Chapter 160: Negotiation

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The air was filled with the scent of rain.

A colorful rainbow split the sky in two, connecting one end of the sea to the other.

Itomi Sayaka held her sister’s slender body and flew over, landing beside Minamoto Kiyomoto and the others.

Yagyu Michiko and Hanyu Chika also broke away from the Shinto sect.

As soon as they moved, everyone came back to their senses.

“Little cat, are you really going to betray us?” Sanae Sara looked at Itomi Sayaka.

“I’m sorry, Sister Sara. I’ve only had one goal from the beginning,” Itomi Sayaka replied.

Spider and Drunkard’s expressions were serious. The other Shinto sect practitioners swallowed their saliva, hesitating whether to flee directly or follow their group leader and charge up.

“Sometimes, a person can’t just think about themselves,” Sanae Sara said, word by word.

“What do you mean?”

“What do I mean?” Sanae Sara’s eyes glowed faintly like a cat’s. “You should know.”

“You dare to touch my family,” Itomi Sayaka said coldly.

“I wouldn’t dare,” Sanae Sara smiled faintly and said, “but you’d better remember this possibility.”

“Before considering this possibility,” Minamoto Kiyomoto spoke, “Your Excellency, Sanae, why don’t you first consider the possibility of leaving here alive.”

The “Divine Medium’s Aya” was like a golden canopy, covering Spider and Drunkard.

Spider and Drunkard’s faces changed. They joined forces and attacked. A dazzling light rolled, and their vision went black. They were directly sent flying.

Their qi and blood churned, as if a mountain had crashed into their chests. The look in their eyes as they looked at the Divine Medium was filled with indescribable horror.

“Leave these two to me,” Kamibayashi Miko’s pure and fairy-like face was as cold as snow.

“Then I’ll take care of her,” Himegami Izayoi said with a smile, locking onto Sanae Sara.

The Hokkaido Miko’s gaze swept over the remaining Shinto sect practitioners. The people she saw trembled with fear.

She tilted her head and thought for a moment, then said to Minamoto Kiyomoto, “It seems there’s no one left.”

“No hurry,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said with a laugh. “Your Excellency, Sanae, hand over the Black Thunder and Earth Thunder, and I can let you leave alone.”

Spider and the others quickly looked at Sanae Sara, afraid that she would abandon them.

“I’m not a fool. If we work together, we still have a chance. If I believe your words, we’ll all really die here,” Sanae Sara said with a smile.

Before Minamoto Kiyomoto could speak, she continued:

“I’ll give you the Earth Thunder. Let us all leave.”

“…What did you say?” Minamoto Kiyomoto was stunned and asked with a surprised smile.

“If you don’t agree, then forget it,” Sanae Sara said. “Then we’ll just have to fight. Let’s see if I can escape after killing little sister Itomi.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto’s smile disappeared, and the atmosphere instantly became solemn.

He sized up Sanae Sara. Sanae Sara raised her neck, puffed out her chest, and let him look.

Sanae Sara looked at him and said slowly:
“I don’t care about the lives of my subordinates. As long as the world exists, there will always be people who join the Shinto sect. But such a cute high school girl, there’s only one in the whole world.”

Itomi Sayaka’s face was ugly. She looked at Minamoto Kiyomoto.

Sanae Sara’s divine power was so strong that she was almost at the level of a Divine Medium. Even if she couldn’t escape, it was almost a sure thing that she could kill Itomi Yuki, who had just started training.

“Are you threatening me?” Minamoto Kiyomoto’s eyes flashed with a scarlet light as he stared at Sanae Sara.

“Good people… bad people are the same,” Sanae Sara caressed her slender neck, her gaze fixed on Itomi Yuki. “Anyone who has attachments is destined to have their throat choked by fate, and then, in a choice between two things they don’t want, they have to make a choice.”

Itomi Yuki was stared at by her, and a chill ran through her body.

“Lord Tsukushi-no-Kimi, these rats have seen your future. If you let them leave, they will definitely spread rumors and target you everywhere!” Amatsumara said fiercely.

The hearts of the Shinto sect members skipped a beat.

Even Sanae Sara’s face was slightly unnatural.

Compared to Itomi Yuki, her own future was undoubtedly more important. Everyone knew how to choose.

“Sayaka,” Hanyu Chika called out in a low voice, looking at her friend with worry.

