Naruto: Tales of Ashihara

Naruto: Tales of Ashihara

The Shinden Saga – Arc 2: Pain Divine

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Chapter 124 – God of Destruction

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Inside the house of Minamoto family, Tokiwa and her daughter Yoshinari stand back in freight, Sakitsuki bows in a hurry, and Takeshi confusingly stares at her and who she is kneeling to. Hyakki Otsutsuki, the god of destruction, appeared to take Saki away, by order of the supreme Ryu Shinsen.

"Please, Hyakki-sama, may you accept my apologies." the golden-eyed girl says respectfully, hiding her panic. "I didn't see any complaint from the Shinden about my presence here, and was unaware of my mistake. I expected Naobi-sama to come for me when my presence would be requested on Ashihara."

"Your presence isn't requested." the divine lord answers. "This world doesn't need or deserve us. You better not hang out and sympathize with humans anymore. That's all."

"I… was here under the assumption that their knowledge of us would be erased again." she replies. "What does Yamitsuki-sama want me back for, then?"

"You're making another mistake there, goldie." Hyakki says, taking a step forward to her and Takeshi who stands still and listens. "Yamitsuki-sama declared that no memories would be absorbed, nor will reality be rewritten. All that happened, all you did on this planet, will persist. It will depend on earthlings whether they wish to prevail or not."

Sakitsuki doesn't know what to say. She just stays head down facing the ground in shock, staring at the Shinden's apparently serious face with her all-seeing eyes. Takeshi, who first felt relief from the intruder's declaration, processes what that last sentence meant. As he realizes what it implies for his kind, Tentoki speaks out his interrogations.

"Impossible!" he exclaims. "Why would they decide this?"

The yamabushi and his other spirit, however, aren't as interrogative as the white tengu. When they understand the trial their world is put into, what they feel first is adversity. The need to overcome the enemy, the bearer of bad news.

"Kill him!" Makura demands.

Takeshi instantly agrees and goes along. He gets in a fight stance and pulls up his mask. Hyakki notices it, turns his blind eyes toward the Minamoto and lightly smiles. To raise the pressure in the scene, he swiftly hovers above the ground and reaches just a meter away between the ninja in black and his celestial friend.

Koton Shunshin

Troubled by this move, Takeshi hurries to take action and, boosting his speed, tries to push the intruder away with a swift punch in the face. To his surprise, the Otsutsuki raises his hand and gets in the way just in time to stop his fist, catching it between his fingers.

Distracted and startled, the Kiri-nin lets Hyakki do the next move. Holding the closed hand of the ninja, the Shinden carelessly lifts him off the ground and throws him away, to crash into the wall. Immediately after turning around with this movement, he opens the same hand and lets his palm face down to Sakitsuki, still bowing and feeling unauthorized to move.

Jinton – Genkai Kekkai

A translucent cube appears in Hyakki's hand and grows to surround the clueless goddess before glowing full white to hide everything inside. It suddenly turns golden and shrinks to the size of a football, with everything it's engulfed having vanished.

"Saki!" Yoshinari yells, clenched to her mother's leg, which draws the god's attention for a moment, as he didn't notice these two yet.

Takeshi, who just gets out of the wall's debris, sees the golden cube in the threatening invader's hand, and doesn't find Saki anymore.

"What have you done!" he screams.

"Relax. I'm just retrieving your princess, as I said I will." the god of destruction calmly replies.

Outraged by this man's intrusion and actions, Takeshi keeps going to fulfill Makura's demand. At full speed he jumps forward and tries his best to strike the celestial who skillfully and carefully keeps up and blocks all hits with his left arm as he keeps holding the cube in his right hand. While his host keeps going and gets angry at the first time someone ever matches his speed, Tentoki observes.

"Takeshi, stay focused." he advises. "We can clearly sense Saki's chakra in that cube he's holding. She's probably trapped inside somehow. Just remember: these people don't allow themselves to kill each other, and he's one of their nobles so he certainly goes by their rules. He wouldn't risk putting her life in danger. Breaking that cube will certainly free her."

