said she would stop relying on her dead husband so that Hinami could depend on her. Kaneki then thought that a parent's concern for their child was strong in any world.

Few days later, Kaneki walked in on Hinami eating human flesh in a room on Anteiku's second floor. After he apologized for not knocking, she asked if he is ghoul or human. To answer her question, he explained his situation. He noticed that she had one of Takatsuki's books and began talking about the stories. He also taught her how to read some new kanji to expand her vocabulary. Before she and her mother left, Hinami thanked Kaneki and asked him to teach her again next time. Just after they left, they were encircled by ghoul investigators. Ryouko gave her daughter the chance to escape while she fought the investigators. During her escape, Hinami ran into Kaneki and asked for help, but Mado killed Ryouko just after they reached the scene. Kaneki participated in Anteiku's meeting after Ryouko's death. Kaneki considered Ryouko's death his fault for being too weak to save her.

The next day, after Touka had attacked the ghoul investigators, Kaneki noticed Touka's injuries. He intended to treat her wounds, but Yoshimura stopped him, saying that she would have to carry the responsibility for her actions herself and Anteiku did not have the power to oppose CCG. Even so, Kaneki still chose to treat her wounds. Kaneki told Touka that he believed the ghoul investigators' existence was necessary and that he considered her actions wrong. Nevertheless, he would mourn her were she to die, and asked her to teach him how to fight, so that he would be able to act next time. The next day, they entered the underground tunnels originally built by ghouls to practice. By threatening his life, she managed to goad him into releasing his kagune. After training, Uta delivered Kaneki's mask.

Later, they went to CCG's branch office in the 20th ward to spread false information on Hinami's whereabouts. But before they could leave, they passed by Mado, who suspected them of being ghouls. He then forced Kaneki through the Rc scan gate, but the gate did not react to both their surprise. While Hinami confined herself in Anteiku's room on the upper floor, Touka visited her and gave her a newspaper that contained Kusaba's death notice. Realizing what Touka was doing, Hinami ran away. When Touka and Kaneki noticed Hinami was missing, they split up to search for her. Touka found Hinami and informed Kaneki, but before they could leave, they were attacked by Mado. Kaneki, who had been relieved that Hinami waas found, overheard investigator Amon's phone conversation with Mado. As Amon set off for Kasahara River where Hinami and Touka were, Kanek donned his mask and stood in Amon's way to try to buy enough time for Touka and Hinami to flee.

Kaneki initially underestimated the investigator until Amon was easily able to overpower him. After taking down Kaneki, Amon paused to talk about the recent death of a fellow investigator and children orphaned by ghouls, demonizing ghouls for corrupting the world with their gluttony. As a former human, Kaneki could not deny that ghouls had brought violence to the world and caused tragedies because of their need to feed on humans. However, after remembering Ryouko's sacrifice for her daughter, he finally realizes the truth to Yoshimura's earlier comment; that he is the only one who can see both the human and ghoul worlds in their entirety. That they could manage to get along due to their similarities if they would sit down and talk.

Convinced that he has a reason to fight, Kaneki won using his reluctantly-used kagune. After defeating Amon in battle with his ghoul instincts excited, Kaneki starts losing control of his powers. Desperately, he asked Amon to leave so that he would not become a killer. Shortly thereafter, Kaneki lost control and began madly crazing flesh. He attacked Yomo as he arrived and was brought back to his senses when he realized who he just attacked. Yomo remarks on how he now sees why Yoshimura was interested in Kaneki before giving him a package of meat to eat. The two of them then rushed to Hinami's and Touka's whereabouts and afterwards left to go back to Anteiku. On their way back, Hinami asked if it was right for her to live and Kaneki answered that he believed Hinami's mother told her to live in her last moments.

After Mado's death, Kaneki went to Kanou General Hospital for a checkup. Kaneki heavily questioned if Kanou knew what had happened to his body. Afterwards, Kaneki went to university. During class, Hide brought up the news about the death of two ghoul investigators. To Kaneki's concern, Hide had mostly figured out the Rabbit case through deduction. As Kaneki asked Hide why he was interested in this matter, Hide pulled out Hisashi Ogura's new ghoul book that he found really interesting. Hide toyed with the idea of joining the investigation to which Kaneki heavily objected.

Later on, Kaneki went to Touka's apartment because he was worried about Hinami who had started living there. To Kaneki's surprise, Touka ate all of the home-made food by her classmate Yoriko, making him wonder how important Yoriko was to Touka.

Gourmet Arc
The day after Touka and Kaneki practiced underground with Yomo, Tsukiyama, nicknamed the Gourmet, came to Anteiku during their work time and was attracted to Kaneki's smell. On a later date, Tsukiyama approached Kaneki in his university as Kaneki immersed himself in a martial arts book. Tsukiyama persuaded Kaneki to meet him at a cafe the next Sunday. Lost in thought, Kaneki went to Anteiku despite it being closed and met Yomo in front of Anteiku. Yomo invited Kaneki to meet someone who asked for Kaneki. Together, they went to 14th ward's Helter Skelter bar and met Yomo's old friends, the bar owner Itori and Uta. After they had talked about the relationship between Yomo, Uta and Itori, Itori spilled a glass of blood on Kaneki to uncover his sole kakugan. Itori was excited seeing a one-eyed ghoul and wondered if the other "One-Eye" felt as self-conscious about his eye as Kaneki. Kaneki wanted to know about the other one-eyed ghouls, so Itori told Kaneki about hybrids, pregnancy of half-ghouls and the rumored "One-Eye". Soon, the conversation turned about Kaneki and Rize's mysterious death, and Kaneki discovered that the accident was likely set up by someone. Itori proposed a trade to Kaneki: if Kaneki uncovered information on the Ghoul Restaurant from the Gourmet, namely Tsukiyama, she would share information on the accident.

After the meeting, Kaneki, immersed in thought, got lost and ran into a group of ghouls that were attacking Nishio. Kaneki saved Nishio from the ghouls that planned to eat him and returned him to his apartment, while Nishio was cursing him. As Kaneki was about to leave, Kimi attacked Kaneki to protect Nishio, thinking that Kaneki was the "narcissistic man"; however, Nishio asked her to stop.

The following Sunday, after Kaneki and Tsukiyama played Squash, they visited the café. After Tsukiyama cut Kaneki's finger accidentally with his finger nail, he used Tsukiyama's handkerchief to soak up the blood. Unbeknownst to him, the scent of the blood would further intensify Tsukiyama's obsession with him. As Kaneki asked Tsukiyama about the ghoul restaurant to gather information, Tsukiyama invited him as a guest to the ghoul restaurant. However, this was a trap set by Tsukiyama, because he was not meant to be a regular guest, but instead was meant to become the dinner together with Kobachi and Ami. The restaurant's scrapper Taro made quick work of the latter two, leaving Kaneki to fend for himself. He manages to get a few hits but is soon subdued by Taro. In desperation, he pushes his limits, causing his one kakugan eye to reveal itself. Realizing he is a one-eyed ghoul, Tsukiyama realized that Kaneki was an even rarer dish than he had thought and came to the conclusion that he didn't want to share with the other members, and he killed the scrapper as Kaneki's replacement.

Kaneki, frightened of Tsukiyama, slept at Anteiku for the night. The next day, Hinami, also bringing along the cockatiel Hetare, Yomo, and Yoshimura, visited Kaneki. Kaneki told them he saw lots of ghouls and commented at how they laughed behind their masks as he, Kobachi, and Ami were injured. Yoshimura commented that they were ghouls who killed their emotions and forgot the value of life. After Yoshimura and Yomo left, Touka called Kaneki because a girl was waiting downstairs for him. Kimi begged Kaneki for help since Nishio's state had worsened further. Kaneki promised to help her. As she was returning home, Tsukiyama kidnapped her to set the next trap for Kaneki.

After Kaneki had found Tsukiyama's letter about Kimi being kidnapped by him, Nishio came looking for Kimi. Kaneki and Nishio decided to face Tsukiyama together to save Kimi but Kaneki and Nishio were no match for him and Tsukiyama quickly defeated both of them. Touka arrives to help, and for a few moments she and Kaneki manage to hold their ground against Tsukiyama, but was eventually incapitated because Tsukiyama was the only one who could use his kagune. As Tsukiyama prepared to finish them both, Nishio stopped him, prompting Tsukiyama to stomp him repeatedly. This provided enough time for Kaneki to come up with an idea. As the only one with a chance to beat him was Touka, he let Touka eat a small part of him to regain her strength. This allowed Touka to fight evenly with Tsukiyama and eventually defeat him. When Touka decided to kill Kimi, Kaneki frantically begs her not to do it, but is left stunned when Touka decides not to.

Aogiri Arc
Banjou and his followers came to Anteiku to search for Rize by orders of Aogiri's leaders. Touka and Kaneki decided to hear his story, and Banjou began to talk about his time with Rize in the 11th ward. However, Banjou soon realized that Kaneki smelled like Rize. Because he suspected Kaneki to be her boyfriend, he attacked him, but Banjou was easily knocked out by Kaneki. When Banjou woke up again, Kaneki tried to clear up the misunderstanding. He told Banjou that Rize had moved somewhere else, hiding from him that she had died. Banjou asked Kaneki to tell her that she should run away because he feared that Aogiri would try to gravely hurt her. At that moment, Ayato Kirishima, Yamori and Nico raided Anteiku. They announced that they were ordered to capture Rize herself or "the person who smells like her". As Ayato quickly incapitated Touka, Kaneki is similarly overpowered by Yamori, who beats him savagely. Kaneki is then taken away by Yamori.

After Kaneki had regained consciousness, he asked Ayato about Touka's condition, but in response, Ayato taught Kaneki the rules of the place while kicking and beating him. Kaneki was brought before Tatara. To make Kaneki reveal his kakugan, Tatara pierced his abdomen. Tatara realized that he could not use Kaneki the way he originally planned, so he granted Ayato the right to do whatever he wished with Kaneki. Tatara revealed to Kaneki that the escaped Doctor Kanou was aware what had happened to Kaneki's body and that Kanou didn't transplant a kidney into Kaneki, but a Kakuhou.

