"You're also...?!"
The ghoul boy was stunned.
"That's right. I'm a ghoul—a half-ghoul, to be precise." Eto nodded with a smile.
"But... you're with an investigator and you're still okay?"
"Of course. He's even my boyfriend~"
As she spoke, Eto immediately hugged Byakuya's arm, the picture of intimacy.
"..."
Byakuya instinctively wanted to object, but after thinking about it, decided against it. Not worth the breath.
Akira seemed long accustomed to Eto's personality and showed no reaction.
But the scene before him deeply shocked the ghoul boy.
A human investigator and a ghoul could fall in love—before this, it was something he never could have imagined.
"Come to think of it, you don't recognize me, do you? Actually, the CCG is already cooperating with a certain ghoul organization. If you don't want to continue at your current school, you can attend the Ghoul Investigator Training Academy instead. Ghouls can become investigators too—though the name will probably change eventually, since 'Ghoul Investigators' doesn't quite fit anymore."
Eto mentioned this to the boy.
"...Okay, I want to become an investigator!"
The boy barely hesitated.
Given his current situation, even if his ghoul identity wasn't fully exposed, returning to that school meant more targeting by those boys...
"Then just come with us."
Byakuya spoke up.
"Mm!"
The ghoul boy nodded and immediately followed.
Soon, Byakuya brought the boy to CCG Headquarters.
He bypassed the RC Detection Gate and completed the Academy enrollment procedures for the boy.
The "Academy" now accepted all kinds of children—humans, half-humans, and ghouls alike.
With proper management, human, ghoul, and half-human children could coexist peacefully.
...
Taking advantage of the Tailed Beast challenge cooldown, Byakuya continued showing the three Tailed Beasts around this world.
His purpose was simple: to help Shukaku and the others understand his intentions.
Learning more and more about this place, the Tailed Beasts came to grasp the general situation of this world.
"The Infinite Tsukuyomi... can actually turn ghouls into humans?"
The Three-Tails Isobu was somewhat surprised.
Not just Isobu—Shukaku and Matatabi were also unfamiliar with the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Presumably, the timeline they came from hadn't yet revealed the "Eye of the Moon Plan."
"If that's the case, it really would solve the problem at its root."
Isobu appeared to understand Byakuya's reasoning now.
"Mm, so next up are the Four-Tails through Nine-Tails..."
Byakuya murmured.
...
[Ding! Host has purchased "Tailed Beast Challenge Scroll (Four-Tails Son Goku)." 800 Fusion Points deducted. Current remaining Fusion Points: 4,520!]
Once the 24-hour cooldown ended again, Byakuya immediately purchased the Four-Tails Son Goku challenge scroll.
Since the summoning location was in a certain Eastern country, we won't elaborate here.
Suffice to say it was another instant kill by Byakuya—no surprise there.
[Ding! Host has defeated "Four-Tails Son Goku." Reward obtained: Summoning Jutsu (Four-Tails Son Goku)!]
Following the same procedure as the previous three Tailed Beasts, Byakuya summoned Son Goku inside the Kamui Dimension.
This was a massive ape largely covered in red, wearing a headband resembling the Monkey King Sun Wukong's golden circlet. After all, the Four-Tails Son Goku was modeled after the Monkey King himself.
By the time Byakuya returned to the real world, the Four-Tails Son Goku had already shrunk down as requested.
...
[Ding! Host has purchased "Tailed Beast Challenge Scroll (Five-Tails Kokuō)." 1,000 Fusion Points deducted. Current remaining Fusion Points: 3,520!]
[Ding! Host has defeated "Five-Tails Kokuō." Reward obtained: Summoning Jutsu (Five-Tails Kokuō)!]
...
[Ding! Host has purchased "Tailed Beast Challenge Scroll (Six-Tails Saiken)." 1,200 Fusion Points deducted. Current remaining Fusion Points: 2,320!]
[Ding! Host has defeated "Six-Tails Saiken." Reward obtained: Summoning Jutsu (Six-Tails Saiken)!]
