(Chenhu, a ninja!?)
(It's actually Chenhu, the ninja!?)
(what?)
The Oniwaban ninja were immediately filled with turmoil!
(Isn't it a Tengu Ninja?)
At the same time, they had drawn their weapons: knives, bows and arrows, and spears, all handmade and imbued with magic through prayer and divine power, coated with an odorless and tasteless curse that could harm even the true god.
However, Chenhu Ninja glanced at their weapons and shook his head: "Is this all the Oniwabanshu are equipped with? It's too weak. How could they possibly threaten me... or my lord?"
"Whatever name you call yourself, you are clearly Hayden's servant."
The Oniwaban ninjas dispersed and surrounded Tatsuko.
"Just tell us where Hayden is hiding!"
They had certainly seen Tengu Ninja's information. Tengu Ninja was formerly a ninja of Dakini Heaven, a princess of an old god clan who surrendered to the Mithra Group. To put it bluntly, her combat strength was only at the level of a battle god. Even if Hayden had enhanced her, she couldn't possibly be at the level of a true god.
"One ninja cannot defeat nine ninjas!"
Nine Oniwaban ninjas would be enough against her... well, not quite, but they wouldn't be wiped out unless something major happened.
"Whether one can defeat nine is hard to say," Chenhu Ninja said calmly, "but who says I am just one?"
what! ?
Before the Oniwaban ninjas could react, the ground beneath their feet suddenly exploded and shattered! More black smoke billowed from the cracks, condensing into twenty standing human figures. They wore miscellaneous armor and wielded spears, bows, or swords similar to those of the ninjas—but all of them exuded an aura of the dead!
Because they were all those who died here in ancient wars, in the great battle between the old and new gods, and whose resentment remained unquenched. Namo San! The spirits of the dead, without physical bodies, have materialized in this place closest to the Land of the Dead! This is absolutely not a natural phenomenon!
"My name is Hongye Qiuhua! I am a descendant of the bloodline of Emperor Bojun! In the name of the Star God of the Heavenly Vault, I command you to slaughter all the traitors of the Yamato God Clan!"
At the same time, Chenhu Ninja shouted at these undead!
As she uttered this command, which sounded like an ancient mantra, the faceless ancient land god spirits all rushed towards the nine Oniwaban ninja! Because they would not defy Momiji's bloodline power, nor the divine might of the secret fire residing within her!
"Guwa!"
Nine Oniwaban ninjas were immediately surrounded and attacked by twenty dead ancient land gods! They quickly used their swords, spears, and martial arts to defend themselves, and for a time they were barely able to fight to a draw—it was only natural that ninjas trained by the modern new gods were stronger than the undead of the ancient old gods!
But with the addition of Chenhu Ninja, the outcome immediately changed. She drew her family's icy katana, "Hatsushimo," from her waist and charged into the ranks of the Oniwabanshu, severing a ninja's left leg with her first strike. The ninja, unable to rise, collapsed to his knees and was immediately seized by the other undead, brutally murdered!
This tactic was repeated several times until only one of the Oniwaban ninjas remained alive. But Tatsuko-ninja did not rush to kill him, nor did he stop the other undead from finishing him off. Instead, he said to the surviving ninja, "You, go back and report to Takemikazuchi."
"My great Lord Hayden will launch a new war on this battlefield, leading the guardian spirits of the Kunitsu God Clan to wage war against the Yamato God Clan once again! Such sneaky and furtive ninja reconnaissance is meaningless. Let us decide the victor through a one-on-one duel between generals, just like the wars of the Heian period!"
Even if a ninja is fearless, he is still a mortal, a living person born of parents and having lived for at least thirty years. Since he had a chance to survive, this Oniwaban ninja naturally endured the humiliation and returned home.
On the contrary, the ninja Chenhu watched from afar and only after confirming that the Miwaban had run far away did he remove the white fox mask from his face, revealing the true form of Kureha.
