Tokyo Ghoul: I am Mad

"A demon... Has a demon descended upon this world?!"

"To think such monsters actually exist in this world—it's unbelievable...!"

"What are you standing there gawking for? Run!!"

"..."

The beach descended into chaos.

Most sensible people immediately scattered and fled. Only a few stood there stupidly watching like spectators.

Almost all of these people had seen videos of the One-Tail Shukaku fighting against the Perfect Susanoo. So the moment they saw the Three-Tails Isobu, they immediately thought of those videos.

Most had remained skeptical about the authenticity of those videos—until they saw the equally massive Three-Tails Isobu with their own eyes...

Some quick-thinking individuals immediately raised their phones to take photos and record videos.

Considering that Eto and Akira were nearby, and to avoid any unexpected incidents, Byakuya decided to end this quickly.

He immediately summoned Susanoo, escalating straight to Perfect form.

As the Perfect Susanoo manifested, many people were left dumbfounded.

Because it was identical to what they'd seen in those videos—the exact same form!

Under the stunned gazes of the crowd, Byakuya, piloting the Perfect Susanoo, cut down the Three-Tails Isobu with a single slash.

[Ding! Host has defeated "Three-Tails Isobu." Reward obtained: Summoning Jutsu (Three-Tails Isobu)!]

After defeating the Three-Tails Isobu, its massive body vanished.

The Perfect Susanoo also disappeared—Byakuya had already returned to Eto's side.

"That was fast. I hadn't even gotten a chance to see that Tailed Beast's abilities before you one-shotted it." Eto sounded somewhat regretful.

"Seeing it in person is far more overwhelming than watching it on video." Akira couldn't help but marvel.

This was her first time witnessing Susanoo's Perfect form in person. A height of two hundred meters was incredibly awe-inspiring to any ordinary human.

Akira was handling it relatively well. Many people just stood there slack-jawed, heads still tilted upward, probably not yet processing that the Susanoo had already disappeared.

"Let's head back to the alternate dimension." Byakuya spoke up.

He then brought Eto and Akira back to the Kamui Dimension. Shukaku and Matatabi came along as well, of course.

Following his usual approach, Byakuya used the Summoning Jutsu to summon the Three-Tails Isobu directly inside the Kamui Dimension.

The massive Three-Tails Isobu materialized out of thin air within the Kamui Dimension.

"Wow, it just appeared out of nowhere." Eto exclaimed in amazement.

"It won't attack us, will it?" Akira's gaze grew wary.

"It won't. It's now in the same situation as Shukaku and Matatabi." Byakuya replied calmly.

"Good, then there shouldn't be any problems." Only then did Akira relax.

The Three-Tails Isobu's first instinct was the same as Shukaku's and Matatabi's had been—upon seeing the human who had attacked it, it wanted to strike back immediately.

But it soon discovered it couldn't.

"..."

Shock appeared in Isobu's eyes.

"It seems you've realized already. You can't attack me—just like the One-Tail and Two-Tails." Byakuya addressed Isobu.

"How did you do this...?" Isobu asked immediately.

"I defeated you, and then you became my summoned beast. It's that simple." Byakuya stated directly. "I just summoned you here. As for the rest, you can have Shukaku and Matatabi explain it to you slowly."

"Before that, please reduce your size to something like theirs."

Byakuya pointed to Shukaku and Matatabi on his shoulders, indicating that Isobu should shrink to their proportions.

Isobu hesitated for a moment, then spoke: "You could force me with a command, couldn't you? But you're not doing that?"

"I don't think it's necessary. If we can communicate properly, that's always preferable."

Byakuya's tone was even.

He knew the Three-Tails Isobu had a relatively easy-going personality. If he hadn't been in a hurry to defeat it, Isobu might not have actively harmed the humans on the beach—unless someone attacked it first.

"Alright..."

Isobu said nothing more.

It thought to itself that things had already reached this point—it had no other choice.

Most importantly, this human's strength was indeed terrifying.

What it was more curious about was that Shukaku and Matatabi seemed to have also become this human's summoned beasts. What exactly was his purpose in doing all this?

Isobu quickly shrank down to the same size as Shukaku and the others, becoming a slightly larger small turtle.

"Human, what are you planning to do next? You've gathered Shukaku, Matatabi, and me together—your goal can't be simple, can it?"

Isobu couldn't help but ask.

In response to Isobu's question, Byakuya candidly revealed his purpose—the matter of the Ten-Tails (Divine Tree) and the Infinite Tsukuyomi.

Hearing this, the Three-Tails Isobu's initial reaction was naturally the same as Shukaku's and Matatabi's had been.

"Don't worry just yet. This is no longer the world you originally came from—this is a different world. The Ten-Tails in this world doesn't mean destruction and calamity. You'll come to understand gradually."

Byakuya reminded it.

"Alright..."

Isobu nodded slightly.

At the same time, it became curious about what he meant by "this world." It had actually come to another world...?

No wonder it couldn't sense any Jinchūriki at all. So that was why.

Though now becoming someone else's summoned beast wasn't much better than being sealed inside a Jinchūriki.

"Let's go outside. I'll show you around this world a bit."

Before leaving, Byakuya asked Akira: "A few minutes' delay should be fine, right?"

Since no one was currently manning the Bureau Director's office.

"It should be fine. I already informed Marude-san and the others that I might step away briefly." Akira said.

"Good then."

Byakuya nodded.

...

At this moment, Byakuya had returned to Japan from the Kamui Dimension.

He strolled through the streets with Eto, Akira, and the Tailed Beasts.

