"I'm not looking down on you. I just don't want you in danger."
Byakuya spoke honestly.
"I don't care. I'm going to fight alongside you no matter what. What's a little danger? I won't be scared off by that."
Eto refused to back down.
Having clawed her way out of Ward 24 as a child, she truly didn't care about so-called danger.
"Fine, there's nothing I can do about you. I don't want to force you either—just make sure you protect yourself when the time comes."
Since Eto insisted, Byakuya said nothing more.
"Don't worry. I have a decent understanding of modern military capabilities."
Eto nodded. "Besides, I want to help share some of your burden..."
Eto sighed softly.
She hadn't expected that after dealing with the Washuu Clan, they'd face an even greater crisis.
Confronting the entire American military was a threat on a completely different level from the Washuu Clan.
"Will you be fighting alone then?"
Eto asked.
"Mm, I'll use wood clones to defend each district. The main battlefield will be in Ward 1—that's where the enemy will concentrate most of their forces."
Byakuya had already begun formulating his strategy.
"And those Dragon Orphans? We're just going to leave them?"
Eto immediately caught on.
"That's right. We'll use them to create more chaos for the enemy. Besides, with Tokyo's residents evacuated, we won't have to worry about Dragon Orphans harming civilians."
Byakuya nodded.
The Dragon Orphans were essentially mindless, strength-type ghouls—simple-minded but physically powerful.
The key was their numbers. American soldiers would struggle to deal with them without heavy weapons. Standard rifles and pistols couldn't kill Dragon Orphans.
"Since we're about to evacuate Tokyo's residents anyway, Dragon Orphan incidents won't be a concern."
Eto nodded in agreement with this approach.
...
"I've laid out the situation. Whether you want to fight alongside me or evacuate to another city is entirely your choice."
At :re coffee shop, Byakuya addressed the assembled group.
Yoshimura, Eto, Kaya Irimi, Touka, Hinami, and others were all present—including Aogiri Tree's main executives. Even Rize had come despite her prominent belly.
"Didn't I tell you to rest at home? Why are you here too, Rize..."
Byakuya couldn't help asking.
"How could I miss such an important meeting?" Rize said coolly. "Besides, I've told you countless times—I'm not that fragile."
Since most people present had already heard about Rize's pregnancy through various channels, seeing her with her large belly didn't elicit much surprise.
"Fine, fine."
It was time to get to the main topic. Byakuya shifted the conversation: "So about the matter at hand..."
He proceeded to detail the current situation: the Cabinet's collusion with the American government, America's designs on the underground world's Dragon, and the impending large-scale war...
What he wanted to convey was that everyone could decide for themselves whether to follow him into battle or evacuate to other cities.
Truthfully, Byakuya would prefer everyone to evacuate—he alone was enough to face America.
But Eto absolutely refused to leave. He decided to simply let the Akatsuki Organization fulfill its purpose.
Even if casualties occurred, he had ways to bring people back.
However...
Rize was the one exception where Byakuya absolutely wouldn't compromise.
She was about to give birth. How could he possibly let her participate in such a battle?
"So you're casting me aside after all?"
Rize's expression clearly showed displeasure.
"This isn't about casting you aside—I'm worried about you."
Byakuya said immediately. "No matter what, I won't budge on this point."
Even though he could later use the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique to resurrect the dead, he absolutely did not want to see any harm come to Rize and their daughter in her belly.
"Alright."
Seeing how resolute Byakuya was, Rize knew he wouldn't agree and dropped the matter.
Though she wanted to help him, his concerns weren't wrong either. With a baby in her belly, she couldn't act recklessly.
"Ryouko-san, Hinami, I'll leave Rize in your care when the time comes."
Byakuya turned to address Ryouko Fueguchi and Hinami.
"Don't worry, I'll take good care of Rize-san." Ryouko smiled.
"..."
But Hinami fell silent.
Because she too wanted to help Byakuya-oniichan, even if her combat ability wasn't impressive.
She knew her abilities could be useful.
"Byakuya-oniichan, I don't want to evacuate. I want to fight with everyone!"
Finally, Hinami spoke her mind with a serious expression.
"Hinami..."
Byakuya pondered for a moment.
Hinami's special sensory ability could indeed be tremendously useful on the battlefield—like detecting enemy movements from a distance, functioning as a human early warning radar.
"Ryouko-san, what do you think?"
Byakuya asked Ryouko.
He felt Hinami could participate, but her mother's opinion came first.
"If Hinami wants to fight alongside everyone, then let her." Ryouko expressed her stance.
If she didn't still need to look after Rize, she too would want to stay and help Byakuya.
After all, she owed Byakuya so much—this was also why she permitted Hinami to join the battle.
"But Hinami, you absolutely must be careful."
Naturally, Ryouko still worried about her daughter.
"And I definitely won't let anything happen to Hinami."
Byakuya assured her.
...
Apart from Rize and Ryouko due to special circumstances, everyone else chose to stay and fight alongside Byakuya.
This included the elderly Yoshimura.
And so, the Akatsuki Organization, which had grown peaceful, would once again stir up a storm.
Next came the Aogiri Tree members' decisions.
Upon learning they'd be fighting the American military, many Aogiri Tree members fled in terror.
Fighting the American military made their previous conflicts with CCG seem like child's play.
In the original story's Rushima Landing Operation—CCG's final assault on Aogiri Tree's Rushima headquarters—ordinary Aogiri members had fled in droves even before the battle began.
Tatara hadn't punished those deserters, instead remaining alone at headquarters to complete what he could.
Fundamentally, Aogiri Tree's thousand-plus members were mostly rabble without strong cohesion—they'd scatter on their own when facing an insurmountable foe.