After the meeting, Kaneki was approached by Banjou, who proposed that they should escape together.During the meeting, he meets Banjou's resistance group who were also subdued by Aogiri. Banjou proposed that because the Aogiri superiors take turns leaving on different days of the week, they will make their escape when security is light.

On the night of the escape, the Anti-Aogiri group attempted to escape. However, the Bin brothers were alarmed by their escape and went after the group to intervene. When Banjou stayed behind to cover their escape, Kaneki and the gas mask followers came to his aid to confront one of the Bin. Amidst of fighting, Yamori and Nico joined them along with several of the resistance members, revealing that they have overheard their plan and proceeded to ambush them. Despite knowing that death is the penalty for betrayal, Yamori instead proposed to Kaneki that he will overlook this event in exchange for his cooperation as an assistant because he possessed Rize's organs and had 'potential.' Kaneki hesitantly accepted, knowing that they would be killed otherwise and was taken by Yamori and Nico into his "hobby room".

Ten days before the CCG stormed the Aogiri hideout, Yamori showed Kaneki his "hobby room". Kaneki is shocked when he sees a dead person sitting on a chair, whom Yamori reveals to be his former underling who is tortured for making a mistake. Yamori showed Kaneki Rc suppressants and explained that they are used to weaken ghouls and forcibly injected the drug by stabbing Kaneki's left eye with a syringe. After the injection, Kaneki's body was weakened so that Yamori could torture him for pleasure. Days of torment took a toll on his physical and mental state. Trivially, Yamori reveals to Kaneki that Kanou had known he was surgically making him into a half-ghoul and that Rize's kakuhou was "special" for it's abnormal vigor.The torment had made his hair whiten and he begins to wonder what has happened to his friends. In a state of despair, he begins to hallucinate Rize and began to reminisce over his tragic past. Rize called him and his mother weak, but Yamori appeared with Kei and Kouto before she finished. Enraged that Yamori didn't fulfill his end of their bargain, Kaneki was given another ultimatum: Who of the two will he spare? Unable to comply to Yamori's twisted pleasure, Kaneki refused as Nico protested against Yamori's distasteful violence. The aggravated Yamori ultimately killed both the mother and child ghoul and he and Nico left Kaneki in despair. Rize's illusion spoke to Kaneki, taunting him that it was his weakness that lead the two to their grisly demise. 'Rize' reasons that if more brutal ghouls like Yamori and Aogiri were to come to power, then his friends will eventually suffer similar fates. Realizing that in order to prevent this, he must become a ghoul full-heartedly and learn to control his kagune.

During the CCG attack, Yamori returned to Kaneki. He told him of a rumor that if a ghoul were to cannibalize one another, they will become stronger but ghoul meat was considered disgustingly distasteful. When he motioned to carve out Kaneki in order to eat him, Kaneki bites him and agrees with his latest notion. Freeing himself from the chair, he attacks Yamori and bites him, jeering that ghouls were indeed made to compete and that it can't be help that Yamori could be devoured, too. The two fought with their kagunes, but Kaneki eventually overpowers him and proceeded to eat Yamori's kagune. After feasting on his kagune, Kaneki reminded him, before leaving, that the CCG will come to the hobby room and kill him while he has been wounded and disarmed. Kaneki later fights Ayato. During the fight they had a brief conversation about Ayato's motivations in Aogiri. Kaneki concludes that Ayato joined Aogiri in order to protect Touka because he had impeded Yamori to "play" with her. The fight is even, but it ends when Kaneki breaks through an entire building using Ayato as an battering ram. The fight ends when Kaneki "half-kills" him by breaking 103 out of 206 bones in Ayato's body as revenge for Touka.

When the fight is over and Kaneki and his friends are safe, Kaneki states that he will not come back to Anteiku. He accepts the help of Banjou and Tsukiyama, even Hinami, but he does not allow Touka to follow him.

Raid of Kanou's Lab
After the invasion of the Aogiri hideout, it is rumored that Kaneki was the one to single-handedly destroy the Ghoul Restaurant and kill about 50-60 members.

The annihilation was an attempt to capture and interrogate Madam A, a collaborator of Kanou. Tsukiyama's position in the society allowed Kaneki to sneak in disguised as the meal of the night. Banjou's group were positioned at the exit to prevent any members from escaping. The attack commenced when Tsukiyama presented the meal: everyone. Kaneki pursued Madam A, killing many of the guests the were in his way. Just as he was about to reach the Madam, Kaneki was confronted by Kurona and Nashiro, two one-eyed ghouls with the same kagune from Rize, which were later confirmed to be newer products of Doctor Kanou. Kaneki had failed to accomplish his goal since Madam A fled, while he was held back by fighting Kanou's one-eyed twins.

Later, while investigating Rize's life before coming to the 20th Ward, Kaneki's group comes across a ghoul with the same family name as Rize: Matasaka Kamishiro with the alias of "Shachi". In the past, he was the leader of the ghouls in the 6th ward.

Back at their quarters, Kaneki cuts Hinami's hair as promised. Upon receiving data gathered by Chie Hori concerning Cochlea's escapees from Tsukiyama, he heads to the bar Helter Skelter in order to exchange it for Kanou's whereabouts from Itori. However, Itori states that she does not have such information, instead she tells him what she knows about Kanou. There, he learns that Kanou was previously an autopsy doctor affiliated with the CCG. He then questions what is Kanou trying to accomplish by transforming people into ghouls. Nico then visits the bar, meeting the two. This causes Kaneki to suddenly turn aggressive. He asks Nico why he was at the Aogiri Tree hideout back then. Nico simply answers that it was for Yamori's sake. In order to gain Kaneki's trust, he offers him certain intel about the Aogiri Tree. He states that the Aogiri tree is an organization composed of militant ghouls led by the One-Eyed King, many of them being from the 24th ward in Tokyo underground. Kaneki asks Nico as to why is Aogiri chasing Kanou and Rize, and what is the actual goal of Aogiri tree. Nico says that the goal is to "smoke out liars", words he apparently cited from Tatara. Finally, he whispers the information to Kaneki about who the "One-Eyed King" really is. Kaneki then tells Itori that he now has a "mental image" of the enemy, and if he indeed leads the Aogiri tree, he only needs to crush him, though, not before he talks to Kanou and figures out why is the said organization chasing after him. For that means, he says that he needs to talk to Madam A, but is also worried about the One-Eyed twins guarding her. Itori mentions several incidents happening recently,and that the ghoul with the rabbit mask is being involved in all of them.

Kaneki is later seen training with Banjou, easily overwhelming him each time they fought. He informs everyone that he only got the intel about Kanou being a former CCG coroner, but that he unfortunately failed to obtain the information about his whereabouts. Banjou suggests going to the 20th ward again, as there is a chance that Kanou left some kind of trace at his hospital. Kaneki agrees, also wanting to confirm whether or not the "Rabbit" that goes on a killing spree is actually Touka. In the hospital, he meets the nurse Taguchi that was taking care of him during his hospital stay. After asking about Kanou's whereabouts, she replies that Kanou is at a research meeting in Germany. Next, he sends a gift to Touka, and when Banjou asks him whether or not he wants to see her, he gives a quick answer that he doesn't want to involve Touka in the ghoul world. He also states that he checked the passenger lists before they spoke to the nurse, and says that Kanou's name was not there. He theorizes that either Kanou lied to the nurse or Taguchi lied to them. His group decides to pursue and interrogate Taguchi about Kanou's whereabouts. When they attempt to kidnap her, Aogiri members show up who are under orders to kidnap her, too. He and Naki clash, and suddenly Kaneki is attacked by Shachi, who has apparently joined the Aogiri Tree for unknown reasons. When Shachi quickly charges at Kaneki, he fails to properly block Shachi's first strike. His arms broken, he gets hit by the second punch, knocking him back. He swiftly gets up, and his broken limbs quickly heal. Kaneki reveals his four-tailed kagune. He tries to strike at Shachi, missing the first time, then he quickly changes the direction of his kagune so that it pierces Shachi through the back. In response, Shachi activates his kagune, breaking away from Kaneki's hold. Shachi begins to persistently attack him. Kaneki fails to dodge, and gets hit by an immensely powerful strike, right at his abdomen. He falls to his knees, constantly coughing blood. After the fight, Shachi and the others leave with the nurse, Kaneki then begins to angrily curse at them.

He and his group wait for the opportunity to ambush and capture Madam A. When she is only with Kurona at the time, they follow her into the cargo docks and they succeed in ambushing Madam A, causing Kurona to flee and leave her behind. Due to his defeat at the hands of Shachi, Kaneki begins to train even more in order to get stronger. He asks Tsukiyama to train with him and go all out, so that he can improve his fighting ability.

Later on, Madam A leads them to a mansion where Kanou is supposed to reside. While investigating the house, Banjou finds the basement and informs Kaneki about it. He asks Madam A if that place really is Kanou's mansion as she previously said. She says that she is positive, and Kaneki threatens her with attack, accidentally crushing the wall and exposing a strange organic structure revealed to be the "Rc Cell Wall" also known as "24th Ward's Wall". While going further into the Mansion's underground, they encounter various remains of Kanou's failed experiments, finally encountering the twins again. Kaneki states that he has no time to deal with them, and jumps over them, further rushing into the underground facility, while leaving others to deal with Kurona and Nashiro. After leaving his comrades, he eventually encounters Shachi, who attacks him immediately. He is successful in dodging Shachi's attacks, and sees the opportunity to charge at him swiftly and blind him temporarily. However, Shachi dodges, and seeing that he has no chance in close combat, Kaneki activates his kakugan, as well as his kagune. He briefly cuts Shachi, although his wounds heal almost immediately. He then proceeds to stab him consecutively, and finally downs the ghoul. Believing he had incapitated his opponent, Kaneki approaches him, intent on cannibalizing Shachi. However, Shachi quickly gets up, grabs Kaneki by the head, and pummels him into the floor.

