I have an unlimited number of shikigami

The tall man was giving a speech, while the short man, with his back to him, stared at the heavy rain outside the door, looking somewhat bored. Under the gloomy sky, the air was damp and cool, the earthy smell of damp earth permeating the air. Then, as if he had seen something amusing, he reached up and touched his nose, giving a sinister smile.

Several crows fluttered up from the treetops, flew over the wall, and disappeared into the night.

The low-hanging, thick clouds pressed down on the rooftops as if collapsing, seemingly foreshadowing an imminent fierce battle.

※※※※※

Ueno, Taitung Ward.

Hidden among the lush trees of Ueno Park are many shrines.

Among them, Hanazono Inari Shrine is the largest and most powerful. Along the approach to the worship hall, rows of bright red torii gates stand, just like Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine, solemn and noble.

The night wind howled as it rustled through the trees, and light shone through the worship hall.

Fujishima Kyoji sat on the veranda, gazing at the torii gate in the rain, seemingly waiting for someone.

Eighteen years ago, he left Fushimi Inari Taisha to become the chief priest of Hanazono Inari Shrine in Tokyo, shouldering the important task of expanding the influence of Inari Shrines in the Kanto region. In the past eighteen years, his greatest wish has been to make Hanazono Inari Shrine one of the Big 5 of the Onmyoryori (Yin-Yang Bureau) in the Kanto region, and he has been working tirelessly towards this goal for a long time.

Now, there is finally a glimmer of hope for this goal.

Earlier today, Section 9 issued an arrest warrant for Izaya Fujiwara.

After gathering information from various sources, Fujishima Miyaji roughly knew what had happened that morning.

If Section Nine can confirm that Fujiwara Izaya is a yokai, then he is confident that he can remove Asakusa Shrine from the Bureau of Onmyōryō (the monastery's administrative division). Then, the vacant position of chairman, which previously belonged to Asakusa Shrine, will no longer have any reason to remain vacant.

Fujishima Miyaji knew this very well.

The local Kanto forces, represented by Tokyo Daijingu Shrine, did not welcome these people from Kansai.

But so what?

The rules of the Yin-Yang Bureau do not state that a branch of a Kansai shrine is not allowed to serve as the chairman of the Kanto branch.

Once Asakusa Shrine is removed from the council, a replacement will naturally need to be chosen from the remaining council members. Among the remaining candidate shrines and temples, Hanazono Inari Shrine has an absolute advantage in terms of strength and funds, so being elected as the new council chairman is merely a formality.

The rain fell like a curtain, and someone walked along the approach to the temple with an umbrella.

He was wearing a flashy shirt, with a slightly rebellious headscarf wrapped around his forehead, and a lazy and frivolous expression.

Fujishima Miyaji sighed softly.

This is his son, a senior in high school, whose personality is giving him, as his father, a lot of headaches.

"...Dad, I haven't even had dinner yet, and you've made me run around doing all this," Fujishima Shirou said, clearly annoyed. He grumbled as he walked up the steps, plopped down on the porch, and said impatiently, "It's just a run-down Asakusa Shrine. I'll tear it down for you later, okay?"

Hearing his son's flippant tone, Fujishima Miyaji frowned: "Have you gotten any information from Section 9?"

“There are two key pieces of evidence right now,” Fujishima Shirou shouted, patting the mud off his trousers. “The first piece of evidence: At the beginning of the month, Fujiwara Rinya performed an exorcism at a construction site in Yoshiwara, and traces of demonic energy left behind at least a high-ranking demon were found at the scene. The second piece of evidence: Regarding what happened this morning, many people witnessed him taking a blow to the neck from Kagehisa’s blade and emerging unharmed.”

Fujishima Miyaji asked, "What evidence is there for the first thing?"

“There’s no physical evidence, but there are witnesses.” Fujishima Shirou curled his lip in boredom. “One is a police inspector from Section 9, and the other is a priest from Yoshiwara Shrine. Both of them were at the construction site at the time, so it’s safe to say that Fujiwara Izaya was the only person present at the scene.”

“Without physical evidence, it’s not very stable…” Fujishima Miyaji gently wiped the raindrops from his forehead with a handkerchief. “Go to Section 9 headquarters in person and put pressure on them in the name of the Garden Inari Shrine, urging them to arrest Fujiwara Izaya as soon as possible. I’ll contact Chairwoman Kasahara and sound out her attitude.”

“Dad, look at this rain,” Fujishima Miyaji complained. “When I came back, the roads were flooded. The announcement said the water had flowed all the way to Akasakamitsu Station, and the subway lines were flooded. The Ginza and Marunouchi lines are suspended, and the streets are in chaos. You still want me to go out in this weather?”

After the son finished complaining, the father slammed his hand on the eaves: "Is that how you talk to me?"

Then, the son imitated his father's action, pushing down even harder. He then bared his teeth, waved his hand, and retorted, "You have the nerve to talk to me about attitude? Everyone else is a father, and so are you. What father would let his son run outside in this terrible weather? I'm not trying to be mean, but you should reflect on yourself. You're not just a palace attendant, you're also a father and a husband!"

"Bastard!"

Lao Tzu patted the eaves again.

"Go if I tell you to, or I'll break your legs right now!"

“I said I’m not going, and I’m not going.” The son patted the eaves, then stuck out his foot with a smug look that said, “Go ahead and break my leg!” which made the father furious.

Just then, a gentle woman emerged from the worship hall and whispered some words of advice to the father and son. Fujishima Shiro then reopened his umbrella, grumbling as he left the shrine and headed to the Section 9 headquarters.

