Chapter 361: Gourmet Gathering

Today marked the eighth day of Kaneki's new life as a trader. 

After undergoing genetic modification, he no longer needed to join any ghoul organizations and could live as an ordinary human. 

However... 

For reasons he couldn't quite explain, Kaneki often felt as if fate had given him this chance for a greater purpose, a burden he was meant to carry. 

This feeling only grew stronger after his interactions with the ghouls of the 20th District. 

Unlike the ghouls he had feared before, the ones here didn't prey on humans. Instead, they gathered at accident sites to collect the bodies of the deceased as their primary food source. 

This revelation completely overturned Kaneki's perception of ghouls. 

For a time, he even embraced his identity as a ghoul, openly mingling and conversing with the residents of the district. 

In just a few days, he not only became acquainted with many ghouls from the 20th District, but, under Touka's guidance, also formed connections with ghouls from other areas. 

There was Uta, the enigmatic mask maker; Itori, the lively bartender; and even Shuu Tsukiyama, a self-proclaimed "gourmet." 

... 

... 

"Kaneki, why did you accept that guy's invitation!?" 

That evening, Touka confronted him, her eyes darting toward the luxurious car parked outside the café as Kaneki prepared to leave. She couldn't suppress the questions gnawing at her anymore and finally spoke up. 

"Why…" 

Kaneki paused just as he was about to step out of the door. He turned back toward Touka, his expression unreadable. Yet, deep in his eyes, there was a flicker of something—something strange. 

A faint smile played on his lips as he replied in a calm tone, "Who knows?" 

Shuu Tsukiyama, a ghoul infamous throughout Tokyo, was widely known by his moniker: "The Gourmet." 

Though a ghoul by nature, the Tsukiyama family was a prominent and influential household in the country. Even politicians sought the family's backing, allowing Shuu to grow up in a world of privilege, living a life akin to royalty. 

Polished, well-mannered, and the picture of a gentleman, Shuu's demeanor was impeccable. 

But beneath that refined exterior lay a dark, twisted mind. 

Kaneki had learned of Shuu's true nature during their first encounter. 

When he mentioned his meeting with Shuu at Kamii University to the others at the café, they had all warned him to be cautious. 

To the residents of 20th District, Kaneki wasn't just a fledgling ghoul. In their eyes, he had become a symbol of hope—the key to bridging the divide between ghouls and humans. 

This belief made Shuu's interest in Kaneki all the more unsettling, leaving everyone in the café on edge. 

Kaneki was usually someone who listened to advice, especially when it came from those he trusted. He had no intention of falling for Shuu's polished facade. 

But that morning… 

He had received an invitation from Shuu to dine at his estate in the 20th Ward and discuss the works of Takatsuki Sen, a renowned author. 

After much deliberation, Kaneki had accepted the invitation. 

What went through his mind at that moment was a mystery to everyone. 

"..."

Touka pursed her lips, her concern evident. "No, I can't let you go alone," she said, stepping forward and grabbing Kaneki's wrist. 

To her—and to everyone in 20th District—Kaneki's role was far too important. She couldn't stand by and watch him walk into potential danger alone. 

However... 

Kaneki gently placed his hand over hers, pried it loose, and smiled softly. 

"Touka, I'm not a child who needs constant protection." 

"As a trader, I have my own path to follow." 

"I can't rely on you to shield me forever, can I?" 

"Kaneki, you…" 

Touka was taken aback. The boy who once seemed so gentle and fragile now spoke with newfound resolve. 

She hesitated but eventually stepped back, nodding reluctantly. 

"You're right," Touka admitted. "You're different from all of us." 

"You're not only a one-eyed ghoul, but also a trader—a being we don't fully understand." 

"But..." 

Her gaze sharpened as she lifted her head, determination burning in her eyes. 

"Please let me come with you!" she exclaimed. 

"I want you to know… the 20th District isn't some helpless group waiting for you to save us." 

"We're your companions, and we'll stand by you to help create the world you're striving for!" 

"…" 

The café was quiet, the dusk outside deepening into night. 

Kaneki stood by the half-open door, his eyes fixed on Touka's earnest face. 

Moments passed in silence before a soft smile broke across his lips. 

"Alright," he said. 

  ...

  ...

A few minutes later, a sleek luxury car pulled up to a grand villa in one of Tokyo's wealthiest neighborhoods. 

Kaneki, under the guidance of a well-dressed waiter, was led into a dimly lit room. 

The space wasn't particularly large, but the ornate carpet and the masterfully crafted paintings adorning the walls exuded an air of sophistication and opulence. 

"As expected of the Tsukiyama family," Kaneki murmured to himself before slowly taking a seat. 