He gets up, questioning how powerful Shachi really is, only to see Kanou, standing at the top of the kakuhou farm chamber, revealing Rize in it. He learns about Kanou's ideals, how he wants to "free" the mankind trapped in the cage, the only salvation being ghouls. Kaneki angrily states that no sane man could do such thing, and that his life was hell after Kanou made him what he currently is. Kanou says that he gave up in living in a world of man, and that if Kaneki wants to live in the ghoul world, it would be prudent to join hands with ghouls. Kaneki immediately questions the offering, but Kanou says that he will show him the "true world" that is out there, before stating that the one who produced the source that gave birth to Aogiri tree is a ghoul named "Yoshimura". Kaneki, shocked, looks helplessly at Kanou, who tries to convince him to join his side. Their conversation is soon interrupted by Renji, who breaks in and grabs Rize, saying that Kaneki should follow the path he's decided upon, and escapes after informing him that "doves" tracked Kanou and are coming into the mansion. Shachi quickly overwhelms him again, saying that he's no match for him, and grabs Kanou. Kanou makes failed experimental subjects attack Kaneki, and tells him that he looks forward to the day they meet again. Confused, broken and hurt, Kaneki proceeds to cannibalize the experiments, saying that all this time, he was trying to hide his weakness in order to protect what's important to him, but no more.

When CCG breaks in and enters the underground, Shinohara encounters Kaneki, now in a centipede-like half-kakuja. In this form, Kaneki quickly turns to him and immediately charges at the investigator. Shinohara prepares his blade sword quinque, evades, and activates Arata's armor. While he does that, Kaneki mumbles mindless words due to the effect his kakuja has on him. He continues in jumping around walls looking for a chance to engage Shinohara, and when he finally does so, Shinohara cuts the right side of his abdomen with his quinque. Kaneki falls to his knees, and while his kakuja was cut, he activates his 6 tailed kagune, and swiftly charges at Shinohara once more, catching him off guard and completely immobilizing him. When Amon enters the room where Shinohara and Kaneki are in, he sees Kaneki feasting on what appears to be Shinohara's corpse. Angry and confused, Amon fiercely charges at Kaneki, while the latter blocks his quinque with kagune. After more investigators arrive, they label Kaneki as SS-rated ghoul, deciding not to drag Amon down whilst in fight and join it if needed. Juuzou arrives, cutting Kaneki with his quinque as well, followed by Amon's final strike at Kaneki, finally bringing the half-ghoul to his knees. Instead of continuing to fight, Kaneki simply says hat does not want to eat more and runs away. During his escape, he runs into his group, and as Banjou offers help to Kaneki, he immediately stabs Banjou through the chest. He again enters the mindless state, and when he regains his senses, he questions why he strived to become strong and for what reason he threw away his humanity, constantly apologizing because he believes he killed Banjou. However, Banjou's wound heals, and when Banjou comforts him, he finally calms down, with his kakuja mask falling off his face.

After an unknown period of time, he is seen in his room, depressed. Hinami interrupts him while he reads a book, asking if he's read "The Hanged Man's MacGuffin". She also informs him that Sen Takatsuki has a book signing meeting, wondering if he will go there. Kaneki says that he needs some mood change, and asks Hinami if she will go with him. At the meeting, they have a brief conversation with the author, the author being surprised at how dedicated Kaneki is when it comes to reading her books, also noting his sharpness when it comes to noticing things related to her books' characters. He happily leaves the meeting with Hinami.

Some time later, he visits Uta at his mask studio, and inquires about Yomo and Yoshimura. In response, Uta tells him how he and Yomo became friends, and how Yoshimura saved Yomo's life during his fight against Arima. Not long afterwards, he visits Yomo, and expresses a wish to see Rize once more. Yomo declines his request, but Kaneki insists on it, running to the container that he heard a sound from, and finally finds Rize. He tries to talk to her, but witnesses her maniacal behavior. Yomo informs him that he's feeding Rize nearly enough to keep her alive, but not enough for her to break free. Kaneki claims that his strength was just an illusion, to which Yomo responds that his strength was his alone, and no one else's. He tells Kaneki that he should walk his own path from now on, with his own strength, and apologizes for not telling him this sooner.

After his encounter with Rize, and finding out that Yoshimura is covering for the real One-Eyed Owl, he visits Anteiku again to question the manager. He explains how he came to know his story, and claims that his child is the One-Eyed King that is currently leading the Aogiri Tree. Yoshimura then says that only Kaneki can understand both ghoul and human worlds, and that the thing he's trying to throw away makes a half of him. The manager states that it's only a matter of his choice, but he hopes that in the future, Kaneki saves a lot of people, as well as his daughter.

He leaves Anteiku shortly after, only to be intercepted by Touka. He tells her that the manager told him to return to Anteiku, and she asks him what has he decided upon. Kaneki says that he's not sure, and that he wants to protect everyone dear to him, no matter the cost. This angers Touka, as she claims that the truth behind that is that he doesn't want to be alone, and that he's afraid of that happening before finally telling him that he should stay out of Anteiku, while trying to hit him. Hearing this leaves Kaneki shocked, as he receives a hit from her that makes him fall on his back. Touka sits on him, asking why he had to change like that shortly before leaving him.

At the group's headquarters, Kaneki claims that he wants to disband the group, the reason being him wanting to return to Anteiku. He invites everyone else to join as well, while others happily accept the invitation. Meanwhile, CCG's Bureau Director Yoshitoki Washuu requests permisson from Chairman Tsuneyoshi Washuu to carry out the Owl Suppression Operation that aims to suppress the Owl at Anteiku.

Owl Suppression Operation
After overhearing CCG officers' plans to raid Anteiku, Kaneki decided to head there as fast as possible to help out Yoshimura. During his way in the 20th Ward, Amon appeared in his way and began fighting him with Kaneki retaliating unwillingly. With a new quinque, Amon held an advantage over Kaneki. However, Kaneki chose to activate his Kakuja and overwhelmed his opponent easily, even when Amon received a newer quinque made for him mid-battle. Slashing off Amon's left arm but losing a chunk of flesh on his waist, Kaneki retreats into the sewer paths to continue on. In the sewers he gradually begins to lose his mind due to his incomplete-Kakuja's side effects until Hide appears. Trying to convince himself that Hide couldn't possibly be there and what he's seeing is in fact an illusion due to his madness, Hide confronts him and tells him he knew Kaneki became a ghoul but still wants to aid him. After being told that CCG has surrounded the entire place, Kaneki is asked by Hide if he can go all out once more to escape the raid.

Kaneki passes out and wakes up with a sweet taste in his mouth. Hide is nowhere to be found so he continues to wander to the route V14 only to run into Kishou Arima in what he first believes to be a flower field, later found to be a field of ghoul corpses slain by Arima. He instinctively knows who Arima is but is nonetheless drawn into a battle with him, getting pierced in the back and stabbed through his one kakugan eye. He starts freaking out and losing his mind, and after he gets 8 claws on his kagune, they start battling while Kaneki shout nonsensical sentences. However Arima surpasses him, so he finally decides to finish Arima with one hit thinking that because Arima is a human he would die, but was instead blocked by Arima's quinque Ixa's, defensive barrier. Then Arima revealed that he knew who Kaneki was by calling him by his name and saying that he was impressed that Kaneki managed to damage his quinque. Arima then went on to pierce Kaneki through his body with Ixa which raised him from the ground before dropping him in front of the man. After stating how he hadn't expected Kaneki to damage his quinque, he stabs Ixa through his head before mentioning he needed a new quinque.

Post-Owl Suppression Operation
After the operation had ended, Kaneki was imprisoned in Cochlea as Prisoner #240. His mental state had deteriorated seriously: He was repeatedly picking at his eyes until his wounds were festering, refusing food, crying at night, and was clawing at the doors such that his finger nails came off while screaming they should let him out. Furthermore, he was suffering from amnesia. The prison staff expected him to die. Arima started bringing him books. Reading those books greatly improved his mental state. Later, Arima told Kaneki that he would need a name, as it had been planned to appoint him as an investigator as part of his rehabilitation program, and asked him to choose one. He picked his two favorite kanji from the words 'coffee' and 'world', forming the name 'Haise'.

Some time later, as Akira was visiting her father's grave to tell him of her promotion to Rank 1 and how she had been assigned to oversee the training of a junior who was said to be an oddity among investigators, that pupil approached her and introduced himself as Rank 3 Investigator Haise Sasaki.

Root A (Anime)
Soon after Kaneki defeated Yamori, he saved Touka from Ayato and asked Nishiki to take care of her. While Kaneki and Ayato fought, he asked Ayato about his reasons for joining Aogiri. Kaneki's analysis about it being for Touka enrages Ayato. The fight was stopped by Noro, whom took away Ayato with his kagune. Kaneki escaped the collapsing building then was stalked by Eto. Later, Kaneki found Touka at the safe spot Nishiki had left her. He told Touka that he would not return to Anteiku and would instead join Aogiri. After becoming indoctrinated into Aogiri, Kaneki was greated by the Aogiri executives while surrounded by soldiers, hailing his arrival. His new journey starts.

Having lead attacks in the 10th and 11th Wards, and a suspect in the death of Kuroe Mado, Kaneki begane to earn the reputation of a dangerous ghoul and a high priority targret by the CCG. Throughtout his membership, Kaneki participated in missions that resulted in many casualties and he would look over the dead bodies. He participated in a mission to raid a CCG convoy with Ayato and other Aogiri members. They observed the highway from atop a tall building before they lept down to attack the vehicles. Kaneki overturned several police cars with his kagune and Aogiri grunts killed the officers. Kurona and Nashiro appeared and observed Kaneki before attacking him. Kaneki blocked their attacks and they quickly backed off. They noted Kaneki's strength before removing thier masks, exposing single kakugans. Distracted by an explosion, Kaneki turned to see a van on fire. When he turned back to the twins, they had disappeared. Naki bursted out of the flaming van and Kaneki watched as he threw a tantrum over Yamori and attacked Ayato. They brought Naki back to the Aogiri hideout where he continued his tantrum. Kaneki pitied Naki, so taught him how to write Yamori's name. Naki thanked him and considered Kaneki a good guy. Later, Kaneki and Ayato watch over Cochlea.

