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Following Shuten-dōji and Ibaraki-dōji's lead, the other yōkai also began, one after another, to proactively exchange ceremonial cups with Kaito, share their true names, and establish contracts.
For a time, the atmosphere of the banquet in the pavilion grew increasingly fervent.
"Perhaps this should have happened long ago." Onikiri said to Kaito.
"It's not too late now."
Kaito smiled and drank from his cup in unison with him.
"My name is… Higekiri." Onikiri revealed the name he bore at his very beginning.
"We have interacted for a long time and have long since acknowledged you. But when facing Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, we did not possess much confidence."
"I understand." Kaito grasped his meaning.
After all, this ancient contract differed from an Onmyōji simply commanding shikigami; the power of the contract flowed both ways.
Onikiri meant that when preparing to face Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, the yōkai had been ready for a desperate, potentially fatal struggle. Fearing that their deaths under contract might adversely affect Kaito, they had chosen not to bring up the pact at that time.
Kaito was not one to be ungrateful or unaware; he fully recognized their good intentions.
After exchanging cups with Onikiri, Yūrei stood before Kaito.
"To think I would be the last one." Yūrei smiled as she raised her sake cup.
"You too?" Kaito also began to laugh.
"Why can't I?!" Hearing his words, Yūrei immediately took offense.
Kaito lowered his voice, "I thought the ceremonial cup between you and me would be for a different reason."
"Hmph, what nonsense are you talking about!"
Yūrei's face flushed bright red, but she resolutely extended her arm, assuming the proper stance for the cup exchange.
"Drink!"
"Alright, I'll drink." Kaito said helplessly, and the two drank from their cups together.
"That's more like it!" The smile on Yūrei's face widened, and she released her arm.
"Is this the ceremonial exchange of cups?"
A low, melodious voice sounded.
Kaito turned to look. A figure of graceful and elegant bearing walked over from the terrace on the other side.
Semi-transparent red gauze was pushed aside, revealing a face beautiful enough to topple cities and kingdoms.
"Lady Tamamo-no-Mae." Kaito offered a respectful bow.
"No need for such formality, Onmyōji lad."
Tamamo-no-Mae glided over with elegant steps. Her slender, vermilion-tipped finger lightly tapped Kaito's chest
"Not bad at all. To have grown so much stronger in such a short time."
Her red lips curved upward, her eyes shimmering with allure.
"It seems Seimei that boy didn't misjudge you."
"You flatter me."
Sensing the murderous glare Yūrei was directing at him from the side, Kaito's scalp tingled. He subtly took a step back.
"What are you afraid of?" Tamamo-no-Mae narrowed her phoenix-like eyes and leaned in closer.
At the same moment, Kaito felt a fluffy tail brush against his side.
"Please stop teasing this junior, my lady."
Feeling the increasingly terrifying intensity of Yūrei's stare, he could only laugh bitterly and plead for mercy.
"Hmph, how boring."
Tamamo-no-Mae seemed to have had her fill of amusement and finally relented with great magnanimity.
Kaito immediately let out a huge sigh of relief and turned to look at Yūrei.
However, Yūrei had already adjusted her expression by then, presenting her usual composed and serene demeanor. She even glanced at Kaito with a questioning look in her eyes.
"It's nothing."
Kaito quickly donned a gentle, unperturbed smile of his own.
"I cannot miss out on this ceremonial cup exchange either."
Tamamo-no-Mae approached again with her cup, smiling charmingly at Kaito.
"Thank you for your gracious regard."
Kaito could hardly refuse. He drank the cross-cup wine with this breathtaking great yōkai.
"My name is…"
Tamamo-no-Mae's red lips parted slightly. Her true name reached only Kaito's ears.
With this, every yōkai present had now established a contract with Kaito.
At this point, whether it was due to having drunk a bit too much or the overwhelming sense of joy, Kaito felt a wave of lightheadedness. His spirit form seemed to grow buoyant, untethered.
With the contracts signed today, granting him the ability to channel the power of these yōkai, Kaito's achievement in the path of the Onmyōji had, in one fell swoop, surpassed the vast majority of his historical predecessors.
Excepting, of course, Abe no Seimei.
But to have become, at such a young age, the greatest Onmyōji second only to Abe no Seimei throughout all of history was still a source of profound joy for Kaito.
He walked, swaying slightly, to the center of the banquet and bowed deeply to the assembled yōkai.
"Thank you all for your trust. For the rest of my days, I will wield your collective power wisely, repel our external enemies, and guide our planet towards prosperity."
"Ahahahahahaha…"
Shuten-dōji led the uproarious laughter, tilting his head back to take several more deep draughts from his jar.
"Truly an ambitious aspiration, but I admire it! A true man must possess such grand vision!"
He raised his sake jar high once more.
"Everyone, let us drink! A toast to Rī's magnificent ambition!"
"A toast!!!"
…
The banquet continued well into the night.
Yomi Hell had no distinction between day and night. Kaito sensed the arrival of evening because the tournament in the Enma Hall plaza on the other side had resumed.
While the yōkai had little interest in observing the matches up close, they could still enjoy the spectacle of the shinobi battling each other.
As the current master of the Yomi spider lilies, Kaori simply extended the lilies' root systems underground, causing a few blooms to appear at the edge of the plaza. This was enough to synchronize and project the events there directly within the sea of flowers.
Kaito sat by the window of the pavilion, drinking sake while watching the day's matches.
With the previous two days having passed, the first round of the tournament was more than half over. Tonight would see its conclusion.
As Izuna, acting as the host and referee, ascended the high platform, the throngs of deceased souls crowding the plaza erupted into cheers.
Izuna stood on the platform with his hands clasped behind his back. Only after the crowd had quieted down on its own did he begin announcing the combatants for the first match of the day.
Uzumaki Ashina vs. The Third Mizukage!
Seriously? Yet another battle of vengeance!
Kaito, now well-versed in shinobi history, facepalmed internally.
King Enma's penchant for perverse amusement was truly abundantly clear.
Uzumaki Ashina, as the last clan head of the Uzumaki clan, had likely perished during the events that led to the destruction of the Land of Whirlpools.
The ones who led the assault on the Land of Whirlpools back then were precisely the Hidden Mist Village under the Third Mizukage and the Hidden Cloud Village under the Third Raikage.
And this particular Third Mizukage was a figure who carried the principle of shinobi secrecy to its absolute extreme.
To this day, not even the records of the Hidden Mist Village contained his real name.
The match began.
Seeing one's enemy inflamed the eyes with red.
"Brat! This time, you have no allies by your side!"
Uzumaki Ashina, a figure one generation senior even to Senju Hashirama, had lived to a considerable age thanks to the Uzumaki clan's longevity. He had been quite old when he died.
The distinctive vibrant red hair characteristic of the Uzumaki clan had turned completely snow-white on him.
He glared at the Third Mizukage with profound hatred, releasing an immense, oppressive aura.
"This old man will make you pay for your actions!"
"It is merely a matter of victor and vanquished. The shinobi world has always been this way. From the day one becomes a shinobi, killing and being killed are simply commonplace."
The Third Mizukage possessed long, straight black hair and kept his eyes habitually, gently closed.
"You lived quite a long life before your death, senior. Can it be you still lack such awareness?"
*****
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