Itomi Sayaka protected her sister behind her. She sized up the Divine Medium, the Ise Miko, and the Hokkaido Miko.

These three shrine maidens with divine power that reached the heavens and the earth had not spoken since Minamoto Kiyomoto had spoken. He was handling and deciding everything.

She breathed a slight sigh of relief in her heart.

She believed in Minamoto Kiyomoto.

Minamoto Kiyomoto suddenly laughed contemptuously and said to Sanae Sara, “Your Excellency, Sanae, have you forgotten where this is? It seems I’ll have to fall in front of the Great Stone of Yomotsu one more time.”

Everyone’s breathing stopped.

The divine might of the black-robed, crowned Minamoto Kiyomoto was like a dagger, deeply plunged into their hearts. Even if they were old and dead, they would never forget.

“I don’t like to rely on people,” Minamoto Kiyomoto’s tone changed. “Besides Miss Kamibayashi and Koyako, I don’t want to rely on anyone, including my future self.”

“It’s okay to rely on me too,” the Hokkaido Miko added faintly.

“…You don’t speak for now,” Minamoto Kiyomoto turned his gaze to Sanae Sara again. “Hand over the Black Thunder and Earth Thunder, and I’ll let you leave.”

“Black Thunder is not possible, only Earth Thunder,” Sanae Sara’s tone was firm.

Among the Eight Gods of Thunder, “Black Thunder” had an extremely special status.

It had no power, but it could fuse the sacred “Great Thunder,” the tyrannical “Fire Thunder,” the life-giving “Young Thunder,” the speedy “Crouching Thunder,” and the powerful and almost vicious “Splitting Thunder,” these divine thunders with different attributes, breaking through the barriers and repulsion, and unleashing the true power of the Eight Gods of Thunder.

“You have no choice,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said.

“Perhaps,” Sanae Sara’s smile did not change. “At worst, I’ll die here and let the Black Thunder and Earth Thunder disappear from this world completely.”

Yomijima Island fell silent again.

The Shinto sect waited nervously for Minamoto Kiyomoto to make a decision.

Sanae Sara’s expression was relaxed, but her eyes also did not miss any of Minamoto Kiyomoto’s expressions.

“Alright,” Minamoto Kiyomoto suddenly said. “Hand over the Earth Thunder, and I’ll let you leave.”

“My lord!” Amatsumara was extremely puzzled. “As long as you summon your future self, with your strength, these rats won’t even be able to commit suicide.”

Drunkard’s eyes widened, wishing he could eat this old man.

Sanae Sara smiled charmingly, her chest trembling non-stop. She said, “Let’s see if the Hirasaka of the Yellow Springs is longer, or if I can commit suicide faster.”

“What’s the point of that,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said to Amatsumara.

“What… what?” Amatsumara looked at him with confusion.

Minamoto Kiyomoto ignored him. Although the Eight Gods of Thunder were important, how could they compare to Itomi Yuki’s safety?

He said to Sanae Sara, “Go on, I’ll spare you this once.”

Like Amatsumara, Sanae Sara also couldn’t believe that he would let her go so easily under such a huge advantage.

“You’re not lying, are you?” she asked suspiciously.

“I will definitely do what I promised. It has nothing to do with whether you are a good person or a bad person. This is my promise to my mother,” Minamoto Kiyomoto’s expression relaxed.

Sanae Sara still didn’t believe it and turned her gaze to the Divine Medium, the Ise Miko, and the Hokkaido Miko.

“What about you?” she confirmed. “Don’t suddenly play the trick of ‘he agreed, but that doesn’t mean we agreed’.”

Himegami Izayoi sighed helplessly, but then said with a smile, “You saw it too. Master Kiyo calls me ‘madam.’ As a madam, I can only listen to my master.”

Her eyebrows were picturesque, and she was full of noble air. Her every word and action carried an innocent charm.

Sanae Sara’s charm, compared to hers, was simply like a village woman’s posturing, unbearable to look at.

Sanae Sara felt a surge of jealousy in her heart, but this was not the time to compare beauty.

“What about you two?” she asked the Divine Medium and the Hokkaido Miko.

The “Divine Medium’s Aya,” which covered the sky and the sun, slowly retracted and turned into a feather ribbon, landing on Kamibayashi Miko’s body, beautiful and sacred.

