Bite

Bite is the third chapter of the sixth volume and the 25th chapter overall of the manga Shingeki no Kyojin.

Summary
Waiting outside of the Forest of Giant Trees, Jean questions their new mission of standing guard and making sure no Titans enter. After vaguely threatening the squad leader in front of Armin, he eventually admits that he's going to follow the orders he was given. A five meter class Titan approaches the edge of the forest, attracted by the soldiers in the trees. Well out of reach, the soldiers don't attack, opting instead to let the Titans gather at the bottom of the tree.

Inside the forest, Eren and Levi squad are still being chased by the female Titan. Petra tells Levi that they should switch to 3-D maneuver gear and he readies his weapon. Before they start their attack, two soldiers rush in from behind the Titan and attempt to get to the nape of her neck. As they are about to deliver their blows, she crushes one and then swats the other slamming him into a tree.

Looking back at the scene, members of the squad beg Levi to give the order for them to attack. Levi pulls out a flare gun and tells them to cover their ears before firing off a sound grenade. He reminds them of their mission. They are there to protect Eren, leaving him surprised as he thought they were there to protect others from him. With those words, the squad decides to continue on horseback. Another small group of soldiers comes up behind the Titan. When another soldier is killed by the Titan, Eren insists that they go back and help the other. They order him to keep riding forward. Enraged and unable to bear the thought of anyone else losing their life, Eren prepares for transformation. Upon seeing what he's doing, Petra tries to talk him out of it. Levi tells him that there is no wrong decision in this situation but he has to decide if he is going to trust his team and the people risking their lives or himself. One last plea from Petra causes Eren to second guess transforming.

Thinking back on a time when he was still in the Survey Corps headquarters, Eren remembers Levi devising a plan that would allow them to stop him from losing control without killing him. Similar to what Armin did when Eren lost control, they will cut him out of the Titan body. Hange creates an experiment to see if the new plan will work. Eren is put at the bottom of a dry well and will try to induce a transformation when given a signal. He repeatedly bites his hands, hoping the pain will cause the change. However, even after seriously injuring his hands nothing happens. Adding to his dilemma, his ability to quickly heal seems absent as well.

Later that day, everyone is gathered for a meal and Levi tells Eren that their mission to plug the hole in Wall Maria, and consequently getting to the basement of his old house in the Shiganshina District, will be scrapped. He orders Eren to do something about it and then walks away, leaving Eren worried about the effects his failure could have on everyone. He tries to eat his food, but due to his injuries, he drops his spoon. As he bends down to grab it, he explodes into his Titan form surprising everyone, including Levi. Confused, Eren tries to free his arm from the Titans torso he has just created when he hears Levi shouting "calm down". Believing he is talking to him, Eren tries to explain that it wasn't on purpose. However, when the smoke clears and Eren sees he's surrounded by soldiers with their weapons drawn, it becomes obvious that Levi is ordering his men to calm down. Hange, after hearing the explosion from the transformation, runs over in amazement at the site of Eren's partially changed body. She jumps for joy at the possibilities.