"..."
Arima Kishou remained silent.
CCG's internal surveillance system was extremely strict; every word spoken could be monitored, and those investigators from earlier had only temporarily withdrawn.
Naturally, he couldn't say anything to Yoshimura Eto.
At that moment, Arima had already retrieved his quinque from the briefcase.
Seeing this, Eto's gaze turned sharp, and the crimson glow in her single kakugan flared as she remained in her kakuja form.
"Then go to hell."
Without hesitation, Eto lunged at Arima.
Although she had grown significantly stronger through multiple instances of cannibalization, her opponent was none other than Arima Kishou, who was currently at the peak of his power.
Even if it were the fully evolved "One-Eyed Owl" from the latter part of the original story, defeating Arima at this stage would still be incredibly difficult.
In her kakuja form, Eto's speed was overwhelming, yet she couldn't even touch Arima Kishou.
Not only was she unable to land a hit, but she was also repeatedly countered by Arima Kishou's quinque.
As long as her kakuhou wasn't directly struck, the regenerative abilities of the "One-Eyed Owl" would keep her from suffering serious damage.
However, Arima's counters were ruthless and precise.
Within just a few exchanges, one of the kakuhou in Eto's kakuja had already sustained damage.
Her defeat at Arima's hands seemed only a matter of time.
However, Arima's goal was merely to repel Yoshimura Eto. Though he was fighting with full force at the moment, he had no intention of dealing a fatal blow in the end.
"..."
Eto found it difficult to accept.
She couldn't even get past Arima Kishou.
The truth was, due to Byakuya having drawn most of the attention before, Eto had never realized that, aside from Byakuya, Arima Kishou was actually the single strongest combatant within the Washuu Clan.
But Eto was unwilling to retreat.
No matter how powerful a half-human was, they still had a mortal body; fragile in the end. If she could land even a single decisive strike, she would win.
"Boom!!"
Just then, a thunderous crash erupted from the side.
A large section of the CCG headquarters' wall had been blown open by some unknown force.
The investigators' attention was immediately drawn to the scene.
Another kakuja-clad "Owl" had appeared.
"Another 'One-Eyed Owl'? …Wait, isn't the 'One-Eyed Owl' already over there? Are there actually two of them?!"
"What's going on?! They look almost identical! No… They're completely identical!"
"Associate Special-Class Arima was already gaining the upper hand against that 'One-Eyed Owl,' but now that another one has appeared, things just got complicated…"
The sudden emergence of a second "Owl" left all the investigators dumbfounded.
They knew that ghouls related by blood could possess similar kakuhou and kagune, but an identical kakuja form was unheard of.
After all, the ability to freely alter kakuja form was something only high-level kakuja users could achieve.
There were very few of them in existence, and the only confirmed ones were Yoshimura Kuzen and Eto; the father-daughter pair.
So it was understandable that the CCG had no intelligence records regarding such an occurrence.
The second "Owl" that had just appeared was, of course, Yoshimura Kuzen.
Just as before, he had mimicked Eto's kakuja form, and it was his ukaku kagune that had just blasted a hole in the CCG's wall.
Yoshimura Kuzen's objective was clear; he ignored the stunned investigators standing there and immediately charged toward Arima.
"..."
A slight ripple appeared in Arima's usually composed mind; he sensed that things were about to get troublesome.
His greatest strength lay in his near-unbelievable reaction speed and agility, allowing him to remain unscathed in battle.
However, fighting one opponent was completely different from fighting two. Maintaining an unscathed state in a one-versus-two scenario was an entirely different level of difficulty.
But rather than worrying about whether he could handle two "Owls" at once, Arima was more concerned that it would now be nearly impossible to stop Eto.
Very quickly, Arima found himself being engaged by the second "Owl," who was none other than Yoshimura Kuzen.
Seizing this opportunity, Eto broke free from Arima's entanglement and charged straight into the depths of the CCG's headquarters.
The ordinary investigators didn't even dare to step forward to block the One-Eyed Owl; they felt that doing so would be no different from throwing their lives away.
So, while they clutched their quinques in their hands, not a single one had the courage to advance.
Arima's gaze darkened slightly.
In terms of pure speed, there was no way he could keep up with the One-Eyed Owl, so all he could do now was put up a show of fighting the "Owl" in front of him.
He could already guess; this "Owl" was likely Yoshimura Eto's father, Yoshimura Kuzen, who had once served V.
The simultaneous appearance of two Owls naturally alarmed the entire Washuu Clan.
If one of them was Yoshimura Kuzen, then who else could the other Owl be?
It could only be Yoshimura Kuzen's child, of course.
And since Yoshimura Kuzen's child with a human woman could only be either a half-human or a half-ghoul…
A kakuja-forming ghoul with a single kakugan, excluding the possibility of an artificial half-ghoul experiment; could only mean one thing: a naturally born half-ghoul!
The Washuu Clan had produced a naturally born half-ghoul before, so they were well aware of their characteristics.
Immediately, V, already stationed in the 1st Ward, was deployed by the Washuu Clan to the CCG headquarters.
On the surface, it was a reinforcement mission for the CCG, but in reality, their true objective was to capture Yoshimura Eto alive.
Meanwhile, Yoshimura Kuzen's battle with Arima was not going well for him.
Especially since Arima was now equipped with S-rated quinques instead of B-rated ones, making his attacks far more lethal.
Yoshimura Kuzen was quickly pushed further into a disadvantageous position; before long, one of his kakuja arms was severed.
"It seems that as of lately, I've been getting my arms cut off a lot…"
Yoshimura Kuzen couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
But he had no intention of retreating; on the contrary, he was actually enjoying the battle.
Given his knowledge of V, he was well aware that this blue-haired young man in front of him was even stronger than Kaiko, making him the top combatant among V's single-unit operatives.
Which meant; he absolutely had to stall this blue-haired youth for as long as possible, giving Eto time to achieve her goal.
Even if he were to die here, it didn't matter.
This was his atonement, a price to pay for a life filled with sin.
Just as these thoughts crossed his mind, a familiar figure suddenly appeared out of thin air in front of him.
"Arima, you can stop now."
That voice instantly made Arima pause in momentary shock.
When he finally focused on the figure's face, he saw that the person standing before him was none other than; Uchiha Byakuya.
"…Mm."
One moment, Arima Kishou had been locked in a fierce battle with the "Owl."
The next, he immediately ceased his attack.
He didn't know how Byakuya had come back to life.
But as long as he was alive; that was all that mattered.
Byakuya then looked at Arima and spoke again:
"It's good that you're here, Arima. It's time to settle things with 'V' once and for all."