Tatsuko refers to a white fox. The Chinese character "辰" means "white" in classical Chinese, specifically "glowing white." Tatsuko Ninja is the new ninja name that Hayden has bestowed upon Momiji.
However, Momiji, who received this new ninja name, now wore a melancholy and sad expression.
Her strange actions just now were, of course, all done on Hayden's orders. Hayden had just come up with a terrible idea and had already explained it to Momiji.
Although Momiji felt terrified and speechless after hearing this, since she had sworn to serve Hayden as his ninja... she would still obediently do as he said.
"Don't sigh, Your Highness! Look, our morale remains high! As long as we are here, the Ashihara Kingdom will never perish!"
"That's right!"
"The Ashihara Kingdom will surely prevail!"
Clad in armor and wielding swords and spears, the spirits still surround Hongye, chattering excitedly. Because this land was warped in time during a great war, and because of their immense obsession and resentment in life, these spirits, awakened by Hayden's magic, still cannot understand their present situation. They seem to still see the present as the battlefield of four hundred years ago, and therefore show great respect and affection for Princess Hongye.
They wore tattered armor and wielded outdated weapons. Broken flesh clung stubbornly to shattered bones. At first, their numbers were but a trickle, but soon they became a terrifying torrent of the undead. This horrific army would continue to expand relentlessly. Because they still wanted to fight, excitedly and fervently wanted to fight—to protect their homeland, which they had long since lost, denying the defeats they had already suffered.
Hongye gazed at the spirits who had loved her, a complex expression on her face that defied description. She wanted to say something to them, but the words caught in her throat, and in the end, she couldn't utter a single sound. But surely no one could blame her for it.
"Ah... um."
Finally, she could only manage to squeeze out the words, saying this...
"We will definitely win."
...Mr. Hayden, is this really going to work?
Although she thought this to herself, Hongye's heart still felt heavy.
——————————————————————————————————
On the other hand, the Oniwaban ninja, who had returned to their unit, quickly reported everything that had happened to them, as well as the declaration of Tatsuko Ninja, to Takemikazuchi and Ame no Boshin.
Needless to say, the Heavenly Sun God was immediately enraged: "How dare you awaken the dead from their long slumber four hundred years ago and create this army of the dead?! Hayden has fallen into demonic ways!"
Takemikazuchi did not say that directly. He pondered for a moment, then said, "It's alright. It's not surprising that Hayden might use the ancient spirits of the northeastern wilderness; after all, we've already thought of that."
It's more accurate to say that Takemikazuchi had already thought of this. Ame no Boshin probably hadn't really considered this issue.
"Takemikazuchi, what's next?" Ame no Boshin asked him, turning to him. "Should I or you go in and duel him?"
"This is no longer the Heian period, so of course we don't need to fight him head-on."
Takemikazuchi said calmly,
"Don't do what the enemy wants you to do; that's the foundation of military strategy. Necromancer energy is indeed a bit troublesome, but your father, Susanoo, sent us with a hundred Yokozuna warriors precisely because he anticipated this possibility. Next, have them perform the Four Ritual to slowly suppress it. Don't panic or rush."
The so-called "Four-Legged Ritual" refers to a sacred ritual in which sumo wrestlers squat and stomp the ground with great force, creating a small-scale earthquake to clear the stagnant flow of earth energy and free vengeful spirits from the curse of the earth.
The gods had long anticipated that Hayden might use the power of vengeful spirits on this ancient battlefield, so how could they allow his scheme to succeed?
Hayden, you can't escape now!
384: Extremely wicked and unorthodox!
The Japanese pantheon, or more precisely, the Yamato gods within it, were not originally very adept at dealing with the undead.
Undead, underworld energy, death attributes—these elements, as weapons, are actually very effective against the Yamato race.
Why is this? It's possible that the Yamato Gods originated from human souls, and most of them ascended to godhood after death. Since they are essentially spirits, they are particularly susceptible to interference from related attributes—this possibility exists, but it's just a theory, a guess.
