Tomoya Takashima
After surviving the onslaught at Sarugaku headquarters, Sousuke Banba resumes his investigation of the Kagewani monster hybrids. Armed with the ability to harness the Kagewani's power, the researcher now has a means to eliminate the creatures. But despite the benefits of this skill, it has one major drawback: Sousuke now struggles to maintain his sanity, with the power threatening to consume his body. Soon, threats old and new begin to rear their heads, as the upper echelons of Sarugaku become active once again and an assassin with a personal vendetta sets her sights on Sousuke. Nevertheless, he resolutely forges ahead on his mission, determined to track down the origins of the Kagewani and eliminate their threat once and for all.
A junior high school teacher named Sachie has been living alone. She is not respected by her students and also has trouble fitting into her workspace. One of her students, Hagiwara, has been winning one writing contest after another due to his eloquence. But, he starts to lose sight of himself after a transfer student from the city joins his class. Sachie, on the other hand has started attending a Japanese Taiko (drum) class offered at a nearby community center to get away from her empty life. Their frustrations collide at the school's festival.
A murder takes place in the town where Kenta Ochiai lives. The mutilated body is found by the riverside and Kenta, an elementary school boy, sees a crocodile swimming in the water. Being labeled as a liar in class, he decides to capture the creature with his friend. Was the body mutilated by the crocodile or the murderer? All connections lead to the riverside involving his teacher, parents and a girl practicing her trumpet across the river.
A video blogger attempts to fake cryptid sightings to boost his views, but gets more than he bargained for when his crew is slaughtered by a real monster. Elsewhere, students find themselves preyed upon by a sandworm-like beast, initiating a desperate struggle for survival on their own school grounds. With more of these attacks from mysterious creatures occurring, researcher Sousuke Banba tasks himself with delving into the mystery. With nothing but the keyword "Kagewani" to lead him, he scours the sites of recent attacks in hopes of finding a lead to eradicating the creatures for good. However, Sousuke finds that these threats to humanity are even closer to home when the pharmaceutical company, Sarugaku, starts to encroach on his investigation.