Moments later, a group of waiters entered, pushing dining carts and serving pre-dinner coffee. 

Kaneki stared at the rippling light reflected in his cup for a moment, lost in thought. Then, with a faint grin, he picked up the cup and took a careful sip. 

However... 

At that very moment, the lights in the room suddenly went out! 

The floor beneath Kaneki's feet began to shake violently, as though an earthquake had struck. 

"They're here," Kaneki muttered to himself, his tone calm and unshaken by the unexpected chaos. 

Unperturbed, he quietly spat the coffee back into the cup, his mind hard at work as he prepared himself for what was to come. 

After all... 

This was the first time he had decided to take another's life. 

Yes. 

Despite being fully aware of Shuu Tsukiyama's twisted nature, Kaneki had willingly walked into this trap for one reason: he intended to take Tsukiyama's 'kakuhou' for himself and use it as leverage in future negotiations. 

While the thought of harming another ghoul, even a predatory one like Tsukiyama, deeply unsettled him, Kaneki had no choice. 

If he wanted to broker peace between ghouls and humans, if he wanted to create a world where ghouls could live freely, he needed 'kakuhou'—the key currency in this dark world. 

Over the past few days, Kaneki had struggled with his own morals, wrestling with the idea of becoming a killer. 

He preferred to be a victim rather than a perpetrator. He had always been like that, too weak to stand up for himself. 

Until now. 

The arrival of Shuu Tsukiyama had changed everything. 

From their daily interactions, Kaneki had noticed the predatory glint in Shuu Tsukiyama's eyes. It was unmistakable—a ghoul like him saw a half-ghoul, half-human like Kaneki as nothing more than a delicacy. 

And so, Kaneki came here with a plan. 

He would wait for Tsukiyama to make his move, and then he would strike back. Kaneki would take his 'kakuhou', just as he had done with Nishio. 

Still, in the days leading up to this, Kaneki had repeatedly questioned himself. 

Why did he seem so weak that others constantly tried to hurt him? 

First Rize Kamishiro, the girl he once admired. Then Nishio, his university senior. 

Both had tried to kill and devour him. 

Was it the world that was broken, or was it him? 

This sudden shift in identity—from a human to a half-ghoul—and the weight of the responsibilities thrust upon him forced Kaneki to confront hard choices. 

And now, Shuu Tsukiyama has become his first target—a stepping stone toward a new world. 

Today, Kaneki resolved to face the twisted nature of this world head-on. 

Yet... 

What Kaneki didn't anticipate was just how horrifying that twisted world truly was. 

--- 

The shaking floor came to a stop, and Kaneki was raised into a grand arena resembling an ancient coliseum. 

With his enhanced ghoul vision, Kaneki quickly scanned his surroundings. His expression hardened as he took in the scene. 

Suddenly, several high-powered spotlights switched on, illuminating both him and the massive hall. 

A chorus of low murmurs and whispers filled the air, emanating from all directions. 

One of the spotlights shifted, revealing a figure on the stands—a ghoul in a white mask holding a microphone. The ghoul stepped forward into the light, his voice brimming with excitement as he addressed the crowd: 

"Ladies and gentlemen! Thank you for waiting!" 

"Tonight's main course is unlike anything you've ever seen before. Our category is…" 

"A ghoul!" 

The crowd erupted in cheers and applause as the host dramatically pointed toward Kaneki. 

"What... What is this!?" 

Kaneki's wide eyes darted around the room, trembling as he took in the masked faces in the audience. 

'Main course?' 'Category?' 

A sudden realization hit Kaneki like a bolt of lightning. 

"That's right… According to what Yomo-san said…" 

"Shuu Tsukiyama is the head of a large gourmet food guild." 

"And as a ghoul, the kind of food he pursues could never be ordinary human fare…" 

"It's human beings themselves!" 

A chill ran down Kaneki's spine as a horrifying image formed in his mind—a door opening to reveal a dark, hungry void, its wind howling through him and freezing him to the core. 

The sheer grotesqueness of the scenario made his heart race. 

And now, he stood there under the gaze of countless ghouls, their eyes roaming over him as though he were nothing more than livestock in a market. 

But then... 

A faint smile spread across Kaneki's face. 

"That's fine..." 

Kaneki chuckled softly to himself. 

"If it's ghoul like this I'm killing... maybe the guilt won't feel so heavy." 

He slowly lifted his head, his eyes scanning the room. It was as if he were trying to memorize every face, just in case he needed to make a quick escape. 

Meanwhile, Shuu, the host of this grotesque gourmet gathering, made his way to the podium, flanked by two elegantly dressed female ghouls. 

With his usual flair, he began to extol the "delicacies" of Kaneki to his audience. 

