Chapter 176: The Rebirth of Yamata no Orochi
“Crack—!”
Hearing this, Natsuba Genryū’s right finger suddenly tightened, and the armrest of the chair was instantly crushed.
A killing intent emanated from his body and filled the room.
Kujō Yūsuke immediately felt it was difficult to breathe, and a sense of intense threat rose within him. The pressure was immense, as if a thousand-pound weight was on his shoulders.
Just as he was about to fall to his knees…
Natsuba Genryū sensed his own loss of composure and quickly dispersed the killing intent. Kujō Yūsuke then gradually recovered.
And Natsuba Genryū still held a glimmer of hope in his heart.
Most likely, there was a glimmer of hope, which meant that Kujō Sujin hadn’t witnessed Natsuba Taiga’s death with his own eyes.
He needed more information to confirm Natsuba Taiga’s current life and death.
And there was one more thing that Natsuba Genryū was particularly concerned about.
He asked in a low, hoarse voice,
“You mean, Natsuba Taiga might have died at the hands of the Master of Summer Harvest Mountain?”
“When you were at the Hero Association, did the Master of Summer Harvest Mountain also appear there?!”
Kujō Yūsuke didn’t understand why Natsuba Genryū was so fixated on this point.
However, the information Kujō Sujin had given him was indeed so, and there was no way to fabricate a reason to refute it. So he nodded slightly.
“Yes.”
And hearing this “yes,” Natsuba Genryū’s mind instantly raced.
Because of his preconceived notions…
Before, he had already become suspicious of the Kujō family, feeling that they had betrayed the alliance between the two families.
And the fact that the Master of Summer Harvest Mountain could appear at the Hero Association and interfere with their operation was a huge anomaly.
After all, this operation was extremely sudden. The plan had even been made the day before, and was executed at an extremely fast speed the next day.
And very few people knew about it, only a handful.
Besides the respective family heads, probably only the participants knew about this plan.
However, such a secret plan, with so many A-ranks ganging up on a peak B-rank Natsuba Rinrei, and even with Kimura Sakura’s backstab…
It had still failed.
And even more so, the Master of Summer Harvest Mountain had even arrived at the Hero Association.
This meant that the information was highly likely to have been leaked.
And the person who had leaked it was among the few participants. The Natsuba family and Summer Harvest Mountain had a blood feud. They had killed most of their mid-level pillars, and Kyōkotsu Rōichi was a good hand of the Kyōkotsu branch.
The Kyōkotsu and Mizuō branches were the longest-serving branches of the Natsuba direct descendants. The outstanding members among them had no possibility of betrayal.
As for Natsuba Taiga leaking the information, there was nothing more ridiculous.
Leaking information and then going missing? Life or death unknown?
Then…
All things considered, the problem was with the Kujō family.
And all the people the Kujō family had brought were Kujō Sujin’s confidants.
The answer was obvious.
The one who had revealed the information to the Master of Summer Harvest Mountain was Kujō Sujin himself.
And his purpose was naturally to completely cut off the Natsuba family’s excellent heirs, and thus cause a decline in their future ranks!
After all, as two of the four major conglomerates, although they cooperated, there were more business collisions and frictions. If one family weakened or even disappeared, the other would expand a little.
The cake had already been divided. If you wanted a new cake, you had to go after the cakes that others possessed.
If he were in the Kujō family’s position…
They currently had no need to completely stand on the opposite side of Summer Harvest Mountain, because the biggest enemy of Summer Harvest Mountain was the Natsuba conglomerate.
Natsuba Genryū pondered.
However, he couldn’t just make such a bold assumption that the Kujō and Summer Harvest Mountain conglomerates had a deal based on his own speculation.
After all, for now, even if he were to expose this relationship, it would not benefit the Natsuba conglomerate at all.
Although Summer Harvest Mountain was a new force, and had no god… But it had to be said that if they were to fight in the outside world, based on the rumored strength of the Master of Summer Harvest Mountain…
Probably even an A-rank with a divine artifact would not be able to take her down. It would very likely require two A-ranks with divine artifacts.
Of course, he still needed to confirm.
Whether the Kujō family really had a deal with Summer Harvest Mountain.
Although a thousand thoughts raced through his mind, and his body still had the extreme pain of the old injuries bursting, Natsuba Genryū’s face was as usual, only the muscles under his brown kimono were twitching unconsciously.
He pretended to say casually,
“Then what about the casualties of the Kujō family? How were their losses in that battle?”
Originally, he had asked this tentatively, thinking that it was probably the C-rank and B-rank personnel hired by the Kujō family who would die, and that maybe one or two would die.
