I planted a sacred tree in Tokyo.

Chapter 285 A bad start
"Did the monkeys conquer the world?"

The figure, flipping through the book in his hands, leaned against the tattered banner bearing the family crest of the Five Papayas.

"He wiped out the Akechi family and the Shibata family, and this hairless monkey became the 'Kanpaku'? That's absurd!"

Amidst the snickers, the figure continued watching.

“Katsuie died, and Oichi died with him in the castle tower.”

The figure paused slightly, as if witnessing something even more absurd.

The mighty 'Oni Shibata' was actually defeated by a monkey? And his sister Oichi died too?

"Niwa, Masuichi, and Toshiie have all submitted to the monkey, and the Oda clan has become a vassal of the Ieyasu clan?"

"Nobutada was a foolish son who was trapped in Nijo Castle and died at the hands of Mitsuhide. Jubei, you monkey, tell me, how should I 'reward' you?!"

The figure stood up. At 1.7 meters tall, he was definitely considered 'imposing' in the Warring States period. Coupled with his dignified and imposing demeanor, the two men who were surrounded by generals and kneeling with their hands behind their backs could only kowtow.

"Boring,"

After a while, the figure dropped the book in its hand.

“You are neither Jubei nor monkeys, but two chaotic evil spirits.”

Even I—

The figure stood up and looked around.

Hachisuka Masakatsu, Shibata Katsuie, Maeda Toshiie, Niwa Nagahide, and Akechi Mitsuhide and Toyotomi Hideyoshi kneeling on the ground.

The face was still the same, but it was now eerily sinister, with billowing black smoke!

"all fake!"

The figure angrily rubbed his forehead, his mind a jumbled mess of memories: scenes of leading troops into battle and governing a country; past experiences of climbing trees and wading through rivers, causing trouble everywhere; knowledge of befriending merchants and manufacturing firearms; even memories of drumming, singing, and dancing in women's clothing.
However, these perceptions were confused and contradictory, as if the memories of dozens or even hundreds of people had been crammed into his consciousness.

“We are all dead. What stands here is nothing but a swarm of evil spirits!”

Countless insights endowed the figure with the ability to 'think,' allowing him to understand his identity and his 'fate,' but—

"Gather the demon tribes, besiege the isolated city, and wait to be annihilated."

"Boring! Utterly boring!"

The figure strode towards the outside of the castle tower, pushing open the door while gazing at the distant city.

It was a modern city, with skyscrapers and bustling traffic—but now it was in chaos, and people were fleeing eastward: because in the west of the city, a ghostly, dark castle tower had appeared out of nowhere.

Above the castle tower, black mud continuously seeps out from the cracks, falling down and merging into the tower.

"Alarm! Alarm!"

"An extraordinary disaster has occurred in Nishi Ward, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture: Oniowara Castle."

"The estimated disaster level is: Ghost Level!"

"Residents of Nakamura Ward, Naka Ward, and Kita Ward, please evacuate in an orderly manner."

The city's public address system broadcast solemn messages over and over again. The wards closest to the West Ward were being evacuated, while residents of more distant wards such as Nakagawa, Minato, Atsuta, and Chikusa were taking refuge in underground parking lots and subway stations.

With over 200 million people in Nagoya, it would be impossible to evacuate them all in an emergency, even with modern transportation!
Even in areas near the western district, the simultaneous influx of hundreds of thousands of people to other districts has caused terrifying traffic congestion.

"In the span of fifty years of human life, the rise and fall of dynasties seem like a dream; those who are born once, how can they not perish?"

Standing atop the castle tower, gazing at the distant city, a figure gave a cold smile.

"I was 49 years old when I died!"

This waka poem, which spanned his rise and fall, seems to be a reflection of his entire life.
"No, I am not Oda Nobunaga; I am merely an evil spirit, an evil spirit destined to fail!"

Countless chaotic perceptions churned within his consciousness, yet regardless of which 'perception' he held, he was undoubtedly a hero.

But at the height of his success, he fell in the raging flames of Honnoji Temple; however, this setback could not defeat Oda Nobunaga. After all, he had spent his life on the battlefield and had seen all kinds of betrayals. Even if he were to die, he would die a glorious death!
"Come on, humans of this era."

"Let me see your martial prowess and whether you are qualified to roam this land!"

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.

"The enemy is..."

"Oda Nobunaga?"

"Yabai, shouldn't we shout 'The enemy is at Honnoji Temple'?"

On the Osprey transport plane that was en route from Tokyo to Nagoya, the group of people looked at each other in bewilderment upon hearing that their next enemy was Oda Nobunaga.

This man is a household name in Japan: the chaos of the Warring States period ended in his hands. At the height of his power, he organized an army of 130,000 and conducted military drills in Kyoto. From the emperor to the common people, everyone believed that he would completely end the chaos and bring peace to the island nation.

However, the phrase "the enemy is at Honnoji" completely shattered his dream of "conquering the world by force".

All that's left is the感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a complex feeling of mixed emotions, often including regret or reflection) of "
Then came the 'Kanpaku' Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
Then, 'Shogun' Tokugawa Ieyasu took the throne as the ruler of the land.