Taking his tengu's advice, Takeshi directly tries to smack Hyakki's hand with his foot, but is dodged again. The young god promptly moves his arm away and rapidly sneaks in the ninja's back to take his distance. His eyes may be sightless, but his other 5 senses are enough for him to perceive what he needs. Still in momentum, Takeshi spins around and keeps going to land a strike.

"You're smart!" Hyakki acknowledges while avoiding all attacks, noticing that his opponent understood how to free Saki. "And you're fast! I'm hardly keeping up. This is intense! It's the first time I see a living being use this element, Koton. Least I can say is I'm impressed. That control, inhuman speed and perception… You must have gotten it from that Daitengu."

Takeshi, while listening, kept trying to reach for the golden container, but couldn't lay a hair on it. Sick of this, he decides to paralyze his opponent with something that would make even a blind man see hell. Behind him, he unveils the silhouette of Fear itself who immediately grows its wooden claws and binds the god of destruction.

However, it failed to surprise Hyakki, untroubled, who just forcibly steps away from the statue by breaking through the claws with his raw muscle strength. Takeshi was just getting ready to pierce the enemy's chest with a Shiden while he was immobilized, but couldn't land it in time.

Instead, he points his hand forward, not far enough to reach the target who confidently catches the ninja's ankle under the gathered lightning. By sweeping his closed hand over Takeshi's limb, he grabs and takes away the jutsu to make it his own.

"What?" Takeshi, Tentoki and Makura all exclaim together in their minds, confused by what just happened.

Shiden

Hyakki uses that manually stolen chakra blade against its owner as a projectile rather than a usual blade. He lets the lightning go as a bolt toward the Minamoto who rapidly avoids being struck, leaving the thunder to crash into the ceiling. It destroys and passes through the second floor and the roof, causing them to collapse entirely.

The falling pieces come down in the living room where Tokiwa stands with Yoshinari. Instinctively to save her daughter, the mother pushes her out of the way and lets herself alone be crushed and stuck under the debris.

Still with one hand only, Hyakki makes a white and translucent chakra prism. Takeshi and his tengu immediately recognize it. It is the same Kekkei Genkai that Fuyuko could use with Ryutoki's power. Knowing how dangerous it is, he prepares to avoid it.

Jinton – Genkai Hakuri

Hyakki shapes this prism into a column that extends toward Takeshi, who steps away right in time to get out of its trajectory but realizes a bit too late where it is heading. Behind him, he sees it flowing toward his little sister who's just getting up while the debris is still falling down on them. In a hurry, he runs forward to get Yoshinari before the attack reaches her.

He outruns the jutsu, just as expected, but doubts that he'll have time to take a turn in front of it and safely get his sister. With everything slowed down from his perspective, he sees the panicked face of his mother, whose legs are stuck under a part of the fallen roof.

He looks aside and tries to go right but loses too much speed in the turn. The dismantling shape, which is disturbingly fast compared to those of Fuyuko, is just a centimeter away from Yoshinari's arms. Takeshi won't be able to save her without sacrificing himself. Luckily, he won't have to, as someone else arrives to intervene.

Jikanteido

Yoshinari suddenly vanishes from his sight, and the white pillar flies through the walls, erasing everything in its way but not hurting anyone in the house. All the falling roof pieces were also washed away. Hyakki, Tokiwa and Takeshi are alerted by the cries of the little girl they hear nearby.

Behind Tokiwa is her husband, Tsubai Minamomo who arrived just in time to save his daughter. Shaken by that sudden move, the little girl started to cry and fondled in her father's arms. Within a time freeze, Tsubai and Daikoku got a hold of the situation, got rid of anything that could be harmful and saved Yoshinari.

