Dimensional Kaguya Ōtsutsuki

Touka Kirishima panted heavily, her chest rising and falling with each breath, fine beads of sweat forming on her forehead.

Fighting against a ghoul with a ukaku kagune required immense speed and endurance. While her attacks were relentless and precise, they had failed to land even a single decisive blow. Her opponent had simply dodged and weaved, avoiding every strike without counterattacking. Even so, Touka was beginning to feel the strain on her body.

"It looks like I'll have to end this quickly."

Clenching her teeth, Touka planted her foot firmly on the ground and lunged forward in a flash. In the blink of an eye, she closed the distance and swung her fist, carrying the sharp force of a gale, aiming directly at her opponent.

Just as her strike was about to connect, a delicate hand appeared as though materializing from thin air, catching her wrist mid-swing.

At some point, Kaguya had moved in close, now standing directly in front of her.

So fast.

Touka's pupils constricted in shock.

Even faster than a ghoul using a ukaku kagune.

"I have to commend your determination and courage," Kaguya said, a smirk tugging at her lips. "But these attacks of yours are meaningless to me. As an opponent, you're far too inexperienced."

"Arrogant," Touka growled, letting out a cold snort. She pivoted sharply on one foot, her body twisting in a fluid motion as she unleashed a high kick aimed at Kaguya's head.

"Too inexperienced," Kaguya murmured with a soft chuckle. She yanked on Touka's wrist with a sharp pull, causing Touka to lose her balance and stumble forward. Before she could react, she fell straight into Kaguya's arms.

Touka's heart skipped a beat as she immediately sensed the danger. She struggled to break free but realized that both her wrists had been locked in Kaguya's grasp. Simultaneously, Kaguya slipped a leg between hers, pinning her movements and rendering her unable to kick effectively.

"Don't waste your energy," Kaguya's familiar voice whispered in her ear. "With your current strength, you're no match for me. All you're doing is mounting a futile resistance."

"Dammit, let me go!" Touka squirmed desperately, her struggles resembling a fish out of water. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't free herself.

"As far as I recall, we don't have any grievances with each other," Kaguya said, her tone curious. "Why are you attacking me?"

"Ghouls like you..." Touka began, her voice filled with hostility. "There's no need for any reason."

"Oh?" Kaguya chuckled softly. "So you think ghouls and humans are inherently enemies?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Touka retorted with a cold snort. "It's nothing more than a relationship between predator and prey."

"And do you think you're the predator or the prey?" Kaguya asked, her voice carrying an amused edge as she felt the smoothness of Touka's skin beneath her grip.

"Hmph." Touka turned her head away, refusing to meet Kaguya's gaze. "I lost. There's nothing more to say. Go ahead and kill me."

"Kill you?" Kaguya asked, raising an eyebrow. "Why would I kill you?"

"Humans and ghouls are mortal enemies," Touka said with bitter conviction. "It's in your nature to kill humans. You won't stop until we're all wiped out, right? That's just how you are."

Kaguya didn't reply. Instead, she released her hold on Touka and took a step back, smiling faintly. "I think you've misunderstood something."

Touka felt her body suddenly freed and hesitated for a moment before quickly retreating, moving back to a safe distance. She eyed Kaguya warily and said in a low voice, "What do you mean? If you think you can use me to achieve some unspeakable secret, don't even dream of it."

"Someone like you is nothing more than a small fry," Kaguya said with a mocking smile. "Even if I wanted to, using you would feel pointless. There's no sense of accomplishment in a challenge like this. So, unless you grow stronger, don't bother coming to me."

"What?" Touka gritted her teeth, glaring at Kaguya with barely contained anger.

"Am I wrong?" Kaguya shrugged casually, her tone dripping with scorn. "To put it plainly, you're just too weak. Weak enough that I have no interest in exploiting you. Get stronger, and then we'll talk."

"Bastard, you—" Touka started, but something dawned on her mid-sentence. Narrowing her eyes, she asked in a low voice, "You're planning to let me go, aren't you?"

"I thought I made that clear," Kaguya said with a soft chuckle. "I'm not so desperate as to waste time on you."

With that, Kaguya smirked faintly, cast her a glance, and turned to leave.

Touka bit her lip, her hands clenching into fists. Suddenly, she shouted angrily, "I don't need your pity, nor your fake magnanimity, you shameless bastard!"

