Chapter 599: White Shadow Teacher, We Want to Become Stronger Too!

"The Great Spirit Vein is the destination where human souls go after death, presiding over reincarnation; it flows within the very earth beneath our feet."

Hearing the boy's question, Isayama Huangquan began to explain.

"As for the Guardian Deity of the Great Spirit Vein, that is most likely a land deity born from the collective thoughts of all living beings, similar to the deities in mythological tales, but no one has ever had definitive proof of witnessing such an existence."

"Individuals called deities due to receiving human worship are not uncommon; to put it bluntly, the Isayama Family's spirit beast Ran Guren and the Tsuchimiya Family's spirit beast Byakuei are both a kind of deity."

"However, deities born directly from the Great Spirit Vein basically exist only in mythological stories recorded in ancient texts."

Isayama Meifu added.

"I see."

Broly wore an expression of sudden realization, but in reality, he still did not understand what the difference was.

But not understanding was one thing; he did not mind letting his own ninja assume this identity, and he used Qi to signal his summon.

【What you say is correct; I am most likely an existence like a land deity. As for the other side of me, it is an existence born from the reverse side.】

Upon receiving the signal, the White Shadow Ninja immediately held up a sign giving an affirmative answer.

"Is it a Great Demon Spirit newly born from Naraku? No wonder it would target the Tsuchimiya Family……"

Shen Gongji Shobu wore an expression of sudden realization; at this moment, she felt that the Tsuchimiya Family being attacked, Madam Tsuchimiya's remains being stolen, and Tsuchimiya Kagura still being targeted — everything now had a reason.

"Naraku?"

Broly cast a doubtful gaze toward Isayama Naraku beside him.

"Cough, cough. Broly, the Naraku Director Shinguuji speaks of does not refer to me, but to the endless abyss existing at the bottom of the Great Spirit Vein. That place is Hell, the place where all sinful souls are cleansed."

Isayama Naraku coughed, then proceeded to explain.

"Then why are you named that?"

Broly asked curiously.

"This name was given by my father — that is, your foster grandfather — with the meaning that I would become an Exorcist who purifies the sinful souls of the world."

Isayama Naraku has been burdened by this name his whole life; to live up to his dead father's expectations, he has always struggled on the front lines of the Exorcist front.

"However, Naraku has already developed a problem."

Shen Gongji Shobu interjected at this point.

"What problem?"

Broly asked curiously.

"With the explosive increase in the human population, sinful souls have become more and more numerous, and the endless abyss has fallen into an overloaded operational state."

"Its purification speed cannot keep up with the descent speed of sinful souls, ultimately triggering the Great Spirit Vein's self-purification system thousands of years ago, historically known as the Nine-Tailed Fox Turmoil."

"The Nine-Tailed Fox is a great demon created by Naraku using numerous sinful souls, and the purpose of its birth was to devour the souls of all humans in the world, returning the world to its initial lifeless state."

"However, it failed, defeated and sealed by ancient Onmyoji……"

Shen Gongji Shobu described the situation; the founder of the Ministry of the Environment's Supernatural Countermeasures Bureau was the Tsuchimikado Family, so regarding some ancient records, she, as the head of the Tokyo Countermeasures Bureau, still had some understanding.

Only, a great demon wanting to destroy the world a thousand years ago was too far removed from modern times; the previous her merely regarded it as a mythological story where ancient Exorcists exaggerated their words to highlight their achievements.

But now it was different; White Shadow and Black Shadow, two top-tier spiritual bodies, had already manifested — if this wasn't evidence, what was?

And before, there had never been talk of two powerful existences that looked like native spiritual bodies (ninja) suddenly popping up, as if they sprang from cracks in a stone, with not a single trace to be found.

But if one explained all this as them being the Guardian Deity and Great Demon Spirit born not long ago from the Great Spirit Vein and Naraku, two sides of one entity, then everything made sense.

As for the initial suspicion that there might be some powerful mastermind behind the scenes playing god, manipulating two powerful spiritual bodies to put on a double act against Tsuchimiya Kagura and Isayama Huangquan, Shen Gongji Shobu felt she could eliminate this obviously impossible wrong answer.

"The calamity of a thousand years ago will likely descend upon the present world again; this is already beyond what we can solve."

The Supernatural Countermeasures Bureau is merely a department attached to the secular authorities, and one with insufficient manpower at that.

And the Isayama Family is merely a relatively prestigious family among Demon Hunter Families.

Facing a possible world-destroying catastrophe that occurred a thousand years ago, both are insufficient.

"We must separately contact all Demon Extermination Forces, both civilian and official; only by uniting all forces can we cope with the impending great calamity crisis."

Broly: "……"

As this background story was told, a world crisis, a great calamity, was about to appear.

Only he knew this was merely the result of everyone present overthinking.

However, isn't this misunderstanding wonderful?

From today onward, his family's Black Shadow Ninja is the spokesperson for this world's endless abyss.

The setting is very good; he adopted it.