Before long, the Three-Tails Isobu came to understand that this was indeed an entirely different world.

The bustling traffic, the unusual clothing styles—all things Isobu had never seen before.

"Hm? This is actually a good opportunity to show you the special existence of this world."

Just then, Byakuya's extraordinary perceptiveness detected a ghoul in the distance...

A child who appeared to be around ten years old was being bullied by several other children of similar age.

The fatal issue was that he was a ghoul, and his identity had been exposed.

Byakuya didn't see the child's kakugan, so he must have been discovered for some other reason.

Byakuya and the others approached. They could hear the children's chatter and their insults toward the ghoul child, and quickly understood the general situation.

"Eat it! Go on, eat it! Why'd you spit it out?"

"Look at that pathetic face—he must be one of those freaks' kids. Normal people can eat potato chips just fine."

"Go call the police to take him away. I'm scared he'll suddenly eat us."

"What's there to be scared of? There's so many of us—can't we take just one of him?"

"..."

These brats were clearly elementary school students with no real concept of what ghouls were.

They only knew some ghoul characteristics because safety lessons always emphasized these things. But never having faced a ghoul themselves, they had no idea how dangerous ghouls could be.

Though typically, a ghoul child of this age really wasn't capable of much.

The vast majority of ghoul children this young couldn't even manifest their kagune. Without their primary means of attack, they were just slightly stronger physically than humans.

Moreover, many ghoul children didn't dare actively attack humans. Ghouls were originally humans who had mutated, and like humans, they came in all personalities. Most ghouls were fairly kind in childhood; it was only later, for various reasons, that they changed...

Roma Hoito was one of the most typical examples. As a timid child, she only dared to eat carrion and didn't want to harm humans—until one day she accidentally tasted fresh human flesh. From then on, she couldn't stop...

"So he was discovered because he can't eat normal food. Didn't his parents teach him how to fake eating?"

Having grasped the general situation, Byakuya murmured to himself.

"Perhaps his parents are already gone. Among ghouls, that's actually quite common. After all, ghouls prey on ghouls too—so-called 'cannibalism'..."

Eto's tone was flat.

"Ghouls... What are they?" The Three-Tails Isobu, unfamiliar with the situation, couldn't help but ask. "They look exactly like humans, yet they're not human?"

"I noticed 'ghoul' in those documents when watching Byakuya work, but I didn't understand the specific meaning at the time." Shukaku spoke up.

"I remember those documents—many recorded cases of ghouls attacking humans. I didn't realize ghouls looked the same as humans." Matatabi joined the discussion.

"Mm, this world isn't just humans. There's also a species called ghouls." Byakuya explained. "They look almost identical to humans, yet they feed on humans. Aside from humans, they have no other way to satisfy their hunger."

"So they're humanity's enemies?" Isobu immediately asked.

"That's right. The relationship between humans and ghouls is essentially hostile. Though we're gradually working to improve things, it doesn't address the root cause..."

Byakuya nodded.

He didn't elaborate further, as they had now reached the children.

The ghoul boy was being beaten by the other human children, curled up on the ground without daring to resist.

Because if he fought back, his kakugan would activate uncontrollably and expose his ghoul identity beyond doubt. The police would arrest him, or ghoul investigators would come to eliminate him...

The beating hurt, but as a ghoul, he had some regenerative ability—his wounds would heal on their own soon enough.

He hadn't noticed Byakuya and the others' arrival. He simply kept his head protected with both arms, curled up there, waiting for the boys to tire themselves out and leave him alone.

"Stop."

Just then, Akira stepped forward.

The boys immediately stopped and turned to look at her.

"Oh no!"

"What's the problem? We're just teaching an enemy a lesson...!"

Several boys exchanged whispers.

One particularly bold boy spoke up firmly: "This guy's a ghoul. We're not bullying a person."

Akira wasted no words, simply displaying her credentials. "I'm an Associate Special Class Investigator from the CCG. We'll handle things from here."

"Ooh! An investigator lady!"

Learning Akira's identity only emboldened the boys further, thinking the investigator would surely side with them against the ghoul.

But Akira immediately began lecturing them: "Whether human or ghoul, bullying a classmate is wrong. He is your classmate, isn't he? Besides, there's no concrete evidence proving he's a ghoul."

"But... he couldn't even eat potato chips. He looked like he was eating garbage and couldn't help throwing up. That's what ghouls are like." One boy remained unconvinced.

"Setting aside whether that's sufficient evidence—even if he were a ghoul, you can't just bully him. Not only is it wrong, but it could put you in danger."

Akira's face remained expressionless. Combined with her somewhat authoritative, cold tone, the brats quickly became frightened. "If you think I'm wrong, I can speak with your teacher—and have your teacher call your parents for a chat too."

Bringing up the teacher doubled the impact; adding parents doubled it again.

The boys immediately lost their nerve and fled together.

However, the ghoul boy who had been curled up on the ground taking the beating remained huddled there, too scared to get up.

The arrival of ghoul investigators only made him more afraid.

Getting beaten by those boys only meant temporary pain, but being caught by investigators...

Just then, Byakuya extended his hand toward the boy, his voice gentle: "Can you stand up?"

"..."

The boy hesitated, then raised his head to look at Byakuya with eyes full of confusion, panic, and unease.

"Don't be afraid. Or look at my eyes, if you'd like."

Eto spoke up too.

The boy followed her voice and saw a single scarlet eye—one he found achingly familiar.

It was a kakugan, just like his own!

And yet... there was only one?!

...

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