[Ding! The host has defeated an "SS-rated ghoul."]
[Reward: 40 attribute points!]
The system classified the half-kakuja's level, as the CCG had little detailed intelligence on the ghouls living in the depths of the 24th Ward.
After tearing out the ghoul's Rinkaku kagune, Byakuya repurposed it as a temporary weapon for his Susanoo.
It was essentially an unrefined Quinque, not as convenient or durable as a properly crafted one, but still powerful enough for combat.
Gripping the severed Rinkaku with Susanoo's hand, he reversed his grip and impaled another Labyrinth officer through the abdomen, pinning him to the ground.
However, higher-tier ghouls were notoriously tenacious; this one didn't lose the ability to fight.
With a grotesque twist of his body, a tail-like Ukaku kagune emerged from his kakuhou, coiling around the Rinkaku that impaled him. With brute force, he ripped it out of himself.
In the next instant, kagune erupted from his body in increasing numbers. A quick glance revealed at least four or five kakuhou, and within seconds, a massive amount of kagune engulfed his entire form.
This ghoul was definitely at the kakuja level.
However, his fully transformed kakuja form was cramped within the narrow passage, severely limiting his movement.
Unlike the "One-Eyed King," who could simply break through the walls of kagune above.
At the same time, the other three officers sprang into action, all of them entering half-kakuja form.
Anyone who had risen to the rank of officer in Labyrinth was at least a half-kakuja.
"Die!!"
They launched a combined assault on Uchiha Byakuya.
The kakuja officer in particular had a massive cannon-like structure on his chest, formed from a dense mass of kagune.
It was created by Ukaku kakuhou releasing kagune in the shape of a barrel.
Originally, he was born with a Bikaku kagune, but after engaging in cannibalism to reach kakuja status, he had also gained an Ukaku.
"Boom!"
The cannon fired a high-density RC cell projectile. The recoil alone forced the kakuja officer back a step.
It looked like a devastating attack but in the end, the projectile passed straight through the One-Eyed King as if he weren't even there.
Instead, it slammed into the mechanism-embedded walls behind him.
In an instant, three of the five kagune walls were blown apart.
At that very moment, Eto now in her full kakuja form tore through the last two layers of kagune walls.
She barely avoided colliding head-on with the incoming projectile. Fortunately, it had already lost momentum after destroying the third wall.
However, the Labyrinth officers were too focused on attacking Byakuya to notice that the "One-Eyed Owl" and the Aogiri Tree members were about to storm in.
Yet, no matter how many times they attacked, their kagune never touched the "One-Eyed King", they passed straight through his body.
"What the hell?! Why can't we hit him?!"
"Damn it! What kind of fucking ability is this?!"
"This isn't good! We have no choice, we need to fall back to the second defensive line!"
The Labyrinth officers finally realized something was wrong and immediately attempted to retreat.
"Is that all you're capable of?"
Byakuya spoke indifferently.
His Mangekyō Sharingan suddenly gleamed with a blood-red glow, and in the next instant, two spatial vortexes formed simultaneously.
Each vortex appeared right at the necks of two half-kakuja officers.
Unlike a single Kamui, Dual Kamui could open multiple spatial distortions at once, though at the cost of significantly greater energy consumption.
"This is..."
Before the two half-kakuja officers could even process the strange sensation of spatial distortion, their heads had already been twisted off.
As their severed heads hit the ground, they were immediately rendered incapable of fighting.
With their regeneration abilities, their heads wouldn't be growing back anytime soon, especially since the spatial vortex had completely erased their necks, leaving behind nothing but empty space.
Even if their allies tried to reattach their heads, it would be impossible for them to recover quickly.
[Ding! The host has defeated an "SS-" rated ghoul. ]
[Reward: 30 attribute points!]
[Ding! The host has defeated an "SS-rated ghoul."]
[Reward: 40 attribute points!]
At that moment, Eto and the others arrived just in time to witness the scene.
Another impossibly bizarre and overpowered ability.
Their hearts trembled with shock.
Immediately after, Byakuya repurposed the Rinkaku kagune he had taken earlier.
Using Susanoo's two massive arms, he gripped two severed Rinkaku strands and drove them straight into another half-kakuja officer's kakuhou, impaling him completely.
[Ding! The host has defeated an "SS-" rated ghoul.]
[Reward: 30 attribute points!]
Now, all four half-kakuja officers of Labyrinth had been defeated by Uchiha Byakuya.
Only one opponent remained, the full kakuja.
However, upon seeing the situation turn disastrous, the kakuja officer made a decisive choice; he ran.
The passage was narrow, and those blocking his retreat were mercilessly trampled underfoot. Some were even crushed into pulp as he barreled through them.
With their officers either dead or fleeing, the remaining Labyrinth grunts completely lost their will to fight.
Panic spread like wildfire, and they all scrambled to escape as fast as possible.
Yet, Byakuya didn't immediately pursue them.
They were already trapped, cornered prey in a sealed environment.
There was no need to waste the energy of Dual Kamui just to chase them down.
At this moment, he deactivated Susanoo.
If left active, it would continuously drain his RC cells.
Even after such a brief battle, more than half of his RC cells had already been consumed.
"You're not going after them right away?"
Eto approached and asked him.
"No rush. Let's deal with these ones first."
Byakuya glanced at the four half-kakuja officers lying on the ground, barely clinging to life.
They weren't completely dead yet.
Eto and her people could handle them from here.
Whether they chose to kill or recruit them, Byakuya did not care in the slightest.
"Alright then..."
Without a word of hesitation, Eto devoured all four officers' kakuhou.
With their kakuhou eaten, regeneration was impossible. Death was now inevitable.
"These guys had a stench I despise," Eto commented after finishing.
She had encountered them once when she was younger, she had hated them ever since.
Now, this was just her settling an old score.
"It's fine."
Byakuya nodded slightly.
He figured there was probably some past grudge between them.
In the grand scheme of things, Aogiri Tree didn't need these four half-kakuja, especially since the system's mission required a headcount, not strength level.
More importantly, with Eto devouring four SS-rated kakuhou, her strength would increase significantly.
Keeping around four potentially untrustworthy individuals wasn't worth it when Eto's power could be boosted instead.
Sure enough, moments later, another kagune sac emerged on Eto's body.
The additional kagune enlarged her kakuja form even further.
Once she had enough kakuhou and kagune mass, her full kakuja form would evolve into something resembling her canonical monstrous transformation, something far beyond the normal appearance of any other ghoul.