The attack starts and the Aogiri's forces infiltrate Cochlea, where a giant helix is put on the roof. Kaneki starts descending into the lowers levels along with Ayato and other Aogiri's ghouls. During the descent they are split up and Kaneki goes to the bottom alone. There he finds that one of the cells has not opened. Inside he finds Matasaka Kamishiro, nicknamed "Orca". The ghoul attacks Kaneki at view because he smells like Rize. They fight, but Kamishiro is a superior fighter that does not fall even when Kaneki pierce him with his kagune. At the end Kamishiro wins due to his knowledge of martial arts and his uncanny speed. Matasaka gives Kaneki a final blow with his kagune, sending him crashing into walls. Kaneki is last seen in a room, where he contemplates and reveals his reason for joining Aogiri; to become stronger. He then unleashes his Kakuja for the first time. After this, he fights against Shinohara. Kaneki has superiority from the beginning of the fight and gives Shinohara and the Arata armor a hard time. Shinohara manages to give Kaneki a quite dangerous blow, making the one eyed ghoul's kakuja to disappear, but Kaneki, instead of losing the match, he is able to release both is kagune and his kakuja at the same time, while talking stuff related to his torture at the hands of Yamori. He quickly puts him behind Shinohara and gives him a powerful blow that knocks the investigator unconscious.

Later on, Kaneki is found by Amon and Akira eating Shinohara's Arata armor. This enrages Amon and attacks Kaneki, while asking him why he let him go that night. Amon manage to cut off both his kagune and his kakuja, and Kaneki cannot regenerate them because of the CRc gas. Kaneki lies kneeling in the floor due to Amon's attacks. Amon, after Kaneki had not answer his questions, states that Kaneki is just an ordinary ghoul after all. This seems to touch Kaneki because the one eyed ghoul stars crying and says that he does not want to eat anymore. At the end, Kaneki is saved by Eto, who pick him up and take him away of the investigators.

After the incident, Kaneki is seen back at the hideout, trying to drink coffee, only to later drop the cup with his Kakuja emerging and lashing about wildly, with Kaneki screaming hysterically and covering his face. Afterwards, he is on the couch, trying to rest, but his Kakuja is seen trying to manifest until he pierces his body, calming himself down for the time being. He is also mentioned by Roma Hoito after watching the news while cleaning up the broken mess of a glass cup with Hinami, curious about the one-eyed ghoul that has been causing CCG so much trouble in the 23rd Ward.

He eventually goes to see Yoshimura to question him about the One-Eyed Owl, and learns the manager's tragic past. As he leaves Anteiku, he is confronted by Touka with their confrontation turning emotional and violent. Afterwards, he stands alone on a rooftop attempting to process everything.

Kaneki is wandering the streets of the city when he witnesses news of the battle in the 20th Ward, and makes the decision to go attempt to save Yoshimura. He meets with Nishiki and Tsukiyama, bidding his farewells and deciding that he is tired of not being able to do anything. He fights his way through the CCG troops swarming the 20th Ward, ambushing and defeating Mougan Tanakamaru to rescue Koma. Later, he ambushes Chuu Hachikawa and defeats his squad in order to rescue Irimi from them. Learning the situation from his former coworkers, he heads off to attempt to save Yoshimura from CCG's forces but comes across Amon. The long-time rivals engage in one final battle, with Kaneki removing his mask and asking the Investigator's name before launching a final attack that leaves them both critically wounded. Injured, he manages to make his way to the alley behind Anteiku before passing out.

He awakens in the cafe, and is greeted by Hide. The old friends share poorly-made coffee, and reminisce about the past. He learns that his secret was known the entire time, and finally makes peace with Hide after months of lying and avoidance. The friends share a moment of laughter, but this is broken when Hide collapses and reveals a fatal injury. As the cafe begins to burn around them, Hide dies in his arms while requesting that they go home. Kaneki agrees, and carries his friend's body back to CCG's main base camp. He observes the aftermath of the battle, with human and ghoul corpses everywhere and survivors struggling to deal with their losses.

He finally comes face to face with Arima, setting down Hide's body in the snow before facing the legendary "Reaper". Arima draws his Quinque, and is later seen standing with it driven into the snow.

Torso Investigation
At the CCG main office in the 1st ward, Haise Sasaki is revealed to be the mentor of the Quinx Squad. He became distraught at the fact that his team mates went out to conduct an investigation without him. Haise and Mutsuki decide to consult Team Hirako, a group of higher-class investigators, only to face nothing but prejudice and inequity, as Sasaki was labeled incompetent and dishonorable for not being able to control his squad independently. Later on, Sasaki arrived at the scene of the investigation, ordering Urie to spare Akashi Kobayashi’s life; for he might have some sort of helpful information. He also scolds his members for trying to exterminate ghouls needlessly. However, Sasaki was forced to face criticism once again, being accused of following the “Torso” case blindly by not putting any sufficient efforts into his work.

Sasaki visited Shiba in his office, and the two conversed about the fate of the Qs' diet being affected by their Rc levels. He then attended a meeting held among Team Mado, Team Hirako and Team Shimoguchi. When he was singled out for being slack about ghoul extermination, Sasaki began to argue with Shimoguchi. However, much to his dismay, he was forced to co-operate with Team Shimoguchi. After the meeting’s dismissal, Sasaki met with a colleague, Kuramoto Itou, whom provided him with information on Serpent. When he arrived home, Sasaki found out yet again, that Urie and Shirazu have gone on an independent mission. He later tried to teach them about working together, but after they left without listening to what he had to say, Haise became serious about his work, and asked Mutsuki to accompany him on a mission to pursue Torso.

Haise and Mutsuki visited the SS level of Cochlea, where they spoke to Donato Porpora to gather information about Torso. Haise was told that ghouls often blend into society to maneuver their way for hunting, and that most of them take the method of driving taxis. Sasaki realized that Urie had been ahead of him in the Torso Investigation all along, but Donato requested Haise to pay a visit once more, for there is a special case that involves Sasaki himself. Recently Haise had recurring nightmares of a young man seen pondering in despair and hopelessness, trying to persuade Sasaki that he is worthless and will never rise above his weakness, but Haise paid no heed to the dream.

Sasaki soon immersed his interests into the Torso case; studying Torso’s pathological possessiveness since the ghoul has an abnormal habit of cutting off the legs of victims who subsequently acquire scars from surgeries; which may have a meaning. Before the deadline of the Torso Investigation, Haise, along with Mutsuki, visited a few surgical clinics within the area.

On the night Torso's identity was exposed, Sasaki decided to request a barricade of police cars in order to halt the taxi which contained Torso and Mutsuki, being chased by Urie and Shirazu. Moments later, his team are faced with a sudden appearance of Serpent. After noticing that Urie, Mutsuki and Shirazu are weakened by Serpent’s combat skills, Haise suddenly intervened, using the blade quinque Yukimura to slice Serpent’s Kagune in half. However, this did not affect Serpent, who consequently ridiculed Haise’s abilities and effortlessly beat him down. While thinking of a combat strategy, Sasaki abruptly entered his subconscious, whereby the same young man from his recurring nightmares, Ken Kaneki, was seen brooding in Jason’s Hobby Room. He tried to persuade Haise that his squad members would die if he didn’t have the courage to be strong for them. However, Haise dismissed this, deciding to think on his own.

He asks Mutsuki to call Akira Mado, and as his Kagune started to manifest itself, he cracked a finger and generated his kakugan; getting ready to battle Serpent. Haise was pierced through the torso by Serpent’s Kagune, and concerned for Haise’s safety, Mutsuki and Shirazu ran to his aid, but he ordered them to stay back as he quickly revived from his injuries. When Sasaki began to taunt Serpent menacingly, Mutsuki was shocked at this sudden change in demeanor. Serpent, after being impaled by all the tentacles of Haise’s Kagune fell weak, and was told by Haise that this was his payback. Haise pulled off his mask, and Serpent, revealed to be Nishiki Nishio, berated him by openly pointing out that wherever Sasaki went, or whatever he did in life he’d always be “helpless.” Nishiki then called Haise by the name “Kaneki,” and as an automatic response, Sasaki absentmindedly muttered “Nishio-senpai,” becoming confused and puzzled afterwards. Nishiki escaped, and out of frustration, Haise started screaming as he entered a state of mental and physical instability. Take Hirako called off the Serpent Investigation, implying his team’s new target to be Haise himself. Akira then arrived at the scene, and using a Sniper, she shot Haise with a Rc suppressant bullet, telling him to rest for a while. Akira then treated Haise, and asked him to interpret his current situation. Akira later explained to the Qs that Haise was the victim of a Kakuhou transplant done by Akihiro Kanou, Aogiri Tree's scientist. Despite this, the CCG treated Haise as a human, but would treat him as a ghoul if he were to lose control and might eventually exterminate him if there were no other way to deal with him.

Several days after Haise’s failure to capture Serpent, he was requested to attend an S3 meeting to have a private conversation with Kishou Arima.

At the Quinx’s living quarters, Haise berated Urie for jeopardizing the lives of his comrades for his own selfish needs. He then relieved Urie of his duties as Squad Leader, therefore appointing Shirazu instead. Urie insulted Sasaki, calling him a “ghoul,” and Haise in turn, jokingly threatened to eat Urie if he should ever call him a ghoul again. Sasaki was then seen in his room, weeping over the contemplation of fighting for the CCG. He then visited Arima, and the two had a minor spar. Arima returned the book he borrowed from Sasaki as they conversed about the story. Sasaki then told him that he was forced to exceed his boundaries and use his Kagune, but Arima calmly dismisses the issue. When Haise was asked about the auditory hallucinations he frequently got, he mentioned that Kaneki wants to consume his body; concluding that Ken Kaneki was the person Haise use to be. Sasaki also mentioned that he remembers absolutely nothing about the first twenty years of his life, and therefore respects Arima and Akira as his own parents, rendering his superiors and the rest of the Quinx Members to be his “make-believe” family. Haise also stated that he was happy to be affiliated with the CCG, while at the same time, he was completely uncertain about this statement.