...
By the time Byakuya defeated the Seven-Tails Chōmei, he had only 920 Fusion Points remaining.
This was because he hadn't been actively earning points these past few days.
He still needed to challenge the Eight-Tails Gyūki and Nine-Tails Kurama. His current Fusion Points definitely weren't enough.
Therefore, Byakuya decided to temporarily pause the Tailed Beast challenge plan and focus on accumulating Fusion Points.
Acquiring Fusion Points didn't require anything too deliberate.
Currently, Byakuya had seven Tailed Beasts on his person, carried with him every day.
Shukaku and Matatabi still occupied his shoulders, while Isobu perched on his head—its shell looking like a hat Byakuya was wearing.
Since Tailed Beasts were made of materialized chakra, no matter how much they moved around on Byakuya, they wouldn't actually dirty anything.
The Four-Tails Son Goku hung off him like an accessory.
The Five-Tails was rather aloof, and its horse-like form couldn't hang on Byakuya like the Four-Tails, so it simply walked alongside him on the ground.
The Six-Tails Saiken, resembling a slug, could easily attach itself anywhere on Byakuya's body.
Lastly, the Seven-Tails Chōmei was a beetle with six wings and one tail—hence "Seven-Tails"—looking like a cross between a beetle and a dragonfly.
Since shrinking didn't mean reverting to childhood, Chōmei hadn't transformed back into its larval pupa form. It had simply proportionally reduced its adult insect form.
Going to work every day with so many miniature Tailed Beasts naturally attracted many colleagues' attention.
If not for being on work time—and not daring to slack off in front of the Bureau Director—they probably couldn't have resisted wanting to get closer for a look, or even touch those little Tailed Beasts.
Of course, they didn't know about the Tailed Beasts' existence. They were simply fascinated by these unusual, strangely-shaped little creatures they'd never seen before.
"So now there are seven Tailed Beasts. According to what you said before, that just leaves the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails, right?"
In the Bureau Director's office, Akira looked at all the Tailed Beasts on Byakuya and spoke.
"Mm, but I'll need some time to prepare." Byakuya replied.
The Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails challenge scrolls required 1,600 and 1,800 Fusion Points respectively. Then the Gedo Statue summoning jutsu required 500 Fusion Points.
These Fusion Points wouldn't actually take long to gather, and then the preparations for the "Infinite Tsukuyomi" would be nearly complete.
But... Byakuya's Fusion Progress was still at Lv5. Lv6 should be the maximum level, requiring another 10,000 Fusion Points—though this was just a matter of time; he'd accumulate them eventually.
What he could confirm was that the system's modified version of the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique would unlock at Lv6...
...
As the Tailed Beast collection plan temporarily concluded, Byakuya's daily routine returned to normal.
The two most common ways to earn Fusion Points were: everyday activities, and battles against ghouls and Dragon Orphans.
But unbeknownst to Byakuya, undercurrents were stirring elsewhere...
"Byakuya, what's going on? Why have you suddenly become the 'incarnation of a demon'?"
While Byakuya was leisurely reading in his study, Rize Kamishiro suddenly walked in and said something that momentarily confused him.
"Incarnation of a demon? What's that about?"
Byakuya was puzzled.
Rize held up her phone in front of him. "Look at this—nearly every news headline is about you. You're trending on YouTube and tons of other sites too."
She'd felt something was wrong the moment she saw the news. A quick check of various websites confirmed it—news about Byakuya dominated the trending topics everywhere.
"..."
Byakuya fell silent for a moment. He already roughly understood what was happening.
Because the news articles and video thumbnails were all images captured from his battles with the Tailed Beasts.
Having challenged so many Tailed Beasts, some footage of him was bound to be captured. Moreover, this seemed like deliberate targeting...
"Many of the shots and video angles look very professional. This probably isn't coincidental..."
Byakuya said calmly.
"I agree. Is someone deliberately manufacturing public opinion?" Rize speculated.