They obviously saw the intruder, but didn't bother to attempt anything. Just bruising such a being would have forcibly broken the time pause. Takeshi and Tokiwa sigh out of relief while Hyakki widely opens his pupil-less eyes, intrigued by the jutsu the newcomer just used.

"Was that… Kala?" he thinks aloud. "Is it also the Daitengu's power?"

Tsubai looks coldly at Hyakki. It's been almost 10 years since he last was face-to-face with such a hostile and powerful being. Compared to him, he can't deny that Sakitsuki seems like an actual angel. He then stares at Takeshi who looks back with relief and confusion.

"Hey little freak." he tells his son. "Do your damn thing. Get that guy outta here, I'll take care of the rest."

Takeshi confidently nods, and turns around to face Hyakki again. He runs into him to catch the golden cube that is once more put out of his range. Still in movement, he pushes the celestial out through the door with his shoulder and they land outside in the streets together.

In the house, Tsubai crouches next to his wife and tries to get the debris off her.

"Takeshi!" Tokiwa yells, worried for her son who's taking part in an impossible battle.

"I'll get him, don't worry." Tsubai says. "Let's get you out of here."

"No! Bring Yoshinari to safety first." Tokiwa demands. "Can you call Sasuke?"

"I tried, but I can't." he worriedly replies. "He's out of damn reach for Shindenshin. I should have trained to reach out to the Noodle Kage as easily…"

"… Get a seal phone and call Saori then." she suggests. "But get Yoshinari out of here first!"

"Ain't no way I'm leaving you here." Tsubai replies. "I know you'll try something stupid."

"Anything would be stupid in that situation, honey." she replies. "I can take care of myself. But Takeshi can't."

"…" Tsubai doesn't argue. Seeing Yoshinari try to reach her mother with her tiny hand, he helps her. He warmly holds his wife and daughter's hands together for a moment and takes a deep breath in.

"Okay. But don't make me wanna do something stupider." he tells Tokiwa before standing up and carrying his daughter away, toward the mansion of the Mizukage where he also intends to get in touch with the Kage and do as his wife asked.

Outside, Takeshi is still trying to reach the golden cube to free Saki, but Hyakki maintains a distance. He makes a Jinton in his right hand again and tries the same jutsu as earlier.

Jinton – Genkai Hakuri

"Remember what I told you about this element?" Tentoki asks his host, cluing him about the right thing to do to counter it.

Takeshi just nods and stands still in the jutsu's trajectory. With a swift lit punch in the air, he throws a light speed image that passes through the Jinton, unaffected, and lands on the target. Hyakki is struck and pushed back by surprise. The dismantling jutsu dissipates right before reaching Takeshi who confidently stood still.

"Yep. Still works. Keep going." Tentoki adds.

While Hyakki slowly stands up, Takeshi makes a swift series of hand signs and clenches his fists. The Minamoto's hair stops shining white and goes back to its natural black. All the light that flows in his body is gathered in his hands, and he shoots it to the enemy.

Koton – Kosen

Hyakki raises his free hand and holds back the light beam with his palm the best he can. But it doesn't stop. Takeshi keeps it going continuously as long as he can to keep his opponent busy and immobile. While doing so, he runs forward to shorten the gap between Saki and him.

Still enduring the light, Hyakki senses the tengu user coming closer, and smiles. Accepting that the little power he used until now isn't enough to break this opponent, he takes it a step further. In his hand holding back the light, he makes another white dismantling cube. But this time, it turns black and the light coming across suddenly doesn't push him back anymore.

Mijinton – Genkai Hakuri

While he rushes toward Hyakki, Takeshi doesn't have time to notice and dodge the black pillar that pushes through and erases his light beam just like Jinton would erase anything else. Overpowering him effortlessly, it bursts through and abruptly annihilates the ninja's left forearm.

Out of shock, he immediately stops running and stares in confusion at his lost limb. How did Hyakki dismantle his light? How could this happen? He doesn't have time to think about these questions for too long before noticing something worse. Where his arm has been dismantled off, he now sees the effect of the jutsu crawling up his limb and quickly erasing his arm.

