The Titan Forest

The Forest of Giant Trees is the sixth and last chapter of the fifth volume and the 24th chapter overall of the manga Shingeki no Kyojin.

Summary
Still trying to recover from their encounter with the female titan, Jean is trying to call his horse while Reiner tends to Armin's wounds. Not wanting to stay exposed and vulnerable to attack, Jean worries that someone may have to be left behind if his horse doesn't return. Armin, in deep thought, remembers the titan crouching over him and focuses on her face. He snaps out of it when Reiner calls out to him.

Reiner comes to the same conclusion as Jean and suggests that someone will have to be left behind. Armin wants to try one more thing before they do it. He tells them that the formation is still headed in the same direction; if they fire a smoke signal another group could still be close enough by to help them out. After waiting a few minutes with no response, Armin volunteers himself to stay behind on the condition that the others relay a message to Commander Irvin personally. Fortunately, before Armin can continue, Christa, after seeing the signal shows up. Coming along with her is Jeans horse. She found it after it was frightened away by the titan. Everyone expresses their gratitude and they are on their way. Riding along, they see a series of green smoke signals. The formation is not retreating, only changing course. They wonder if the information about the right flank has reached Commander Irvin. At the moment however, the only thing they can do is change course with everyone else.

Travelling with the Special Operations Squad, Eren finds it odd that they haven't come upon any titans before realizing that it's because of his position in the formation. At that thought, he wonders if there have been any victims on the front lines. A messenger arrives and tells the squad about the chaos in the right flank. Rivaille orders Petra to relay the message to the group on their left. Hearing the news, Eren is concerned about Armin. Shortly afterwards, they see black smoke signal indicating a deviant titan has broken throught the lines.

The female titan is making her way towards Eren and taking out anyone who gets in her way. A small group confronts her in an attempt to finally stop her charge. They launch an attack from all sides, but she jumps into the air, dragging the soldiers with her. As she lands, she crushes one, slams another into a building and then swings another around by their 3-D maneuver gear until the force breaks their back, folds them in half. She runs the remaining member down and kicks him through the air before continuing her search.

Word about the right flank is still only halfway through formation. Seeing that their heading in the wrong direction, a few groups wonder why there hasn't been a course correction. In the distance they see the Forest of Giant Trees. Reaching the entrance of the forest, Commander Irvin tells his subordinates to relay the message that only the central column will be going through; the flanks will travel around. Now travelling on the path in the forest, Eren states the obvious about the formation losing its ability to detect titans early. He also expresses concern about being able to protect the convoy of carts along. Annoyed, Rivaille tells him to look around. Being surrounded by the trees lets them use their 3-D maneuver gear to its fullest potential. Not wanting to answer anymore of Erens questions, Rivaille tells him to think before he speaks. Noticing the worry on the faces of his squad he realizes that they don't know what's going on either. The group is interrupted by the sound of something behind them. Rivaille tells his group to get their weapons ready. Smashing her way through another group of soldiers, the female titan enters the forest.