As for a world crisis or whatever, how could Broly not know it's fake? Yet he can treat it as real and use it.

Girls who must strive to become stronger to save the world — doesn't that have the feel of a hot-blooded story?

This has far more depth than the previous story the Countermeasures Bureau gave about the Killing Stone targeting the Tsuchimiya Family, wanting to steal the Tsuchimiya Family's strongest spirit beast — an evil demon tale.

Plans cannot keep up with changes; the Exorcist Girl's training script may face another update, but the same goes for Shen Gongji Shobu.

Probing, getting close, wanting to discuss the transfer of talisman usage rights with the White Shadow Ninja — all were tossed to the back of her mind by Shen Gongji Shobu.

After all, if a world-destroying crisis truly appears, who knows how many people will die in such a crisis; that is the matter requiring priority handling.

Shen Gongji Shobu came in a hurry and left in a hurry, taking with her Isayama Naraku, who made emergency phone calls to convene an Exorcist Alliance meeting.

Left in the house were only Isayama Huangquan and the others, instructed to watch the house and mind their safety; Isayama Huangquan, Tsuchimiya Kagura, and the rest stared at each other in blank dismay, and just as they felt they too must do something, the White Shadow Ninja held up a sign again.

【Continue training.】

"Ah, White Shadow Teacher, at a time like this, how can you let us train with peace of mind?"

This feeling was like the world was about to end, but compared to the end of the world, it seemed that unfinished summer homework was the more important matter.

【The target Black Shadow has set its sights on is you two; it is plotting an evil plan to plunge the world into darkness. But as long as you two become strong enough to stop Black Shadow's evil scheme, this world will certainly not be ruled by darkness!】

The White Shadow Ninja held up its sign; the master's orders were the highest priority execution item — even if the world ended the next second, it would persist in carrying them out.

And with the script unupdated, it was still using the old version of the story; fortunately, "plunging the world into darkness" did not specify concrete actions, so one could not tell the difference from what the great demon of this world's true Naraku alignment actually wants to do — destroy the world.

"Ah, if that's the case, doesn't that mean Sister Huangquan and Sister Kagura have already taken on the responsibility of upholding justice and light in the world?"

Broly asked loudly in a child's tone, addressing the White Shadow Ninja.

【That's right!】

The White Shadow Ninja instantly held up a sign in response; everything their master said was correct.

Isayama Huangquan and Tsuchimiya Kagura looked dazed; how had such a heavy responsibility landed on their shoulders?

"Sister Huangquan, Sister Kagura, you have to cheer up and get stronger!"

Broly looked at them with eager eyes, seemingly cheering the two on.

"Mm."

Isayama Huangquan replied subconsciously; she always felt something was a bit off, but thinking it over carefully, there didn't seem to be any problem.

Evil Ninja Spirits are great evil spirits born from Naraku; their target should be the Tsuchimiya Family's Killing Stone, but seizing the Killing Stone seemingly still requires dealing with the Tsuchimiya bloodline, so they set their sights on Kagura.

And as long as they become strong enough to protect themselves, not letting the other side's scheme succeed, that indeed counts as upholding justice and light in the world!

【However, can you really oppose that Evil Ninja Spirit just by practicing swordsmanship?】

Isayama Huangquan produced this doubt, and not long after resuming sword practice, she suddenly stopped.

"White Shadow Teacher, can we really fight against your other side using the swordsmanship you taught us?"

The girl asked directly.

Tsuchimiya Kagura also stopped her sword, likewise looking toward the White Shadow Ninja with some doubt in her gaze.

【Of course.】

The White Shadow Ninja held up a sign to answer this question without the slightest hesitation; it and the Black Shadow can only exert about thirty percent of their master's swordsmanship level, so as long as they can grasp a level exceeding that, not to mention opposing them, defeating them is entirely possible.

"But I don't have that feeling; although our sword swings have indeed become smoother under your guidance, can we really become strong enough to contend with your evil side just by virtue of this slightly smoother sword swinging?"

The White Shadow Ninja fell silent, its pale gold pupils revealing no emotion, just calmly gazing at the questioning girl.

After a while, when Isayama Huangquan felt she might have been a bit excessive, actually doubting the teacher willing to help them grow stronger, the White Shadow Ninja finally held up a sign.

【You lack a sense of growth because you don't have a concrete reference target; if you want to know whether you've grown stronger, you can find a reference target to compare against.】

Practical combat drills are originally an advanced step conducted after learning swordsmanship for a period, but since Isayama Huangquan has doubts, it can only be brought out early.

"A reference target, huh; White Shadow Teacher, what you say makes sense."

Isayama Huangquan nodded in agreement.

"Mei-nee, can I ask you to spar with me?"

Just as the White Shadow Ninja was preparing to hold up a sign to serve as the reference target itself, it heard Isayama Huangquan ask the white-haired girl sitting at the side of the dojo watching the training.

"That's no problem."

Isayama Meifu had no objection; she had always been able to suppress Isayama Huangquan in a fight, before her cousin accepted the White Shadow Ninja's guidance.