"Cut it off!" Both Tentoki and Makura scream, impulsively.

Lacking time to think it through, he takes action and does as asked. To prevent the dismantling effect from going up too far, he promptly cuts off what remains of his limb, to Hyakki's pleasing surprise. To abandon his arm so coldly takes guts, the god thinks. What Takeshi does to overcome this new problem impresses him even more.

Daitengu Dappi

Using Sojobo's inherited power as Makura taught him, the ninja in black fully regrows his arm.

"This! That molding regeneration!" Hyakki exclaims, recognizing something he's seen before.

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Back at the Minamoto family's home where only a few walls and furniture are left standing, Tokiwa is still lying on the ground with her legs stuck under pieces of the roof. Hopefully, she isn't gravely injured and knows how to easily free herself. At the moment, she focuses on sensing her son in the distance going all out against an opponent who barely takes it seriously.

In her mind, Amabie, the mermaid prophet, swims around in stress, concerned about the young heir. Noticing her hostess' thoughtful face, she stops to wonder with her. Tokiwa is hoping to find a way to help her son out of this without getting into a fatal battle. It seems… Impossible.

"Amabie… I have an odd question." she tells her tengu. "The chances of Ninjutsu being of any relevance against an enemy like him are close to none. Same goes for any ninja skill I've learned."

"Princess, if your boy doesn't stand a chance, obviously anything we can do wouldn't help either." the mermaid complains.

"I know that, silly." the mother answers. "Of course we can't beat him. But what about just having an effect? Would your powers do that?"

"Oh?… I don't know." Amabie replies, understanding Tokiwa's idea. "You know… Us, tengus, might not be as loaded up as the Biju, but our nature is as unique as theirs. So… maybe we can try that."

Tokiwa takes a moment to gather her courage, ready to get into action for the first time in years, and against an unethically powerful enemy. Ready, she stares into the mermaid's red eyes and nods. Using the tengu's ability, Mutai, she frees herself by sinking underground and goes looking for her son.

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Hyakki Otsutsuki, intrigued, analyzes the ninja in black who just regrew his lost limb using the power of a mystic species. He's still holding the prison cube that contains Sakitsuki. After a light giggle, he raises his arms for no harm, and speaks.

"I'm honestly impressed." he says to Takeshi. "I heard that you had something in common with that Daitengu, but I didn't think it would be so noticeable. And your speed! It's fabulous! I really need to go as fast as I can to keep up… At least as long as I stay in this state."

"In this state?" Takeshi questions aloud, not sure to like what it implies.

"Well… You got my consideration." the god of destruction replies. "You are clearly less inferior than the humans I've seen 800 years ago. I guess you deserve that I show you just how far you actually are from the gods."

The Minamoto doesn't move, curious to see what is happening as his opponent activates a transformation and changes his chakra even in concept.

Shinsen Kata

Around Hyakki's eyes appear pointy black contours similar to those of the toad sage mode, and the symbol of his clan marks his forehead. The new energy that goes through him unwillingly restores his body, and heals his blind pupils to bring back his pair of Byakugan.

Takeshi is mesmerized by this new energy. It's complicated to understand and even harder to feel. Hyakki was already using only natural energy which made it undetectable by most people, but this form is on another level. This feeling… For Takeshi, it compares to the Rikudo Sage chakra of the 7th Hokage.

"So that's what you look like…" Hyakki comments, now able to see with his healed eyes.

"What is this?" the Minamoto says slowly.

"Hm! We call it Shinsen Kata, the god sage form." he explains. "It is my spirit adapting my body to its true nature. The purest state of chakra that can be found in creation. Anything I command with this energy, is like out of another world. My world. What exists only within me. A weak mind like you might as well call it Shinjutsu, the divine arts."

"Shinjutsu?" Takeshi repeats, interrogatively.

"You'll tell me how this one feels." the god of destruction adds before suddenly vanishing, and reappearing a centimeter away from the ninja.

