”I am going…
to eat you!”
Yamori roared, launching himself back toward Kenji.
In his half-kakuja form, Yamori’s raw power and speed had surged, but his cognitive function was spiraling into chaos.
He was nothing more than a beast, operating entirely on predatory instinct.
Slash!
Yamori swung his kakuja-arm toward Kenji, the force of the strike cutting through the air with a shrill whistle.
But an S-rank was still just an S-rank.
Even in this transformed state, he was nowhere near the level of an SS-rank.
Kenji already held attributes equivalent to an SS-rank ghoul, and on top of that, he had a massive advantage in tactical experience and advanced combat mechanics.
Yamori’s attack didn’t even register as a threat.
Kenji stepped to the side, slipping past the attack, and launched a sharp, brutal kick toward Yamori’s head.
Just then, Tatara, who had been watching from the sidelines, made his move.
He had realized that Kenji was a massive problem.
Yamori was clearly outclassed; if he didn’t intervene, Yamori would be beaten into a corpse by Kenji’s relentless pace.
A streak of crimson tail-kakuja lashed out at Kenji—it was Tatara’s weapon.
Kenji’s internal alarm bells went haywire.
He reacted on pure reflex, launching himself into the air to dodge.
The moment his feet left the ground, Tatara’s attack smashed into the space he had just occupied.
”So fast!”
Kenji’s pupils contracted.
He blurred, flashing through the air to put distance between himself and Tatara, his expression turning grave.
”Is this the speed of a top-tier SS-rank ghoul?”
Thankfully, Tatara didn’t seem interested in chasing him down.
He ignored Kenji for a moment, using his tail to wrap around the half-kakuja Yamori and drag him back to safety.
Yamori was a total mess, lashing out at everything nearby, but held firmly in Tatara’s grip, he was rendered completely immobile.
”Who are you?”
Tatara stared at Kenji, his calm eyes brimming with murderous intent.
Kenji didn’t bother answering.
He whipped his two daggers into the air—one held in a standard grip, the other in reverse—and vanished.
A split second later, Kenji reappeared directly behind Tatara.
He didn’t slow down for a millisecond, driving his blade straight toward the back of Tatara’s skull.
Clang!
Clang!
The daggers met Tatara’s tail, sending sparks flying in every direction.
They traded blows, their pace accelerating into a blur of violence.
Tatara’s tail was incredibly resilient, whipping through the air like a lethal lash.
Kenji kept his movements tight, using his two daggers to form a defensive shell that kept his body covered.
But Tatara’s regeneration was a nightmare; every cut Kenji carved into the tail sealed shut within seconds.
This won’t work.
I need a different angle.
Kenji knew that if he let Tatara dictate the tempo of the fight, he would be forced into a defensive rut.
His gaze flicked toward his pickup truck parked nearby.
A plan formed instantly.
Wide attack range, unpredictable patterns, and insane regeneration.
Fine.
I’ll flood the field with smoke, force him to close the distance, and land a hit that his regeneration can’t keep up with.
In a single heartbeat, Kenji mapped out the sequence.
Finally, spotting a tiny gap in Tatara’s movement, Kenji surged forward.
Tatara stepped back, but Kenji abruptly pivoted, sprinting toward his truck.
He didn’t care about the risk; he grabbed a stash of explosives, grenades, and smoke canisters.
”Only躲避?
If this is all you have, you are going to die here.”
Tatara’s voice boomed, but Kenji ignored him, ripping the pins on his smoke canisters and hurling them into the air.
Tatara reacted instantly, lashing out with his tail to pop them mid-air, but it was too late.
Thick, choking smoke flooded the area, blanketing the zone.
”Smoke?” Tatara frowned.
Kenji didn’t stop.
He threw the rest of the canisters, then began circling Tatara at high speed.
Tatara was faster, and his overall stats were higher.
But Kenji knew that a fight wasn’t just a math equation based on stats.
Tatara stood his ground, his eyes calm, trying to pin down Kenji’s silhouette inside the smog.
As a top-tier SS-rank, he was genuinely baffled by this human who used neither a kakuhou nor a quinque.
He was desperate for intel—was this guy sent by a specific organization to target Aogiri?
He refused to kill him until he knew who he was dealing with.
The smoke grew thicker.
Using his tail to attack blindly was useless now.
Tatara chose to hold his position, waiting for Kenji to commit.
He was confident that his speed was enough to render Kenji’s strikes harmless.
Whoosh!
A figure materialized behind Tatara, moving faster than before.
It caught Tatara off guard.
By the time he sensed the movement and tried to shift his weight, Kenji’s blade was already screaming toward his head.
Tatara dodged by a hair’s breadth.
Rip.
Kenji’s blade sliced through the fabric of Tatara’s mask.
A three-centimeter gash opened on Tatara’s cheek, and warm blood began to drip, soaking into his collar.
”This guy!”
Kenji’s assault didn’t pause.
His heart rate spiked, and he triggered his [Overload] state.
His top three attributes skyrocketed to 121.
The sound of his violent heartbeat was so loud that even Tatara, standing right in front of him, could hear it.
Splat!
Kenji seized the lead, mastering the rhythm of the duel.
Tatara was forced to wrap his tail around himself to create a defensive barrier.
A faint smile touched Kenji’s lips.
The daggers were just a distraction.
The real threat was the explosive he had tucked away.
Click.
He sparked the fuse on the high-grade explosive and, while Tatara was busy sealing his defenses, Kenji tossed the charge directly inside.
”What?!”
Tatara’s pupils shrunk as he realized what had just landed inside his cocoon.
Kenji dove away.
A split second later, a deafening explosion shattered the area!
Damn, I had to burn [Overload] for that.
Kenji felt a pang of frustration, but it was necessary to swing the tide of battle.
As the smoke cleared, Tatara’s mangled body was revealed.
Red energy surged over his skin as his kagune frantically forced his regeneration into overdrive.
Kenji dug his heels in, gathered his strength, and launched himself like a rocket.
But just then, an ethereal, chilling voice drifted into his ear.
”You are quite impressive~”
Kenji’s internal alarms exploded.
One name flashed in his mind: Eto Yoshimura.
No way.
The Heavenly Restriction template is only at 30%.
I’m not ready to handle her yet…
[Overload] won’t last much longer.
Even if Tatara and Yamori are heavily wounded, I have to retreat.
Kenji didn’t hesitate.
He whipped his dagger backward behind his head.
Eto, standing right behind him, simply tilted her head.
The blade whistled past her cheek, missing by a fraction.
”Who are you, really?”
Eto’s ethereal voice echoed again.
Kenji didn’t answer.
He accelerated, spinning his body to drive his other dagger straight toward her skull.
Rip.
The bandages on Eto’s face tore away, leaving a tiny scratch.
The surprise was evident in her eyes; she finally looked a little serious.
Kenji used the momentum of the dagger swing to rotate his hips, funneling every ounce of his remaining strength into his right leg.
He delivered a heavy, crushing kick directly into Eto’s small frame!
Boom!
Eto’s pupils dilated under her bandages.
Her body was sent flying like a cannonball, smashing deep into the frame of a distant, abandoned building.