Auction
He later accompanied Akira to the hospital to visit a critically injured Shimoguchi. Akira explained to him about the SS rated Black Rabbit ghoul of Aogiri Tree, and the motives of Torso to blend in with the organization. When Akira showed sadness over Shimoguchi's loss, Haise was taken by surprise. Together with Mutsuki and Shirazu, Haise discussed their new target, Nutcracker, since the Torso Investigation was put on suspension. He also mentioned his first encounter with Juuzou Suzuya, whereby the latter gave him money randomly upon seeing him. Sasaki suggested that they visit a new cafe before heading home. He approached a coffee shop named re. Upon entering the cafe, Haise was immediately drawn by the smell of the delicious coffee, but later looked on in confusion as the shocked waitress stared at him.

After leaving the coffee shop, Haise began to space out, rendering Mutsuki and Shirazu to feel worried. The next day, Haise, Urie, and Tooru met with Hanbee Abara to discuss the Nutcracker case. However, Haise was not attentive, as he reminisced over his experience at the coffee shop. Sasaki grew startled when Yomo scrutinized his facial features. After the coffee was delivered, Haise took a sip and began to tear up. While drying his tears with a handkerchief Touka gave him, he mentioned in an internal monologue that the waitress gave a troubled but sad smile, and thought to himself that someone this beautiful really does exist.

The meeting is stopped when Juuzou Suzuya arrives at the reunion. As soon as he sees Haise, he checks his pockets in order to find snacks, which Haise had prepared the day before. The meeting is stopped again when Shizaru enters, carrying Saiko at his back. Hanbee decides to sum up the meeting, telling that Nutcracker is part of a human trafficking network related with Madam. Haise and his team has to spy her in disguise but the mission is a failure because Nutcracker caught wind of the investigation. Later, Urie asks Haise to sign a letter in order to release one of his Kagune's frames. Haise remembers how director Washuu begged him to be the Quinx Squad mentor and responds Urie saying that there are more improvement aside of the Kagune and that they are not guinea pigs. Finally, he asks Urie for a little time to decide.

At the next meeting, the teams discuss Nutcracker's role in finding humans for an upcoming auction. After the meeting, Sasaki excuses himself and heads to Cochlea to meet with Donato Porpora. The subject turns to Sasaki's memories, and his changing attitude towards them -- Donato advises him to seek them, and reveals to him the identity of a "certain ghoul" of personal interest to him that may hold one of the keys to Sasaki's lost memories. The ghoul calls him his friend, while Sasaki recalls visiting :Re again on his own. There, he looks over the many books on a shelf and is asked by Touka about what he does for a living.

Later that evening, he meets with his squad to discuss the next stage of their investigation. Looking over the "ingredient" list for the Auction, Sasaki declares that the team will be going undercover as women. Nutcracker's latest targets have all been young women, being recruited under the guise of "a part-time job" and lured to the Auction to be sold. The team go to a nightclub in the 13th Ward while in disguise, and Sasaki jokes that a previous investigation with Akira involved spending time at a club. He mentions that she cannot hold her liquor, and became a problem.

Shirazu is unhappy with the results of their disguises, criticizing Saiko's job of disguising him and how he compares to the others. Sasaki -- dubbing himself "Sasako" -- chides him for his previous mistake and advises him to do his best. Unlike the others, Sasaki studied how to apply makeup and stuns the others with how convincing he looks as a woman. The group settle in to observe Nutcracker, and Shirazu confronts him over his overly-permissive attitude towards Saiko. He admits to being easy on her, revealing her difficult past and his sympathy for being forced into the Quinx. Shirazu then brings up his lost memories, and asks whether Sasaki will leave should his memories return. Though uncomfortable, he tries to play things off with a joke and reassures his subordinate that he won't be going anywhere.

Their conversation is interrupted by Mutsuki, who has gotten drunk and approached Nutcracker alone. He manages to get offered the part-time job, and brings back the information about the Auction. With the mission a success, the others head off onto the dance floor to celebrate. Sasaki watches them, and worries about whether the return of his memories will mean the death of his current self. He is unaware that Nico and Roma Hoito have spotted him, and started talking about him.

During the next meeting, he is called along with Juuzou to meet with Matsuri Washuu, the head of Division II. The commander is hostile towards him, and insults his use of cross-dressing to carry out the mission. Sasaki is horrified when Matsuri orders Mutsuki to be used as bait for the operation, and sent in alone without any backup. His protests earn a harsh rebuke, but Juuzou intervenes and offers to join Mutsuki undercover. With the matter settled, Squad Leaders Akira Mado, Shimoguchi, and Take Hirako join them. The final plans for the operation are made, and afterwards Sasaki thanks Juuzou for his help. He attempts to congratulate Shimoguchi on getting out of the hospital, but gets a harsh response. Akira advises him that everyone in CCG has lost someone, and tells him that he must get stronger in order to not lose anything.

Akira's advise continues to haunt him later that night, as he advises Mutsuki about the mission and collects Shirazu's mislabeled Will.

In the next couple of weeks leading up to the operation, Haise trains Mutsuki, Shizaru and Saiko in preparation for battle. Taking full command of the Quinx Squad, Sasaki anxiously awaits the signal to begin with the operation with the others. He advises his subordinates to flee should they encounter something they cannot handle, annoying Urie with what he considers an overly cautious approach. The group make jokes about Mutsuki and the need to rescue him quickly, attempting to lighten the mood and deal with the worry that consumes most of them.

As the raid begins, he leads the Quinx and Atou squads into the main building, effortlessly defeating numerous ghouls without pause. Daisuke Atou and his squad gossip upon finally observing the mysterious leader of the Quinx, with Atou making note of how similar Sasaki's movements are to his mentor, Arima. The group encounters the bald ghoul that had previously been with Nutcracker during their stakeout, and engage in a fierce battle with him. Sasaki manages to rescue one of Atou's squad members, and takes on the powerful Koukaku-type ghoul, managing to parry blows strong enough to shatter pillars. Before he can continue fighting, however, Matsuri orders him to continue advancing through the building -- he protests this initially, but accepts Atou's reassurance that his squad can handle things alone. Sasaki leads the rest of the Quinx deeper into the building, while his thoughts turn to worry over Mutsuki.

The team come across Kanae von Rosewald attacking Mutsuki, and Sasaki carries him to safety while Urie and Shirazu attack the ghoul. Upon recognizing him, Kanae flies into a rage and attacks Sasaki but is quickly overwhelmed by the combined efforts of the three men. Matsumae intervenes in the battle, rescuing Kanae and using her kagune to seal the hallway behind her. Unable to advance any further, Sasaki radios command to report that they had successfully rescued Mutsuki. They are informed that the Ooshiba squad had been wiped out by Nutcracker, now an S-rated ghoul. The Quinx are ordered to eliminate her and secure the Administrative Building, but Sasaki requests that Mutsuki be allowed to retreat to receive medical treatment. Matsuri agrees, and requests that Urie lead the retreat. When Urie resists, he pleads with him and leaves Mutsuki in his hands. Along with Shirazu and Saiko, he heads for the Administrative tower.

Along the way, the group encounters Naoto Hayashimura, a survivor from the Ooshiba Squad. They are ambushed by Seidou Takizawa, and Sasaki loses Yukimura in the struggle after it is embedded into his shoulder by the force of the blow. As he regenerates, the Aogiri member realizes who he is and charges in for a second attack. Without any other options, Sasaki brings out his kagune and is shocked to see that his opponent is another one-eyed ghoul. He orders the others to retreat and radio for help -- Matsuri assigns a temporary rating of SS~ and orders Sasaki to fight alone as a decoy. When Shirazu protests, Sasaki orders him to carry out their primary mission and protect Saiko. He prepares to face Takizawa alone, as his counterpart requests that they "share secrets". However, Sasaki is overwhelmed by his opponent and the next time they are seen, he is being strangled.

Takizawa then explains the necessity of weakening an enemy before talking to them, and throws Sasaki into a wall when he starts trying to break free. Takizawa begins talking again, recalling his past feelings of inferiority and resentment for having always second best stating that this simply means they're a loser. He calls Sasaki Dr. Kanou's masterpiece, and wonders whether this is true anymore, expressing the desire to prove himself. Once again, he throws Sasaki into the air and impales him with his kagune. Sasaki then thinks to himself that he only has to two options; to die or to disappear. Kaneki once again appears in Sasaki's mind and begs his current persona to look at him and say his name, but Sasaki repeats to himself that if he uses Kaneki's power to deal with Takizawa, then he will disappear.

Takizawa then runs along the building while dragging Sasaki's beaten body along with him. Once they reach the top Takizawa throws Sasaki through the ceiling and he crashes into the stage where the auction was being held prior to the raid. Takizawa continues to brutalize his opponent, berating him by calling him weak and expressing his disbelief that he was ever compared to him, but Sasaki just mentally notes that it's not that he is weak, but Takizawa is just too strong. Takizawa asks Sasaki why he is hesitating, but corrects himself by addressing the latter by his true name, Ken Kaneki. This causes Sasaki to begin to mentally break down as he tries to assert his identity as Haise Sasaki and denies even knowing who Ken Kaneki is. Takizawa uses the buildings PA system to broadcasts Sasaki's pain-filled screams across the entire premises. Takizawa proceeds to torture Sasaki a little longer, and when he decides to eat him, Hinami appears, saving Sasaki just in time.

As Hinami engages Takizawa, Sasaki regains consciousness and questions why Hinami is protecting him. He then asks her to leave as he is no longer the person she once knew, and that even though he has Ken Kaneki's body, he is still Haise Sasaki, but he says that Kaneki must have been a great person for Hinami to remember him like this. Saiko appears and tearfully begs Sasaki not to go. Sasaki glances at her and then turns away saying that it's okay if he disappears and asks Kaneki to give him the power to protect. He cracks his fingers and his two personalities seemingly accept one another.Sasaki and Kaneki engage in a dialogue within their subconscious while their body re-engages Takizawa in a heated battle. During this Sasaki explains that he feared Kaneki because of his strength but Kaneki rebuffs this by saying that he isn't all that strong. Kaneki then takes on the form of his child self although with white hair and tearfully begs Sasaki not to erase him. After seeing his past-self's tears, Sasaki realizes that Kaneki was just as afraid of disappearing as he was. Sasaki claims that he will save Kaneki as he and Takizawa inflict serious injuries on each other.

