I Sealed Sukuna’s Finger#441+442: Strange Atmosphere Between Mother and Daughter, Hagoromo-Gitsune Is Also a Little Glutton

After receiving the news from Yura, Bokue left the Keikain estate directly.

The next second, the young man's form appeared in the sky above Yasaka Shrine.

Having only been away for a day, if you just looked at the surface, Yasaka Shrine appeared virtually unchanged from usual.

But upon closer observation, one could notice that the humidity throughout the mountain where Yasaka Shrine was located had significantly increased. The mist was thicker than normal, and even the late-summer sun filtering through the tree leaves couldn't fully penetrate it.

Well... from a scientific perspective, that's what was happening.

From an Onmyōji's perspective, the demonic energy emanating from the mountains around Yasaka Shrine right now resembled Mount Fuji on the verge of eruption. If a less skilled Onmyōji so much as glanced at it from afar, they'd immediately wet themselves and run back home with their tail between their legs.

Of course, to Bokue, this was just ordinary fog.

He slowly descended from high above, arriving at the shrine's entrance.

Stepping forward to push open the shrine doors, what met his eyes was a blonde, classically beautiful woman in an elegant kimono.

Yasaka had apparently been waiting already.

The blonde beauty maintained her usual graceful and dignified appearance. Hearing the door open behind her, she turned around. Seeing the young man appearing in the doorway, she couldn't help showing that familiar gentle smile.

"Bokue, you're here."

"Good morning, Yasaka."

Bokue stepped forward, gently grasping the blonde beauty's soft hands.

He'd originally wanted to go straight for a waist embrace, but considering it was daytime and they were inside the shrine, it was hard to say whether little Kunou might suddenly pop out from some corner. Getting caught directly would be pretty awkward, so he had to settle for second best.

But Yasaka, contrary to her usual behavior, leaned forward—actively offering herself into the young man's embrace with a smile.

"Still calling it morning... it's almost noon already. Don't tell me you just woke up?"

"No use hiding it—yes, I did."

Bokue admitted honestly.

"Little sleepyhead..."

Yasaka affectionately tapped the young man's chest with one finger.

"Oh, and about the Keikain branch families..."

"Yeah, I already know about that."

Without a moment of sadness for the branch families' annihilation, Bokue nodded readily.

"Truly worthy of the Lord of Darkness from four hundred years ago. She works fast."

"...Is that so?"

The feeling was quite subtle. Yasaka didn't know what expression to make at this point, so she could only smile and nod.

"This means my little sister has reclaimed all her power. She's currently in the back mountain preparing for the final ritual before her rebirth. Let's head over now."

"Alright..."

Bokue was about to agree.

However, just then, the blonde beauty still pressed against him—chest to chest—suddenly turned slightly and raised her voice toward the inner room.

"Kunou, it's time to leave!"

"Eh? Bokue-oniisan is already here? I'm coming right now!"

The voice of a certain little fox shrine maiden came from inside the shrine. The next second, the sliding door to the inner bedroom was violently pulled open. A small golden figure burst out, transforming into lightning as she dove toward their position in the posture of an arctic fox hunting prey, burying herself directly into Bokue's arms and rubbing vigorously with affection.

"It's been so long, Bokue-oniisan! Hagoromo-Gitsune-oba-san said you came by several times before, but I was sleeping and missed you every time."

Hagoromo-Gitsune-oba-san?

Bokue was caught somewhat off-guard by that form of address.

Though thinking about it carefully, there didn't seem to be any problem. Kunou was Yasaka's daughter, and Hagoromo-Gitsune was Yasaka's younger sister, so she should indeed be called aunt.

However, what concerned him more was that even though a certain blonde beauty was still pressed against him, little Kunou acted as if she didn't see her at all, completely unbothered as she dove straight into his arms.

And Yasaka herself seemed to have no intention of avoiding this situation either...

"Alright then, let's head out now."

With no intention of explaining, Yasaka smiled faintly before proactively taking the young man's hand to head outside the shrine.

Seeing this, little Kunou pouted somewhat unhappily.

"Mom's being so sneaky, holding onto Bokue-oniisan's hand like that."

"But Kunou, you're the one making your Bokue-oniisan carry you, so you don't have much room to complain, do you?"

The blonde beauty turned her head with a smile.

Mmph...

Little Kunou fell silent.

Bokue also said nothing. His gaze kept shifting back and forth between the blonde beauty ahead and the little blonde fox girl in his arms.

He couldn't shake this inexplicable sense of dissonance...

Had something happened between this mother-daughter pair during the day he'd been gone?