In short, everyone knows that, in conclusion, the Yamato people and Shinto religions are extremely weak and passive when dealing with death energy. They regard death as a great enemy and as defilement, to the point that they have even developed a unique magical system, rare even in the world, specifically designed for "purifying the defilement of death." Through the art of "purification," they prevent all defilement from approaching, achieving complete defense and keeping it far away.
In fact, traditional Shinto shrines almost never had cemeteries or memorial tablets. This is because corpses and symbols of "death" are considered extremely unclean and unclean in Shintoism.
...So it wasn't until four hundred years ago, after Japan and the Yamato people absorbed new knowledge and magic systems from abroad, that they developed new Shinto and new magical techniques against death and the undead.
Now the question is: which modern deities are best at dealing with vengeful spirits and the dead? And who should they learn from?
Of course, it's the Bodhisattva of the Mitra Group!
So now, the 100 Yokozuna sumo wrestlers are conducting the "Yokozuna" soul-purifying ceremony while advancing to encircle and suppress the heart of the northeastern wilderness.
"Ha ha ha ha!"
They were all giants, two-hundred-kilogram, two-meter-tall behemoths, their thick, muscular bodies resembling small mountains. They all wore sacred shimenawa (sacred ropes) around their waists, their faces solemn, advancing step by step, ceremoniously tossing purifying salt high into the air with each stride.
The so-called "four-legged" refers to a sacred ritual in which sumo wrestlers squat and stomp the ground with great force, creating a small-scale earthquake to cleanse the land of evil spirits and free vengeful spirits from their earth bonds.
Sumo wrestlers are all warriors who undergo rigorous training from a young age and grow to an extraordinary size by consuming the sacred sumo hot pot over a long period of time. They are warriors who fight with their bare hands.
Of course, since they were originally just ordinary people, most sumo wrestlers, no matter how much they trained, could not surpass the level of ordinary people. Only a very small number of wrestlers, after going through the pinnacle battles of the Sumo League, could cross the boundary between life and death, step into the realm of immortality, and become the so-called "Yokozuna".
Yokozuna are living gods. Because they are gods, they can wear the sacred shimenawa (sacred rope) as a belt around their waist—or rather, they must wear it—as a matter of etiquette. As mentioned before, the shimenawa is used to demarcate the boundary between the divine and the secular world. By wearing it around their waists, Yokozuna warriors demonstrate their special status as gods who attained godhood in human form.
—All of the above are new things that the Yamato God Clan developed in modern times after learning the culture and technology of the Mithra Group!
After all, the idea that a mortal can attain divinity through his own cultivation is completely in conflict with the hierarchical system and aristocratic divine class concept of feudal divine society!
Therefore, modern ninjas can cultivate themselves into immortals, and sumo wrestlers can step into the realm of Yokozuna. These are all new things developed by the Yamato God Clan after learning the new god technology of Mithra, which is the "New Shinto"!
For this very reason, compared to the Yamato Gods who fear the dead, their Yokozuna and ninjas are far more adept at resisting death energy. The Yokozuna warrior units can even advance in formation across the deathly landscape, continuously stomping their four legs into the earth to infuse their life force into it, expelling evil spirits and calming the souls of the dead. These are all new technologies that the Yamato Gods learned from the new Mithra gods and developed independently.
Now, a hundred Yokozuna warriors have surrounded the heart of the wasteland, advancing from the outside in while suppressing the spirits. Although the resentment here is too strong to be completely expelled, suppressing it for the time being is enough.
Hayden, Momiji, and Angela stood atop a rocky mountain deep in the wasteland, watching the approaching Yokozuna wrestlers. Although the wrestlers moved slowly, requiring a heavy stomp with each step, they were still steadily closing in.
If left unchecked, this desolate wasteland will be suppressed within hours. The vengeful spirits and deathly aura on this land will be temporarily suppressed by the four forces, rendering them immobile.
So Hayden raised his black and white staff, shook it three times above his head, and said, "Guardians of the Nation, for your homeland, for your grudges, rise up and fight!"
