I planted a sacred tree in Tokyo.

Chapter 126 Intermission
"The Carl Vinson and the Stennis."

"Yeah, I know."

Putting down her hand from the headset, amidst cheers of 'victory' in the command room, Director Zhu Ya walked through the crowd to the small office at the far end of the command room.

The fully armed soldiers guarding the door immediately opened it for him.

"Men, news from America."

In the office, the island nation's defense minister sat in the main seat.

Surrounding him were three chiefs of staff from the Self-Defense Forces' Ground, Maritime, and Air branches, as well as several generals.

"All 5000 officers and men on their two aircraft carriers, the Carl Vinson and the Stennis, perished."

hiss--

Heard this news,

Even though they were mentally prepared, the high-ranking officials from the island nation present all felt a pang of unease.

"The one who made the move was 'Hai Ren.' She can launch attacks from the shadows; once she gets inside..."

Whether it's an aircraft carrier or a military fortress, it's no different from a leaky thatched hut: it's almost impossible for even a superhuman being of the same level to contend with that great demon who specializes in 'assassination' inside the building.

Shadow jumping, that's so cheating!
"Five thousand people,"

The Defense Minister pondered the number.

Even for a large and powerful country like the United States, the sudden loss of 5,000 elite naval troops would be a devastating blow.

"How does America plan to respond?"

Director Takeya calmly answered the Defense Minister's question.

"no respond."

huh~~
The high-ranking officials in the office all breathed a sigh of relief.

If America, in its fury, chooses to fight to the death, the island nation will have no choice but to grit its teeth and follow suit: in that case, how many of us will even see the sun rise tomorrow is a big question.

They also obtained a leaf from the 'divine tree,' so theoretically no evil spirits would dare to cause trouble.

Conversely, those who dare to come must be fierce and powerful demons!
"That's good, that's good."

The Minister of Defense nodded and looked at Director Takeya.

"Later, the Chief Cabinet Secretary will come in person to commend the soldiers; the battles to come will be left to you and the Self-Defense Forces."

“This is my duty,”

Director Zhu Ya nodded slightly.

The sudden outbreak of the 'demon tide' will turn into a protracted tug-of-war under the conscious control of both sides.

Drinking poison to quench thirst,

The word came to Director Zhu Ya's mind, but:

His gaze swept across the faces of the high-ranking officials present, and they all breathed a sigh of relief while subtly revealing expressions of joy.

"Then, I'll take my leave."

As soon as Director Zhuya left the small office, several commanders immediately came to greet her.

"Director Zhuya, why not take this opportunity to launch a counterattack?"

The demonic tide had clearly receded, and they should have been pressing on to annihilate the enemy. But all the orders they received were to build defensive lines on the spot?!
"I apologize, but the spiritual energy of the superhumans under my command has been greatly depleted."

"Furthermore, your Self-Defense Forces also need to regroup. This hasty battle exposed numerous problems: personnel quality, insufficient ammunition, lack of coordination, and so on."

After giving the other party a few perfunctory replies and ending with "I'll find out your superiors' reaction," Director Zhuya walked towards a person covered in amber liquid.

"Yihua, how are you feeling?"

"That's terrible,"

Iori Kazuka, who personally went to the front lines, had just returned here and hadn't even had time to clean up.

"Director, gather all the extraordinary beings; we should prepare for a counterattack—"

There was no counterattack.

Raising her hand to interrupt Iori Kazuka's words, Director Takeya's gaze swept over the celebrating crowd, and she beckoned to her capable assistant.

"follow me."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"what?"

"America lost two aircraft carriers?!"

"To be precise, all the officers and crew on both aircraft carriers—the USS Carl Vinson and the USS Stennis—were completely unharmed."

Upon arriving at the rooftop of the command center, after listening to Director Takeya's words, Iori Kazuka frowned in thought, then suddenly realized something, and finally became hesitant to speak.

"Director, I hope I'm wrong."

"Are we going to be engaged in a 'tug-of-war' with these demons next?"

"Yes,"

“You guys—”

Iori Kazuka pointed at her immediate supervisor as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she helplessly lowered her hand.

"How could this be?"

"Yihua, this is the result of the cabinet's discussion."

Director Zhu Ya adjusted her non-prescription glasses and patiently explained.

"Indeed, if we launch an attack now and use our stockpiled thermobaric bombs to annihilate all the demons, it is not impossible."

"But what happens next?"