Arima and Squad 0 arrive and corner Hinami, who can no longer fight due to her injuries. But before any harm comes to her Sasaki intervenes claiming that he cornered Hinami and asks for rights over her, which Arima grants.

Post-Auction
Sasaki is seen along with Saiko decorating a Christmas tree, asking Mutsuki and Shirazu to help them out. He then greets Kuramoto and Kuroiwa when they arrive for the party and asks where Hirako is. He later greets Juuzou and Hanbee, and is surprised when Juuzou asks him for a trick/treat. He is then seen at the table eating along with Arima, Akira and others where Shirazu questions whether or not Arima killed a ghoul with an umbrella. Haise then hands out presents to his team, Akira and Arima saying he's indebted to him. He then sits wondering about Ken Kaneki and thinks he can investigate about him if he knew how to write his name. He then wonders what Touka is doing,wondering whether she's on a date. The following morning, Haise receives his old mask from Uta as a present, with Kaneki saying that mask is an Eyepatch. He also receives a birthday present, "The Hanged Man's MacGuffin" addressed to Kaneki from Sen Takatsuki, making Haise realize how to spell his former name.

Months later, Sasaki is among the Investigators recognized for their accomplishments and is granted promotion to First Class. He watches as the members of the Quinx Squad are also promoted, and Juuzou is made a Special Class Investigator. Afterwards, he speaks to Akira during the reception and congratulates her on her own promotion to Associate Special Class. He jokingly requests a hug from her, and is shocked when she embraces him and praises him for doing well. Later on, the two discuss the situation with Fueguchi and the on-going efforts to gain information about Aogiri from her. He praises her as a valuable source of information, notes that she has been extremely cooperative with them so far. Sasaki discusses wanting more time to work with her, but Akira warns him about taking too much time. Though he doesn't say anything, Sasaki acknowledges the situation with Fueguchi has been difficult for Akira -- who is unable to do anything, with one of the ghouls responsible for killing her father so close. He admits to hesitating, as a result of Kaneki's connection to Hinami.

A flashback to the time when Kaneki and Touka encountered Kureo Mado shocks him, and he returns to the restroom to recover. Looking in the mirror, he notes that these flashbacks have become more common since the Auction causing him bouts of excruciating pain behind his eyes. The vision of the childlike Kaneki appears before him, telling him about the Cordyceps, parasitic fungi that infect Caterpillars. He compares their situation to how the fungus and Caterpillar struggle against each other, noting that it is impossible for them both to continue to exist. He asks that Sasaki (disappear) not erase him.

Rose Extermination
Sasaki attends a meeting of several Investigators where they are discussing a series of mass kidnappings. Matsuri concludes that among the culprits is a survivor of the Rosewald family judging from the similarities of the kagune used by the ghouls involved and the Rosewald family that he had faced before but since there is only a 27% match between the two, the survivor is not closely related to the original Rosewalds but is more likely a blood relative of theirs living in Tokyo.

After the meeting ends, Sasaki explains to Mutsuki that genetically parents and siblings are 50% identical with identical twins being over 90% identical and that lower numbers usually mean an inadequate trace. Sasaki then uses this fact to explain how the kagune traces from the past Rabbit attacks suggest that Rabbit is actually two separate twins rather than one person. He goes on to say that if there is no pattern applicable to this then the ghoul in question has cannibalized.

Later, Sasaki pays a visit to Hinami in prison and brings her several books. She thanks him and refers to him as "Big brother", which bothers him. He insists that he is a different person from Kaneki, something Hinami admits may be true. Even so, she states that his personality is still somewhat similar to Kaneki. She tells him that she, and the many others that loved Kaneki, are all probably feeling the same confusion.

As he departs for the day, Sasaki remains troubled by his growing attachment to Hinami and how this conflicts with his duties. He is then approached by a diminutive man with a face covered with scars who notes how Sasaki is affectionate towards ghouls. Sasaki asks the man how he knows his name and he responds by saying that the young man is very famous. An acquaintance of the man arrives and tells him that the interrogation is over, the man then introduces himself as Shiki Kijima and that he'll be working with Sasaki in the "Rose case" before departing with his associate named Furuta, who bids Sasaki farewell.

Sasaki is later seen with squad at a briefing in the S1 conference room for those involved in the investigation. There he once again meets Kijima and Furuta where he exchanges greeting with the former. He then greet Kuramoto who arrives with Hirako's squad and supportively pats Mutsuki on the shoulder when he sees the improvement of the squad's opinion of him. Koori Ui then arrives along with Taishi Fura and a young female Investigator and introduces himself as the leader of the investigation, he then proceeds with the meeting.

After the meeting ends the young woman from earlier approaches the Quinx Squad and introduces herself as Ui's partner, Hairu Ihei. Sasaki explains after she leaves that Ihei being an Investigator as well her status as a member of Squad 0 and her involvement in the Owl Suppression Operation. He later offers words of comfort and encouragement to Shirazu after he breaks down upon seeing the Quinque made from Nutcracker.

At some point, he talks to Kuramoto about Hirako being transferred to Arima Squad after Ui's promotion with Kuramoto expressing his misgivings about it. Afterwards, Sasaki contemplates to himself about how he can use the Quinx's unique abilities to try and get a leg-up in the Rosewald Investigation as he looks at the mask that Uta had sent him. He then visits HySy ArtMask Studio, asking Uta if it was still open. Sasaki inquires Uta about the mask and novel sent to him back in Christmas. Uta claims that the mask was a gift for a regular customer and that he must have sent it to the wrong address; Uta also states that the book wasn't sent by him. Haise then asks Uta if he could order some custom-made masks.

Shortly after, Sasaki gives a lecture at the 2nd Academy. As he was leaving, he was approached by the class's instructor, Goumasa Tokage. Tokage inquires about the students as well as Mutsuki, whom he considers a problem child, and expresses dark amusement upon hearing that Mutsuki is training with another of his former student, Suzuya. Sasaki senses something dark emanating from Tokage as the latter walks away.

Upon returning to HySy ArtMask Studio, Sasaki brings along the other members of the Quinx squad to get measurements for their custom mask; he intends for the squad to masquerade as actual ghouls in order to rise up the ranks in the ghoul world to obtain information the CCG cannot. Visiting Koori Ui to be granted permission for his idea, he was flat out rejected with the reason of it not fitting the image of CCG as heroic figures.

Later, Sasaki watches the video uploaded by Kijima. He tells Shirazu that Kijima's method was cruel and completely wrong and there should be another way.

When Sasaki was sitting on a bench in the public park reading a book, Tsukiyama appeared in front of him thanking him for helping him the other time. Tsukiyama then sat next to Sasaki and got into a conversation with him about books. Sasaki mentioned that contents of books written by Sen Takatsuki are a little heartbreaking. Later, Saiko and Mutsuki came, so Sasaki had to leave Tsukiyama and go back to work with them.

Some time later, Sasaki and the Quinx are investigating a parking garage when Kanae appears before them, and lures Urie and Shirazu away. The remaining Investigators are ambushed by a group of White Suits, led by Hooguro and Shousei. Sasaki orders Mutsuki and Saiko away, realizing they have fallen into a trap. After the Quinx successfully drive off their attackers, they hurry back to help Sasaki. However, Sasaki has managed to kill most of his attackers and is completely overwhelming the remaining ghouls. The sight of him fighting with his Quinque and kagune shocks the three, who can only watch him. Realizing that he is too strong and fearing they will be devoured, Hooguro and Shousei leap off the building to escape. Sasaki watches them go, before leading the others towards where Saiko was hidden. They are surprised to find her relatively unharmed, as she informs them that she was saved by a huge man.

Afterwards, the Quinx reported on Aogiri Tree and Rose's ambush in a meeting. As Koori Ui berates Kijima for recklessly escalating the investigation without any intel, Sasaki states that the key is to determine the scale of cooperation between Aogiri and Rose. He asks Ui to reconsider his plan to go undercover amongst ghouls to acquire intel, which Ui puts to a vote among the S1 squad leaders. With the majority on his side, Sasaki and his squad launch Operation Mask. The Quinx don their custom masks, and Sasaki wears the eyepatch mask he received.

The operation proved successful; Sasaki's squad were able to gain detailed information about ghoul movements throughout Tokyo. However, his own investigation was less fruitful. Ghouls who saw him would run away in fear, calling him the Eyepatch ghoul. Sasaki heads over to file storage to research on the Eyepatch ghoul. He fails to find any official documents, and happens upon investigator Amon Koutarou's draft file which briefly summarizes his three encounters with the Eyepatch ghoul. Reading the file, Sasaki begins to realize that the Eyepatch ghoul is most definitely his past self's identity as a ghoul. Interested in the investigator named Amon, he inquires about the investigator's whereabouts from a desk worker; however, all he learns is that Amon Koutarou was killed in the line of duty during the Owl Suppression Operation, and that details on the case are classified.

Yearning to learn about his past, Sasaki waited around the area he last met Tsukiyama in and succeeded in finding said man. Before the conversation goes anywhere, Sasaki begins talking about how their encounters are numerous yet all coincidental, which made it suspicious. The investigator then directly asks Tsukiyama if he is a ghoul, much to the latter's surprise. Understanding the answer from his reaction, Sasaki asks him again to not answer, and instead asks if he knows of Uta, Fueguchi, or Kaneki himself. He then begins talking about how he recognizes the inevitable outcome of remembering the past, and as result wants Tsukiyama to tell him anything he knows about the Kaneki from before despite his own reluctance. Seeing Sasaki asking for the favor whilst breaking down in tears confuses Tsukiyama and he decides to leave. Sasaki is surprised and asks what he's doing, only for Tsukiyama to reply that he doesn't know what to say anymore.