"Oh? Is that so?" Kaguya paused mid-step.

"Isn't it?" Touka sneered coldly. "You're nothing but a lapdog for the CCG, doing their bidding. What's there to be so smug about?"

"And what do you gain from provoking me?" Kaguya asked, turning to face her.

"Just stating the truth," Touka replied with a cold smirk. "What's wrong? Did I hit a nerve?"

Kaguya's steps halted. Slowly, she turned around, her brows furrowed, and her gaze icy. "I was planning to let you go, but it seems you don't know what's good for you. If you don't need mercy, then come on."

"You think I'm afraid of you?" Touka snapped, letting out a derisive snort.

Before she could say more, Kaguya moved. In a blur, she crossed the distance like an arrow released from its bow, appearing in front of Touka in an instant.

So fast!

Touka's pupils contracted as she hastily retreated. Her crimson kagune unfolded behind her, forming elegant wings. In a split second, sharp crystalline shards shot out from her kagune, like a deadly rainstorm aimed at Kaguya.

"Child's play," Kaguya muttered disdainfully. Her eyes, calm as a still lake, suddenly gleamed with the brilliance of stars, slowly spinning as if reflecting the entire cosmos.

"Amaterasu," she murmured.

As her words echoed, black flames erupted on the kagune's crystalline shards, consuming them with terrifying intensity.

"What?" Touka's eyes widened in shock.

Before the shards even reached Kaguya, they disintegrated into ash—or rather, they were obliterated entirely, leaving no trace behind.

Touka stared in disbelief. Kagune were known for their incredible durability, able to withstand extreme heat and corrosive substances. It was part of what made ghouls so formidable. Yet, what she had just witnessed defied all logic.

A searing pain brought her back to her senses. Looking down, her pupils shrank in horror.

Black flames had ignited on her clothes.

A tearing sound like splitting silk echoed through the air. The fabric ignited by the black flames fluttered briefly before being completely consumed, vanishing into nothingness before it even touched the ground.

Touka retreated rapidly, backing away more than ten meters before finally coming to a stop. Her wide eyes reflected both shock and disbelief as she stared at the black-haired girl before her.

Had she not acted decisively to rip away the burning parts of her clothes, she might have ended up like the now-nonexistent remains of her outfit—reduced entirely to ash.

These black flames were incredibly bizarre. Her kagune had only brushed against them for an instant before igniting without warning. The fire didn't falter or die out but instead spread rapidly, flaring up almost instantaneously. Even now, the memory of it left a lingering chill in her heart.

What in the world was that?

Could it be some secret weapon developed by the CCG?

She had heard whispers about experimental projects within the CCG, and perhaps this was it. If so, then things were far more dire than she had imagined.

Touka's thoughts raced in quiet alarm.

Suddenly, a gust of wind brushed past her ear. On instinct, she dodged aside. A single leaf with slender, green veins tinged with yellow streaked past her vision.

At that moment, Kaguya's lips curved into a faint smile, her enchanting eyes glowing with an eerie brilliance.

"Amenotejikara."

As the words fell, the black-haired girl in the distance vanished.

This was Kaguya's dojutsu ability, allowing her to instantly swap positions with any object within her sight. The unassuming leaf was the target for the exchange.

Touka's heart jolted. She instinctively began retreating again. Though she didn't understand the nature of the technique, her instincts screamed that it was dangerous—danger looming directly behind her.

Not good.

The thought had barely formed when a pale hand appeared from nowhere, slipping under her arm and wrapping around her body.

"Little rabbit, I've caught you."

A warm breath brushed her ear, and Touka's pupils contracted sharply. She turned her head swiftly, only to find Kaguya's face right behind her, impossibly close.

How could this be?

Just moments ago, Kaguya had been dozens of meters away. How could she have suddenly closed the distance?

But this wasn't the time to dwell on the impossibility. Acting purely on reflex, Touka swung her elbow back toward her attacker. Before her strike could land, however, a hand intercepted it mid-air.

"As expected, cornered rabbits do bite," Kaguya teased softly, her breath warm against Touka's ear.

"Damn it, die already!" Touka roared furiously.

She spun swiftly, raising her leg high before delivering a powerful kick toward Kaguya's head. Her movement was sharp, precise, and fierce, leaving faint afterimages in its wake.