Even though he was the one chasing him earlier, Takeshi surprises himself by taking a leap back, unsettled by the speed of that movement. Not willing to let himself be intimidated, he clenches his fists and runs back into action.

Going at his peak speed, he tries to hit the celestial again while still attempting to reach the cube he holds. But it became even more complicated. Now it seems like Hyakki effortlessly matches and surpasses his speed. It even starts to feel like he is the one who has to keep up. Genuinely frustrated by the lack of control he has on the situation, Takeshi screams out.

Koton – Kagayaku

Takeshi's hair and skin shines bright intensely enough to blind everyone in the area. Hyakki stands still, eyes wide open, unbothered by the loss of his sight to which he was used anyway. The Minamoto clenches his fist and punches the immobile god in the face out of anger. Yet, he does no harm at all. Instead, he hurts himself and feels his finger bones break.

He takes back his hand and holds it in pain. Hyakki blinks twice and looks up to the ninja's face.

"You sure seemed fast earlier, but your strength is paling in comparison." he says, before showing his own.

Too fast for Takeshi to do anything about it, the god of destruction uses only one finger to hit both arms and the torso of the Minamoto, breaking his elbows and making him suffocate. Out of breath, Takeshi falls to his knees, defeated in a second.

"Damnit! Takeshi, keep calm and breathe slowly!" Tentoki exclaims in panic to save his host.

"I over-thought it, I guess." Hyakki says with his right hand open and his palm facing Takeshi, ready to put an end to this. "I shouldn't have expected you to be a challenge."

Mijinton – Bansho Hokai

His palm is covered by a thin translucent black veil that merges into his hand just before he prepares to lay it on Takeshi. Before he completes this movement, he's interrupted by Tokiwa who catches his feet from under the ground. She pulls him down into the liquefied soil before emerging between him and her son.

Once emerged, the ground becomes solid again, trapping Hyakki up to the tendons. With a kunai in her hand, she tries to slit the throat of the god. But the blade doesn't leave any trace and just breaks when it collides with his skin. Not flattered, he effortlessly frees his feet by levitating out of the soil and pushes his right hand against Tokiwa's abdomen.

Fatally, she isn't repelled by this, but the celestial's limb passes through her and leaves a hand-shaped hole in her stomach. Takeshi, sitting with his arm broken, is still healing with Tentoki's chakra when he sees this horrific scene from behind.

Tokiwa breathes out, shaken by this strike, but doesn't give up. She whispers a few words that Hyakki perfectly hears.

Ningyo no Uta

She uses the hypnotizing power of Amabie and, surprisingly, confuses the enemy for a moment. The sensation caused by this trick forces him to undo his Shinsen form. While he's troubled, she picks her fingers into his eyes. Even though he isn't as tough as in his divine form, she can only slightly dig her fingers in his irises to damage his Dojutsu.

"Takeshi, wait! She'll be ok!" Tentoki exclaims to calm his host on the verge of a breakdown. "See, he isn't using that dismantling thing. She's severely hurt, but I can heal her if we act fast enough."

"Now is the time!" Makura yells. "Free Saki!"

Takeshi gets serious, and leaves all negative emotions aside. Hyakki pulls his hand out of the hole he dug in Tokiwa and throws her away, into a nearby house where she crashes and lands on the ground. Once she's out of the way, Takeshi immediately leaps forward and kicks the god's right hand while his mind is still troubled by the mermaid's Genjutsu.

It makes him let go of the prison cube he was holding and totally frees who was inside. Sakitsuki reappears, passed out due to the long time she spent in that condensed spatial cell. Takeshi throws himself forward and catches her with his first arm healed by Tentoki.

Hyakki turns his head toward Takeshi that he barely sees due to his sight having been damaged again. He could obviously heal it with ease, but he prefers not to as he doesn't like this sense anyway. The Minamoto, seeing his opponent's distracted attitude, strikes again before he can.