However, what Kujō Yūsuke said next made him open his eyes slightly, a hint of surprise in them.
“The Kujō family suffered heavy losses.”
A look of sadness appeared on Kujō Yūsuke’s face.
Although he wasn’t of the blood ability, the Kujō family was still very good to the branches with the Kujō surname. Their resources were also quite abundant.
He continued,
“Kujō Kōta is dead, Kujō Tōkawa is dead, Kujō Mien is seriously injured, and even the Family Head has suffered a certain degree of injury.”
As soon as he finished speaking…
Natsuba Genryū, who had received this information, fell into a deep thought again.
This information could be easily investigated. There was no need for him to lie. It would be exposed at once.
And regarding the identities of Kujō Kōta and the others, as the head of the Natsuba conglomerate, he naturally knew them very well.
Kujō Kōta was a direct descendant of the Kujō family, with an extremely high talent for the blood ability. And Kujō Tōkawa was the only A-rank sorcerer now. Kujō Mien was a prominent figure in a branch of the blood ability.
Not only that, but even Kujō Sujin was injured to a certain extent.
After all, the two who had died were of extraordinary significance to the Kujō family, especially Kujō Kōta, whose status was almost no different from Natsuba Kouryu and Natsuba Taiga.
Because Kujō Kōta was also one of the candidates for the succession of the Kujō family.
Moreover, even Kujō Sujin was injured.
Although Natsuba Genryū hadn’t met Kujō Sujin many times, he also knew his physical condition very well. Because he had reached A-rank quickly with his blood ability, his foundation was not stable.
If he was injured, his A-rank realm would be at risk of falling.
All these circumstances, combined, immediately made Natsuba Genryū doubt his previous judgment.
Even if this was a ploy by the Kujō family, it was too bitter.
Could it be that Kujō Sujin hadn’t leaked the plan?
Then these were full of suspicious points.
But even so, the Kujō family couldn’t be completely cleared of suspicion. Until the matter was thoroughly investigated, he still had to be wary of them.
In a few days, he would first seek help from the imperial family. After the imperial family knew of Summer Harvest Mountain’s strength, they would definitely take it seriously.
The imperial family not only had three A-ranks, but most importantly, that most powerful divine artifact and deep foundation.
If there really was a force with three A-ranks, it would only be able to challenge the imperial family’s authority. It would have this possibility, but it would not mean it could become an existence on par with the imperial family.
After all, even if the cities were now mostly controlled by various forces, they were still nominally under the imperial family.
Once the imperial family designated a force as an enemy, the other forces would more or less send people to annihilate it.
Of course, it was another matter whether they were just going through the motions.
After thinking for a period of time, Natsuba Genryū said,
“Continue to tell me the specific information about the Master of Summer Harvest Mountain at that time.”
“And Natsuba Taiga’s situation.”
Hearing this, Kujō Yūsuke nodded. He began to narrate slowly.
“The Master of Summer Harvest Mountain seemed to have gotten the information in advance and was hiding in the Hero Association from the beginning. When the Family Head joined forces with Natsuba Taiga to attack Natsuba Rinrei, she appeared.”
Kujō Sujin naturally wouldn’t say that the Master of Summer Harvest Mountain had emerged from his own body.
He would appropriately hide some of the situations that were unfavorable to him. After all, the only ones who had survived were his own people. He could say whatever he wanted.
Of course, adapting wasn’t random fabrication. It still needed some logic and authenticity.
After all, even if there were no eyewitnesses, the Natsuba conglomerate could find some clues at the scene through their supernatural users. If it didn’t match what he had made up, it would be over.
So, Kujō Sujin would only adapt some insignificant small details in a direction that was favorable to him.
And he told Kujō Yūsuke this.
And now, Kujō Yūsuke was talking non-stop.
“And Natsuba Taiga’s death…”
“Is basically a certainty.”
“After the Master of Summer Harvest Mountain and the newly promoted A-rank Natsuba Rinrei both went all out, the Family Head and the also newly promoted A-rank Natsuba Taiga felt they were no match for them.”
“So the two of them escaped together.”
“And the Master of Summer Harvest Mountain used something like a barrier. The Family Head used all his strength to break through, but Natsuba Taiga was left behind.”
“After that, several world-shaking explosions occurred.”
“And there has been no news of Natsuba Taiga since.”
When Natsuba Genryū heard that Natsuba Taiga had been promoted to A-rank, a hint of joy appeared on his brow.
However, when he heard the final outcome of Natsuba Taiga, this hint of joy quickly turned into frustration.
