"It seems that Byakuya's true power far exceeds imagination..."
Yoshimura also suspected that the massive kakuja before him belonged to Byakuya.
His previous impression of Byakuya was from the time he lost both arms to him. But the overwhelming power Byakuya displayed today completely shattered his understanding.
First and foremost, Byakuya was only a half-human, yet he could manifest a Kakuja at this level. That alone was beyond belief.
At that moment, Yoshimura deactivated his kakuja form. Looking around at the battlefield, now a devastated wasteland, it was obvious that the battle between Byakuya and the V had already ended.
"I never expected this... It feels like I never truly knew him at all."
Arima couldn't help but sigh.
Besides Arima and Yoshimura, two more investigators arrived at the scene — two Associate Special Class investigators stationed in the 1st Ward's CCG branch.
They wanted to question Arima about what had happened, but as soon as they opened their mouths, they were struck speechless by the sight of the towering giant.
"W-what is this...? A kakuja...?"
Their fighting spirit instantly crumbled, and fear overtook their expressions.
This was not an enemy they could possibly hope to fight.
They had seen half-kakujas before, and even those were already a nightmare to deal with. But a full kakuja that far surpassed them, with such an absurdly massive form?
These two investigators weren't the type to flee from battle, but they also didn't have the courage to step forward and face such a monstrous being.
Byakuya, however, completely ignored them.
His target was the Washuu Clan. As long as these regular human investigators didn't foolishly provoke him, he had no reason to bother with them.
With Kaiko and the black-clad enforcers completely annihilated, Byakuya deactivated his Susanoo.
From start to finish, he and Eto had remained in that same embrace.
"Next, it's time to settle things with the Washuu Clan."
Byakuya spoke calmly.
Overthrowing the Washuu's rule had no other solution—violence was the only option.
"You bastard, if you had this much power, why didn't you say so earlier? I actually thought you were dead!"
Now that the fight was over, Eto finally took the chance to grumble at Byakuya.
Before this, she had never imagined Byakuya's strength could reach such levels—obliterating the entire V in an instant.
With power like this, toppling the Washuu Clan was no longer even a question.
If she had known Byakuya was this strong from the start, she wouldn't have worried about whether her ideals could ever become reality.
"I honestly didn't expect this either... But in any case, I'm sorry."
Byakuya apologized sincerely for the misunderstanding.
He knew that because of this incident, Eto had recklessly thrown herself into battle, seeking revenge for him—and in doing so, had put herself in serious danger.
"Don't ever do that again. If something really happened to you... what would I do?"
Eto stared directly into Byakuya's eyes. Her face was as expressionless as ever, but there was a slight tremor in her voice.
Byakuya could tell—his supposed death had shaken Eto deeply.
Under normal circumstances, she would never have acted so impulsively.
"I understand. From now on, I'll discuss things with you first before making any moves."
Byakuya nodded seriously, his tone sincere.
His original intent was to prevent Eto and Arima from worrying about him, so he had gone alone to deal with Furuta and Rize.
After all, he was more than capable of handling the Washuu Clan by himself.
But he hadn't expected Kaiko to be so quick to assume he was dead, leading to this whole mess instead.
Watching Byakuya and Eto's intimate interaction, Yoshimura smiled in relief.
Seeing his daughter find someone she truly cared for—someone who also understood her—filled him with genuine happiness.
After all, even as her father, he had failed to support her ideals. All he had given her over the years was a growing sense of guilt.
"Are you going to stay here and recover, or are you coming with me?"
Byakuya turned to Eto.
"Of course, I'm coming with you."
She loosened her embrace and stepped back.
"I've already recovered enough. I'm fine."
"Alright."
Byakuya nodded, then turned toward Arima and Yoshimura.
The four of them stormed into the Washuu Clan's headquarters.
"These guys sure ran fast... Looks like only a few didn't escape in time."
Byakuya and the others had searched the entire CCG headquarters, but only found a handful of Washuu members.
Key figures like Tsuneyoshi and Yoshitoki had vanished without a trace.
They had likely fled the moment Byakuya's Susanoo clashed with the V — once they realized the situation was hopeless, they wasted no time running for their lives.
There was nothing Byakuya could do about that.
Unlike Furuta in the original story, who had spent years carefully orchestrating his takeover—luring the CCG and V away before launching a surprise slaughter of the Washuu Clan—Byakuya had chosen to engage the V head-on.
And the Washuus weren't stupid enough to sit around waiting to die.
But Byakuya didn't need a drawn-out plan like Furuta's.
With absolute strength, he could simply crush them outright.
Why waste years setting up an elaborate scheme when brute force was more efficient?
His goal was already achieved. Wiping out the Washuu Clan entirely wasn't necessary—the ones who remained would be dealt with sooner or later.
The Washuu Clan's annihilation was now only a matter of time.
"P-please... don't kill us..."
The captured Washuu members were too terrified to even think about resisting.
Though they were born as natural kakujas, not all kakujas were as powerful as Yoshimura and Eto. There were vast differences in strength even among them.
These Washuu elites, who had spent their lives feasting on investigator corpses—rotting flesh—while dreaming of becoming human, were some of the weaker kakujas.
And they had already witnessed Byakuya's terrifying strength through the CCG's surveillance systems.
Standing before them were not just Byakuya, but also two Owls and Arima.
Under these circumstances, resisting would be outright suicidal.
"Alright. I won't kill you..."
Byakuya's voice was calm, yet carried an unmistakable air of menace.
"...But you will follow my orders."
"Yes! I'll do whatever you say!"
One of the captured Washuu members immediately agreed without hesitation.
The others quickly followed suit.
It didn't matter what they had to do—living was better than dying.
"When the time comes, I need you to make a public appearance on live television and reveal your kakugan."
Byakuya's cold voice left no room for negotiation.
"That's all I ask. You can do that much, can't you?"