I planted a sacred tree in Tokyo.

Chapter 290 Battle Under Siege
"Hyomi, what you said is really hurtful."

The fashionable woman following behind rolled her eyes at the middle school girl, exuding charm—but it only gave Dong Xiaomei and the Yiyue inside her goosebumps.

If it were a man, he'd probably enjoy it; but they're all women, and:

"What are you doing here, someone who's lost their guardian spirit?"

Yi Yue questioned him bluntly.

Led by the three captains of the 'Underworld', the group headed towards 'Oni-Owari Castle' in the center of the black mist: the seriously injured and those whose spiritual energy was too depleted remained at Asama Orthopedic Hospital, awaiting further rescue from the government.

This former sex worker named 'Yua' doesn't look like she's still capable of working.

Why did she continue advancing with the combat troops? What was she thinking?

"Tsk, do you think I want to?"

Walking at the back of the group, barefoot Yua spoke up unhappily.

"Stay in the hospital? I don't want to die!"

“Little sisters, we are fighting against evil spirits: they have only one goal, which is to send us to the underworld.”

The stylish beauty lowered her voice and explained softly.
"This is not a fight between humans; we will show mercy to the prisoners."

"Compared to our 'strong army,' the wounded in the hospital are a 'weak force.' Who do you think the evil spirits will target first?"

?

After listening to this 'Yua's' analysis,

Both Higashi Takami, a middle school student, and Izuki, who emerged from her body, looked surprised.

That seems to make some sense, but—

"That's just your guess."

"Damn it, it's an army of evil spirits!"

"Asama Hospital has been attacked! Requesting backup! Requesting backup!!"

As if to verify the words of the fashionable beauty 'Yua', urgent cries for help suddenly rang in everyone's earpieces. It turned out that the injured people left at Asama Orthopedic Hospital had been attacked.

? ?
"Quickly! Send reinforcements!"

The remaining extraordinary officers' expressions changed drastically, and they all turned around.

The injured in the hospital were mainly government personnel; having barely escaped death, it would be a real tragedy if they died there.

"Don't panic,"

At the front of the group, Jun Kishida, holding an umbrella, turned around.

"I have already had people lying in ambush there, just waiting for the Oda clan's army to take the bait."

"Government reinforcements will arrive soon; it's Miss Pegasus with the 'Eye of God'—the wounded will be out of danger."

???

"Ah! And you two are..."

"We're saved! A captain from the underworld has appeared and suppressed the attacking ghost army!"

The information coming through the earpiece confirmed Kishida Jun's words. Such a cautious person as him had already arranged for the two "old captains," Fujiwara and Ishikawa, to lie in ambush in the hospital: both of them were long-range attackers, which could both protect the wounded and launch an attack from afar after the main force broke through the "black fog."

Reports kept coming through the earpiece: the Oda clan's "Demon Ninja Army" was being held back by two elderly underworld captains, and at the same time, "Pegasus Ai-mei" had arrived at the hospital. Under her divine eyes, all evil spirits had nowhere to hide, and it was only a matter of time before the demon army was defeated and annihilated.

A sudden attack was quickly thwarted.

"Ha, that team leader had anticipated all of this."

It was a false alarm. Izuki, who was floating behind Higashimura, pointed with a cold smile at the way they had come.

"Why don't you take this opportunity to go back?"

"No, thank you."

The fashionable beauty named 'Yua' shook her head slightly.

“There’s a huge battle going on over there right now. If I ever encounter any of the scattered ghost troops, I’m doomed.”

After saying that, the fashionable beauty shrugged.

"Since we're already here, it'll be safer to stay with you."

"I will protect you, Miss Yua."

As colleagues, Higashi Takami couldn't abandon the other party; however, the protection she spoke of still depended on Izuki's strength.

"Hmph, whatever you want."

The blonde, waist-length high school girl evil spirit, Izuki, has the air of a tough, bossy woman; but she is essentially a 'good person' and does not deny what Higashi Takami said.

And so, guided by Xiao Jiu, the 'vice captain' of the underworld, a group of extraordinary individuals traversed the mist toward their destination.

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 a huge city!"

Led by Kobato, who possesses the 'Kagura Mind's Eye', the group arrived at a castle.

This castle, though located within a city, is a 'flatland city': that is, a city built on a plain, relying on mountains and hills. It is distinct from flat cities on plains and mountain cities located on mountain peaks.

Beneath the city, black mountain rocks stretch out.

Covering a modern building with it is like loading the wrong game texture, or like a toy buried in a sand dune.

The city atop the mountain is a massive ancient city: its ten-meter-high walls are wide enough for horses to gallop along, and its enormous gates allow armored vehicles to pass side by side. Many in the procession couldn't help but complain, "Where in the history of this island nation has such a city?"