The Hokkaido Miko didn’t speak, just shook her head, her face expressionless. She looked surprisingly well-behaved.

Sanae Sara tore off the hem of her skirt, revealing two fair and full legs. She wrote the spell for “Earth Thunder” on the cloth with her divine power and threw it to Minamoto Kiyomoto.

Before it could reach him, it was wrapped in a flame-colored divine power and fixed in the air.

“Just look at it like this,” Himegami Izayoi said to Minamoto Kiyomoto with a grin.

Minamoto Kiyomoto smiled and looked at the cloth.

Ten minutes later, when his expression turned to one of pondering, the cloth melted in the flames, leaving not even ashes.

“Let’s go,” saying this, Minamoto Kiyomoto prepared to fly towards the cave entrance.

“Wait, we’ll go first!” Sanae Sara was afraid that they would go out first, block the cave, and play the trick of ‘not killing you, but not letting you out’.

Minamoto Kiyomoto smiled freely and stood on the cliff, watching them leave.

The people of the Shinto sect came back to their senses and quickly urged the shikigami lying on the ground to fly towards the cave on the sea.

Sanae Sara didn’t care about her half-missing skirt, revealing her spring scenery, and flew towards the exit.

Before leaving, she turned her head to look at Itomi Sayaka and said grimly:
“Sayaka, I won’t let you go. The entire Shinto sect will be your enemy.”

Before Itomi Sayaka could speak, Minamoto Kiyomoto answered for her with a smile:

“The entire Shinto sect will regret being our enemy.”

Itomi Sayaka’s just-sunken heart floated up again, and a smile appeared on her face.

Sanae Sara gave Minamoto Kiyomoto a deep look, flew into the cave. The cave that had taken an hour to walk through on the way in was just a blink of an eye for the people outside.

They appeared outside the barrier, scrambling to rush into the clouds and disappear.

“Lord Tsukushi-no-Kimi, once they leave, I’m afraid they will spread rumors everywhere, which will be detrimental to your future,” Amatsumara wrung his hands and stamped his feet, feeling regret and remorse for Minamoto Kiyomoto.

“Without this confidence, how can I unify the world,” Minamoto Kiyomoto was completely unconcerned.

Amatsumara was so scared by his words that he was stunned.

Unify the world—the future Minamoto Kiyomoto calls himself the lord of the world, not referring to Kansai, but the entire Japan?
As soon as this thought came up, he instantly held his breath.

Japan had been divided into three for thousands of years. Hundreds of generations of Lords of Kyoto, Ogosho, and Taiko, countless Shinto Lords, shrine maidens, and Kasen had not been able to do it. Was it going to end in this generation?
Minamoto Kiyomoto didn’t care about Amatsumara’s wild thoughts and said to Kamibayashi Miko with a smile, “It was a bit dangerous, but luckily I’m strong enough.”

Kamibayashi Miko’s face was expressionless, and she didn’t speak.

The sea breeze was gentle, brushing past her ink-black long hair, and the strands of hair danced.

Minamoto Kiyomoto knew she was angry, but this was not the time to whisper sweet nothings.

He turned his head and said to the crowd, “The Coral Demon Moth was seriously injured, and my divine power is left in its body. We must find it before it recovers.”

“Where is it?” Himegami Izayoi asked.

“All the way to the east, farther and farther. I’m afraid it has already fled to the depths of the Pacific Ocean,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said.

“Then we can only form a sea demon hunting fleet.”

“Demon hunting fleet?” Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at her with confusion.

After Himegami Izayoi explained, he finally understood.

In the depths of the sea, yokai emerged one after another—born in the sea, or running in from the land.

Only powerful countries had the spare capacity to explore the sea and actively hunt these yokai.

The three countries of Japan were neither strong nor weak. They could steadily watch over their own land, but they rarely involved themselves in that boundless ocean.

The Shinto sect had been able to continue for thousands of years. The protective role of the sea yokai was indispensable.

“In that case, we really can’t just rely on the few of us to simply chase after it,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said thoughtfully.

“Let’s go back to Tokyo first, gather people, prepare the ships, and go to the Pacific Ocean to hunt demons,” Himegami Izayoi’s tone was full of the majesty of an empress.

The group made a decisive decision and left Yomijima Island.