Indeed, he had also seen Natsuba Rinrei’s A-rank strength. Only a high A-rank could suppress her.
And Kujō Sujin, a weak low-A-rank, and Natsuba Taiga, a newly promoted A-rank, and their opponent was also the Master of Summer Harvest Mountain, they were no match for them.
And Natsuba Taiga… was probably really dead.
The two of them working together couldn’t beat the Master of Summer Harvest Mountain, let alone Natsuba Taiga alone.
A hint of sorrow appeared in Natsuba Genryū’s pale golden pupils. He was sad about Natsuba Taiga’s death, and he was sad that the Natsuba conglomerate no longer had a capable heir.
If he were to use Natsuba Rinrei as the heir, she was also an A-rank, and a dual supernatural user, her combat power was very strong…
This kind of thought flashed through Natsuba Genryū’s mind.
But then, a powerful, magnificent consciousness came from the cane in his hand. His pupils were suddenly filled with a boiling killing intent.
No! Impossible!!
A mere woman could not become the head of the Natsuba conglomerate. That would damage the Natsuba conglomerate’s reputation.
He could only find a way to train Natsuba Yosuke.
Not only that, but even Natsuba Rinrei could not be killed in a short time.
According to the information brought by Kujō Yūsuke, the Master of Summer Harvest Mountain was at Natsuba Rinrei’s side from the beginning. Did this mean that Summer Harvest Mountain had a unique communication method?
And since the assassination of Natsuba Rinrei had failed the first time…
Then the Master of Summer Harvest Mountain would inevitably be wary, and would pay attention to Natsuba Rinrei, and would easily leave a means to guard against it.
If he were to sever Natsuba Rinrei’s limbs and take her outside the main residence to be slaughtered, he would probably be attacked by the Master of Summer Harvest Mountain, who would be waiting in ambush there.
Once he was seriously injured, the already precarious Natsuba conglomerate would probably really not be able to hold on.
He had to find a way to quickly train Natsuba Yosuke to A-rank first, to stabilize the Natsuba conglomerate.
And to kill Natsuba Rinrei, when the imperial family attacked Summer Harvest Mountain, and was engaged with the Master of Summer Harvest Mountain, at that time, the Master of Summer Harvest Mountain would be unable to be distracted, and would be entangled by the imperial family.
He would find an opportunity to kill Natsuba Rinrei.
When Kujō Yūsuke had finished narrating all the events…
Natsuba Genryū nodded. He slowly stood up. He needed to kneel before the statue for a quiet moment, to continue to sort out his thoughts, and to plan the future path of the Natsuba conglomerate.
As for which statue to worship…
Natsuba Genryū thought that in a few days he would go to the imperial family, so it would be good to worship the god of the Ryūko Shrine, which had been designated as a state religion by the imperial family.
Thinking of this…
Natsuba Genryū said to Kyōkotsu Hōtō, who was beside him and had short golden hair,
“Hōtō, see the guest out.”
“Yes.”
Kyōkotsu Hōtō replied and sent Kujō Yūsuke out the door. And Natsuba Genryū also slowly walked towards the statue in the center of the main residence.
………………
…
Deep underground.
A black snake, blending in with its surroundings, was rapidly drilling deeper and deeper into the ground.
Whether it was sand or rock, nothing could stop its rapid advance.
It seemed to be attracted by something, and it was drilling towards a certain direction with great purpose.
One day, two days, three days…
In the pitch-black underground, a light suddenly appeared before the black snake.
Without a moment’s hesitation, as if this were the place it was looking for, it suddenly drilled in.
And then…
An extremely magnificent and spectacular scene appeared in its snake pupils.
A dense, massive, multi-layered cherry blossom tree, even more magnificent and taller than a small mountain, stood here with its branches spread.
The airflow from the hole blew the pink petals, and they hovered and swayed in the air, beautiful and brilliant.
The ground was like a sea of cherry blossoms.
However, the black snake did not pause. It twisted its body and moved towards the back of this magnificent cherry blossom tree.
“————————————!”
The scene changed.
On the back of the pink cherry blossom tree, there was an incredibly dark and dense, filthy, mud-like cherry blossom tree of the same size.
The branches, petals, and roots were all black.
As if that one cherry blossom tree had been split in two, one half pink, one half black.
The black snake had no hesitation.
It drilled into the bottom of the black-sided tree.
Not long after…
A black cocoon appeared on the black cherry blossom tree, hanging there.
“I… will eventually return.”
In the ethereal void, a hoarse, unpleasant voice spread out with the black petals.