After that, he naturally faced the enraged Blood Hakama and the sea ninja under his control!
If the sea ninja can slaughter the officers and soldiers of two aircraft carriers, he can slaughter the command headquarters of the island nation and America: when that time comes, how effective the Inari god 'Mikozumi' will be will depend entirely on the mood of that god.

Perhaps the Inari deity will intervene, or perhaps he won't care at all.

But in either case, the high-ranking officials of the island nation and America are definitely doomed on this battlefield.

"so what?"

Iori Ichika opened her eyes and asked back,
"If you just let this situation drag on like this, don't forget, the purpose of that Blood Hakama is—"

"Collect souls, and specifically the souls of the strong."

Director Takeya interrupted Iori Kazuka with her hands behind her back.

"I know, we all know."

The ultimate goal of the Blood Hakama is to resurrect the legendary Tamamo-no-Mae.

Judging from his actions along the way, it all boils down to two things: collecting the Killing Stone and collecting souls!
Even if a new superhuman is created using the 'Killing Stone', the purpose is nothing more than 'raising a venomous insect'; in the end, the soul will still return to his hands—at least that's what the island nation's government experts believe.

Previously, Blood Hakama collected souls 'secretly,' but now it seems he's no longer satisfied with that 'inefficient' method.

He made it clear that he wanted humans to send their 'souls' to him: 'high-quality' souls, no less.

"The upcoming battle at Wakayama will be a deal,"

When faced with her capable subordinates, Director Zhu Ya simply spoke her mind.

“We send out soldiers, and they send out demons.” The government harvests demons to create extraordinary potions, while Blood Hakama obtains the souls of soldiers for his resurrection project.

Win-win!

No, adding America makes it a win-win-win situation.

Therefore, the island nation will not launch any 'counterattack' at all.

"Director, I thought you were even a human being."

They're birds of a feather!
Yi Zhiyi's words made Director Zhuya's forehead veins throb.

"Why do you think America is so eager to help us?"

"Why do you think America hasn't responded at all after losing five thousand men?!"

"What they want are the demons that can be used as 'raw materials' for the potion! Anyone who dares to suggest eliminating demons at this time will be eliminated by America first!"

Enraged, Director Zhu Ya ripped off her glasses and demanded an answer in a stern voice:
"I'm not human? Fine—"

"Yihua, tell me what to do?!"

"Go to the cabinet now and propose a major counter-offensive to the Prime Minister: even at the cost of heavy losses, to completely annihilate the demons?"

Putting aside whether he can actually do it or not, his tenure as the 'Metropolitan Police Department Commissioner' and the 'Supernatural Countermeasures Division' leader is over.

The only outcome is complete dismissal, and they might even be charged with 'treason'.

"Let's go back to the counterattack. How do we launch a counterattack?"

"Without American support, what can we do with our less than 200,000 civil servants?"

Regardless of the Self-Defense Forces' combat capabilities, their various technological equipment and command systems are almost entirely "foreign imports." With a single thought from the Americans, they could make them surrender before the battle even begins.

"Or are you saying that you, Iori Ichika, can storm into Mount Koya and take the head of 'Blood Hakama' from among millions of demons?"

Faced with a barrage of questions from her angry boss, Iori Kazuka awkwardly smiled and waved her hands repeatedly.

"Calm down, calm down, Director."

"Don't get agitated, I was just saying it offhand: you're a really good person, okay?"

"Remember, this is the decision of the Cabinet and America."

"If Blood Hakama wants to wage a full-scale war, once the Biyou is created, they only need to rush towards Osaka at full speed, and the casualties will definitely exceed one million."

However, doing so might provoke the displeasure and interference of Inari. The think tank analyzed that before Tamamo-no-Mae is resurrected, Blood Hakama will not massacre civilians: the demons under his command deliberately spread throughout Wakayama, clearly giving the island government "time to react".

After America launched a probing attack on the periphery and then suffered a 'retaliatory counterattack,' everyone knew what to expect.

To surround but not attack, maintaining a low-intensity war.

There's no need for communication; they're all 'smart people.' Their tacit exchanges have already revealed each other's bottom lines and needs.

"Even if what you say makes sense, what about the soldiers?"

She became a victim of the war, leaving Iori Kazuka feeling helpless.

All I wanted was to be a 'normal' police officer, so why did I get involved in these dirty struggles?!
"This is war,"

Director Zhu Ya put her glasses back on.
"However, we are not just passively defending: during this period, all military factories will be operating at full speed, and the recruitment of new Self-Defense Force personnel has begun; the extraordinary medicines produced will also be used first on warriors with 'military merits'."