Ultimately, the Tokugawa family, the longest-lived 'old tortoise' family, ushered in the centuries-long 'Tokugawa' shogunate era.

It's often like this: it's not the strongest who wins, but the one who survives to the end: outlasting the heroes and champions, you'll have the last laugh.

The cargo hold of the transport plane contained people of all ages and genders, and even after undergoing a series of 'training' sessions, they still retained the aura of ordinary people.

They weren't originally a regular army, but rather a new profession called "Spirit Summoners" that emerged after the appearance of the "Rift to the Underworld": they were the "Guardian Spirits" squad of the Extraordinary Countermeasures Department.

Extraordinary power all originates from the 'guardian spirit' or 'possessed spirit' within one's body. In Director Zhuya's eyes, it doesn't matter what kind of spirit it is, as long as it obeys commands, it's a good spirit; otherwise—

These are the targets that need to be eradicated!

Therefore, these people come from all over the country and have very different experiences. It is difficult to say whether the "spirit" they possess is good or bad. For example, there are fashionable young people who are subtly ostracized by the public, and beautiful women with exquisite makeup.

Are "simps" considered 'guardian spirits'?

I guess so.
"Everyone, don't be nervous,"

A section chief from the Extraordinary Countermeasures Section, who was in charge of directing them, clapped his hands.
"This operation involves not only us, but also two teams of extraordinary special police officers, numerous masters from the Wu family, and—"

"The Onmyoji of the Hanakain family!"

? !
The group of people were greatly encouraged, their expressions practically screaming "We've won!"

What kind of existence is the Kasakain family? That's Yuuki's family, the strongest in modern times who even defeated the 'most powerful Onmyoji in history'. With a wave of their hand, the gods of Takamagahara descend to the mortal realm to help them: what is a mere 'Sixth Heaven Demon King'?
"Don't be too happy yet,"

After boosting everyone's morale, the section chief then said the following:
"It's an Onmyoji from the 'Kasakain family' who's come, not that lord!"

what?
"You should have said so earlier,"

"If it's not that lord, isn't that extremely dangerous?"

“Yeah, this is a disaster assessed as ‘Ghost-level’, even we Wolf-level people can barely handle it.”

That's just asking for trouble!
The passengers in the cabin began to clamor.

It's a bit of a stretch for these 'grunts' to step into a 'demon-level' disaster, isn't it?

"Don't worry, we only need to deal with the enemy's grunts: foot soldiers and low-ranking samurai—"

The section chief helplessly looked up at the cabin ceiling.

This "Guardian Spirit Squad" consists of genuine civilians. Only elite members of the Self-Defense Forces who have lost loved ones to supernatural disasters and have already disregarded life and death could charge forward at the risk of casualties.

Unfortunately, the Army Self-Defense Forces still mainly rely on 'modern weapons' for combat, and only a few elite junior officer squads were sent.

"Let's go, we've reached the outskirts of 'Oni-Owari'."

The Osprey transport plane descended, the hatch opened, and Chief Chaofan was the first to leap out.

Others followed suit, and various 'guardian spirits' appeared behind them: some were old men, some were young men, some were policemen, and some were samurai.
Most of these guardian spirits are their relatives.

Of course, there are exceptions:
"Hahaha, is our opponent this time a samurai from the Warring States period?"

“It’s so fun!”

A hearty laugh came from the short-haired junior high school girl. Higashi Takami, who was already used to her body being "in and out," just said it casually.

"It's up to you now, Sister Yiyue."

This perfect pairing of a person and a spirit 'possessed' is none other than Higashi Takami and Izuki!
"no problem!"

The spirited short-haired girl asked and answered her own questions, making the other 'spiritualists' extremely envious.

Their 'guardian spirits' can only float behind them, which looks cool, but their weakness is very obvious: spirits are spirits, and humans are humans.

No matter which side is injured, the other side is powerless to help, and it can even be said that they are each other's weaknesses; but Dong Xiaomei and Yiyue are different. The two are combined into one and can fully exert the power of human and spirit, truly achieving 1+1>2.

Snap, snap, snap, snap,

As figures descended with the help of their 'guardian spirits,' the crowd could already see the castle shrouded in black mist in the distance.

This castle is made of 'spirits', so it is unharmed by ordinary firearms or even nuclear bombs.

On the contrary, humans, as long as they muster the courage, can attack evil spirits.

Meanwhile, other transport planes also stopped nearby.

"Okay, next we'll—"

砰、

Just as the section chief was about to give instructions to everyone, his head suddenly exploded into a cloud of blood mist!
???

While the others were still in a daze, Izuki, who was possessing Higashi Takami's body, glanced around and landed on the hole that had suddenly been pierced through the roof.

"There are snipers!"

brush,

With a swift movement, she had already nimbly flipped over the rooftop, using the building as cover.

"hidden--"

砰、

Another explosion rang out.
The newly landed 'Guardian Spirit Squad' was attacked!
Not only their team, but also the other squads that landed on high-rise buildings were targeted by long-range snipers.

At the same time, the 'Oni-wari Castle,' which was only the size of an ancient castle tower, suddenly expanded out, and billowing black mist quickly engulfed the chaotic crowd.

It was obvious that they had been ambushed.

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.

P.S.: Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!
(End of this chapter)