The moment the One-Eyed Owl fired her razor-sharp kagune projectiles, Uchiha Byakuya decisively allocated all of his available attribute points into Physicality, enhancing his speed for better evasion.
[Current Attribute Points: 39 (Total Accumulated: 144)]
[Ding! Attribute Points Successfully Allocated!]
[Physicality +3.9]
[Attribute Points -39]
Even after this boost, Byakuya's physical abilities were only about twice that of an average human.
However, by predicting the exact trajectory of the Owl's ukaku projectiles beforehand, he was always able to stay one step ahead, dodging them by a hair's breadth.
Seeing that her kagune blades were completely missing their target, Yoshimura Eto felt a flicker of surprise.
"So this guy has some skill after all..."
He was stronger than most of the CCG investigators she had encountered.
But...
That woman had referred to him as a Second-Class Investigator.
Yet, judging from his actual abilities, he was far beyond what a normal Second-Class should be capable of.
"Is this what the 'Sunlit Garden' produces...?"
From her position in the distance, Mado Kasuka couldn't help but feel astonished as she watched Byakuya's remarkable agility.
CCG recruited investigators from Sunlit Garden almost every year, and every single one of them was an exception to the rules-
Unlike normal recruits, they could skip the usual training process and immediately become Second-Class Investigators.
And for good reason; Sunlit Garden operatives were always exceptional.
Their potential was far higher than the average investigator.
And every once in a while, someone like Byakuya would appear, a recruit so strong that his actual power far exceeded his rank.
Still-That was all she knew about The Sunlit Garden.
What exactly it was, where it was located, or what happened inside; She had no idea.
Just like the rest of CCG, who were kept completely in the dark.
All Sunlit Garden operatives were absolutely silent about their origins.
And so, The Sunlit Garden remained a mystery.
Byakuya evaded the last of the kagune projectiles and immediately closed in on the One-Eyed Owl, his gaze steady and fearless.
He knew; right now, the Owl was still recovering from her serious injuries.
She was nowhere near her full power.
And compared to her future self, a decade later in the original timeline, her strength was on a completely different level.
Ten years of cannibalization had mutated her kagune into something even more terrifying.
If she had reached that stage already, Byakuya wouldn't even consider fighting her with just his Mangekyō Sharingan's base abilities.
Rushing forward, he thrust the S-rated quinque spear at the Owl's kagune-covered arm.
With the quinque's power, he could definitely injure her kagune appendages.
But hurting her kagune meant nothing.
A SSS-rated, full-body kakuja ghoul had insane regenerative abilities.
A wound could heal instantly.
The only way to truly damage a ghoul at this level was to destroy their kakuhou.
And that was exactly why the Owl still hadn't fully recovered.
Her kakuhou had been critically damaged in her last battle with Kuroiwa Iwao and multiple CCG operatives.
Byakuya however had no chance of reaching her kakuhou, which was positioned on her back.
Not unless he used Kamui but that would expose his Mangekyō Sharingan's blood-red glow.
If Eto and Mado Kasuka both mistook him for a ghoul, it would be a massive problem.
And besides, he had no reason to seriously injure Eto.
His true goal was to save Mado Kasuka and to force the One-Eyed Owl to retreat.
At that moment, the One-Eyed Owl sidestepped, narrowly avoiding the quinque spear.
Despite her massive size, her speed was even faster than Byakuya's; After all, her entire body was formed from her kagune, a construct of pure RC cells, designed for explosive strength and agility.
Immediately after dodging, her kagune-arm swung down like a giant blade, slicing directly toward Byakuya's arm.
It was almost as if they were reading each other's thoughts.
But the truth was; Yoshimura Eto had already decided she was going to sever Byakuya's arm.
She had made up her mind the moment he chose to fight her instead of retreating.
However; Byakuya's Sharingan had already predicted her initial movement.
He saw clearly where she was aiming; his left arm.
Which meant; he simply had to dodge to the right.
After several intense exchanges neither side had landed a single hit on the other.
Byakuya, sensing the stalemate, finally spoke:
"Since neither of us can harm the other-how about we call this a draw?"
Eto did not answer.
Instead she stood in silence, staring at him for a few moments.
Then without another word, she turned around and began walking deeper into the labyrinth.
The battle was over.
She understood the situation perfectly.
If she stayed too long, those CCG investigators who had fled earlier would return with reinforcements.
And in her injured state, she could not afford to be reckless.
Eto had not come to the 24th Ward to ambush the CCG task force; She had simply run into them by chance.
There was no need to force a drawn-out fight.
Watching Eto retreat, Byakuya let out a small sigh of relief.
Truthfully his stamina was already starting to wear thin.
Even with his enhanced physique, having twice the strength of an average human was not as impressive as it sounded.
After all-even in professional mixed martial arts, fighters burn through their stamina in just a single round if they trade full-power punches.
And those were trained athletes.
An ordinary human's endurance was far lower than most would imagine.
Byakuya had just fought an SSS-rated ghoul.
An entity that CCG itself considered their most dangerous adversary.
Every move required absolute focus-Every mistake meant instant death.
The mental and physical exhaustion was overwhelming.
Had Eto refused to back down, Byakuya would have immediately abandoned the system's "Defeat the One-Eyed Owl" mission and escaped with Mado Kasuka instead.
Fortunately-it never came to that.
[Ding! Mission Completed: "Defeat the SSS-rated Ghoul 'One-Eyed Owl'."]
[Reward: +100 Attribute Points]
[Mission Two Completed. Activating Mission Three...]
[Mission Three: Ensure Mado Kasuka's Safe Escape from the 24th Ward.]
[Reward: +10 Attribute Points]
Right then, the system's voice echoed in Byakuya's mind.
Though the battle had not ended with him defeating Eto; the system had counted it as a "victory" since she had retreated first.
However there was still one more mission to complete.
Byakuya had to guarantee Mado Kasuka's survival.
The 24th Ward was still enemy territory.
Even if Eto had left, other ghouls could still attack them at any time.
That said-compared to the One-Eyed Owl, every other ghoul here was practically insignificant.
The difficulty of this mission was low; the reward reflected that.