Chapter 4: Goal: Conquer Shikoku!
The brazen words from five-year-old Youkai were something no one excepted.
Even his father and his mother were dumbfounded by how domineering he was.
The way he asked for the commander's position was as if he had asked his parents to buy him a toy. Yet, everyone could see he was serious.
However, instantly, he brought rage on everyone, especially the older siblings.
"Outrageous!"
"How dare you say something like that, Tamazusa!"
"Do you think a commander position is something that you can ask like that?!"
He only put a contempt expression on everyone. He knew he was acting arrogant, but he had to do this since only the strongest in the youkai would be respected. Unless he was the strongest, it was impossible for everyone to acknowledge him.
Fuck, conspiracy!
Even if he had to fight all of his brothers, he would get the position of leader from his father. Still, even if he made everyone angry at him, he didn't feel scared of his siblings since he knew they were all weak.
While tanuki wasn't a weak youkai, they weren't that strong either.
However, they were a unique existence, especially in Shikoku. They weren't seen as youkai but instead as a deity in this land.
This was the reason why his father had a divinity.
As his father's strongest child, he also inherited that divinity. But, more importantly, he wasn't the real Tamazusa, and he was reincarnated, which made his learning speed faster and gained his peak power more quickly. While he hadn't reached his peak, it should be enough to show his prestige in front of everyone.
The fighting system in this world was quite unique.
However, one thing was certain: everything depended on the pedigree or bloodline.
His words were quite rude, but this was the truth.
The main protagonist was the grandson of Nurarihyon, the commander of the youkai. If he was the grandson of a weak youkai such as Nattou Kozou or a normal tanuki, could he fight against all those powerful antagonists?
The answer was no.
The reason why the main protagonist had a smooth adventure was that he was the descendant of Nurarihyon.
If Nura Rikuo was the descendant of someone else, it would have been impossible for him to defeat him in the original story.
Even the main antagonist was also the descendant of a nine-tailed fox.
This was a world of fatalism where no one could fight the fate they were born with.
Yet it didn't mean that weak youkai were helpless. On the contrary, if they could work hard, they could become stronger.
Then, how could they become stronger?
This was what he wanted to explain, and the fighting system of this world was using something known as "Osore," or "Fear."
By making humankind feel fear and terror and making them feel small and weak, the youkai could become stronger. The louder, bigger, and more remembered the youkai were, the stronger they were.
It was also the reason why many youkai loved to scare a human since the more famous their legend was, the stronger they were.
Human belief made them stronger!
This was similar to those gods, deities, and many myths in this world. The stronger and the more humans remembered them, the stronger they were.
Yet the weak youkai had a tougher path since many youkai cannibalized each other.
As for why they did that, it might be because of fun, or it was their nature since every youkai was different. Their personality was related to their legends.
He was also similar.
If he wanted to become stronger, he had to gather the belief of every human. Yet everything had a limit in the end; all that mattered in this world was nothing but a bloodline, which made him helpless.
The strongest tanuki in this world was only his father.
However, it was different now since he had gained the system; he knew he could become even stronger. The only problem was that no women in Shikoku could trigger his system, which made him want to weep.
'As long as I'm patient...'
He was still young anyway, so he had to be patient.
Still, his moves might be reckless and antagonize his brothers, but he didn't fear his brothers.
While there was no exact rank of how strong the youkai was, he made his own system similar to his brother, who reincarnated into a slime. The weakest youkai were those F rank, and they were like "Nattou Kozou," or that small youkai that appeared as background characters in the story.
As for the strongest, they should be of S rank. If there were even stronger than those S rank, he would add "+" to the rank.
As for his father, who was the strongest youkai in the Shikoku, he believed that his father should be an S rank youkai, and he wasn't weaker than the famous youkai such as Nurarihyon, Tsuschigumo, and Hagoromo Gitsune.
As for his siblings, the highest was only a B rank, a few a C rank, and many were only a D rank.
As for now, he was only -B rank. He was more than a C rank but slightly weaker than an average B rank. Yet he believed he could defeat his brothers. After all, he often fought and used his father's subordinates to teach him how to fight. His mother and the youkai under her also helped him.
Until now, he didn't do anything and just acted like he didn't have an interest in the position of the leader, but it was different now. He is pretty strong now, and while he hasn't reached his father's level, it should be enough to defeat most of his siblings.
Frankly, he could wait until he reached a certain age since he believed he would become an S rank youkai sooner or later. However, he felt the time was tight. After all, in ten years, he would enter the plot, and if he wasn't strong enough, he would be defeated by Nura Rikuo. Even if he wanted to avoid Nura Rikuo, some strange plots might happen, and he might be troubled by the Kyoto youkai.
Unlike the Tokyo youkai and Nura Rikuo, the youkai in Kyoto were crueler. If they weren't careful, all of them might die.
The only powerhouse in Shikoku was his father.
If it was in the past, nothing would happen since his father was so aggressive.
However, it was different now since his father was also decadent. How could he protect everyone?
Still, his reason also wasn't so grand to protect everyone in the Shikoku. Instead, there was something he wanted to achieve and to do that; he had to get the position of commander of the Shikoku Hachijuuhakki Yakou.
Unlike his siblings, the rest of the members of the Shikoku Hachijuuhakki Yakou were surprised and put on a wait-and-see attitude without showing their stance to anyone. In other words, they were waiting to see whether they could entrust their future to him or not from this confrontation.
After all, in the eyes of the youkai, what mattered the most was strength.
As long as you are strong enough, you can become the commander!
"I can't wait any longer! Father, let me teach this insolent one, so he won't be rude in the future!" Suddenly one of his brothers jumped out and walked toward him. He rolled his non-existence sleeve as if he wanted to show his anger.
Whether his father or mother, neither of them said anything and just watched this scene in silence. After all, the position of the commander wasn't a joke, and the weak didn't have a right to take this position. Even if he had the potential, it was in the future, and he was still weak now, so they thought to educate him, so he wouldn't be so reckless in the future.
'Who?'
On the other hand, he didn't remember the name of his brother. Frankly, there were so many of his siblings that he didn't remember most of them. He looked at his brother's big belly that swayed around as he walked, feeling helpless at the image of the tanuki.
Still, he must admit the tanuki was really blessed.
"Oh, it's Gonta, the Stick!"
"Gonta, teach him!"
"Get his face!"
"....."
He didn't say anything and just looked at his naked brother calmly.
His brother summoned a leaf before transforming them into a long wooden stick. This was one of the abilities of the tanuki, the transmutation. They could transform leaves into many different things, such as a stick or even money.
"In the world of youkai, only the strongest is respected! You're too young to think about getting the commander position, little Tamazusa," Gonta said sternly before charging toward him while raising his wooden stick!
Gonta didn't show mercy, and he was going to give him a painful lesson!
Similarly, he also held a leaf in his hand, but instead of a stick, it formed a different weapon.
"!!!"
Gonta's eyes were wide open, but it was too late!
*Bang!*
The sound of the gunshot echoed through the forest.
"....."