Smoke Mirror Company possesses the world's most advanced necromancy technology, and all of it is now in Hayden's hands. With a single word from Hayden, a frigid north wind swept across the vast plains, carrying the stench of rotting corpses. At Hayden's command, the undead army of the fallen land gods rose, numbering in the tens of thousands. Clad in tattered armor, wielding outdated weapons, and tearing at their nearly shattered bodies, they charged fiercely towards the Yokozuna warriors!
Common sense dictates that summoning an army of the undead using necromancy is hardly something a good person would do, but Hayden felt no guilt whatsoever. Because he didn't force them at all! These spirits of the land gods genuinely wanted to protect their homeland and seek revenge! Hayden simply used magic to revive them and let them do what they wanted!
So even Angela didn't criticize Hayden, after all, it was indeed the undead's own choice, their own anger and resentment. So she just stood behind, watching Hayden cause trouble with a subtle look.
Hongye didn't complain or grumble. She simply watched as her dead relatives and elders rose to their feet and charged towards the warriors. Her eyes had become as lifeless as a dead fish's.
...Hayden knew that this approach had ethical issues, but he still decided to do it. Overall, he believed it shouldn't be a major problem.
probably.
Meanwhile—oh, look! The army of the dead has charged toward the front ranks of the wrestlers! The undead warriors raised their blood-stained spears, swung their rusted katanas high, and charged into the ranks of the Yokozuna wrestlers. It was a charge that would surely shatter the bones of an ordinary person and kill them instantly; its force was enough to collapse a castle wall.
However, they were immediately beaten up!
The Yokozuna warriors at the front stomped their feet, their back muscles bulging, and then unleashed a powerful shove—bang! The force was like that of a locomotive! A single palm strike imbued with divine power could shatter the head of a necromancer!
Yokozuna wrestlers, who consume sacred sumo hot pot over a long period of time and cross the line between life and death through rigorous training, cultivate strong yang energy within their bodies and are the nemesis of the dead!
There were only one hundred Yokozuna wrestlers, while Hayden summoned at least tens of thousands of undead warriors, yet these undead warriors were being utterly overwhelmed by the wrestlers. Although they managed some resistance, they had absolutely no chance of winning!
From his headquarters in the distance, Takemikazuchi nodded as he remotely directed the operation: "Excellent. Everything is exactly as predicted. Yokozuna warriors have a significant attribute advantage in fighting the undead. This is a very good practical test."
Japan has been at peace for a long time, so who would normally create tens of thousands of undead to fight the gods in real battle? For the Yamato God Clan, this actually became a good opportunity.
"Don't panic, don't rush, proceed slowly."
Therefore, Takemikazuchi has always emphasized stability in remote command.
"As long as we don't cause chaos, the spirits of the Earth God Clan are nothing but clay chickens and earthenware dogs to us. They were defeated by us four hundred years ago, and they're useless even alive. How can they possibly win when they're dead?"
That makes a lot of sense! So, although the Yokozuna wrestlers won their first battle, they continued to advance slowly. During this time, Hayden kept summoning more undead warriors to attack the Yokozuna wrestlers, but they were only smashed to pieces by the wrestlers' pushes and throws, and were suppressed by the [Four-Strand] Soul Suppression, resulting in increasing losses.
As the fighting continued, Hayden and his men were eventually surrounded by Yokozuna warriors from all sides and trapped on a hill in the center of the basin!
Hayden brandished his staff, moving stones and digging earth to build a small fortress on the hill. Hundreds of undead warriors summoned by Hayden also guarded the hillside. However, tens of thousands of undead had been decimated by the sumo wrestlers; how could the remaining few hundred possibly withstand them?
Before long, the Yokozuna wrestlers surrounded the earthen mound. Then Hayden and his men saw a young god standing at the back of the wrestlers, shouting, "Mr. Hayden, surrender now!"
