Byakuya soon arrived at Building 7.
Even from downstairs, he could hear combat on one of the upper floors—investigators fighting ghouls.
He quickly made his way to that floor and, sure enough, spotted the masked Ayato Kirishima.
Though the mask concealed his face, his build and clothing were highly distinctive.
"Rank 1 Amaha!"
Seeing that an elite from the Special Countermeasures Unit had finally arrived as backup, the investigators present felt their spirits lift.
"Fall back. I'll handle this. Go support Special Class Kuroiwa and the others."
Byakuya spoke calmly.
No one would disobey such an order. They obediently withdrew.
They'd all heard that Rank 1 Amaha had repelled the One-Eyed Owl—no unnecessary worries about him.
"..."
Recognizing the investigator from their last encounter in Anteiku, Ayato's fury ignited.
But he didn't dare act rashly—their last meeting had taught him a painful lesson.
He immediately signaled his subordinates to swarm Byakuya, hoping numbers might wear him down. After all, humans generally lacked ghoul-level stamina.
Watching them approach, Byakuya said flatly: "You've experienced this once before and still haven't learned? Very well... let me make it sink in this time."
His utterly dismissive tone infuriated Ayato.
But no amount of anger would make him as reckless as before.
Suddenly, Byakuya tossed his case containing "13's Jason" into the air. Most of the ghouls' attention immediately followed the rising case.
In that instant, Byakuya was among them.
He didn't even use his Quinque—pure taijutsu to crush these ghouls.
Since Aogiri had sent most of its main forces to assault Cochlea in Ward 23, the Ward 11 stronghold had only Noro, Ayato, and the Bin Brothers among its executives—leaving mostly B and C-rated ghouls.
Byakuya could easily crush B-rated ghouls with taijutsu alone.
In the blink of an eye—before the case even hit the ground—several nearby ghouls had been sent flying in all directions like toys.
One was kicked toward Ayato, who casually kicked it aside, letting it slam into the wall. Ghouls could take a beating.
Clang—
The case hit the floor. Only a handful of ghouls remained standing.
They were momentarily paralyzed with shock—this was their first time seeing a human fight ghouls barehanded.
"Useless trash!"
Ayato cursed and released his ukaku, firing feather-like kagune projectiles at Byakuya.
A mere S-rated like Ayato couldn't compare to the manager's ukaku—he posed no threat to Byakuya.
Byakuya simply sidestepped, letting the feathers pass harmlessly behind him.
Soon the remaining ghouls were down as well.
"Now it's your turn."
Byakuya turned his gaze to Ayato.
Ayato let out an irritated "Tch."
His heart was already racing. Last time he'd been beaten with a Quinque; this time his opponent had demonstrated incredible hand-to-hand combat.
But his pride wouldn't let him admit fear. He tore off his mask and charged at Byakuya. "Close combat is actually my specialty!"
"...You want to dance too?"
Byakuya remarked coolly.
Seeing that his opponent wasn't using a Quinque, Ayato apparently decided against using his kagune—he wanted a fair one-on-one brawl.
But within moments, he realized he couldn't land a single hit. His youth and pride made him more desperate with each miss, pushing himself into a frenzy.
Ayato's movements looked fast but were flashy without substance—lacking the unpredictability that made attacks truly dangerous. Given his childhood, he could only have been self-taught.
Byakuya read each move from its inception—even without the Mangekyo Sharingan active, he had more than enough to handle Ayato.
Then Byakuya threw a counter-punch, striking Ayato square in the right cheek.
Ayato flinched from the pain. Before he could recover, a knee strike—hands gripping the back of his neck—drove into his face. With Byakuya's strength, several of Ayato's teeth shattered and flew out.
"Gah!..."
Never beaten this badly before, Ayato's mind went blank. He couldn't believe his close-combat skills were inferior to a human's.
Next, Byakuya seized Ayato's throat with one hand and drove him into the ground.
"You're Touka Kirishima's little brother, right? Don't you know your sister worries about you? And here you are playing house..."
Byakuya pinned Ayato down casually.
Ayato didn't respond—he could barely breathe.
When he tried to pry Byakuya's hand off his throat, Byakuya's free hand moved—classic ground-and-pound.
Without any professional grappling defense, Ayato took the full force of the blow.
With a dull crack.
His nose collapsed. Blood poured down Ayato's face.
"Oh, I get it now. You want to protect your sister, don't you? That's why you're working so hard for Aogiri Tree."
Byakuya saw right through him.
"What the hell are you talking about?!..."
Unable to admit the truth, Ayato erupted, releasing his kagune. Being beaten this badly had pushed him past his limit.
Byakuya rose and dodged the sudden kagune attack without changing expression.
Even now, he had no intention of using Jason. Calmly evading the high-frequency kagune attacks, he continued in his flat tone: "When that 'drag queen' and the Bin Brothers showed up back then, you were worried they might hurt your sister, weren't I right?"
Ayato still wouldn't admit it. Enraged and humiliated, he unleashed everything he had.
"Playtime's over..."
This time, Byakuya didn't dodge. He drew the Gunbai from his back, absorbing every feather-shaped kagune projectile completely.
The Gunbai converted absorbed attack energy into wind-natured energy—essentially a piece of equipment that could reflect at least 100% of damage received.
Uchiha Reflection!
"...What?!"
Facing the terrifying gale sweeping toward him, Ayato couldn't react in time.
The next moment, he lay bloody and battered amid rubble, the surroundings utterly devastated.
"How pathetic. Now you can't even dance."
Though Byakuya's tone was flat, to Ayato it felt like pure humiliation. But he truly couldn't move now.
Just then, Noro appeared before Byakuya without warning—clearly intending to retrieve Ayato at his feet.
"Go ahead."
Byakuya showed no surprise and even spoke politely to Noro.
...
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