Chapter 86

Hero vs. Criminal, Part 3 (HERO VS CRIMINAL, 其の参,) is the 86th chapter of the Bungo Stray Dogs manga.

Summary
Atsushi and Akutagawa attempt to launch a combined offensive on Fukuchi with their abilities, but Fukuchi grabs Atsushi's fist and enhances its power by a hundredfold to attack Akutagawa. Atsushi quickly leaps back to evade him, but Fukuchi throws a stone at him, which has also been strengthened like a hundredfold-might weapon due to his ability.

Fukuchi advises them to yield, while Atsushi – realizing how their opponent is on a completely different level in terms of power – deems their plan of fighting Fukuchi underwater to be now ineffective. Forcing his fracture back in place using Rashōmon, Akutagawa refuses to listen to Fukuchi's advice of giving up, also compelling Atsushi to stand back up. Fukuchi decides to toss away his Hunting Dogs katana and summons into thin air the blue-bladed sacred sword, Shintō Amenogozen.

As Atsushi becomes overwhelmed with Fukuchi's weapon, Akutagawa suddenly collapses and gushes out blood. Atsushi wonders in panic how Fukuchi launched his attack on Akutagawa and tries to anticipate his his next attack, only to be stabbed from behind with Fukuchi's mysterious katana despite being directly in front of him. Fukuchi explains that Shintō Amenogozen, dubbed as the "space–time sword", can pass its blade through airspace to reach a distant location. Moreover, he has enhanced its efficiency by a hundredfold using his ability, enabling it to go beyond its limit of reaching mere centimeters.

As Atsushi collapses near Akutagawa, Fukuchi berates him for his hopelessness in defeating him because of their lack of trust in each other. Had Atsushi act as the offensive vanguard with Akutagawa as his defensive rearguard, Fukuchi claims that they might have stood a chance against him. Atsushi bitterly agrees with him, thinking that such strategy might be the reason why Dazai has united them in the first place. Akutagawa chuckles and becomes thrilled with the prospect that, if he defeats Fukuchi, he might once again earn Dazai's acknowledgement. Fukuchi turns to Akutagawa and threatens to torture him for information on the Agency and the mafia, but he opts not to and opens a deal with him instead.

Specifically, Fukuchi asks Akutagawa to become his student, thinking how they share identical ideals and methods compared to Akutagawa's mentor. Akutagawa refuses, believing that no one can replace Dazai, but Fukuchi clarifies that he would only look after him and return him back to his mentor after honing him as the strongest among the Hunting Dogs. Akutagawa remains adamant, so Fukuchi swears on his sword that he shall keep his word. He also tells the mafioso that he wishes to have him accept the deal because he wishes to have Akutagawa kill Atsushi, a feat that Fukuchi is uninterested in doing. As Fukuchi lifts him up, Akutagawa becomes conflicted, which Fukuchi says is natural. However, he reminds Akutagawa that he did not come to the battle out of his wish of stopping the terrorism nor with a motive to kill Fukuchi after all. Due to Akutagawa's seeming reluctance of killing Atsushi, Fukuchi retorts if the weretiger's life is important to him, upon which Akutagawa turns a serious gaze at Atsushi.

Abilities

 * Mirror Lion
 * Rashomon
 * Beast Beneath the Moonlight

Battles

 * Atsushi Nakajima and Ryunosuke Akutagawa vs. Ōchi Fukuchi (continuation)

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * Ryunosuke Akutagawa
 * Ōchi Fukuchi
 * Atsushi Nakajima
 * Osamu Dazai (mentioned)