Fujishima Miyaji took out his phone, preparing to contact Chairman Kasahara.

Under the rain, Fujishima Shiro took a few steps, then turned and called out, "Dad, the Hakusan Shrine is also making inquiries everywhere. Don't let them get the upper hand."

"Stinky boy."

A smile appeared on Fujishima Miyaji's lips.

Hakusan Shrine?

It's nothing to be mentioned.

In Fujishima Miyaji's view, only he could hold the position of the last chairman of the Kanto branch.

"Hey, sorry to bother the chairman so late."

"It's Fujishima Miyaji. Please speak."

On the other end of the phone, Kasahara's voice sounded tired. Fujishima Miyaji thought she must be worried about Fujiwara Izaya, so he lowered his voice and said, "Regarding Fujiwara Izaya, after today's incident, the Shinto Church has been in an uproar. If we don't take action soon, it may cause controversy."

"Hmm, I'm thinking about it..."

"Chairman, if people's morale is low, it will have a bad impact."

"knew."

"Why don't we hold a board meeting tomorrow and let everyone discuss how to handle this?"

"That's fine too."

※※※※※

Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo.

At Hakusan Shrine, Takagi Jiji held a photograph and examined it carefully under the lamplight.

Like Fujishima, he was also committed to making Hakusan Shrine the last permanent chairman. However, compared to Inari Shrine, Hakusan Shrine was much smaller in scale and lacked both funds and strength.

But now, the chance to turn things around is right in front of us.

Takagi Shikata held the photo in silence for a long time, his hands trembling slightly.

The photo clearly showed a large tengu dressed in a white hunting robe with a pair of pure white wings, and upon closer inspection, his face bore a striking resemblance to Fujiwara no Izaya, about 90% similar.

Without a doubt.

Takagi was 100% certain that this was Fujiwara Izaya's true identity.

The photo suddenly appeared on his desktop. He didn't know who sent it or what their intention was. The only thing he knew was that the photo was signed "a kind-hearted citizen who was passing by".

With this physical evidence, Takagi Tsukasa believed he could bring down Fujiwara Izaya in one fell swoop.

Then, he could ride the wave of this tremendous achievement to successfully overthrow the Hanazono Inari Shrine and become its fifth permanent chairman.

"Thank you to the kind citizens who passed by..." Takagi Miyaji said with trembling hands, as he dialed the phone number of Kasahara Chairman.

※※※※※

Heavy rain caused the trams to stop running.

Lightning roared fiercely, and raindrops pounded against the world.

Under the dark and damp sky, Fujiwara Izaya flew low overhead, the demonic energy shield surrounding him emitting a faint yellow light, protecting him from the rain.

Light and shadow.

The extremely short moments merge into one.

An unnamed wind suddenly blew towards the house in the rainy night.

This is the signal.

With that signal, he swung his fist downwards.

Everything will begin in the torrential rain, and it will also end in the torrential rain.

Chapter 91. Not a Single One Left Behind

Even under the cover of night and torrential rain, a tense atmosphere still lingered in the courtyard.

Like bloodthirsty sharks, the menacing-looking, bald men roamed the courtyards, not missing a single potential danger.

The level of security and search was extremely high, with layers upon layers of measures in place.

But amidst the roar of the downpour, some details that are usually hard to notice were perfectly concealed. For example, crows were carrying jade stones that emitted a yellow glow, burying them one by one along the outer wall of the courtyard.

Tuwu and Ma walked on the eaves, their hearts filled with unease.

After walking through two courtyards, the henchman following behind him said, "Boss, since they're after you, should we have everyone stay with you and strengthen the defenses around you...?"

Kazuma Tsuchiya was very interested in this proposal.

But to save face, he could only shake his head and refuse: "No need, it's just a kid, I can handle it... Besides, I've been at the Demon General realm for a while now, and it's time for me to break through to a higher realm with some challenging tasks. If that brat isn't strong enough, I'll be disappointed... Oh, by the way, where's the monitoring room? Show me..."

"This way, boss, come with me."

The younger brother led the way, while Tsuchiya and Ma thought that staying in the monitoring room to oversee the whole situation should be the safest place.

After passing one quaint courtyard after another, a strikingly different Western-style villa came into view, with a heavy steel door at the entrance. The younger brother knocked on the wall next to the door, and then a combination lock popped out on the steel door.

Another assistant entered the password and verified the fingerprint before the steel door slowly opened.

Upon entering, a long corridor stretched out before you, with three doors leading to an elevator. Descending the elevator, you entered the house's monitoring room, where three monitors were intently watching the surveillance footage.

On the state-of-the-art control panel, hundreds of monitoring screens are densely packed, covering an entire wall.

Under such a tight surveillance system, even if a mosquito flies in, it will be captured by the camera, and commands will be sent from here to the ground to strike the invading enemy.

Seeing the activity taking place in every corner of the house at that moment, Tsuchiya and Ma finally felt at ease.

"You guys are busy, don't worry about me."

He gave the order and sat down on the sofa next to him, legs crossed.

He made up his mind.

No matter what happens tonight, we will not leave this safe underground bunker.

As for Fujiwara Izaya and the like, let those two big shots in the organization deal with him; who lives or dies is none of his concern.

Just then, Fujiwara Izaya's figure flashed by in one of the surveillance cameras. Then, he disappeared from all the surveillance footage, as if nothing had happened.

"He's in!" Tsuchiya Kazuma stood up from the sofa and stood in front of the monitor screen. "Find him, find him for me!"