Saving Rize Kamishiro

Amahane Byakuya hesitated for a while over the three choices before him.

From a purely rational perspective, the first choice was undoubtedly the best.

After all, "option two" would offend Furuta Nimura, while "option three" was even less sensible.

Amahane Byakuya had already gained abilities by fusing with Madara Uchiha. Undergoing experiments to become an artificial half-ghoul would be entirely redundant.

Not only would it offer him little benefit, it also carried enormous risks.

Early in the original story, Akihiro Kanou had used Rize Kamishiro as a donor in over a thousand experiments. Only three subjects-Ken Kaneki, Kurona Yasuhisa, and Nashiro Yasuhisa-had truly succeeded, gaining new lives as "artificial one-eyed ghouls." The success rate was a mere 0.25%.

There was no way Amahane Byakuya would take that risk just to become an artificial half-ghoul and gain 50 fusion points. A failed experiment would leave him dead or crippled, and the failure rate was absurdly high.

As for the problem with "option two," the reason it would offend Furuta Nimura was that he had orchestrated the "Falling Steel Beam Incident" himself.

According to Furuta Nimura's own account in the original story, he had helped Rize Kamishiro gain her freedom. Yet after escaping the Washuu Clan, she had shown no concern for him, caring only about seducing men wherever she went and feeding on them.

So Furuta Nimura had taken revenge on Rize Kamishiro by deliberately arranging the "Falling Steel Beam Incident," turning her into an experimental donor who suffered every moment of every day.

On the surface, it seemed to stem from Furuta Nimura's obsessive, petty personality. Amahane Byakuya, however, believed that was merely his excuse.

Looking deeper, it was clear that Furuta Nimura had long been filled with pessimism and despair toward this world. Even if Rize Kamishiro had never done those things, everything he later planned would still have happened.

His goal was simple and direct: to destroy the world. Whether joining the "Clown Organization" or turning Rize into an experimental donor, everything he did laid the groundwork for "becoming the Dragon."

He had even deliberately helped push Ken Kaneki onto the throne late in the original story. On the surface, he seemed to oppose Ken Kaneki right to the end, but certain details offered clues: he had been preparing for two possible endings from the very beginning.

The first was to use the "Dragon" to destroy the world completely, turning all humans into ghouls through "dragon poison gas."

The second was for Ken Kaneki to defeat him and kill the "Dragon." As both the One-Eyed King and the world's savior, Ken Kaneki would command immense prestige, allowing him to establish a temporary, relative peace between humans and ghouls.

Furuta Nimura himself probably preferred the ending where the world was destroyed. After all, turning every human into a ghoul would thoroughly resolve the conflict between humans and ghouls, and there were ways to address the food problem as well.

Of course, these were all Amahane Byakuya's speculations, without any particularly reliable evidence.

In any case, Furuta Nimura had to create the "Dragon," or neither ending could come to pass.

That made Rize Kamishiro, the "Washuu" with the purest bloodline, the only possible experimental donor. Only the Washuu bloodline could "become the Dragon," and he also needed to artificially create a half-ghoul who carried Rize Kamishiro's Washuu blood.

Historically, a natural-born half-ghoul had emerged from the Washuu Clan, known as the true "First One-Eyed King." He was the only one who had successfully "become the Dragon." Everything Furuta Nimura did followed the First One-Eyed King's path to becoming the Dragon, making Rize a necessary sacrifice.

As for Furuta Nimura's personality, it was hard to say whether he was truly that petty.

If he really had been intensely possessive of Rize Kamishiro and that petty, Ken Kaneki would have died during the "Falling Steel Beam Incident." Taking revenge on this "romantic rival," who had no backing whatsoever, would have been child's play for Furuta Nimura.

All things considered, saving Rize Kamishiro now would mean interfering with Furuta Nimura's plan to "become the Dragon." Amahane Byakuya would inevitably offend him.

"I really can't let it go..."

After weighing it over and over, Amahane Byakuya still decided to return and save Rize Kamishiro.

He did not deny his double standard. If some other ghoul he did not know had tried to eat him or even cruelly toy with him, forget saving them-he would have killed them if he could.

But this was Rize Kamishiro, someone he found tragic and pitiable.

Rize Kamishiro's life after becoming an experimental donor had been miserable. She had been kept alive on a nutrient solution that barely provided enough nourishment, since ghouls' powerful regenerative abilities kept them from dying easily.

She had endured countless experiments and had her "kakuhou" organs extracted countless times. The physical torment, coupled with going so long without eating human flesh, had eventually driven Rize Kamishiro into incoherent madness.

In the end, she had become the core of the "Dragon," finding release only when Ken Kaneki killed her.

When Amahane Byakuya had seen Rize Kamishiro meet that end, he had personally found it deeply hard to accept.

Now that he had transmigrated into this world himself, how could he not change the things that had left him with regret and dissatisfaction?

Amahane Byakuya soon returned to where Rize Kamishiro lay.

The scene before him was gruesome. Rize Kamishiro was trapped beneath several steel beams and had already lost consciousness.

He used all his strength to move the steel beams off Rize Kamishiro one by one. Fortunately, possessing Madara's Taijutsu had also given him physical capabilities far beyond those of an ordinary person. Otherwise, steel beams this heavy would have been impossible for a normal person to move.

Before any passersby could discover Rize Kamishiro and call the police, Amahane Byakuya picked her up and quickly left the scene.

Before leaving, he glanced up at the top of the construction site, but saw no sign of Furuta Nimura.

It seemed Furuta Nimura had already left. He just did not know whether Furuta Nimura had seen him rescue Rize Kamishiro...

There was no need to do anything to stop the bleeding. Rize Kamishiro's regenerative abilities were far stronger than those of ordinary ghouls, and her wounds would soon heal on their own.

With nowhere else to go, Amahane Byakuya took Rize Kamishiro straight back home.

[Ding! The host has completed option two. Reward received: 10 fusion points!]

He laid Rize Kamishiro on the bed, then sat beside her, patiently waiting for her to heal and wake up.

Rize Kamishiro had been feeding frequently, so her body had no shortage of rc cells, and her regeneration was quite fast. Amahane Byakuya did not have to wait long before she woke up.

The instant Rize Kamishiro opened her eyes and saw Amahane Byakuya, she remembered being knocked unconscious by the steel beams. She instinctively assumed that he had ambushed her.

She sprang to her feet, her kakugan appearing as four rinkaku kagune burst from her waist.

Seeing that Rize Kamishiro had woken up, Amahane Byakuya reminded her calmly, "Calm down. I'm the one who saved you."