Bokue mentally added a small question mark.

❁❁❁❁

Moments later, under Yasaka's guidance, Bokue and little Kunou in his arms quickly arrived at the back mountain where Yasaka Shrine was located.

More precisely, they arrived at the entrance to a cave in the back mountain.

"This is the place. Let's go in."

Without stopping at the cave entrance, Yasaka continued leading Bokue and Kunou inside as she spoke.

"Bokue, you know about dragon veins beneath the earth, right?"

"Of course."

Bokue nodded, answering casually.

Actually, dragon veins existed not just underground but in the sea as well. Like how Itogami Island had been built atop a location where undersea dragon veins intersected, held up and supported on the ocean's surface by the dragon veins' massive spiritual power.

Though now, thanks to him, that was no longer necessary. He could drive Itogami Island around like a speedboat if he wanted.

"Actually, there's also a dragon vein running through this cave. After years and years of accumulated spiritual power, it slowly formed a spiritual spring. The spring contains enormous amounts of spiritual energy."

The blonde beauty turned her head with a slight smile.

"When you were little, Bokue, I originally planned to save this spiritual spring for you to use in the future. But now it seems that's no longer necessary, so I'm temporarily lending it to my little sister instead."

"...So she's in there chugging spring water right now?"

Bokue slowly raised a question mark.

The cave wasn't particularly deep. In just this short time, before Yasaka could even answer, they'd already reached the end.

What appeared before them was a circular stone door, along with a kimono-clad girl who looked only slightly older than Yura.

The girl's hairstyle and appearance looked quite refined and elegant. If you ignored her golden eyes and the skull she was cradling, she'd look just like a little princess from some ancient daimyo's family.

The kimono-clad girl holding the skull saw someone approaching. Without a second thought, she stepped forward to block the stone door with her body.

"Ane-sama is bathing and purifying herself inside. No one may enter... oh? So it's Yasaka-ane-sama and Kunou-chan. And you are..."

When her gaze landed on Bokue walking behind Yasaka, the kimono-clad girl with golden eyes reacted like a feline encountering a natural predator. Her entire demonic power erupted, whipping up her long hair as even her back arched.

"Wait! You're from the Keikain family... I won't let you in! I'll protect Ane-sama...!"

Before she could finish, Bokue's form vanished from where he stood. The next moment, he'd appeared behind the kimono-clad girl, his hands passing under her armpits as he lifted her up like picking up a kitten or puppy.

"Who's this little kid anyway?"

"That's Kyōkotsu-oba-san~"

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Kyōkotsu... oba-san?

Hearing that form of address, Bokue Keikain felt his entire being hiccup slightly.

After all, just moments ago he'd heard Kunou call Hagoromo-Gitsune "oba-san."

That hadn't been a problem—after all, Hagoromo-Gitsune really was Yasaka-neesan's biological younger sister, so being called aunt by Kunou made perfect sense.

But this "Kyōkotsu-oba-san" thing... could it be that Yasaka-neesan had other sisters?

With that thought, Bokue looked down again to examine the kimono-clad girl he was holding—currently with both arms stretched forward and short legs dangling in the air, as if fate had grabbed her by the scruff of the neck.

He didn't see any fox ears, did he?

"Kyōkotsu is Hagoromo-Gitsune's sworn sister from four hundred years ago..."

Yasaka spoke up to explain at this point.

"Though there's no blood relation, they truly address each other as sisters. Plus, she's always been very respectful toward me, so Kunou also recognizes her as an aunt."

"I see."

Bokue made a sound of understanding, indicating he got it now.

However, before he could say anything more, the kimono-clad girl he was holding completely lost it.

"Y-y-y-you... what are you doing?! How long are you going to hold me?! Put me down already! Get away!"

Kyōkotsu suddenly threw her head back, raising the arms cradling her skull upward, pointing the skull's hollow eye sockets at Bokue behind her.

What's she trying to do?

Bokue raised a small question mark.

The next second, two venomous snakes formed entirely from demonic power shot out with lightning speed, lunging at the young man's face at practically point-blank range.

Huh? So that skull's like some kind of magical artifact? Here I thought it was just decorative...

As Bokue thought this, he raised an eyebrow, the golden light in his eyes concentrating slightly.

Hummmm—

In an instant, like a pebble dropping into a calm lake, ripples of golden light spread outward in concentric circles through space, using the young man as their epicenter. Slight tremors shook the entire mountain where Yasaka Shrine was located.

!!!

Feeling this terrifying power fluctuation, Kyōkotsu—who'd been mustering courage to attack just a second ago—froze completely. The venomous snakes she'd just generated with demonic power inside the skull instantly dissipated into nothing before they could even launch.

