After learning that Yūto and his team had easily dealt with an A-class yokai—the Umibōzu, the upper leadership of the Countermeasure Group was in exceptionally high spirits.
When they further learned that Yamato Kuka's spiritual power had broken through to A-class, not only did they refrain from blaming her for unilaterally leaving the Umibōzu's corpse with the fishing village, they instead lavished the entire team with praise.
Handing over the corpse of an A-class yokai just like that was, of course, painfully wasteful from the leadership's perspective.
But they were also perfectly aware of one thing:compared to an A-class yokai corpse, an exorcist capable of slaying an A-class yokai was far more valuable.
Especially given the current state of the world—when power and influence were everything—who wouldn't want to recruit more top-tier exorcists?
At present, the Non-Natural Countermeasure Group wasn't exactly the most powerful organization among the various factions and ancient exorcist families. Even so, the upper brass had extremely high expectations for Countermeasure Team Nine.
Killing an A-class yokai was already an incredible achievement in itself.And how old were Amakami Yūto and Yamato Kuka, really?
The leadership had no intention of committing the mistake of sacrificing long-term gains for short-term profits. When it came to geniuses like these, they were even less likely to sour relations over trivial matters.
—
While Team Nine continued heading out on mission after mission, the main battlefield—Tokyo's urban districts—was becoming increasingly engulfed in flames.
At first, the exorcist faction had enjoyed smooth sailing. The purge of yokai had progressed efficiently and without major resistance.
But ever since numerous unknown A-class yokai began appearing throughout the city, the exorcists started encountering obstacles—and eventually, the situation devolved into a deadlock.
Initially, the exorcist families hadn't paid much attention to these unknown yokai. After all, A-class monsters were powerful, but they weren't exactly rare within Tokyo's boundaries.
What none of them had expected, however, was that these unknown yokai wouldn't merely interfere with yokai-hunting operations—they began forming alliances, and their influence steadily grew stronger.
Even so, the exorcist families remained relatively calm.
Tokyo already had several A-class yokai factions. At worst, this was simply another A-class yokai gathering up a group of lesser monsters and forming a new faction. The situation was still manageable—well within control.
That perception changed completely after an incident involving the Hiiragi Family, one of the prestigious Thirteen Yokai-Slaying Houses.
They encountered one of the newly active yokai factions, led by the infamous Harigane-Onna—the Hook-Needle Woman.
Because the Hiiragi team was led by a direct-line member of the main family, their combat strength was formidable. After a grueling battle, they finally cornered the A-class Harigane-Onna and drove her to the brink of defeat.
Just as the Hiiragi clan prepared to deliver the killing blow—
Two other yokai factions suddenly crashed the scene.
Leading them were Tearai-Oni and Nekomata, two A-class great yokai that had only recently appeared in the Tokyo area.
The Hiiragi team had already exhausted themselves defeating Harigane-Onna. Facing two additional A-class great yokai head-on was impossible. They had no choice but to activate their family's forbidden technique, transforming into a raging gale and retreating.
At first, the Hiiragi clan assumed that Tearai-Oni and Nekomata had arrived to pick up the scraps and absorb Harigane-Onna's remaining forces.
Instead, they were stunned to see the three yokai chatting and laughing together, looking every bit like close companions.
By all logic, yokai followed the law of survival of the fittest. And as leaders of separate factions, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to carve up Harigane-Onna's power base.
Yet none of them did.
Not only did they stand together amicably—
It became clear that they hadn't come to seize territory at all.
They had come to rescue Harigane-Onna.
The moment this realization set in, the exorcist faction could no longer afford to ignore the situation.
A single A-class yokai faction was one thing.But multiple A-class factions joining forces?
That was an entirely different matter.
A-class yokai were already a nightmare to deal with individually. If they began cooperating, even the great exorcist families would find themselves in serious trouble.
Some sharp-eyed observers also noticed something unsettling:
Tearai-Oni, Harigane-Onna, and Nekomata—all three of them—were yokai absent from prior intelligence reports.
If these three "off-the-record" yokai were allied…
Then could it be inferred that all those intelligence-unknown yokai appearing across various cities were actually part of the same group?
The moment this theory emerged within the exorcist faction, a chill ran down everyone's spine.
Because it was terrifyingly absurd.
A single A-class faction wasn't worth worrying about—but nearly ten A-class factions working together, nearly ten A-class great yokai?
That kind of power was impossible to ignore.
Once that many A-class great yokai were unified, purely in terms of scale and hierarchy, their strength would far exceed the bounds of an "A-class" evaluation. Even if they didn't quite reach S-class, they would be frighteningly close.
In an attempt to disprove this horrifying hypothesis, the exorcist families began prioritizing the pursuit of these intelligence-unknown A-class yokai.
Whether the theory was true or not, eliminating unstable factors in advance was the only correct course of action.
What drove the exorcist faction into despair, however, was that reality confirmed their worst fears.
These suddenly emerging, intelligence-unknown yokai truly were working together.
The evidence was undeniable.
Whenever the exorcists managed to push one of these factions into a corner, reinforcements would arrive almost immediately.
It was widely believed that these yokai possessed some form of special communication method—otherwise, their timing could not have been so precise.
Soon after, the Second Tokyo-Area Exorcist Faction Conference, hosted by the Onmyō Academy, was convened.
This time, even Countermeasure Group members who were out on missions—as well as representatives of the major exorcist families—were forcibly recalled.
The purpose of the meeting was obvious to everyone:
How to deal with the sudden emergence of these A-class great yokai in Tokyo.
Having realized that the exorcists were already onto them, yokai such as the Samurai Spirit no longer bothered with secrecy.
Instead, they openly gathered all the forces they had absorbed.
Ten great yokai, each possessing at least A-class yokai power—combined with the massive number of lesser yokai they had saved and recruited throughout Tokyo—
The strongest yokai faction in Tokyo was born.
What made matters even worse for the exorcist faction was this:
Because of the relentless, high-pressure extermination campaigns carried out earlier, many independent yokai factions in Tokyo had begun expressing interest in joining this new alliance.
The reason was simple.
With the current strength of the Tokyo exorcist forces, if they truly decided to eradicate yokai entirely, even an A-class yokai faction would stand no chance.
And so, in order to survive, yokai had only one option—seek protection under a stronger banner.
And at this moment, there was no doubt about it.
The strongest yokai faction in Tokyowas the one led by Nekomata, the Samurai Spirit, and their allies.