Chapter 25

Kill the Hindrances (新入りを斬る, Shiniri wo Kiru) is chapter 25 of the Akame ga Kill! manga.

Summary
At Night Raid's new base, Tatsumi comments how the new base doesn't look all that different from the previous one, and Akame says it is because when you keep escape options and ease of discovery in mind, the bases naturally look the same. Mine, Leone, and Chelsea, on the other hand, are excited that this base has a hot spring like the previous one and they should have some drinks there. Lubbock returns after laying down a barrier with his Teigu which he informs Najenda of. Susanoo also reports having dug an emergency hole to escape, which earns him a much bigger praise from Najenda than the one she gave Lubbock. This causes Lubbock to jealously tell Susanoo he hasn't won this fight, which confuses him. Nevertheless, Tatsumi shows excitement at having a new base.

Inside, Najenda informs the group that their targets are the aformentioned new species of Danger Beasts. According to her intel, they show cases of mobilizing in groups and displaying rudimentary levels of intelligence. They are also strong enough to challenge martial artist masters and defeat them. She explains they are lurking in the woods and mines to the south of the Capital greedily feeding on people's livestock, and while the Jaegers and Imperial Army are dealing with them daily, more are still popping up. Mine deduces that this isn't a trap if the Empire is struggling fighting them, and Najenda says that this will be like helping the Empire, but Tatsumi says this situation is purely circumstantial. Even so, they will handle this threat. As the group talk about handling the enemy at nighttime, Chelsea speaks up and says they can just leave this task to the Jaegers since this mission sounds too risky for them. Tatsumi knows what Chelsea means but tells her that these monsters are attacking someone, and since he considers Night Raid assassins on the people's side, they want to speed up the extermination even if it is to save a few people. Chelsea backs off from this statement.

Immediately afterwards, Susanoo reveals to Tatsumi that his zipper was undone and it is bothering him so he should close it. As Tatsumi realizes this in embarrassment, Leone, Lubbock, and Mine laugh at him for making such a big speech without realizing his fly was open. Akame speaks up and says that she noticed but didn't say anything because she thought it was a fashion statement which Tatsumi quickly denies. She says she will look at his fly every now and then to make sure it isn't open which he frightingly asks her not to. Najenda and Chelsea continue to watch the members of Night Raid laugh at Tatsumi while the former tells the latter that this is how things are here. Chelsea says this won't be a problem for her, but she is worried that the kindness the group has will be their undoing, like with Sheele and Bulat.

At the Palace, Run talks with Esdeath about the Danger Beasts. Esdeath explains to Run that according to the Minister's research, the Danger Beasts they have been fighting were orignially human, which confirms Run's intitial suspicions. Esdeath also adds that creating Danger Beasts like that could only be done by a Teigu user, so Run believes they were created by Dr. Stylish since they were spotted following his disapparance. He also adds that when he searched his lab, he found it too plain despite him having researched a wide variety of things, causing the both of them to deduce he had a secret laboratory somewhere else and that perhaps something broke free. Run also adds the possibility that there was a third party's involvement but it sounds too chaotic to be true. Esdeath also has the same thoughts and expresses surprise he can be useful outside the battlefield. Run reaches the conclusion that Dr. Stylish didn't encounter enemies searching for Tatsumi, but rather came across Night Raid and tried to claim their bodies for himself to experiment on, resulting in his death. Esdeath concludes that Dr. Stylish may have been more twisted than she thought, and Run says there is a limit to the Danger Beasts, and as they speak, the other Jaegers are handling the problem. Esdeath says that isn't enough and raises the question if whether or not they escaped on their own or someone else let them loose. Run says he will look into that, which Esdeath allows. Run then notices that Esdeath was admiring flowers this whole time, and she explains the flowers she was looking at can cause immense pain to an open wound, so she considers using them for light torture. Run omniously says that was an enlightening lesson.

In the mountains, Seryu and her Teigu Koro are shown battling Danger Beasts. She has Koro pull out Shinkou's Ball of Justice and violently smashes the Danger Beasts with them before telling Koro to feed on them. As this happens, a mysterious person watches this occur and notes the strength of the Jaegers, though he says his group is much stronger, and until they arrive, he will play with the Jaegers as his toys for a while.

As night falls in the mountains, Tatsumi and Lubbock are seen teamed up, though Lubbock is less thrilled about it. He nervously asks if if any soldiers are stationed nearby and Tatsumi reminds him that their intel says they withdraw during the night if they are close to the Capital, so he should calm down. Lubbock retorts that timidity is indispensable to assassins like them to survive, which he claims even Najenda knows too. Tatsumi finally asks Lubbock why he refers to Najenda by her name unlike the others who just call her 'boss'. Lubbock explains to Tatsumi that he had known Najenda since the Imperial Army days. He reveals he was the fourth son of a big merchant in the region and he found his life boring because he had everything he could have wanted and could do anything. Tatsumi starts calling him out for his bragging before Lubbock gets to the main point. He reveals Najenda moved to the region where he lived and the minute he saw her, he fell in love with her. Since then, he became a soldier and rose through the ranks to a point where he could stand by her side, which causes Tatsumi to believe he joined Night Raid because of his love for Najenda. Lubbock reveals he made false reports to trick the Empire into thinking they were dead which allowed them to escape, but while he praises himself for his accomplishments, he says she hasn't rewarded him yet, which he considers to be sad. Tatsumi grabs him by the shoulder and yells at him that the reason why she hasn't rewarded him yet is because he keeps trying to peek on women in the bathes. This leads to an arguement between the two about the difference between loving someone and peeking on someone. Though Lubbock tells Tatsumi that he will definitely make her fall for him, and Tatsumi sarcastically says he will treat him to whatever he wants if that happens.

Eventually, after walking around for a while, they find no Danger Beasts, even Lubbock's strings aren't responding. Tatsumi decides to to take a look around the mountain with his Teigu and Lubbock tells him to report back to him should he find something so they can fight it together. Tatsumi activates Incursio and takes off. After looking around for a while, he stops and deactivates Incursio as he wonders if the Beasts are sleeping, while also wondering if the others are alright. At the same time in the sky, Esdeath is flying on her Danger Beast Familiar, though she reveals she told her subordinates she was going out on patrol, she actually just felt like taking a moonlight stroll because it looked pretty to her, something she finds uncharacteristic of herself. As she wonders if this new side of her is because she fell in love with Tatsumi, she notices his silhouette and, thinking he is a Danger Beast, decides to curb her depression by fighting it. She jumps off her Familiar and lands behind Tatsumi, and both of them become bewildered when they see each other. Tatsumi starts panicking when he sees her when all of a sudden, the Danger Beasts arrive in response to the noise, but as Tatsumi wonder if he can use them to escape, Esdeath slays them all instantaneously while telling them not to inferfere with her reunion. Esdeath expresses delight at the fact she isn't dreaming and how long she waited before she could see Tatsumi again. Tatsumi, on the other hand, seriously wishes this was a dream, while also wondering why Esdeath hasn't put the Danger Beast she has her heel digging into out of its misery.