Sasaki is caught by Akira searching for files in the file storage room and she inquires what he is searching for. When he asks about her participation in the 20th ward, she replies that what Sasaki wants to know about is her former co-worker, Amon Koutarou, who died in the battle to subdue Owl. She is also asked about the Eyepatch ghoul, which she dismisses by telling Sasaki that he doesn't need to know. Angered by her answer, Sasaki yells at her, which shocks Akira. He asks why he cannot to know who he was, the feeling of not knowing his identity frustrating him. When she tried calming him down, calling him Haise, he angrily shouts that that is not his name. Now in tears, Akira hugs Sasaki, telling him that he is himself regardless of names. Haise participates in the Tsukiyama Family Extermination Operation after discussing with the Quinx squad about their battle formation, where he was shocked to learn that Mirumo Tsukiyama surrendered without any resistance. Believing something to be off, he learns that the Tsukiyama family's successor has already escaped, and tracks them to the LE building. Fighting their way inside, Haise finds the aftermath of Ihei's battles, commenting that he disliked her brutal nature. As the Qs push through remaining ghouls, he notes that the opposing ghouls this time are so weak that any squad could take care of it. When asked by Ui to secure the rooftop first, he orders Shirazu to take care of the team before climbing up the business building from the exterior using his kagune. While finding nothing on the rooftop initially, he suddenly experiences yet another headache after wondering the consequences of a huge company's sudden downfall. He later finds Tsukiyama emerging from within the building, shocked that the Tsukiyama ghoul who appeared is the one he had met before, as well as an acquaintance of his past self. Haise suggests that Tsukiyama surrender so he can have ownership rights over him, but Tsukiyama refuses and charges Sasaki, kicking him in the stomach, and a fight ensues. After a short clash against Tsukiyama, Haise overpowers him, pinning the ghoul on the ground. Tsukiyama tells him that he is indeed strong, and that he should finish him off. Voices inside Haise's head screams at him to not kill the ghoul; but before Haise can come to a decision, his right hand is abruptly severed from his arm by Kanae.

With his arm severed, Sasaki yells in pain and is struck by Kanae's kagune, launching him through a wall, away from Tsukiyama's position. He briefly loses consciousness from the blow. However, when Kanae drags him off the floor and decides to drop him off the building, exclaiming that even being a ghoul won't save him, a memory or hallucination enters Haise's mind. In it, he sees Arima urging him to quickly stand up and kill like he does, before threatening him by holding IXA right in front of his eye and asking him if he'd rather "die again". This causes a shock to the investigator and he quickly counters by decapitating Kanae with his legs in one swift movement. Shocked by his vision he rambles about his existence being entirely his own property and the phrase "kill Arima", and engages Kanae after the latter regenerates. A brief spout ensues and he easily overpowers Kanae, but is hindered from finishing him off by Tsukiyama, who is clinging to his clothes, causing a momentary feeling of profound sadness to overwhelm him. He remembers a quote from Takatsuki Sen's "The Black Goat's Egg" and was caught unaware by the Owl, who strikes him a powerful blow to the head. As Eto "motivates" Kanae, she continues her assault on an injured Sasaki while Eto watches from a distance. While Kanae continued to beat his head mercilessly, he enters his subconscious once more. There he meets "Kaneki", who taunts him, asking him if that's how he's "protecting" him like he had promised. Reaching out his hand, Sasaki grabs "Kaneki's" throat. As he strangles him, his previously suppressed memories came forth, and he recalls the memories of his mother's abuse to him as a child. The image of "Kaneki" also reveals that his desire had been not to live, but to actually die back at V14, becoming some sort of a happy memory for the people who knew and loved him. He also reveals it was not actually fear he felt when he first met Arima, but joy. He thought of him as the "reaper" that had finally come to claim him. He curses his own incompetence in failing to just die back then. Afterwards, Haise asks if that would be his real salvation. After Kaneki answers positively, Haise finally accepts his past and resolves to stop "dreaming".

As Sasaki recovers his senses, he immediately strikes back at Kanae. His hair, now drenched in blood as a result of Eto's and Kanae's earlier cranial assaults, takes a darker color. He slices off Kanae's right arm, which causes her to scream in pain. Using a hand-shaped kagune to grab a metal bar from the roof, he follows up by "shutting her up" and shoves the metal bar in her eye. This makes Kanae go completely berserk, uncontrollably trying to hit him using the destructive force of her new kagune, but Sasaki dodges every attack and jumps right behind Kanae before mercilessly impaling her with his kagune. He begins moving towards Tsukiyama, whom he now remembers when the latter questions his identity. As Eto begins to merge back into her Kakuja, Sasaki recalls a memory of when he exchanged information with Itori and Nico. Nico whispers to him that Aogiri's "One-Eyed King" could be "the little girl covered in bandages". He stabs Tsukiyama in the chest, telling him it's okay. Moving to face Eto, she comments on this action, calling him cold for shedding blood right after "waking up" and openly wonders who is the stronger between him and Kishou Arima. Sasaki bluntly retorts that she is the cold one and to just "go die already" as they engage in combat.

As Sasaki avoids Eto's projectiles, he inquires the purpose of her appearance, to which she replied she was passing the time by watching the situation unfold between Tsukiyama, Kanae and himself. Sasaki recalls the time he visited and spoke with Yoshimura in Anteiku about the latter's past and his wish that Kaneki can save his child. He informs Eto of her father's wish, which she mockingly laughs at. In a swift movement, he tries to kill her by slicing off the head of her Kakuja, aiming for her real body, which he barely misses. He then proceeds to question why it is that he has to save "trash like her".

As Eto reforms her kakuja and goes berserk, he continues to dodge Eto's attacks. Her assault drives him off the side of the building, prompting him to use his kagune as a grapple to swing himself along the side of the building while Eto gives chase, unknowingly being seen by Matsuri Washuu and his team on the way up. Making his way back to the rooftop, Sasaki positions himself on a steel frame. He waits for the Owl to reach him before brutally piercing her with his kagune, striking her with enough power to force her real body out. When she falls onto him she licks his left eye and expresses her continuously increasing fondness for him, thinking of him to be the same as her. He immediately cuts her in half afterwards causing the latter to fall from the building, while remarking he feels honored by her words.

Exhausted from the fight, Sasaki devours part of the Owl's kakuja, which catches the attention of Koori Ui as the latter arrives at the rooftop. After a brief explanation as to what had happened, Sasaki quickly turns his attention to Shuu Tsukiyama, stating that the Owl and the Tsukiyama family are connected in some way, and informs Ui that Kanae is also a member of them. As Tsukiyama utters his name, Sasaki stabs him and hangs him out of the building, glancing at Kanae before throwing him of the side of the building. As Kanae jumps to rescue Tsukiyama, he watches the two free fall before bidding his former comrade farewell.

Some time later, he meets with the Quinx Squad, coming face to face with a grief-struck Urie. Urie berates him for not being there when Shirazu wanted to see him, but Sasaki reminds Urie that he was the one by Shirazu's side at his time of death. He tells Urie that all the losses in the world are due to the lack of ability and suggests that he should blame his own weakness for Shirazu's death. He then holds and mourns Shirazu with the rest of the squad, leaving Urie speechless.

Post-Rose Extermination
After the Tsukiyama extermination operation, Sasaki is promoted off-season to an Associate Special Class for his accomplishments in battling the One-Eyed Owl, and willingly left his position as the mentor of the Quinx squad. As an Associate Special Class, he joins the CCG's efforts to eliminate the members of Aogiri Tree, and has become known among ghouls as "The Black Reaper".

Six months later, Sasaki has not been visiting Hinami for months, thus leaving her depressed and withdrawn. He and Nimura Furuta approach Sen Takatsuki's manager Shunji Shiono to question him about her whereabouts, but have to discover that she is absent. Sasaki takes Shiono into custody and interrogates him. Sasaki reminds him that if he doesn't cooperate with CCG, and Takatsuki turns out to be a ghoul, he will be charged of concealing the whereabouts of the ghoul. He informs him that the most severe punishment for said crime is death before kicking a table flying into the wall, terrifying Shiono, and leaves the interrogation room. He contacts Furuta and orders him to play the good cop in front of Shiono.

Some time later, he attends a special class conference, serving as a substitute of Arima. He presents to his fellow investigators all the information they have gathered about the executives of the Aogiri Tree, as well as their respective ratings. He explains the general strategy to weaken the fighting strength of Aogiri tree, which is divided into two main objectives:
 * 1) Taking down the leader of Aogiri by finding the "One Eyed-King". Sasaki states that the work is being done with a minimal number of investigators, due to "One-Eyed King" possibly being socially influential.
 * 2) Striking the suspected Aogiri stronghold located on Rushima in the Tokyo Bay, which is currently being investigated by the Hachikawa Squad.

Afterwards, he asks Furuta about the progress they have on the suspect. Furuta warns him about not getting permissions from CCG before processing the investigation, but Sasaki replies that time is precious, and that he personally doesn't mind getting demoted or punished for the goal of this investigation. Furuta then briefs him about his former team and the new members of the Quinx Squad. Later, he crosses out dates on a calendar in his office, revealing his scale-like arm.

Sasaki manages to get Shiono to testify against Eto. He then brings Eto inside the interrogation room and tells Shiono he can go home. As Shiono kneels and begs forgiveness to her, Sasaki tells her that he has testified to finding human parts in her apartment, and officially declares her arrested for being a ghoul.

With Eto under custody, Sasaki keeps Eto under his constant watch. He accompanies Eto to her conference about her last work, granted by the CCG and her management. Sasaki notices she has cut her hair, noting that it's his first time seeing a suspect do this while being followed by an investigator, but all the it same suited her. He warily accompanies Eto to her conference at her request, though he initially hesitates. Later, he stands beside Eto during the conference when the latter reveals the nature of her last work. Sasaki is then shocked as she publicly outs herself as a ghoul on live television.

Sasaki speaks to Furuta about the scandal that Eto made at her press conference. He is informed that the CCG is being overwhelmed by calls and that people are giving various opinions on Eto showing her ghoul nature in public and the organization taking her into custody. Furuta asks whether he has read her last book yet, and Sasaki gives him a brief explanation of what the book is about. On the surface, it looks like a regular work of fiction. But since Eto had dedicated the book to her comrades, the book takes on a different meaning if one recognizes the clues.