"Perhaps. But don't worry about this—it's getting late. You should get some rest."
Byakuya's expression remained serene as he showed concern for Rize.
Her belly was growing larger now. Their daughter would be born before long.
So he paid extra attention to Rize's condition, checking on her practically every day—to the point where even Rize found it annoying.
"You really are something else. You're already like this now; once our daughter is born, who knows how you'll be. She's definitely going to be spoiled rotten by you."
Rize teased him.
"It won't be that bad. I definitely won't spoil her excessively."
Byakuya laughed.
"I'll go rest then."
Rize rose and left Byakuya's study.
Though this public opinion issue had blown up quite significantly, strength was king. She believed Byakuya had the absolute power to resolve everything.
Only after Rize closed the study door did a trace of gravity appear on Byakuya's face.
He wasn't worried or afraid about this matter—what concerned him was who was behind the manufactured narrative...
Incarnation of a demon...
Perhaps... this was laying groundwork for something?
Byakuya had no leads for now.
He could roughly guess who might be responsible, but couldn't be certain.
So he stopped overthinking it, merely keeping his guard up internally.
...
"Did you hear? Those massive monsters in those videos were all summoned by CCG Bureau Director Amaha Byakuya."
"What? So those videos are real? I always thought they were fake."
"It's hard not to believe now. Lots of official media outlets have released related news and videos. Unless they're all conspiring to trick us."
"Look, look at this! Someone secretly filmed Bureau Director Amaha carrying those monsters around with him. They've shrunk countless times, but the shapes basically match."
"He really is the incarnation of a demon, walking around with those monsters everywhere. Just looking at it is terrifying..."
"..."
In this era of developed internet, rumors about the "incarnation of a demon" spread rapidly worldwide. Even many residents of Tokyo already knew about it.
While this posed no threat to Byakuya, it was still a bad development—especially the damage to his reputation, which would obstruct progress toward human-ghoul peace.
Byakuya was essentially the figurehead leading human-ghoul peace efforts. If his reputation became "incarnation of a demon," trust would naturally erode.
At least his CCG colleagues still trusted him, not believing he was some "incarnation of a demon."
But when they saw those little Tailed Beasts on him, they still felt a bit...
Given the circumstances, Byakuya had no choice but to publicly address this.
"These little ones... are indeed my partners now, but since they appeared, they haven't harmed a single person."
At an emergency CCG assembly, Byakuya spoke with a calm expression: "As for the narrative manufactured by those with ulterior motives, I hope everyone here will view it rationally."
From the One-Tail to the Seven-Tails, each had been instantly defeated by Byakuya, naturally having no opportunity to harm humans.
After becoming his summoned beasts, harming humans was even more impossible.
The assembled investigators were willing to believe what the Bureau Director said.
After all, they'd been seeing him carry those little Tailed Beasts around for more than just a day or two, and nothing had happened anywhere in Tokyo involving those creatures attacking humans.
Present weren't just investigators—various media reporters were there too. They would spread the contents of Byakuya's speech.
However... rumor spreads with a single word, while refutation takes a thousand.
Byakuya didn't expect this public address to successfully clear his name. He simply wanted to reassure those who were willing to trust him.
Moreover, he wasn't planning to say much more—he already had a countermeasure in mind.
That was to lure the snake from its hole...
...
Meanwhile, certain figures behind the scenes were watching this CCG broadcast.
They were Cabinet Ministers—Japan's most powerful individuals.
Byakuya's emergence had severely damaged their interests.
Especially the Washuu Clan matter. If it were exposed, their power and positions would be threatened.
So they had long been coordinating with foreign powers, waiting for an opportunity to target Byakuya. This sudden global appearance of those monsters was the perfect chance.
The Cabinet Ministers behind the scenes, including the Prime Minister himself, were all quite pleased about this development.
"Still trying to clear his name? It's completely pointless. He has no idea that very soon, America will launch a global counter-terrorism operation against him."
...
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