his brand-new chapter fills in the gaps between The Ghost in the Shell: Human-Error Processor and Man-Machine Interface manga with a tense cyberpunk thriller written by Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex script writer Junichi Fujisaku. Just in time for the release of the new Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 anime on Netflix! Hackers attempt to assassinate a politician during a speech preaching the advantages of cybernetic prosthetics. Fortunately, Togusa is there to whisk her to safety, and the investigation leads Batou to a suspicious factory in the artificial islands in southern Japan. Meanwhile, Chief Aramaki hears of a disturbing discovery at the other end of the country: dozens of artificial bodies, illegally dumped near a village where an anti-cyberization sect conducts their training and "rites." Among the empty shells is one formerly inhabited by the woman who embodied Section 9 until she left it behind and disappeared: Major Motoko Kusanagi...

Deep into the 21st century, the line between man and machine has been inexorably blurred as humans rely on the enhancement of mechanical implants and robots are upgraded with human tissue. In this rapidly converging landscape, cyborg superagent Major Motoko Kusanagi is charged to track down the craftiest and most dangerous terrorists and cybercriminals, including "ghost hackers" who are capable of exploiting the human/machine interface and reprogramming humans to become puppets to carry out the hackers' criminal ends. When Major Kusanagi tracks the cybertrail of one such master hacker, the Puppeteer, her quest leads her into a world beyond information and technology where the very nature of consciousness and the human soul are turned upside down. From Shirow Masamune, the award-winning creator of Appleseed and Dominion, comes The Ghost in the Shell, the breakthrough manga that inspired the internationally acclaimed animated film. An epic dystopian tale of politics, technology, and metaphysics, The Ghost in the Shell has been hailed worldwide as an unparalleled visionary work of graphic fiction. And now it's ready to dazzle the imagination in its second millennium.