"You also need to make the most of your time to train. Is it because human development is superior, or..."

Blood Hakama's 'resurrection progress' is faster, so let's see who has the best skills!
This battlefield is the channel for both sides to improve.

Dangerous, bloody, filthy, and cruel.
"Hey, that's all it can do."

Iori Kazuka sighed. Faced with such a 'general trend,' she, like ordinary people, was almost powerless.

Only those with 'Demon-level' strength can influence the course of events!

For her, who had just been promoted to 'Wolf Level', it was almost impossible.

Dog, wolf, tiger, ghost, dragon, god
Our strength is far from sufficient!
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

After a few days,
Adachi Ward, Tokyo.

Suijian High School, lunch break
Students who usually like to wander around are all gathered in twos and threes in the classroom, some looking worried and others chatting enthusiastically.

"Has there been an update on the battle situation in Wakayama?"

"Yes, I heard the cleanup around Gojo City is finished. Hopefully it will end soon."

"It's not that easy. I heard that both American aircraft carriers have withdrawn from the Joint Fleet, which means the situation is not going well."

These are serious analyses of the battle situation, although their "serious analysis" all comes from official propaganda, "from one victory to another," meaning the defensive line has not advanced much, or rather, there is no such thing as "advancement" at all.

Most of Waka Prefecture has been sealed off and turned into a 'war zone'. Although the Self-Defense Forces keep reporting 'victories', it is not hard to see from the large number of fortifications that have begun to be built that they are completely in a defensive posture.

And some are:
"Look at this!"

"The head of the Yagyu family obtained a supernatural potion for his meritorious service in killing enemies!"

The other students, who were scrolling through their phones, were concerned with something else entirely.

Besides the Self-Defense Forces' victory, a large number of people who "made meritorious contributions" were rewarded with extraordinary potions and became extraordinary individuals: such as the one they were paying attention to, the head of the Yagyu family, Yagyu Harashige!
On the phone screen was a tall man dressed in a blue samurai outfit, who appeared to be between thirty-seven or thirty-eight and forty years old.

He was seen holding a samurai sword, facing a wild boar and a brown bear alone!

The wild boar looked to weigh at least 300 kilograms, its body covered in bristles as messy as needles; the brown bear was even larger, resembling a small van, constantly growling and howling.

The next second, the two beasts reached some kind of 'consensus' and charged at the 'terrifying two-legged beast'!
Facing two ferocious beasts, each weighing hundreds of kilograms, the man dressed in samurai clothes charged head-on. Just as the three were about to collide, his figure suddenly accelerated and blurred.

The three crossed paths, and Yagyu Hara Shige already held his sword in a downward slashing stance, while behind him:

Two ferocious beasts crashed to the ground!
The blood that splattered on the floor proved that they had lost their lives.

"So handsome!"

"With a single strike, I can cut down a wild boar and a brown bear at the same time; killing a demon would be a piece of cake!"

"Quiet down, slow motion footage coming soon—"

As the video continued to play, the battle was shown in ten times slower speed. The middle-aged warrior first shifted his feet and slashed his long sword diagonally across the brown bear's neck. Then, he turned his sword and swept it upwards across the wild boar's neck.

He then sidestepped and passed between the two.

In slow motion, blood splattered from the necks of the two ferocious beasts, resembling a pair of wings.

"It's the secret technique of the New Yin Stream, 'Tengu Shou Oku'!"

Some boys got so excited watching that they stood up and clasped their hands together.

"If only I had superhuman strength..."

Fantasizing about slaughtering extraordinary people and reaching the pinnacle of life, the boy's face flushed.

"Come on, the head of the Yagyu family dared to go to the battlefield to kill demons before he even had extraordinary powers. If you're so capable, why don't you go and do it yourself?"

Someone nearby couldn't help but interrupt his sweet dream, but the boy wasn't discouraged because:
"I may not be able to kill the enemy with a knife, but who doesn't know how to pull a trigger?"

"Are you planning to just drop out after high school?"

"Yes, join the Self-Defense Forces!"

The boy clenched his fist, his face full of enthusiasm.

In this chaotic world, it is the time for men to make their mark: accumulate military merits, and you can obtain extraordinary potions and become an extraordinary being!
At that time, enjoying the finest food and drink will be a piece of cake, right?
This gesture prompted Youwei, who was leaning against the back seat, to glance at him.

Young man, why don't you first find out about the Self-Defense Forces' casualties? However, the Self-Defense Forces aren't short of manpower these days.

(End of this chapter)