"Take care of yourself, Furuta," Shachi said with concern.
"Yeah, don't worry about me," Furuta nodded slightly.
"Alright, Rize and I will be heading back then," Shachi added before leaving. But before he stepped away, he turned back to Furuta and said, "It feels like there's some kind of misunderstanding between you two. I'll talk to Rize when we get back."
"I appreciate it, Uncle Kamishiro," Furuta responded politely.
As Rize and Shachi left, Furuta remained standing, his expression showing no signs of regret. However, no one could truly know what he was thinking deep down.
"From today onward, you will be Washuu Nimura. You don't need to use the branch family's surname anymore," Tsuneyoshi declared.
"Furuta" was the surname of the Washuu branch family, inherited from his mother. But now, there was no longer a need for him to carry that name.
"Alright," Nimura nodded.
At the end of the day, Tsuneyoshi was still hoping that the underground dragon would turn the tide for the Washuu clan. Naming Nimura as the next king was all part of that future plan.
After all, until their faction could make a comeback, there was no point in internal conflicts within the Washuu. For now, they had no choice but to follow Byakuya's lead.
After striking a deal with the Prime Minister, Byakuya wasted no time in orchestrating the evacuation of Tokyo's civilians. However, as with any crisis, not everyone was willing to cooperate.
To speed things up, Byakuya ordered Aogiri Tree to carry out demonstrations in various districts of Tokyo. In short, they were there to scare people into evacuating—without actually causing any casualties.
On the CCG's side, Marude and the other Special-Class Investigators were cooperating with Byakuya's plan. Orders were sent out to rank-and-file investigators, instructing them to avoid direct combat with Aogiri Tree's ghouls unless civilians were in danger.
"Marude told us not to engage Aogiri Tree's ghouls. Did you guys get the same order?"
"Yeah, we did. Looks like this whole operation is being directed by Chairman himself. I'm guessing it's part of the Prime Minister's plan..."
"Honestly, the Prime Minister's sudden order to evacuate all of Tokyo seems a bit extreme. He didn't even provide a solid explanation."
"There are probably things we wouldn't understand as regular people. We should just trust Chairman's judgment."
By now, most of CCG's investigators knew that their current Bureau Director and Chairman, Byakuya, was also the One-Eyed King of Aogiri Tree. It was a strange situation, but at least it was better than when the Washuu clan was in charge.
Tokyo, 1st Ward
A certain ghoul faction was under siege by Aogiri Tree.
"One-Eyed Owl! What the hell are you people thinking? You're actually naïve enough to believe in peace with humans?!" The leader of the ghoul faction roared in anger at the sight of the One-Eyed Owl standing before him.
"You don't need to understand. You only need to make a choice—serve or die," Eto, fully transformed into her kakuja, spoke in an indifferent tone.
"The ones who are going to die are you!" Clearly, they refused to submit.
Eto wasn't surprised.
The 1st Ward had many ghouls, but no particularly powerful ones. Otherwise, the Washuu clan would have sent V to wipe them out long ago.
Right now, Eto was unquestionably the strongest ghoul. Slaughtering these ghouls was as effortless as slicing through paper.
More than that, she deliberately expanded the battlefield to the city streets—where many civilians could witness the carnage. This way, Aogiri Tree wasn't just conquering the 1st Ward. They were spreading fear, ensuring that the civilians would comply with the Prime Minister's evacuation orders.
After a wave of cannibalism in the 1st Ward, Eto absorbed yet another kakuhou. Her kakuja form had grown even larger than Yoshimura's at his peak. And she was no longer satisfied with her old kakuja's appearance.
For the first time, Eto reshaped her kakuja's form—taking on the monstrous appearance she had in the original timeline. The One-Eyed Owl.
If there was a ranking for the most terrifying and unique kakuja, this version of the Owl stood at the top. The reason? Eto's raw strength and her limitless imagination.
Of course, the form she had in the original story's finale was even more monstrous. At this stage, Eto wasn't that strong yet—but she had already surpassed her ten-year-later self from the original timeline.
Under Eto's command, Aogiri Tree swiftly took control of the 1st Ward with ease. They also caused enough chaos to convince the civilians to evacuate, following the Prime Minister's orders and moving under police and CCG protection.
Within a few short days, the results were evident. The vast majority of civilians had already been evacuated from Tokyo.
As for the few stubborn ones who refused to leave, Byakuya didn't have the time or patience to argue. If they wanted to stay and die, that was their choice.
Meanwhile, CCG, :re, and Aogiri Tree had all established their own defensive lines. They were prepared for the imminent Battle for Tokyo.
Byakuya hadn't publicly revealed the truth about the dragon, but he had already warned them—a terrifyingly powerful enemy was coming.
At the Washuu estate, Tsuneyoshi and Yoshitoki had only just now realized that all of Tokyo was being evacuated. The two of them sat across from each other, discussing the situation.
"It looks like the Prime Minister knows about the dragon already. The question is… did he figure it out on his own, or did someone tell him?" Tsuneyoshi muttered, deep in thought.
"Hard to say… but there's no reason Byakuya would know about our plan," Yoshitoki replied.
"Let's hope so..." Tsuneyoshi sighed.
Neither of them could leave the estate, so they had no way of confirming the truth. But regardless, it was already too late to turn back. The "Dragon" would awaken beneath Tokyo, no matter what.
"And what about Nimura? Still reading?" Tsuneyoshi suddenly asked.
"Yeah. He's clearly putting in the effort to prepare for his role as Washuu King," Yoshitoki nodded.
When he first heard Nimura say he wanted to read everything in the family's archive, he was stunned. Most of the texts in there weren't exactly light reading. He had tried to go through them himself but got bored quickly.
"That's good," Tsuneyoshi remarked. "Now, all that remains is to see whether our Washuu clan can make a comeback."