Amatsumara returned to Sakurajima in Kyushu, saying that he would bring all the experts of the Amatsumara clan to assist Lord Tsukushi-no-Kimi in annihilating the yokai.

Itomi Sayaka, Yagyu Michiko, and Hanyu Chika directly followed Minamoto Kiyomoto and the others back to Tokyo.

Although they didn’t have the credit for subjugating the “Coral Demon Moth,” stopping the Shinto sect’s conspiracy was enough to be used as an excuse to keep them safe for the time being.

“I’m sorry. The promise will have to wait a little longer. I need your help now. When everything is over, I will let you go back to Chiba,” above the sea of clouds, Minamoto Kiyomoto said to Itomi Sayaka.

“What’s the big deal,” Itomi Sayaka said with an unconcerned laugh. “If we don’t completely eliminate the yokai and the Shinto sect, even if I go back to Chiba, I’ll still live in fear.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto smiled and looked at Itomi Yuki.

“Yuki, how was this adventure?” he asked.

“Don’t call me next time,” Itomi Yuki said.

Minamoto Kiyomoto and Itomi Sayaka laughed heartily. The older sister fiercely hugged the younger sister.

“What are you doing? Let go!”

Itomi Sayaka ignored her sister’s struggle. Through the layers of clouds, she seemed to see the coast of Chiba.

Although only four months had passed, it felt like a lifetime. She could finally see her parents again.

Just as Minamoto Kiyomoto was busy gathering people and asking the “Ogosho” to vouch for Itomi Sayaka, the events on Yomijima Island, as expected, spread throughout Japan.

The “Coral Demon Moth”; Izanami; Minamoto Kiyomoto will become the next “Lord of Kyoto”; Kansai will annex Kanto and Hokkaido.

All kinds of rumors were rampant.

The prophecy of ‘Minamoto Kiyomoto, carving up the nations, annexing the mountains and rivers, his might spreading across the four seas, unifying the world’ became a topic of conversation among practitioners at some point.

The Izumo Miko rushed to Tokyo and asked about this matter.

“Nonsense,” Minamoto Kiyomoto immediately retorted. “It doesn’t even rhyme. A qualified prophecy should rhyme.”

Most people indeed didn’t believe it.

Not only because the news came from the mouths of the Shinto sect, but also because the rumor mentioned the words “the Great Stone of Yomotsu was lifted.”

Lift the Great Stone of Yomotsu?
Impossible. No one can do it.

In ancient times, Izanagi, as the father of the gods, ruled Japan and had all the practitioners in the human world drip their blood on the Great Stone of Yomotsu.

This ritual gave the Great Stone of Yomotsu a weight almost equal to the entire human world.

Although this human world only referred to Japan, could Minamoto Kiyomoto lift the entire Japan? Ridiculous!
These people only regarded this as a conspiracy by the Shinto sect to praise and kill Minamoto Kiyomoto.

On the other side, upon learning that the “Coral Demon Moth” was seriously injured, the Kyushu Shinto Lord, the Minamoto clan, the Ichijo clan, the Fujiwara clan, the Abe clan, and Koyasan all sent letters, saying that they would handle their affairs and would definitely arrive before the fleet set off.

The Taira clan, the Ashiya clan, and other families who were not on good terms with Minamoto Kiyomoto blocked Amatsumara, who was preparing to rush to Tokyo, and repeatedly asked about the situation.

Amatsumara did not dare to say the guess of unifying the world, and only replied, “At that time, Lord Tsukushi-no-Kimi was indeed wearing a crown and calling himself ‘gu’ and ‘gua’.”

Just as the Taira clan and the others were still skeptical, the “Lord of Kyoto,” who had been in seclusion, suddenly ordered them to join the demon hunting fleet.

This time, the entire Kansai was in an uproar.

It was unknown whether Minamoto Kiyomoto could unify Japan, but it was almost 90% certain that he would be the next “Lord of Kyoto.”

The Taira clan and the others immediately dispatched people, took their divine artifacts, summoned their shikigami, and followed Amatsumara to Tokyo.

Kyushu, Shikoku, Honshu, Hokkaido, many practitioners, having heard about the events on Yomijima Island, flocked here and also joined one after another.

Tokyo, the giant ships made of sacred wood filled the entire Tokyo Bay like islands.

The huge battle flags faced the ocean.