Koton – Raiko

He throws a wave of white lightning to Hyakki's face, but the Shinden simply dismantles it with the same black Jinton as earlier. Quickly rid of this failed offensive, Hyakki looks at Sakitsuki whom the ninja is tightly holding against him. He shrugs, unbothered, and decides to stop messing around and show mercy. He strongly kicks Takeshi away, pushing him all the way out the village, to crash and roll in the plains of the country's shore.

The Minamoto keeps holding Saki to protect her, refusing to let go. Just when he prepares to stand up, He's kicked a second time, further and toward the sky. Confused, he tries to look around and sees the god of destruction come toward him ready for another strike.

His two hands are taken because he won't let go of his golden-eyed friend, so he lets Makura try something. The shape of the tengu appears behind him again to shoot wooden projectiles, but Hyakki easily deviates or erases them all. Reaching Takeshi, the god of destruction catches him by the face and brings him higher and further.

"You're out of your league, Minamoto." he says. "I see you know about Jinton, and cleverly decided to use particle level matter. But you've never seen Mijinton before. Jinton is limited to atomic level, but Mijinton can dismantle anything, even photons."

After this sentence, leaving Tentoki to think and understand this explanation, Takeshi angrily bats the god's hand away from him. Holding Saki against him with one arm, he uses his free hand to concentrate his tengu energy and create an orb.

Tengudama

He quickly shoots it from up close to the god of destruction who rapidly and simply catches it in his hand to stop it. Takeshi stares astonished at this containment as the celestial closes his fingers to shrink the orb down.

"That is a quite destructive object." he comments about what he's subduing. "That energy is special in a way… You heard me say Mijinton could manipulate matter down to particle level. It means I can collapse a radioactive atom's core, and provoke a chain reaction for instance."

He provocatively smiles as he opens his hand and shows the subdued matter remaining from the Tengudama sealed in a black translucent cube. Tentoki interprets what he just says, and panics.

"He wouldn't dare!" the tengu exclaims, before explaining to Makura and Takeshi. "The chain reaction he's talking about, from blasting an atom's core, is an explosion. Total annihilation of all matter in range by a nuclear heatwave. It could pulverize the whole atmosphere!"

Seeing the face of the human he's facing change as he understands what it means, Hyakki lightly laughs, catches him by the arm and tosses him toward the ground with Saki.

"Run, you fool!" he mocks before raising his hand and detonating the jutsu he made from the captured tengu orb.

Mijinton – Kaku Bunretsu (Nuclear Fission)

He waits just until the ninja gets to the ground and causes the reaction that Tentoki described, while keeping it under his control. As soon as he landed, Takeshi surpassed himself, realizing how important it is that he gets away.

By going as fast as he can, fast enough to make the fastest ninjas of previous eras look like impaired snails, he runs on the ocean and gets away from the land, hoping to escape that supposed explosion. But no matter how fast he goes, the thermal radiation of this explosion goes at the relative speed of light, which defies the concept of distance.

He managed to keep up for long enough to be a dozen kilometers away but is still reached by the heat wave that he feels passing by and blinds him. By the intense blasting energy he feels, originating from his own Tengudama, he nearly loses consciousness and falls down. He lets his momentum do the rest and carry him further on the water, as he still holds Saki.

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In Kiri, much closer to the explosion, Tsubai Minamoto, at the Mizukage's mansion where he left his daughter, got a bad feeling from the dense energy he sensed kilometers away in the sky. So he took action as quickly as he could. Within a time pause, he gave himself enough time to understand what was happening and prepared as he could.

Meiton – Kurayami Ryoiki (Darkness Domain)

By putting all his strength into it, he created a dome veil that enclosed almost the whole village in complete darkness. When the radiation arrived, the Meiton mostly absorbed and canceled it. Yet, a few seconds later, when the blast wave reached it and the sound of the explosion could finally be heard, the domain didn't hold.