As he was escorting Eto back to her cell in Cornucopia, she tells him of V's connection to the CCG and how they were both able to pass through the Rc gates despite having Rc levels high enough to set them off because the gates were made to ignore certain patterns of Rc cells. Specifically, they ignore Rc cells in quinque and those of ghouls working for V. In Eto's case, it was because her father had served V and so she shares his pattern. Haise's meanwhile, came from Rize, a ghoul who had escaped from V.

Later, he greets the new Quinx squad at the Chateau's gym, and requests to speak with Urie. In their conversation, Sasaki mentions that he will not be participating in the Rushima operation as he, being a part of Arima squad, is assigned to protect CCG's most valuable asset. He pleads Urie to save Mutsuki, who is still trapped on the island, and says that he's counting on him.

Sasaki later arrives at Eto's interrogation room, having secretly recorded her conversation with Furuta at her request. After listening to the recording, Eto tells him that his last job is harder than he realizes. He asks her if she knows what he is going to do, which she confirms. Eto offers her assistance to Sasaki provided he fulfills her wish, but he responds that he has no time to listen to it. As Sasaki is exiting the room, Eto tells him her wish: to kill the One-Eyed King. Sasaki replies that he does not know what she means.

Third Cochlea Raid
On the day of the Rushima Operation, Sasaki is assigned to defend Cochlea as a member of Arima's squad. While patrolling the cells he recalls his own time imprisoned at Cochlea, and Arima's role in his memory loss and establishing his new identity as an investigator. The latter arrives and heads to the main building, leaving a section of the prison in Sasaki's watch. After Arima leaves, Sasaki enters a locker room and breaks down in tears while reassuring himself that he will do what he has decided to. When the alarms go off inside Cochlea because prisoners had been released on Floors 0 and 1, Sasaki takes off his glasses and silently cracks his index finger with wide eyes.

As Floors 0-1 have been compromised, the Warden Shinme Haisaki sends out an order to capture Sasaki because he opened the cells. Sasaki discovers that Hinami is being kept in the third floor by searching Cochlea's computer systems. He recalls the time when he ran into Hide in the sewers during the Owl Suppression Operation. In his memories, he was asked by Hide to eat him so that he would have the power to fight Arima. As he reaches Hinami, he thinks to himself that just like Hide, he would like to lay down his life for someone else's sake.

Hinami then slaps Sasaki and asks why he came for her if he was going to do the same thing again. He responds saying that it's his last job, then thinks to himself that after saving Hinami he'll die by Arima's hand. He then tells Hinami that there's a loophole that will get them out of Cochlea even though it's dangerous, when they are intercepted by Furuta.

Furuta questions Sasaki about why he would help an incarcerated ghoul. Sasaki tells Furuta to stand down, but Furuta laments that he will miss his former boss. Furuta charges at Sasaki with Rotten Follow, but the latter dodges the attack and suddenly appears behind Furuta. He kicks the quinque out of Furuta's hand, but Furuta counters by grabbing his leg; Furuta then tries to cut him with Rotten Follow. In response, Sasaki dodges the attack and slams Furuta face first into the wall, knocking a tooth lose. While Furuta is rolling on the ground, Sasaki follows up with a downward kick which he dodges. Furuta attempts to counter by attacking Sasaki's eyes, but Hinami intervenes and impales Furuta through the back with her kagune. Sasaki and Hinami then continue towards their escape, leaving Furuta for dead.

When Arima attempts to deliver a final blow to Renji Yomo, Sasaki intervenes and protects Yomo by blocking Narukami's lightning with his kagune. As he blocks the attack, Arima immediately drops Narukami and slashes at Sasaki with IXA, the latter blocking the impact with his arm. Sasaki orders Ayato to lead the way to the only available exit, the drain of the waste compactor that is used to dispose ghouls. Before they leave, Touka calls out to Sasaki and tells him that she would see him later, which surprises him. As the group run away, Sasaki tells Touka she is cruel for saying such a thing. He then takes off his coat, activating his kagune to face Arima alone.

He immediately attacks Arima, only for his attacks to be parried by the investigator. Mid-battle, Sasaki thinks to himself that he does not want to fight Arima, as the former pierces his abdomen. As both of them keep dodging each other's blows, Sasaki attacks Arima with his kagune from behind in hopes of striking him at his blind spot, however, Arima blocks the attack by swinging IXA to his back and slashes both of Sasaki's legs while telling him to stop "playing around".

Unable to stand, Sasaki falls to the ground and is immediately faced by Arima. He realises that Arima is already set on hunting Touka and the rest, and ponders why he thinks of Arima as his father. As Arima attacks him again, he turns away and helplessly tries to reattach his legs to his body, but Arima stabs him and rips them away again. Arima confronts him and asks him what will he do. Sasaki replies he will stop Arima but his reply is vut short by Arima, who strikes him down and prepares to make the final blow. Aware that he is going to be killed, Sasaki suddenly launches himself in the air and strikes at Arima, dealing a massive blow to IXA and completely destroying the quinque. As he lands on the floor, his kakuja slowly wraps around his head. Arima receives a new quinque from an unknown figure, and states that it's his first time using it against a ghoul. He then tells Sasaki to get ready, calling him "Ken Kaneki". As the battle proceeds, the two fight toe to toe. Sasaki blocks a barrage from Arima's quinque and strikes at him. He is be able to pierce his coat with his Kagune, narrowly missing the investigator. Sasaki clashes headfirst with Arima's quinque and uses his kagune hand to restrain it. However, Arima detaches his quinque and remotely activates it, impaling Sasaki and throwing him in the air. Unable to act, Sasaki is brutalized by Arima, who slashes him relentlessly, cutting of any limb as soon as it regenerates. As he falls brutally wounded, he loses his consciousness, and sees himself naked walking towards a river, attempting to drown himself, claiming that his job was done. However, he then sees Hide grabbing him by his hand, telling him not to drown himself, asking if he was trying to be like the protagonist of one of Kafka's stories that was sentenced by his father to die drowning. After putting on clothes, he sits next to Hide and says that Touka, Ayato, Hinami, Banjou, Yomo and the rest should have escaped by the time. However, Hide reminds him that he was worried by the disposal room's sounds. As they continued to talk, Sasaki starts crying, saying that he missed Hide, and that he felt alone without him. Hide encourages Haise to live, reminding that he sacrificed himself with the goal of "living together with him" and that living would allow Haise to find a purpose in life.

Sasaki’s kagune begins to replace his limbs as he gets up, he lifts his head and smiles at Arima, the latter responds with a faint smile. An armor slowly covers Sasaki's entire body apart from his head, and their clash continues. Sasaki attacks Arima from afar with his kagune which has no effect after Arima sliced the tentacles off. Realizing that simple frontal attacks would not affect Arima in any way, Sasaki burrowed his kagune underground, shaping it into a net with curved sharp edges protruding out from the top. Arima leaped through the net in order to search for Sasaki's position, only to be surrounded by several tentacles from all sides, cutting them all in one session. Arima hears a loud shout coming from behind him to which he immediately attacks with Owl, only to be shocked to discover that he slashed one of Sasaki's tentacles and not Sasaki. Taking advantage of this window of opportunity, Sasaki strikes at Arima from behind with a bladed arm. Arima manages to block Sasaki's attack in time but allows Owl to be destroyed by Sasaki.

Though Sasaki declares the battle over, Arima charges him while continuing to attack with the broken quinque, slashing apart tentacles until he closes the distance between them and stabs Sasaki through his abdomen. However, Sasaki pleads with him to accept his defeat and states continuing is meaningless. Arima began to step back, lowering his broken quinque and asks whether Sasaki has no intention of killing him, which Sasaki affirms. He turns his gaze upwards, musing that in his eighteen years as an Investigator, he has never faced an opponent he could not defeat. Once more, he asks Sasaki whether he will really not finish him off. Sasaki confirms his decision once more, and after stating his understanding, Arima slashes his own throat with Owl. A horrified Sasaki rushes towards Arima, demanding to know why he slashed his own throat. Arima replied that he has been waiting for this every moment and that his time was running out. Arima reveals a shocking truth to Sasaki; those who have been raised in the Sunlit Garden are not human but rather half-humans, failed human-ghoul hybrids that have extremely heightened physical capabilities but suffer from accelerated aging and shortened life spans. Arima indicates his failing eyesight as a sign of a half-human's defects and his imminent death. Sasaki asked why half-humans are being created to which Arima responds by telling Sasaki that the Washuu Clan members are ghouls and hypothesizing they have been working together with V to find a way to change ghouls into humans. Sasaki asked what does Arima want of him. Arima relays to Sasaki his final wish; to make the CCG think that Sasaki was the one who killed Arima. Arima explains that while Sasaki may not understand his goal right now, he will find out soon enough and that Sasaki is the only one who can accomplish this. Sasaki after a period of hesitation complies with Arima's request. Arima gratefully thanked Sasaki and with his final breaths divulged to Sasaki his innermost thoughts; He has always hated his existence, seeing himself as someone who only knew how to take lives away. With a faint smile and tears in his eyes, Arima said that he was glad to finally be able to leave something behind. Arima attempts to call out to "Haise" one last time but succumbs to his fatal injury. Witnessing Arima's death cause Sasaki to lift his head up and let out a scream of anguish and grief. While standing besides Arima's corpse, Sasaki is approached by Squad 0 and Hirako, who called out to him, calling him "Ken Kaneki". Sasaki threatened Hirako, as Hirako told him he did not want to fight. Squad 0 are revealed to be children of the Sunlit Garden, who are permitted to say final salutations to their idol. Hirako informs Sasaki of Squad 0's orders: to assist Ken Kaneki in his escape. Sasaki asks if he may say his goodbyes as well. After receiving Arima's pin from Hirako, he recites an excerpt from the poem "Song of the Old Ainu" in Arima's honor and says how thankful he is to Arima, who he refers to as his teacher and father. When leaving Cochlea, Sasaki comes across Eto in her weakened state, claiming that she is going to die soon, Eto informs Sasaki that she helped the people from Anteiku escape. Sasaki ponders over her recklessness, as she said only reckless people fulfill promises. She then told Sasaki that he doesn't need to do her own request, as he has already killed the One-Eyed King. Sasaki then made his way to the two investigators proclaiming to be the One-Eyed King.