Still, half the members chose to follow Byakuya. As for those who fled, Tatara didn't make things difficult for them—Byakuya had said in advance that everyone had the right to choose.
Beyond Aogiri Tree, the CCG also responded.
Compared to Aogiri Tree, the CCG investigators weren't much better—after all, few people aren't afraid of death.
Especially the lower-ranked investigators. When they learned they had a choice, most opted to evacuate.
The rest chose to stand with Byakuya and defend Tokyo.
Their battle plan was to hold defensive positions, using each district's CCG Branch Office as a strongpoint and distributing combat power across the districts.
"Preparations are mostly complete. Now we need to evacuate Tokyo's residents. We can also temporarily ignore the Ward 24 Dragon Orphans."
In the meeting room at Ward 1 Headquarters, Byakuya spoke.
Currently, the CCG—led by Byakuya—essentially controlled Tokyo.
Strength was king. Even though those Cabinet ministers were the true power holders, they couldn't wrest control of Tokyo from Byakuya.
"So... we'll use those Dragon Orphans to make the battlefield more chaotic?"
Marude speculated.
"Exactly. Those Dragon Orphans may lack intelligence, but their bodies are quite durable—they can take a magazine of bullets without going down. They'll cause plenty of trouble for the American military."
Byakuya nodded.
Dragon Orphans were essentially mindless, strength-type ghouls—simple-minded but physically powerful.
The key was their numbers. American soldiers would need heavy weapons to deal with them; standard rifles and pistols couldn't kill Dragon Orphans.
"So with Tokyo's residents about to be evacuated, we won't need to worry about Dragon Orphans harming civilians."
Marude nodded in agreement.
"There are 23 wards total that need personnel allocation. Would it be better if we concentrated all our forces in Ward 1?"
At this point, Koori Ui suggested.
His concern was that distributing forces across all 23 wards would leave them vulnerable to being defeated one by one.
"That's unnecessary. With just 23 wards, my 'forces' are sufficient."
Byakuya replied calmly.
"Your forces...?"
Ui was puzzled.
Could he mean the Akatsuki Organization?
But even with Akatsuki, they still didn't have enough people...
"..."
Byakuya said nothing, instead casting the Multiple Wood Clone Technique.
Almost instantaneously, twenty-two wood clones identical to himself appeared behind him.
Including his main body, that made exactly twenty-three.
Even with this many wood clones dividing his power—meaning the more clones summoned, the more power was distributed—it was more than enough to handle the American military.
"These are... all your clones, Director?!"
Ui was stunned.
The other Special Class investigators present were equally astonished.
This was their first time witnessing Byakuya create so many clones at once.
"Yes. That should be enough personnel."
Byakuya smiled.
"...That's definitely enough."
Ui couldn't deny it.
"Director, you really should have said so earlier! You had me worried sick from the start."
Marude immediately patted Byakuya's shoulder.
Learning they'd be fighting America had genuinely terrified him.
After all, forget the CCG—even all of Japan was nothing but a lapdog before America. The American military was a completely different class of enemy from ghouls or Dragon Orphans.
Yet despite this, he hadn't fled, instead voluntarily serving as Deputy Commander.
Only now did Marude finally relax.
Byakuya could station himself at every position. If each clone matched Byakuya's full strength, then defeating America might actually be possible.
"Byakuya, will we all be stationed in Ward 1?"
Kiyoko Aura asked.
"Mm, the enemy's primary target is me, so they'll likely concentrate most of their forces in Ward 1."
Byakuya replied. "However, Kishou and Squad Zero will need to support Warden Haisaki in Ward 23. Cochlea Prison is also an important point—the enemy may attack it to create chaos."
"Understood."
Arima nodded expressionlessly.
"Besides Marude-san, the Deputy Commanders will be Akira Mado, Kureo Mado, and Matsuri Washuu—four total."
Byakuya announced.
The Commander-in-Chief was naturally himself.
After all, this was an unprecedented, district-wide mega-operation spanning all of Tokyo, with the American military as the enemy. Four Deputy Commanders probably still weren't enough.
...
Simultaneously with the CCG press conference, personnel across all districts were evacuating civilians with police assistance.
Relocating them to cities beyond Tokyo.
Even though those Cabinet geezers opposed Byakuya, they didn't dare openly obstruct civilian evacuation.
Their position was already precarious due to their past dealings with the Washuu Clan.
If they again ignored Tokyo's civilians as they had a century ago, they'd never keep a lid on things this time. So they had to arrange personnel in other cities to coordinate with the evacuation.
This was also within Byakuya's expectations.
The evacuation lasted several days. Even ghouls were evacuated alongside the civilians.
But except for certain ghouls on the whitelist—like Ryouko, Rize, and others—the remaining ghouls would temporarily be placed under restrictions, forbidden to move freely in other cities and required to regularly receive RC suppressant treatment.
...
The day after the evacuation concluded, America—as if timing things precisely, or perhaps due to informants—immediately dispatched forces against Tokyo.
All three branches of the military mobilized, launching a special military operation against Tokyo in the name of "counter-terrorism."
In short, the CCG led by Byakuya had been labeled "terrorists," with those seven creatures constantly following Byakuya around serving as ironclad evidence.
At this moment, Byakuya sat in the command center, counting on his fingers and sensing the time was about right.
Limbo: Border Jail...
As Byakuya activated this Rinnegan technique, four invisible shadows appeared behind him—unseen by ordinary eyes.
Under Byakuya's direction, each of the four shadows used the Kamui left eye to open spatial portals.
Their destination: American soil...
...
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