"However, you've only practiced swordsmanship under Lord White Shadow for less than two days; can you really have that much improvement?"

Isayama Meifu raised a doubt.

"Uh..."

Isayama Huangquan felt her cousin made sense.

【No problem, go ahead; you'll see her progress.】

Under Broly's confirming gaze, the White Shadow Ninja raised the sign in its hand without any hesitation, giving an affirmative answer.

The spar began, but ended in less than two minutes; Isayama Meifu's naginata was blown away, and Isayama Huangquan, who had blown away the naginata, somewhat couldn't believe she had done it.

"Mei-nee, did you go easy?"

Isayama Huangquan suspected her cousin had gone easy.

"No."

However, Isayama Meifu shook her head at her.

Isayama Meifu was also extremely surprised by Isayama Huangquan's growth in strength.

She couldn't tell at all when watching the girl's training from the side, but when actually standing opposite her as an opponent, she discovered her cousin's strength had grown terrifyingly.

Whether slashing speed or slashing force, both were different from before; it was this misjudgment that led to her quick defeat.

"How was this done?"

Somewhat unwilling that her cousin, whom she previously couldn't beat, could now easily defeat her, she bit her lip and asked the White Shadow Ninja at the side.

【I (the Master) adjusted some superfluous movements in her sword swings; this is the result obtained after optimizing her original swordsmanship.】

The White Shadow Ninja didn't act cold and refuse to respond, but directly held up a sign explaining the reason for the girl's swordsmanship improvement.

【Of course, because training time is still insufficient, this strength has not yet become instinct, and still needs more practice.】

Isayama Meifu: "..."

"Sister Huangquan, you really got stronger!"

Tsuchimiya Kagura leaned over to the girl's side somewhat excitedly to congratulate her.

Isayama Huangquan getting stronger also meant that she herself, who likewise accepted the White Shadow Ninja's guidance and practiced swordsmanship seriously, had definitely gotten stronger too.

"Yeah!"

Isayama Huangquan hugged the girl and spun a circle, also somewhat excited; although she probably still couldn't compare to that Evil Ninja Spirit, the obvious growth in strength still made her feel elated.

"Plop—"

Just as Isayama Huangquan and Tsuchimiya Kagura were having fun over there, Isayama Meifu came before the White Shadow Ninja and suddenly performed a dogeza.

【?】

The White Shadow Ninja didn't understand what she wanted to do, so it held up a sign with a big question mark.

"Lord White Shadow, I also want to get stronger; although saying this is a bit shameless, could you please teach me the arts to become stronger as well?

For this, I am willing to pay any price, even devoting my whole life to you, becoming your Miko is fine!"

Broly was also a bit startled by Isayama Meifu's sudden dogeza just now, but now hearing the white-haired girl's words, he instantly understood her behavior, and the message 【Coach, I want to play basketball!】 surfaced in his consciousness.

But before he could dispel the information in his mind, another thud sounded, and Jino Setsuna also dropped into dogeza beside Isayama Meifu.

"Lord White Shadow, I also want to get stronger, and for that I am willing to pay any price."

Ever since two days ago, when she used herself as cover to let her subordinates escape via fake death, becoming a sacrificial piece, Jino Setsuna had lost all drive.

She felt the outcome of her death was already destined; all she could do was try to help the friends she had met before dying as much as possible.

However, upon seeing the match between Isayama Huangquan and Isayama Meifu just now, and witnessing the defeated Isayama Meifu suddenly go before the White Shadow ninja and kneel to request guidance to become stronger, this Cursed Forbidden Way girl was struck as if by lightning, because she suddenly realized she was not without other choices — for example, kneeling before the White Shadow ninja right now, requesting guidance to become stronger just like Isayama Meifu.

The reason she could not resist the Organization, could not resist her father's will, was simply because she herself was not strong enough; but if Lord White Shadow, who merely guided Isayama Huangquan for two days and made her strength grow so tremendously, were willing to guide her.

Then never mind whether she could uphold world justice and light — at the very least, protecting her younger sister from her father, from the Cursed Forbidden Way's hands, should be no problem.

So she came over too, embracing hope and the awareness of possibly sacrificing herself (in Japan many gods helping people require people to pay a corresponding price to fulfill the vow; the most classic fulfillment is letting a girl with high spiritual sense become a Miko, serving the god in life and still serving the god after death), and knelt before the White Shadow ninja.

The White Shadow ninja silently watched the two girls in dogeza; this was an unexpected event outside the script, and subconsciously it looked toward its master's direction.

Then it saw its master think for a moment, then also walk over with a thud and perform a dogeza right in front of it.

"Lord White Shadow, I want to train swordsmanship as amazing as my sisters'!"

White Shadow ninja: "……"

Seemingly a bit speechless at its master's behavior, but it still understood its master's meaning — this was agreeing to the two's request.

【Allowed.】

It gave a direct reply.

"Eh, no conditions?"

【No conditions for now, but if there are any later, you will need to fulfill them.】