Under the strength of this shock wave, Tsubai's jutsu collapsed and the homes of a third of the village were crushed by the pressure, immediately making countless victims and injured.

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Far from there, on the other side of the ocean, in Konohagakure, Naruto Uzumaki promptly stands up and looks out his window. He just felt a terrible outrage of fear and loss in the world. Konohamaru and Saori, contacted by Tsubai, didn't get to the Hokage yet.

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On the sea, the blast wave barely gets to Takeshi, but the sound reaches him. When it does, Sakitsuki abruptly wakes up in shock. By her side, slowly sinking, is the Minamoto almost passed out with 3nd degree burns caused by the radiation. In panic, she immediately starts healing him.

A few minutes after this cataclysm, Hyakki reappears, unharmed despite having stood at the blast's source. He looks down at Saki healing the ninja, and makes his decision.

"For a celestial woman, the greatest nature someone could possibly be born with, to fall for an inferior being…" he comments with spite about Saki's feelings. "I at least have to admit that he is likable. I will spare his life today. The mess I made certainly got the yellow fox's attention, and I'm requested to leave before I have to meet him… Until my return, you'll have to move on from this guy, Saki."

After these words, he vanishes in a black cube, using the same jutsu he used to come here. Sakitsuki bites her lips and lowers her head, crushed by the lack of control she had over this. Next to her, Takeshi opens his eyes and sees the mushroom shaped cloud that monopolizes the landscape.

On the side, he sees Kiri from far away. By paying close attention, he notices that a major part of the village has been flattened. No building is left to stand in that area. But this discovery gets worse when he realizes that this is where he was fighting earlier. And where his mother intervened.

"Mom!" he says to himself before running off to the village alone, leaving Saki on the sea.

It takes no time for him to get to the village. He gets to the house where Tokiwa was thrown in earlier, and finds only piled up debris. Refusing to listen to his thoughts, he jumps into the aftermath and digs through the pieces to find any sign of life.

His father, Tsubai, arrives at the scene for the same reason, and finds his son already searching. In the same state of mind, he also starts digging. Out of this mess, Takeshi finds something first. He sees the thin hand and polished nails of his mother reaching out from the debris, searching for something to catch.

He catches her hand to feel her warmth while Tsubai, who saw it, hurries to get the debris away in that area. But there are too many of them. Tsubai can't use Meiton to wash them away because of his previous use of it, and Takeshi is too weakened to do more. She was already nearly fatally injured even before the blast.

The amount of debris, the time it took, and the life signs she gives, are a testament. But they refuse to give up. Tsubai keeps tiredly digging, and Takeshi firmly holds her hand that he tries to pull out.

Suddenly, he gets an odd feeling, like something just entered his mind. Inside his inner world, confused, he sees Makura standing still, Tentoki in the same panic as him, and something more. In the soil, he notices a blue mermaid emerging and looking around in distress. He crosses gaze with her just as she tears up. Realizing what happened, she screams out pain and denial.

It is Amabie, that Tokiwa just transmitted to her son with the Minamoto's jutsu that she was taught by Tsubai. Just after that, Takeshi freezes as he feels the hand of his mother slip away, losing its grip. The father sees it too, but doesn't freeze. He screams out, pushes his son away and keeps digging until he's done.

When he finds her, he just lies down by her side, face to face with her, and lets himself forcibly pass out to escape reality.

Takeshi stays lying on the ground, where he landed after his father's push. He keeps his eyes up toward the red and gray dusty sky and trembles. He hears the screams and cries of Amabie and Tentoki inside him, but refuses to witness anything.

In silence, he recalls once more the words that Fuyuko Yamanaka told him, as a fatal prophecy. "You don't deserve to win. You deserve to suffer more than you made me suffer. You need a serious beating. A return to reality. An adversary that will take from you as much as you took from others. Someone who'll make you feel so small and powerless that you'll never dare play the hero again"

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End of Chapter 124 – Next Chapter: Fated to suffer