In the original story, Kanou was undoubtedly a pure villain.
For example, he transformed Kaneki, Nashiro , and Kurona into artificial half-ghouls and even conducted inhumane experiments and torture on Takizawa.
He was a character who had no need for redemption—he even acknowledged himself as a villain. That's why, in the end, he shot himself in front of his mother's grave.
At the same time, he was an ambitious villain.
His mother's death from an incurable disease had a massive impact on him, completely altering his life. From his perspective, it was a disease that should have been curable.
As the son of the director of Kanou General Hospital and a medical genius who graduated from Teihou University's medical department, Kanou had already developed insights into ghouls and RC cells at an early stage.
He believed that RC cells inside ghouls could be used in medicine, yet for some reason, the medical field had almost no interest in this idea.
As it turned out, this was due to the Washuu Clan's interference.
After his mother's death, Kanou secretly began researching ghouls. Later, he studied abroad in Germany and then joined the CCG. However, after learning certain things he shouldn't have known, he left the CCG to conduct his own experiments on artificial half-ghouls.
Those things he shouldn't have known likely referred to some of the Washuu Clan's secrets.
Kanou was undeniably a key figure driving the entire plot forward.
His personality was one that would stop at nothing to achieve his goals. In his pursuit of medical advancement, he personally caused many tragedies. In the end, he succeeded, and with no regrets, he took his own life.
So, Kanou never regretted what he had done.
"Proceed with the arrangements. Kanou and Ogura will both become researchers for the CCG."
Byakuya instructed the investigators before him.
At this point in time, Kanou had only conducted secret research on ghouls — he had yet to begin experimenting with artificial half-ghouls.
Byakuya certainly didn't support such inhumane experiments. Besides, in the original story, the only true success from the artificial half-ghoul experiments was Kaneki. Every other subject had ended up as tragic failures.
Even in the later stages of the original story, the real breakthrough in medical research came from the Dragon transformation of Kaneki This had little to do with artificial half-ghoul experiments.
Kanou's greatest contribution was, by accident, creating the future One-Eyed King, Kaneki. Additionally, his research also played a role in the development of special food for ghouls.
But what if Dragon didn't have to be achieved through torturing Kaneki?
After all, wasn't there already a Dragon lying dormant beneath the 24th Ward?
That was the first One-Eyed King of the Washuu Clan.
Although the first One-Eyed King was long dead, its massive body likely remained usable. However, the Washuu Clan had deliberately kept it buried deep underground, hidden from the world—hence why it was known as the Washuu Taboo.
"Well, the funding for this research was originally provided through a collaboration between the Washuu Clan and the government, but now that the Washuu Clan is..."
Marude brought up a key concern.
"No need to worry about that—I'll handle the funding."
Byakuya replied.
After all, he still had Furuta and Rize—one was the biological son of Tsuneyoshi, and the other had the purest Washuu bloodline.
With some careful "packaging" Furuta and Rize could be positioned as the new leaders of the Washuu Clan.
That way, the Washuu name would remain, only with a reshuffled leadership.
Rize aside, if Furuta's character in the original story was any indication, he would likely be happy to officially take on the Washuu name.
In the original story, Furuta was cunning, ruthless, and willing to do anything to achieve his goals. But at his core, his dream had always been simple…
As for the high-ranking members of the Washuu Clan, Byakuya intended to keep some of them alive to assist Furuta.
To put it bluntly, those who resisted would be eliminated, while those who obeyed might be allowed to live.
The goal was to overthrow the Washuu Clan — not to slaughter every single member.
Otherwise, that would mean killing not only Furuta, Rize, and Matsuri, but also people like Arima, Ihei, and Rikai, who were all part of the Washuu branch families. That would be completely unnecessary.
…
With the CCG situation mostly stabilized, Byakuya left the remaining administrative work to the Special-Class Investigators.
His next move was to visit the 6th Ward and check in with Furuta and Rize.
Meanwhile, Arima had gone to track down the escaping Washuu members.
It had been less than half a day since Byakuya entrusted Furuta and Rize to Shachi.
"Big brother Byakuya! You're not hurt, are you?"
The moment Byakuya returned, Furuta expressed his concern.
Shachi, who had been meditating, was slightly surprised to see him return so soon.
And without any signs of battle.
Had he given up halfway, thinking that the Washuu Clan was too difficult to deal with?
"No…"
Byakuya gave a brief summary of what had happened at the CCG.
Halfway through, Furuta suddenly asked, "What about Tsuneyoshi? Did he escape too?"
"Yeah, he ran."
Byakuya nodded slightly.
Tsuneyoshi was Furuta's father.
Due to the Washuu Clan's traditions and hierarchy, Furuta could never openly acknowledge his father.
But in truth, Tsuneyoshi had always favored Furuta, even privately spending time reading with him.
At this stage, Furuta still cared about his father.
As for his half-brother, Yoshitoki, Furuta had barely interacted with him and didn't seem to care much.
"Oh…"
Furuta was somewhat relieved.
Deep down, he didn't want his father to be killed by Byakuya.
But he was also rational enough not to make any unreasonable requests.
"The V has been completely wiped out. You two aren't in any danger anymore."
Byakuya said, "But to be safe, you should stay here for now. How are you adapting to this place?"
"We're fine. Kamishiro has been very kind to us."
Furuta replied.
Rize nodded in agreement.
Since she had no surname, Shachi had given her the Kamishiro name, making her his daughter in an official capacity. This provided her with a legitimate identity in human society.
"That's good."
Byakuya said.
After saying his goodbyes to Furuta and Rize, it was time to contact the media and expose the truth about the Washuu Clan to the public.
Once that was done, the Washuu Clan's rule would be completely dismantled.