But it lasted only the blink of an eye. Like a fleeting flower, Bokue immediately retracted his power.

Space returned to calm, as if nothing had just happened.

Bokue slowly set down the kimono-clad girl who now didn't dare move a muscle, even gently patting and rubbing the top of her head.

"Don't be so tense. I'm not going to do anything to your sister."

"..."

No response came. Kyōkotsu stood frozen in place as if scared witless, still immersed in that vast, ocean-like spiritual power from moments ago.

Fortunately, Hagoromo-Gitsune's voice came through the stone door in time.

"Let them in, Kyōkotsu."

"...Yes."

As if triggered by her elder sister's voice, the kimono-clad girl finally snapped back to awareness with a response.

She looked up, taking one more deep look at the young man behind her, then stepped aside to clear the path inside.

"It's okay, Kyōkotsu-oba-san."

Bokue and Yasaka had already entered through the stone door. Walking last, Kunou came before the kimono-clad girl to comfort her.

"Bokue-oniisan isn't a bad person. He won't hurt Hagoromo-Gitsune-oba-san."

"But..."

Kyōkotsu still seemed hesitant.

But Kunou had already taken her hand.

"Don't worry, don't worry. Bokue-oniisan is a very gentle person."

"..."

Kyōkotsu had no words, only silence.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the stone door, Bokue and Yasaka—who'd entered first—arrived before a pond.

The pond was also inside the cave, at its deepest point. The circular pond, about twenty meters in diameter, occupied eighty percent of the space within the stone door. Beneath stalactites hanging in clusters overhead, the pitch-black water resembled ink spreading without a single ripple.

And Hagoromo-Gitsune stood with her back to them in the very center of this pond, the ink-dark water reaching just to her hips.

She'd completely shed the black sailor uniform she usually wore. Her long legs—normally wrapped in black stockings—were hidden beneath the water. From the waist up, her absolutely perfect upper body was exposed to the air. Combined with her jet-black hair styled in a hime cut that reached behind her knees, falling from both sides of her temples to drape across her chest, it just barely covered the important parts of her body.

Hearing the movement behind her, Hagoromo-Gitsune slowly turned around. Her legs alternated beneath the water as she approached the pond's edge step by step. Her body leaned forward slightly as she bent her arms to prop herself up on the shore, looking up at the young man before her with that same ambiguous half-smile she always wore.

"Since you've come this far, you must already know about the last three branch families of your Keikain clan..."

"I know."

Bokue shrugged without avoiding the topic.

"I don't care either way. They're dead."

"...That's true."

Hagoromo-Gitsune paused slightly, raising one eyebrow.

"After all, when I found them last night, they seemed to be discussing how they'd conspired with the Hero Village from the Kantō-Tōhoku region ten years ago to ambush you, and how you'd held a grudge. I hadn't known about any of this originally, but hearing them mention it suddenly made everything click into place."

"So you've already used my hand to eliminate everyone who plotted against you back then. What do you plan to do now?"

Hagoromo-Gitsune propped her face on one hand, gazing at the young man on shore with great interest.

Though she appeared calm and composed right now, she was actually gambling.

After all, she'd already learned why Bokue had allowed her to freely slaughter the Keikain branch families.

And now that all the branch families were dead, naturally Bokue no longer had any reason to continue letting her run free.

At least judging by the power the young man had unleashed outside the stone door just now, even Hagoromo-Gitsune—having reclaimed all her power and transformed into a nine-tailed celestial fox—had absolutely no confidence she could fight him.

Moreover, she had to conserve her power for the rebirth ritual.

If Bokue directly attacked her here, then she...

"No plans."

Bokue spread his hands.

"I told you, if you want to be reborn, I'm not going to stop you. So is that ritual of yours ready or not?"

"Or if your power still isn't quite enough, I can lend you some."

As he spoke, the young man raised a finger. A golden sphere of light—considerably larger than the one he'd given Yura—condensed at his fingertip.

"This is..."

Though she should have maintained vigilance against someone who was supposed to be an enemy, when Hagoromo-Gitsune saw the light sphere appear, she couldn't help leaning closer.

She vaguely sensed an inexplicable attraction from it, like a cat catching the scent of grilled saury.

Then Bokue gave it a light tap. The light sphere drifted forward leisurely, meeting no resistance whatsoever as it easily merged into Hagoromo-Gitsune's body.

The next second, a massive pillar of light erupted from within the mountain where Yasaka Shrine was located, shooting straight up to pierce the sky and break through ten thousand miles of clouds.