Inside Shōkokuji Temple.
Dressed in a black suit, Bartholomew Kuma lowered his head and looked at Keiji Kakeiin, head of a branch family of the Eighty Stream School.
"The seal at Rokukinji Temple has been broken. Now it is our turn."
"Alright, please follow me. The seal is within Hannya Forest."
Keiji Kakeiin glanced at the two ancestors beside him.
Thinking of the call from the main family earlier, he could only nod with complicated feelings.
He truly had not expected things to develop to this point.
Still, compared to being slaughtered by demons, this was already a very good outcome.
At least he would live to see his wife, children, and elderly mother again.
A short while later.
The group passed through a tree-lined path.
They safely arrived at an underground palace deep within Hannya Forest.
There, they saw a small mound and a wooden stake surrounded by four candles.
Keiji Kakeiin raised his right hand and pointed at it. "That is the seal. Pull out the stake, and it will be broken."
"At that point, the resentment below will erupt, and the great demon sealed for four hundred years will return to the world. You must be careful."
He even kindly reminded Bartholomew Kuma.
"Thank you."
Kuma thanked him, walked over, and casually pulled out the wooden stake.
[Bang.]
The stake hit the ground with a dull thud.
But everyone was focused on the trembling earth and the surging resentment.
Keiji Kakeiin had prepared in advance.
He immediately used talismans to set up a small barrier around them, preventing the resentment from approaching.
Yet Bartholomew Kuma remained where he stood, completely unconcerned by the rolling black mist around him.
If anyone looked closely, they would discover that the black mist could not touch his body at all.
It