He spun elaborate phrases, layering every word with opulence, praising Kaneki's supposed "flavor" so eloquently that even Kaneki almost started believing it himself. 

Finally, Shuu spread his arms wide, his lips curling into a delighted smile as he addressed the crowd of "food connoisseurs." 

"Now then! Let's indulge in this exquisite feast together!!!" 

Creak— 

At that moment, the wooden door behind Kaneki creaked open. 

A towering butcher, nearly three meters tall and grotesquely bloated, stepped through, dragging an enormous saw behind him. 

"And now," the host announced, his tone brimming with excitement, "let me introduce tonight's surgeon—the Dissector himself, Taro!" 

Cheers erupted from the masked audience as the butcher, Taro, raised his saw high and charged directly at Kaneki. 

Despite his massive frame, Taro moved with surprising agility. 

The ghouls in the audience roared with anticipation. 

Death and blood—these were the ultimate spices in their twisted existence. 

And soon, they believed, they would savor a meal seasoned with both. 

"Come on, Taro-chan!" 

"Spare his eyes! I want to savor them!" 

"Blood! I want to see more blood!!!" 

Loud, depraved shouts filled the air as the audience's vile desires spilled forth without restraint. 

In that moment, the depravity of the ghoul world was laid bare, raw and hideous, for all to see. 

But then... 

Just as the frenzy reached its peak, a fountain of blood erupted in the center of the arena, painting the floor a deep crimson. 

Silence fell over the venue. 

The once-boisterous crowd stared, frozen in place. 

"W-What... is that?" 

One ghoul shakily raised a trembling hand to point at the arena's center. 

There, in the middle of the blood-soaked stage, stood Kaneki—completely unharmed. 

Behind him, massive, ominous tails, slick with blood and reeking of malice, writhed chaotically in the air. 

Taro, the feared butcher, lay on the ground. His decapitated body sprawled in a pool of his own blood. 

Kaneki spat out a small piece of flesh that had accidentally made its way into his mouth, a look of utter disgust twisting his face. 

"Ugh... It tastes horrible. Like rotting fish guts." 

As his words echoed in the now-dead-silent arena, Kaneki slowly lifted his head. 

His delicate features were twisted by a single glowing red eye, which stared down the crowd with an icy, murderous glare. 

"Impossible!" someone shouted. "I saw him drink coffee that suppresses Rc cells!" 

"Wait... That eye!" 

"A One-Eyed Ghoul!" 

The crowd's panic was mirrored by Shuu Tsukiyama. Yet, amidst his fear, an unsettling glint of madness flared in his eyes. 

As a self-proclaimed gourmet, nothing could ignite his appetite more than the sight of a one-eyed ghoul. 

"My... my..." Shuu stammered, his trembling hands betraying his overwhelming desire. "Kaneki! You're mine!!!" 

Yet before Shuu could act, Kaneki moved. 

"If you all want to eat me..." Kaneki said, his voice cold and cutting through the tension. 

"Then even if I kill every last one of you... you have no right to complain." 

Boom! 

In a flash, Kaneki leapt into the audience, a streak of bloody crimson. 

His kagune—deadly tentacles of flesh—whipped through the air like razor-sharp blades, slicing through the torsos of several nearby ghouls in an instant. 

Screams erupted. 

Chaos consumed the venue. 

"S-S-rank ghoul!" someone shouted in terror. 

"Run! He's an S-rank!" 

"Damn it! If I survive this, I'm severing all ties with the Tsukiyama family!" 

"Help! I don't want to die!!!" 

The ghouls who had moments ago relished in cruelty were now reduced to panicked prey, scrambling to escape Kaneki's rampage. 

Kaneki's kagune, inherited from the infamous Kamishiro Rize, was unmatched in its lethality. 

His body, genetically modified, had grown stronger despite subsisting on ordinary food—a luxury in this modern city. 

And now, Kaneki's strength had reached terrifying new heights. 

Against these low-level ghouls, many barely half his strength, it was nothing short of a massacre. 

But then... 

Boom! Boom! 

Two massive shields slammed into the ground on either side of Kaneki, halting his movements. 

Two figures stepped forward, each wearing the same white masks as the host. 

They were guards—ghouls assigned to maintain order in the venue. 

"Everyone, evacuate immediately!" one of them commanded. "We'll handle this from here!" 

A bloodied ghoul, moments away from being killed, glanced back at the guards with relief. 

"We're saved!" he cried before fleeing without a second thought. 

Kaneki's lips curled into a smirk as he eyed the two guards. 

"Oh? Two A+ ranks?" 

"Looks like you're a little stronger than Nishio-senpai." 

"Well then..." Kaneki's voice dropped into a menacing growl. 

"Before Touka finds this place, I'll play with you for a bit."