"Kishou, I'll leave the other ghouls to you. Those two SS-rated ones are mine."
The moment he stepped into the abandoned church, Uchiha Byakuya spoke to Arima Kishou, who was walking beside him.
"Understood."
Arima Kishou nodded slightly.
He didn't mind what level of ghouls he had to face.
At that moment, Uchiha Byakuya ran his left hand across his eyes, subtly concealing the brief flash of his Mangekyō Sharingan, while his right hand caught the Quinque suitcase that emerged from a spatial vortex.
But this time, the suitcase was gold for the SSS-rated "Owl."
It might have been overkill, but he wanted to end this quickly.
Seeing that Byakuya had drawn "Owl" right away, Arima was slightly surprised.
It seemed Byakuya had some prior connection with the ghoul leaders here.
The two of them walked just a few steps into the abandoned church before a large number of ghouls emerged from all directions, surrounding them.
"Good afternoon, gentlemen and of course 'Doves.'"
A figure wearing a white, almost featureless mask stepped forward from among the ghouls.
This mask was also the origin of his alias; "No Face."
Standing beside Uta was another masked man, his face hidden beneath a Crow-shaped mask; Yomo Renji.
Byakuya instantly recognized Uta.
Aside from the mask, Uta's body was covered in distinctive tattoos, making him very easy to identify.
"Good afternoon."
With that, Byakuya immediately lunged at Uta and Renji while simultaneously drawing one of the "Owl" blades from the golden suitcase.
At the same time, Arima also readied his Quinque "Yukimura 1/3," preparing to handle the other ghouls.
At first, Uta treated it like a game and didn't even bother deploying his kagune.
Renji, on the other hand, assumed that Uta alone could easily deal with these two seemingly young ghoul investigators, so he didn't feel the need to intervene.
However, in the blink of an eye, their opponent was already upon them, and the weapon in his hand didn't look like something they could afford to take lightly.
"Oh?"
It was only now that Uta realized his opponent was no ordinary investigator.
Renji reacted quickly, releasing his ukaku kagune and firing a barrage of its blades toward Byakuya, much like "Owl" would.
But compared to the "Non-Killing Owl" and the "One-Eyed Owl," Renji's attack was far inferior.
Whether in terms of power, speed, or density, it couldn't compare to those two SSS-rated Owls.
For Byakuya, who had fought multiple battles against the two "Owls," dodging this was effortless.
"Don't let your guard down!"
Seeing how easily his attack was avoided, Renji immediately warned Uta.
"I know, Mr. Crow."
Uta had no choice but to take this fight seriously. Clearly, the CCG had sent a formidable enemy this time.
"Mr. Crow" was Uta's nickname for Renji, due to the Crow-shaped mask he always wore.
As Uta and Renji exchanged words, the SSS-rated Quinque "Owl," shaped like a longsword, was already swinging down toward them.
Uta immediately deployed his rinkaku kagune to block the attack.
The defining characteristic of a rinkaku was its tough, scale-covered surface, combined with incredibly high regenerative abilities and offensive power.
Rinkaku ghouls typically had strong physical capabilities and excelled in combat flexibility, though their main weakness was their lack of defense.
This was also why, in the original story, Kaneki Ken was often either overpowering his enemies or being overpowered himself; his sheer attack power had destroyed Quinques of various levels multiple times.
Uta's rinkaku kagune extended forward, taking on a shape akin to a fishing hook; clearly suited for offense.
But attempting to block an SSS-rated Quinque, like "Owl" was obviously impossible.
Uta releaseda a total of three rinkaku kagune to intercept the attack; all three were severed in a single slash!
Feeling the sheer power of this Quinque, Uta instantly realized; it was absolutely SS-rated or even SSS-rated.
"A ghoul investigator capable of wielding such a weapon… Could he be a Special Class Investigator?"
At that moment, Yomo Renji swiftly pulled Uta away from "Owl's" strike and said in a heavy tone, "Go all out, or we won't stand a chance."
"Yeah…"
Uta no longer dared to underestimate this opponent.
For him, going all out meant a half-kakuja transformation.
In the next instant, multiple kagune arms sprouted from Uta's back.
Each arm bore intricate tattoos, and the kagune extended all the way to his head, though they did not fully cover his body, this was his half-kakuja form.
Since the black-clad investigator was too fast, and half-kakuja transformation required a brief moment to complete, Yomo Renji moved to buy Uta some time by unleashing a surge of purple electricity toward Uchiha Byakuya.
Both Renji and Hikari Kirishima possessed a lightning attribute kagune, a rather broken ability.
However, this purple electric current had no effect on Byakuya, it was completely blocked by "Owl."
Though "Owl" wasn't the most defensive Koukaku type Quinque, an SSS-rated ukaku was still more than capable of providing formidable defense.
But Renji had achieved his goal; he had bought Uta just enough time.
"Come, let's fight… Investigator-san…"
By now, Uta had fully completed his half-kakuja transformation, but he was also partially losing control.
His mind was hazy, and his voice carried a hint of madness.
"Alright."
Uchiha Byakuya responded indifferently.
He deliberately exposed an opening, baiting Uta to devour him.
Uta immediately extended one of his kagune arms, seizing Byakuya by the ankle.
Byakuya allowed himself to be pulled in, and a massive kagune mouth formed around him, preparing to consume him whole.
But before Uta could swallow him down, he was forced to swallow "Owl" instead.
Byakuya, gripping "Owl," stabbed it straight through Uta's mouth, piercing deep and destroying one of the kakuhou on his back.
Rinkaku ghoul kakuhou were usually located around the waist, but kakuja hybrids and full kakujas who had engaged in significant "cannibalism" often developed additional kakuhou in other areas.
With his head temporarily disabled and one of his kakuhou critically damaged, Uta, already in an unstable half-kakuja state lost even more of his rationality.
He completely forgot about the real enemy in front of him.
Instead, his instincts drove him to attack the one he was most obsessed with; Yomo Renji.
"I want… I want to eat you… Hehehe…"
"You idiot!"
Renji cursed in fury.
A half-kakuja Uta was already hard enough to deal with. If he went berserk, both of them would die; especially with an even more dangerous investigator standing right there.
But what Renji didn't expect was a flash of steel that streaked before his eyes.
In an instant, Uta was sliced in half at the waist, his kakuhou destroyed.
Having suffered one devastating blow after another, Uta could no longer regenerate.
He lay on the ground, barely alive yet not quite dead.
[Ding! The host has successfully completed "Mission 1: Defeat Uta of the 'Clowns.'"]
[Reward: 50 Attribute Points!]
[Mission 1 complete. Activating Mission 2…]
[Mission 2: Infiltrate the 23rd Ward Ghoul Detention Center "Cochlea" and release the first-generation 'Clown King,' "Dodgy Mother" Hoito Roma.]
[Mission Reward: 100 Attribute Points!]