"Alright then, Furuta, take care of yourself."
Kamishiro Matasaka spoke with concern for Furuta.
"Mm, you don't need to worry about me."
Furuta nodded slightly.
"That's that, then. Rize and I will be heading back now."
Before leaving, Kamishiro Matasaka said one last thing to Furuta:
"It seems like there's some kind of misunderstanding between you two. Once we get back, I'll have a proper talk with Rize."
"Thank you, Kamishiro-ojisan."
Furuta responded politely.
After Rize and Kamishiro Matasaka left, Furuta's face still showed no clear sign of regret.
However, what was truly going on in his mind, no one could say.
"From today onward, your name will be Washuu Nimura. Stop using the branch family's surname."
At that moment, Washuu Tsuneyoshi addressed Furuta.
The surname "Furuta" was the branch family's name, and it was also his mother's surname.
Now, there was no longer any need for him to bear the name "Furuta."
"Alright."
Washuu Nimura nodded in agreement.
At the end of the day, Washuu Tsuneyoshi was still relying on the underground world's "Dragon" to help the Washuu Clan stage a comeback.
Declaring Furuta as the "King of the Washuu Clan" was just one part of that long-term strategy.
After all, until their comeback succeeded, internal struggles within the Washuu Clan were meaningless, for now, they had no choice but to obey Uchiha Byakuya.
After the latter reached an agreement with the Prime Minister, the evacuation of Tokyo's civilian population was immediately set into motion.
However, in the face of an impending disaster that had yet to occur, some civilians were naturally unwilling to cooperate.
Fortunately, Uchiha Byakuya had already mobilized "Aogiri Tree" to systematically stir up unrest across various districts of Tokyo, they began staging demonstrations and disruptions.
To put it simply, they were scaring people into evacuating, but without causing actual casualties.
On the CCG's side, Special-Class Investigator Marude Itsuki and other high-ranking officers coordinated with Byakuya's plan.
They instructed lower-ranking investigators to avoid direct conflict with Aogiri Tree's ghouls, unless those ghouls harmed civilians.
"Special-Class Marude told us to ignore Aogiri Tree's ghouls. Did you guys get the same notice?"
"Yeah, same here. Looks like this large-scale operation by Aogiri Tree is being directed by Uchiha Byakuya himself. I'm guessing it's to assist the Prime Minister's evacuation efforts..."
"Speaking of which, the Prime Minister's actions this time were really abrupt. The justification wasn't all that convincing, yet he's ordering the complete evacuation of Tokyo."
"There's still a lot we ordinary folks don't understand. Let's just trust Uchiha Byakuya's decisions."
"..."
By now, most of the CCG personnel were well aware that their current Bureau Director and Chief Representative, Uchiha Byakuya also held another identity; he was the "One-Eyed King" of Aogiri Tree.
Although this truth felt somewhat strange,
it was still a far better alternative than being under the rule of the Washuu Clan.
Tokyo, 1st Ward
A certain ghoul faction was currently under attack by Aogiri Tree.
"One-Eyed Owl! What the hell are you people thinking?! You're actually naive enough to believe in coexistence with humans?!"
The leader of the ghoul faction roared in rage and disbelief at the figure before him—the One-Eyed Owl.
"You don't need to understand any of that. You only need to make one choice; submit, or die?"
Aogiri Tree's Yoshimura Eto, already in her kakuja form, spoke calmly.
"The ones who will die are you!"
Clearly, their opponents refused to submit.
In that case, Eto had no reason to show mercy.
There would be no more chances given.
Although Ward 1 had a large number of ghouls, there were no particularly powerful ones, otherwise; they would have already been eliminated by the Washuu Clan's V.
At present, Eto was undeniably the strongest ghoul, so slaughtering the ghouls in Ward 1 was as easy for her as cutting down vegetables.
Moreover, Eto had deliberately expanded the battlefield to public streets, places where many civilians could see.
In doing so, Aogiri Tree could not only occupy Ward 1 but also instill fear in the civilian population of the ward.
After a round of "cannibalism" in Ward 1, Eto acquired another kakuhou.
Her current kakuja form was already significantly larger than Yoshimura Kuzen's form from this same period.
And she was no longer content with her original kakuja appearance.
For the first time, Eto remodeled her own kakuja appearance, transforming into the form she had in the original story, now looking even more monstrous.
The One-Eyed Owl.
If we were to speak of the most terrifying and unique kakuja, then this form of the One-Eyed Owl was in a league of its own.
The fundamental reason lay in Eto's absolute strength and her unrestrained imagination.
Of course, in the latter part of the original story, the One-Eyed Owl's form was even more of a masterpiece.
However, at the moment, Eto's RC cells and kakuhou had not yet reached the level of the original story's later stages, at best, she had simply developed ahead of schedule, reaching the stage she would have in the early parts of the original, which was to say, ten years in the future.
Under Eto's leadership, Aogiri Tree swiftly took over Ward 1, facing virtually no resistance.
They also generated enough panic to make the civilians of the first Ward willing to follow the Prime Minister's instructions and evacuate Tokyo under the protection of police and CCG investigators.
Within just a few days, it had proven highly effective.
The vast majority of civilians had already evacuated Tokyo.
As for the very few who still insisted on staying in Tokyo, Byakuya had neither the time nor the patience to go persuade them one by one.
If they insisted on courting death, then no one could stop them.
Meanwhile, the CCG, the 20th Ward (Anteiku), and Aogiri Tree, all these factions had already established their own defensive lines, in preparation for the upcoming "Battle to Defend Tokyo".
Byakuya had not publicly revealed anything about the Dragon but he had already informed them that an extremely powerful enemy would soon appear.
Back at the Washuu estate, Washuu Tsuneyoshi and the others were only now becoming aware that the entire Tokyo area was being evacuated.
At this moment, two men were seated face to face, discussing the matter.
"Looks like the Prime Minister already knows about the 'Dragon'... I just don't know if he figured it out himself or someone told him..."
Washuu Tsuneyoshi said in a low voice.
"Hard to say... But there's no reason Uchiha Byakuya should know about our plan."
Washuu Yoshitoki responded.
"Let's hope so..."
Washuu Tsuneyoshi sighed.
Right now, both Tsuneyoshi and Yoshitoki were unable to leave the Washuu estate, so there was no way for them to confirm the actual situation.
But regardless, things had already reached this point and the underground "Dragon" was destined to awaken.
"Where's Nimura? Is he still reading?"
At that moment, Washuu Tsuneyoshi suddenly asked about Furuta.
"Mm. You can clearly tell he's putting in a lot of effort to prepare for the role of the 'King of the Washuu Clan.'"
Washuu Yoshitoki nodded.
When he heard Furuta say he wanted to read every book in the library, he had been utterly shocked.
Most of the books in the Washuu Clan's library were far from ordinary.
Yoshitoki himself had lost interest after reading only a few, finding them dry and boring.
Washuu Tsuneyoshi said: "That's fine too. What happens next will depend on whether the Washuu Clan can successfully make a comeback..."