Looking beyond the city walls, one can see the towering castle tower: the tallest and most prominent building in the castle.

This castle tower, with its white walls and black tiles, has six stories and is a typical 'layered tower': that is, layers are added on top of a square castle tower, with each layer set back a certain distance; in this way, each layer has the same shape, and as the building height increases, the setback of the floor dimensions is also the most uniform.

The city walls were densely packed with ranged ghost soldiers wielding bows and arrows and cannons; several fully armored generals patrolled back and forth, their black papaya flags fluttering in the wind. Not a single 'person' spoke, yet the air was thick with a chilling, iron-blooded aura!

"As expected of the Oda clan's weaponry,"

Behind the ranks of the superhumans below the city, a woman named Yua looked up at the city wall and couldn't help but admire the array of swords and spears, banners and drums, and the disciplined military formation.

On the entire battlefield, almost everyone was at least at the wolf level; those 'ghost generals' were even radiating tiger-level spiritual energy fluctuations.

With such an army, coupled with its 'immunity to physical attacks' characteristic, massacring cities and destroying countries is nothing more than a piece of cake!

Even modern armies are extremely vulnerable in the face of it.

Only the extraordinary can deal with it—

"Stop lamenting here, go find somewhere to hide."

Yi Yue waved her hand, dismissing the fashionable woman who had lost her guardian spirit: To be honest, the members of the guardian spirit team couldn't really be considered 'ordinary people'. After all, with prolonged contact with spirits, coupled with the island nation's various dietary adjustments and scientific training, many of them already had a 'weak dog' level of physique.

Charging into battle is certainly not enough, but hiding is more than enough: provided you don't get unlucky enough to be caught in the crossfire of an attack by a skilled player.

"Collapse the kingdom, release it!"

As the extraordinary individuals approached, the two armies faced off, and a 'Ghost General' on the city wall shouted orders.

Click click click

On the city wall, one after another, animal heads emerged.

No, it wasn't just a simple beast's head: its gaping, round, dark mouth made it clear that...
boom! boom! boom! boom! boom!
Flames and smoke billowed from the beast's mouth, and whistling black shells flew toward the group!

"It's a cannon,"

"To be precise, they were fire arrows from the Southern Barbarians."

Witnessing all this, the superhumans calmly conversed with each other.

Oda Nobunaga was active during the Sengoku period, from 1534 to 1582. At that time, many European missionaries had come to the island nation, bringing matchlock guns and muzzle-loading smoothbore cannons. Given the island nation's tendency to exaggerate, matchlock guns were called "iron guns," and muzzle-loading smoothbore cannons were called "national collapse."

It means that one shot can destroy a country: considering that even island villages can be called 'countries' in the past, it is quite apt.

No one was surprised by the incoming shells;
Those who make it this far are seasoned veterans; mere cannonballs are nothing to them. Besides, there are many experts here, with plenty of tricks up their sleeves.

brush,

A figure leaped into the air.

He was dressed in a blue samurai outfit, and drew a long sword from his waist, swinging it out into the air.

"Wind Barrier!"

As the man swung his longsword, a fierce wind arose, transforming into a visible 'wind wall' that was tens of meters high and tens of meters wide, sweeping outwards.

Before this 'wind wall' that covered the entire superhuman team, the whistling shells were like falling into a torrent, being swept away and thrown to the side.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The next second, a deafening explosion shot straight into the sky, stirring up the black mist that filled the battlefield and causing it to spread out in layers.

The street beneath their feet trembled violently, causing the superhumans who had been unimpressed to turn around.

The 'shells' that were thrown into the air struck the buildings not far away.

Each shell explodes, creating a 'cavity' with a diameter of over ten meters: whether it's reinforced concrete, glass streetlights, or any other material caught in the explosion, it is instantly decomposed and melted, leaving behind huge cavities.

???

this.
Many people felt their teeth ache on the spot.
"Be careful, these weapons are not ordinary shells."

The explosions of modern weapons have actually reached their limit: the energy released by chemical changes has a limit, and the power of any explosive, except for nuclear weapons, is fixed.

It can be powerful enough to kill hundreds of people with a single shot; yet it can also be so weak that it can escape unharmed even if a shell explodes at its feet.

When facing modern reinforced concrete buildings, even heavy artillery can only produce smoke without causing serious damage.

But the cannonballs fired from this ghost city, 'Guocao', could actually blast steel and concrete into dust; if such power were to fall on you, it wouldn't just leave you with bruises, but rather patches of blood all over the place!
"let's start,"

Holding an umbrella, Jun Kishida was the first to leap onto the castle wall.

