The man's first reaction was to mistake Amahane Byakuya's Sharingan for "Kakugan," leaving him momentarily stunned.
Ghouls could generally distinguish their own kind by scent.
The boy clearly smelled like a normal human, so how could he have "Kakugan"?
There was one possible explanation, though: if a ghoul lived among lots of humans every day, their scent could become muddled with human scents, making them difficult to identify.
He felt that was probably the case here...
The man abruptly slammed on the brakes, seemingly abandoning his plan to attack Amahane Byakuya. Instead, he cursed, "Fuck, just my luck! I thought a 'meal' had delivered itself right to me, but you're one of us!"
He looked thoroughly disgruntled, because ghoul flesh was different from human flesh.
Ghouls had unusual taste buds. Not only did normal food make them nauseous, but the flesh of their own kind also tasted awful. Human flesh, on the other hand, was delicious to them.
Furthermore, preying on humans made them stronger, replenishing and even increasing the essential "rc cells" in their bodies.
Although eating their own kind-the practice known as "cannibalism"-also provided "rc cells," it tasted far worse than human flesh. Besides, few ghouls were willing to pursue strength so obsessively that they resorted to cannibalism.
That was why this fellow felt so unlucky after mistaking Amahane Byakuya for another ghoul.
"Get the hell out of here. This is my 'Ghoul Feeding Ground.' If you dare come anywhere near it again, I'll tear you apart!"
The man spoke to Amahane Byakuya in an extremely hostile tone.
As the name suggested, a "Ghoul Feeding Ground" was a place where ghouls preyed on humans. Many ghouls claimed feeding grounds exclusively for themselves. Stronger ghouls generally secured larger territories in better locations, turning those areas into private domains.
Trespassing on another ghoul's private territory could easily trigger a vicious fight to the death.
That only applied if the intruder was also a ghoul, however. Amahane Byakuya was not one, so the so-called rules of "Ghoul Feeding Grounds" had nothing to do with him.
If he could still swallow his anger after being provoked like this, wouldn't that make him a "Ninja Turtle"?
Amahane Byakuya said nothing in response. Instead, he consumed the chakra within his body to perform the D-Rank Ninjutsu "Body Flicker Technique."
That was right-he had chakra in his body. Otherwise, he would not have been able to use ninjutsu.
Some of that chakra came from his Level 1 Hashirama cells, while some belonged to Madara Uchiha. The two had already merged into one, so there was no need to distinguish between them.
Using the "Body Flicker Technique," Amahane Byakuya instantly appeared behind the ghoul. Had his opponent not already charged almost right up to him, the D-Rank "Body Flicker Technique" would not have allowed him to move very far instantaneously.
There were many varieties of the Body Flicker Technique, and the D-Rank version was naturally the lowest-ranked and most basic.
Instantaneous movement was no longer simply a question of speed-it left ordinary people unable to react at all. The ghoul could not react in time either.
Great Fireball Technique!
Amahane Byakuya silently invoked the technique, unleashing the C-Rank Fire Release Ninjutsu "Great Fireball Technique."
As chakra gathered in his throat, he spat out a fireball. The small ball of fire rapidly swelled into an enormous one, engulfing the ghoul ahead in scorching flames.
Even though he had never learned it, he successfully performed it on his first attempt, as though he had already mastered the ninjutsu.
Although the "Great Fireball Technique" had a rather awkward track record in Naruto-a hugely popular Fire Release Ninjutsu that almost never actually hurt anyone, always getting dodged, absorbed, or blocked in all sorts of ways-its power was still formidable when taken seriously.
When the ghoul sensed something was wrong and turned around, he saw a gigantic fireball rushing straight at him. His eyes widened in terror...
"Gaaaaaah-!!"
The ghoul immediately screamed as the intense heat burned him.
A ghoul's physical defenses were far stronger than a normal human's. Ordinary weapons, such as kitchen knives, could barely hurt them. Even so, they could hardly withstand the terrifying heat of the "Great Fireball Technique."
There was one problem, however: ghouls also had extremely powerful regenerative abilities, making them difficult to kill in a single strike. As a result, Amahane Byakuya's attack had failed to kill this ghoul.
Seeing this, Amahane Byakuya promptly picked up a crowbar from the ground nearby, also known as the "Sacred Sword of Physics."
A ghoul's physical defenses were indeed difficult to penetrate with ordinary weapons, and a crowbar certainly fell into that category. But enough brute force could work wonders.
He had Madara Uchiha's Taijutsu. Although it amounted to little more than a fraction of the basics, it should be enough for now.
Amahane Byakuya suddenly exerted his strength, relying entirely on brute force as he smashed the crowbar into the ghoul's bikaku kagune.
Already scorched by the intense heat, the kagune was naturally no longer as incredibly tough as usual. His full-force blow fractured it.
The ghoul was in agony from the burns. No matter how strong his physical defenses and regeneration were, he could still feel pain, leaving him completely unaware of how dire his situation had become.
Amahane Byakuya immediately followed up with another "slash," this time snapping the kagune clean off.
He switched weapons, replacing the "Sacred Sword of Physics" in his hand with the severed kagune.
In this world, there was a type of weapon specifically designed to fight ghouls, called a "Quinque." It was actually made from a ghoul's kakuhou and kagune. The key was that kagune possessed tremendous destructive power and hardness.
That made this thing perfectly usable as an improvised weapon, one that would only be more powerful than the "Sacred Sword of Physics."
More precisely, their power was not even on the same scale. Having lost his kagune, which served both offense and defense, the ghoul instantly had his body pierced by Amahane Byakuya wielding it against him, as effortlessly as slicing through iron like mud.
Inside his body, at the base of the kagune, was an organ called the "kakuhou," the most important organ a ghoul possessed. Amahane Byakuya destroyed it outright, dealing the ghoul a fatal wound.
His screams gradually faded. He lay on the ground, barely clinging to life, and it was only a matter of time before he died completely.
Perhaps only in the final moment of his life did he bitterly regret provoking someone he should never have crossed.
[Ding! The host has defeated a "B-Rank Ghoul" and received a reward: 5 Fusion Points!]
Hearing this system notification, Amahane Byakuya immediately realized that fighting ghouls could also earn him fusion points.
This was naturally excellent news. He now had more ways to grow stronger.
At that moment, Amahane Byakuya opened the system panel with a thought and took a look. He found that the [Fusion Points] field had already reached 87, meaning he needed only 13 more points for his fusion progress to advance to Level 2.
When that happened, all his abilities would surely improve across the board, and his Sharingan would definitely no longer have just one tomoe...
Before you continue