"Huff... huff... huff..."
Gabimaru gasped for air, snapping awake in a pool of his own cold sweat. His fingers were clamped in a white-knuckled grip around the hilt of his sword. He pushed himself up from the trunk of the massive tree he had been leaning against, his heart hammering against his ribs.
'Damn it... it's getting worse,' Gabimaru thought, wiping a slick layer of perspiration from his brow. 'Even when I'm not in battle, the voices are getting louder.'
'Kill them... take their blood...'
'Just what the hell is happening to me? It has to be connected to that mark on my back... but who can I even turn to? Is this some kind of curse?'
Gabimaru stood frozen in a daze, trapped in his spiralling thoughts under the shade of the great tree, until a voice shattered his stupor.
"Hey... are you okay, man?" Watanabe asked, stepping up beside him and resting a warm hand on Gabimaru's shoulder.
"I'm fine," Gabimaru snapped quickly. He rolled his shoulder at a sharp angle, causing Watanabe's hand to slide off completely.
"Oh... okay then," Watanabe murmured. Though he turned to walk away, his gaze lingered on Gabimaru for a long, quiet moment. Shaking his head, he continued down the trail.
Elsewhere, high above the forest canopy, Yorimitsu stood motionless atop the highest branch of a towering cedar tree. His gaze was locked on the distant horizon.
'Mmm... Inoue's abilities have evolved significantly,' Yorimitsu mused, a faint, glowing light radiating from his eyes. 'I was surprised when he revealed he could use spatial teleportation; it's supposed to be an advanced technique; even in my previous life, I couldn't master it... and now he can even share his sensory perception directly with me. Is it because he is practically a spirit now, the reason that he can manipulate Reiryoku at this magnitude?'
Miles away, Inoue had already breached the perimeter of the Rokuhara district. Through their shared link, Yorimitsu saw the decaying streets, the rising plumes of smoke, and the lingering spiritual energies through Inoue's very eyes.
"Mmm, I see. The spiritual energy is indeed dense in that area," Yorimitsu replied through their mental link. "I wouldn't be surprised if a few low-level Tsukumogami have manifested there, but they shouldn't be rampant enough to warrant dispatching our unit. Tell me, what else is happening on the ground?"
"Well, that's the issue, Master," Inoue's voice resonated in Yorimitsu's mind. "When I first arrived, there were indeed a few Tsukumogami, and as you surmised, they weren't particularly strong. But for some reason, they have been vanishing one by one over these past few days."
"Vanishing?"
"Yes... I have been gathering local rumours. The villagers claim there is a far greater Yōkai lurking here one that has been systematically abducting children."
"Mmm... what is your assessment? How powerful is this entity?"
"Right now, it doesn't feel insurmountable," Inoue noted carefully. "However, given the sheer number of children that continue to disappear, I suspect its strength will grow significantly by the time you arrive."
"Mmm. Understood. Good work, Inoue. Continue gathering intelligence and monitoring its movements. We will arrive by tomorrow morning."
"Understood, Master," Inoue responded, before severing the sensory link.
Miles away, standing on a dirt street in the Rokuhara district, Inoue let out a soft breath as Yorimitsu's presence faded from his mind.
'I know Master is exceptionally powerful, but... why do I have such a bad feeling about this Yōkai?' Inoue thought, his eyes narrowing as he walked across the dusty road. 'Its spiritual presence doesn't feel natural at all. Its energy is twisted... tainted heavily with human Reiryoku.'
Before he could finish the thought, a small figure came barreling around the corner at full speed, slamming straight into his side.
"Gah—! Tch! Watch where the hell you are going, you little brat!" Inoue hissed beneath his breath, stumbling back as Sanju-maru tripped over his feet and tumbled onto the dirt.
'Ha?! What on earth is this spiritual pressure coming off this kid?!' Inoue gasped internally, his eyes widening as he locked his gaze onto the boy.
Through Inoue's spirit-sighted vision, Sanju-maru was shrouded in a swirling, oppressive darkness. Dozens no, hundreds of shadowy, phantom hands were clinging desperately to his arms, neck, and torso, dragging behind him like a heavy shroud as he scrambled back to his feet and kept sprinting forward.
'He is going to die... the lingering stench of death is clinging to him like a second skin. I have never seen a human marked so heavily by a curse,' Inoue thought. Without a second thought, he spun on his heel and trailed silently after the young boy.
"Huff... huff... Tch! Shinju-maru, where the hell are you?!" Sanju-maru wheezed, his lungs burning. He had already checked all of their usual hiding spots around the market, but the streets were entirely deserted.
Then, a sudden, horrifying realisation struck him like a bolt of lightning.
'Don't tell me... did he actually go back to that abandoned house?! After I explicitly forbade him from going near it?! Damn it!'
Sanju-maru took a sharp turn at the next alleyway, doubling back toward the decaying estate.
Moments later, as he neared the perimeter of the abandoned property, his heart gave a violent heave. The temperature in the air plunged drastically, leaving a bone-chilling frost in his breath.
"Huh? Is it about to rain, but it's not rain season yet!" Sanju-maru muttered, glancing up at the sky. Dense, ink-black storm clouds were rolling in rapidly over the district, and the low, ominous rumble of thunder vibrated through the earth.
Farther down the road, Inoue came to a sudden halt, his breath catching in his throat as he stared at the structure.
Levitating directly above the rotting roof of the abandoned house was a massive clump of wailing spirits, a distorted, writhing mass of grief and malice weeping into the overcast sky.
'That brat is walking straight into his own execution if he goes in there,' Inoue realised, his tails fluttering through the air.
Yet, despite the overwhelming supernatural corruption looming over the roof, the estate looked entirely ordinary to Sanju-maru's unawakened eyes, just the same quiet, rickety old house it had always been.
"Shinju... come here." He roared.