"Multiple Water Dragon Bullets—"

With a wave of the umbrella printed with a bear pattern, several huge water dragons roared out and bared their fangs and claws as they attacked the ghost soldiers on the city wall!
Unlike the 'Water Dragon Bullet' which requires 44 hand seals, Kishida Jun only needs to shout once; moreover, the technique he uses is that of the Second Hokage, Tobirama: it can summon several water dragons to attack at the same time.

"cut!"

"Sever it—"

Faced with this monstrous multi-headed dragon, the 'Ghost Generals' on the city wall drew their swords and slashed furiously. Huge black crescent moons shot out, all of them flying slashes!

Ordinary 'Demon Generals' don't have any special abilities, but their Tiger-level strength is not fake; they can easily cut off a dragon's head.

However, ordinary 'Demon Generals' are no match for Kishida Jun, so:
"Shibata Katsuie from Echizen is here!"

"The general will be named!"

Holding a long spear and trailing billowing black smoke, Shibata Katsuie stood on the castle wall, loudly challenging them to a duel.

His response was a water dragon that turned its head around and lunged forward with bared teeth and claws.

"You're just in time—"

As the fiercest general in Oda's army, Shibata Katsuie was naturally fearless and charged into battle with his spear.

"Burning River Rock!"

On the other side, Wataru Tanimura, wielding the extraordinary sword 'Inu no Kurenai', swung his longsword into the sky:
Clumps of lava shot out from his longsword, soaring into the sky: this lava possessed both the viscosity of earth and the scorching heat of fire; when mixed together, it formed spherical lava formations the size of cars.

After soaring into the sky, it suddenly plummeted downwards, heading straight for the interior of the ghost town before it.

"Eight formations of stone soldiers!"

However, how could there not be a way to deal with this 'Oda army' that has nothing to do with history?

Amidst the rumbling of the earth, massive rock walls rose from the ground, forming towering ramparts; falling lava crashed against the rock walls, causing soil and rocks to fly and lava to spill, but this was enough time for many ghost soldiers to relocate.

Don't forget, evil spirits can burrow underground!
However, their habits from their previous lives usually make them very resistant to going deep into the soil.

"Chongzhi in Xiazhuzhong,"

On the city wall, there was a military general dressed as an Onmyoji, one hand on the hilt of his sword at his waist, the other waving.

"kill!"

Boom!

The city gates burst open, and a group of heavily armored warriors with banners on their backs and demon masks covering their faces rode out, charging down at the group of superhumans from their elevated position!
The city walls are practically meaningless to the superhumans on the human side: the people here can climb trees, wade through water, and leap onto the city walls with ease.

Oda's demon army decided to launch a direct attack, intending to use their numerical advantage to first take down the human side's mid- to low-tier combat forces.

Takenaka Shigeharu?

Ryuji Hanakain looked up and glanced at the warrior dressed as an Onmyoji.

This man, known as one of the "Toyotomi Ryobei," was a great contributor to Toyotomi Hideyoshi's rise to power. In his youth, he remonstrated with his incompetent lord by capturing a castle with only seventeen men and returning it intact, earning him fame throughout the island nation.

He later became a retainer of the Toyotomi family—Toyotomi Hideyoshi was a retainer of Oda, so it was only natural that he appeared in Oda's army.

"Ready to fight!"

As Keikain Ryuji shouted, the Onmyoji of the Keikain family commanded their 'shikigami' to charge forward, and they themselves did not hold back, throwing out various auxiliary items such as 'explosion talismans' and 'immobilization talismans'. Occasionally, streaks of sky-blue light would light up, which was proof that the 'barrier jade pendant' had been activated.

Ghost Army Guns and Cannons, Water Dragon Lava, Giant Dog Slash.
Various extraordinary abilities bloom on this battlefield, dazzling and deadly!
As the retainers of the Oda clan made their appearance, the two sides began a fierce 'battle'.

The ghost army is numerous and skilled in formation battles; the human side employs a variety of tactics and is accustomed to small-scale combat.
The three captains of the underworld, along with Yagyu Onoda, wielded their long swords, stretching for hundreds of meters and sweeping across thousands of troops; the general of the Oda clan billowed black smoke, his murderous aura soaring to the sky, his katana and spear slicing through the earth with unparalleled sharpness.

Both sides were evenly matched, but ultimately, the battle lines continued to spread towards the ghost town because:
What was Oda Nobunaga up to?
Jun Kishida frowned, wanting to shout: Nobunaga, where are you?
I've already arrived at Owari Castle; you're not here at all.
never mind--

He twirled the umbrella in his hand, and it caught Shibata Katsuie's spear.

Let's deal with these troops first, then charge in!

Ultimately, it comes down to who is the best.

(End of this chapter)