Seeing her reaction, Kaguya's lips quirked into a mischievous smirk. Without much effort, she sidestepped the attack and countered with a kick of her own, striking the supporting leg that Touka was using as her pivot.

Not good!

Touka's pupils shrank as she realized her balance was compromised. With her center of gravity disrupted, she staggered backward uncontrollably, tumbling toward the ground.

Just as she braced herself to endure the pain, she fell onto something soft. Startled, she turned her head and realized it was Kaguya.

Touka instinctively tried to struggle, but her face froze in shock as she realized she couldn't move. It was as if her body was completely immobilized, her limbs unresponsive, not even a twitch of her fingers.

"I told you, I've caught you. There's no point in struggling anymore," Kaguya said softly, her arm wrapped around Touka's slender waist, a faint smile on her lips.

"You can save your strength. I won't yield to you," Touka gritted out, trying desperately to resist. But her strength felt utterly drained, her body as powerless as if trapped in a nightmare—fully conscious but completely helpless.

"I think you misunderstand. I never intended to make you yield. Initially, I planned to let you go, but you just had to come looking for trouble," Kaguya replied, her hand gently brushing across Touka's soft stomach.

Touka huffed and stubbornly turned her head away.

"Now, I'm considering whether to throw you into the CCG's prison," Kaguya mused with a smile, her fingers sliding up to Touka's neck. "I hear they're conducting human experiments these days. I'm sure they'd find you fascinating."

"Don't even think about it," Touka snarled, clenching her teeth as she struggled with all her might. But her efforts were futile; her body remained as immobile as if submerged in quicksand.

"Still, I'm more curious about what lies beneath your mask," Kaguya said lightly, her fingers tracing the edges of Touka's rabbit mask. "You feel so familiar to me. Have we met before?"

Touka's body stiffened, panic flashing through her mind. If Kaguya saw her face, everything would be exposed—not just her identity, but also the existence of Anteiku.

If the CCG discovered Anteiku, they would undoubtedly dispatch an entire task force to annihilate it. The café would be engulfed in chaos and flames. No matter how strong her comrades were, they could never stand against the might of the entire CCG. At that time, the manager, Kaya Irimi, Enji Koma, and Hinami Fueguchi would all be in danger, and Anteiku would be destroyed in the inferno of battle.

The memory of Yoshimura's warm smile and the camaraderie of everyone bustling around the café filled Touka's mind. In its place, she imagined a battlefield strewn with the bodies of her friends, their blood staining the ground.

No. She couldn't let that happen.

With her lips pressed into a thin line, Touka murmured, "Stop. Don't do this."

"Oh?" Kaguya paused, genuinely surprised. She had never seen the strong-willed Touka speak so humbly. Intrigued, she asked, "Why not? Do we know each other? Now I'm even more curious."

As she spoke, her hand slipped through the seams of Touka's clothes like a serpent, her fingers brushing against her smooth stomach. Sliding past the fabric of Touka's undergarments, her hand rested on her chest. Her fingers gripped gently but firmly, and Kaguya smiled slyly.

Touka's body trembled, and she bit her lip, suppressing the wave of humiliation that coursed through her. In a trembling voice, she pleaded, "Please, don't do this."

Kaguya had expected Touka to lash out in anger but was taken aback by her meek tone. This only piqued her curiosity further. "Don't do what?" she asked with feigned innocence.

"Don't take off my mask. I'll agree to your terms," Touka said, her voice low and filled with bitterness.

"And what if I insist?" Kaguya teased, applying a slight squeeze for emphasis.

"Just stop," Touka cried out, her voice breaking. Her chest heaved as she shouted, "I'll do anything you want, even if it means being taken for experiments."

Her eyes reddened, tears threatening to spill. Deep regret welled up within her. She had underestimated Kaguya and acted recklessly. Now, not only had she failed to eliminate her, but she had also endangered everyone she cared about. Though she doubted Kaguya would spare her, there was no other option left.

Kaguya faltered, caught off guard. She had never seen the unyielding Touka in such a vulnerable state.

The hand that had been resting on Touka's chest withdrew. In a softer tone, Kaguya asked, "Is Anteiku really that important to you?"

Touka's head snapped up, her pupils dilating in shock.

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