Hayden then took a closer look at him. He was a rather young-looking male deity, clean-shaven, wearing a white hunting robe, with the Yata no Kagami around his neck and a single-handed sword at his waist—wow, he actually carries one of the Three Sacred Treasures of Yamato with him! This young deity seems to be of high status. Hayden thought, could he be the young master of the Susanoo family?
"I am the sun god of heaven! The second son of Takehachi Susanoo!"
The young god shouted, though he was actually much older than Hayden.
“Mr. Hayden, my father has strictly ordered me to treat you with respect and not to harm you recklessly. We have now completed the purification of the entire area within a two-hundred-mile radius, infusing it with life. Within seven days, it will be impossible for any spirits to be awakened here. If you value the honor of a samurai and are willing to stop immediately, we will also guarantee with our honor that we will safely escort you to Tokyo to meet with my father and discuss how to resolve your violent act today.”
"But if you continue to resist, Takemikazuchi and I are here, along with a hundred Yokozuna soldiers. Once the attack begins, you can forget about surviving!"
After hearing this unremarkable attempt to persuade him to surrender, Hayden raised an eyebrow: "I didn't expect him to actually be the young master of Susanoo."
By now, Momiji was practically numb, but she still weakly reminded him, "Master, please don't kill Susanoo's son as well. This is no joke."
"decide as things go."
Hayden said casually,
"Who can say for sure about war?"
Then he turned around and shouted back at ten times the volume: "I only talk to the real people in charge! Get the little brats who come to the battlefield to gain experience as far away as possible, and let Takemikazuchi come and talk to me!"
These words enraged the Heavenly Sun God: "You mortal brat, do you have no shame?! I am the undisputed representative of the Yamato God Clan, the prince most trusted by Father God Susanoo! I am the one in charge!"
Takemikazuchi had originally intended to speak to Hayden. However, with Ame no Boshin's anger, Takemikazuchi found it inconvenient to speak. His interruption would severely damage Ame no Boshin's authority. After all, it wasn't just Hayden's group present; a hundred Yokozuna warriors and Oniwaban ninjas were also watching.
As Susanoo's heir, Ame no Boshin's reputation is still very important to him.
Some readers might be puzzled at this point, thinking that the Heavenly Sun God, as a deity, seems rather naive, easily swayed, lacking in composure and experience—but there's a reason for that. The Heavenly Sun God is actually less than a hundred years old.
The last time Japan faced war was a hundred years ago, when remnants of the Land God rebelled, which was eventually quelled with the help of the Mithra Group. Ame no Boshin has never fought a war before; his combat experience is zero. Although he has received training, his first real battle caused him to forget everything in a panic. This is only natural.
...Hayden knew all of this and had long anticipated it.
"Oh? You are the crown prince whom Susanoo truly trusts, someone who can take charge?" Hayden said in that cold tone that left the other party helpless. "How come I heard that you were leftover? Is it because Susanoo had no other successors to choose from, so he made do with you?"
Then Hayden went on to reveal a terrifying secret, a very embarrassing piece of gossip: "I heard that a hundred years ago, Susanoo wanted to propose to my mother-in-law, the goddess Hela, but he lost to my father-in-law, King Maple. This defeated dog was depressed and frustrated. The country needed a crown prince but didn't want to find another woman, so he simply used his divine power and magic to create five sons and picked the one with the most passable random attributes to make do—that's you, right?"
Wow! These words were the deepest fear, the most dreaded thing, and the most painful thing in the heart of Tennohito—he was merely a tool god created by Susanoo to deal with the country's need for a crown prince in an emergency! So these words were like a red-hot iron branding his heart, making this little god really fly into a rage this time: "I—will—kill—you!!"
The next instant, he began to transform! He spread his arms, which turned into enormous wings, transforming into a golden divine bird! The wingspan was over twenty meters, the feathers radiating a golden glow, filled with a sacred aura, and it even had three legs—this was the divine nature of the Heavenly Sun God, the form of the [Yatagaraja]!