"Where’s the person in charge of the Kamisato Clan? Come out!"
Shortly after Su Yuan and his group left, the Okuzumeshuu arrived at the Kamisato Estate.
"Send out your Shuumatsuban ninjas immediately to track down the foreigner who arrived in Inazuma today!"
"The Eyes they offered to the Shogun was fake!"
"Understood, esteemed officials. I’ll inform the young lady right away and get in touch with the Shuumatsuban." Thoma replied with a smile.
"Hmph! So it’s just a mere housekeeper receiving us?"
"Kamisato Ayato challenged the Shogun and hasn’t been seen since. Kamisato Ayaka seems to have... lost her mind..."
"At this rate, the Kamisato Clan is finished!"
"Without Kamisato Ayato, the Kamisato Clan is nothing!"
After delivering their message, the Okuzumeshuu turned and left the Kamisato Estate.
Not long after, a small figure rolled her way into the estate with a tumble.
"Uh... why is it you..." Sayu looked at Thoma, not sure what to say.
"I’ve always been avoiding you, not wanting to teach you ninjutsu... but who would’ve thought I’d end up showing up at your place today..."
"No, no, this isn’t the time to be talking about that... Where are the Traveler and the others? I came to the Yashiro Commission on Inagi Hotomi’s orders to find them..."
"Sayu, they went to Chinju Forest to evade the Shogun’s Okuzumeshuu," Thoma explained.
"You should hurry over to Chinju Forest and join up with them..."
"Even though I really want to help them too, I have to take care of the young lady and can’t leave right now..."
"Got it, I understand." Sayu nodded, then rolled away from the Kamisato Estate in a puff of smoke.
In Chinju Forest, the petrified Ioroi stared in disbelief at the figure that had suddenly appeared before him—a girl with white hair and fox ears...
Her appearance, her presence... felt overwhelmingly familiar to him.
"You darn fox... So you finally decided to come back, huh..."
"Do you have any idea how many years I’ve waited for you?"
"You owe me an apology... So many apologies! I’ve been keeping track of every single one, counting them every day!"
But in response to Ioroi’s words, Kitsune Saiguu gave no reply.
She simply showed a faint, gentle smile, then turned and walked away...
"Hey! You darn fox! Where are you going?!"
Ioroi was suddenly overcome by a strange sense of panic.
He called out again and again:
"This game of hide-and-seek between us... it’s not over yet! We still haven’t decided who the winner is! Why won’t you say a single word before leaving again?!"
"Answer me, you fox!"
Ioroi wanted to chase after Kitsune Saiguu, but he had been sealed and turned to stone.
He couldn’t move—he could only watch helplessly as she grew farther and farther away...
"That cursed Harunosuke the Onmyoji! How dare he seal me and turn me into stone, making it impossible for me to move!"
Although Ioroi had been sealed into a statue, he was still a powerful yokai tasked with guarding Chinju Forest...
By all rights, nothing should happen within the forest without his knowledge.
Yet, the appearance of Kitsune Saiguu... seemed completely beyond his awareness.
"That darn fox must be using some kind of magic to mess with me, just to see me make a fool of myself!"
Ioroi muttered, then turned to the three little tanuki around him and said:
"Shousei, Gyoubu Koban, and Kichiboushi—follow that white-haired woman up ahead! Don’t lose her!"
The three little tanuki nodded and scampered off in pursuit.
As he watched them and Kitsune Saiguu vanish from view, Ioroi mumbled to himself:
"Scared me half to death... That darn fox hasn’t shown up for hundreds of years. I thought she had kicked the bucket..."
"But if she’s still alive, then why didn’t she come find me sooner?!"
"Could it be she’s too embarrassed to admit she lost to me in our game of hide-and-seek?"
Just as Ioroi was deep in thought, he suddenly sensed that someone familiar had entered Chinju Forest.
"Hey! You over there—get over here! I have something to say to you!"
As soon as Su Yuan and the others stepped into Chinju Forest, they heard a voice echoing around them.
"It’s Ioroi!" Paimon said. "He’s calling us over!"
"Let’s go," Aether said. "Even though Ioroi can be a bit eccentric sometimes, he’s still a powerful yokai of Inazuma."
"And since Chinju Forest is his domain, if he can help us hide, we might be able to better avoid the pursuit of those Okuzumeshuu."
Afterward, the group followed Aether and Paimon to where Ioroi was.
As soon as he saw Aether, Ioroi spoke excitedly:
"Young one! Do you know what just happened? I just saw that darn fox Kitsune Saiguu!"
"After all these years, she finally showed herself to me again!"
"But I don’t know why—she just looked at me for a moment, didn’t say a single word, and then walked away!"
"So tell me, young one—don’t you think that was incredibly rude of her?"
"I was clearly the winner of our hide-and-seek match, and yet she treats me !"
Hearing Ioroi’s words, Su Yuan, Aether, Paimon, and Kujou Sara all showed puzzled expressions...
Wasn’t she the one who had died long ago, sacrificing herself to protect Narukami Island...?
"Ioroi, from the way you’re talking... it seems you still don’t know," Kujou Sara began, turning to Ioroi and preparing to reveal the truth.
"As the leader of the tanuki clan, is your intelligence really that limited? Kitsune Saiguu, she..."
But in the next moment, Aether quickly covered Kujou Sara’s mouth, stopping her from speaking the rest.
"Hey! You brat from the tengu clan—how dare you speak to a senior like that!"
Ioroi seemed rather upset, though as he was still sealed in stone, his face remained frozen in a smiling expression.
To others, he still looked cheerful, despite his clear frustration.
"Ioroi... Are you sure? Are you absolutely certain it was Kitsune Saiguu you saw?" Aether asked again.
"Who else could it be?!" Ioroi replied firmly.
"I’ve sparred with that darn fox—wits, strength, spells—for so many years. I’d never mistake her face, her presence. Not in a million years!"
Aether and Su Yuan exchanged a glance, both realizing how serious this situation was...
Kitsune Saiguu had appeared—on top of Hanachirusato?
Why were so many people showing up in Inazuma now—people who shouldn’t even exist anymore?
Not only that, but Hanachirusato was the defilement formed from Kitsune Saiguu’s lingering memories and regrets after her death...
How could both of them appear in present-day Inazuma at the same time?
What on earth was happening to Inazuma right now?
"Aether... I think we really need to tell Ioroi the truth," Su Yuan said, looking at him solemnly.
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