"Phew~"
He plated the fragrant tomato-and-egg stir-fry in two dishes, added two pieces of tempura fried crisp on the outside and tender inside, and served them with a dish of dipping sauce. Dinner was ready.
Finally, that was done.
Not just dinner, but also the shrine's layout.
In truth, Akihi Yu understood that it was best for beings like "gods" to stay out of sight.
However, his plans required the gods of the island nation to "stand by and watch," and also to ensure that Amame Ei wouldn't be sent to the battlefield.
And rather than let the island nation and America investigate recklessly, possibly stumbling into trouble by sheer chance, it was better to keep the initiative in his own hands: hand them a story about spiritual energy returning and the Demon King coming back, and keep their attention firmly occupied.
Such a message needed to come from someone with enough "weight."
As a benevolent god who governed "abundance," Inari God Miketsu was an ideal choice. At first, Akihi Yu had planned to stage the whole thing himself, setting up some mishap during their conversation.
If the island nation and America both bowed down in worship, it would be awkward for Akihi Yu, playing "Miketsu," to turn them away. Having them come by every few days to pay their respects and ask for answers would be a nuisance, even if he ignored them.
He hadn't expected the Americans to be so "cooperative." It saved him a lot of trouble.
"Gods like these should say as little as possible. The later they step in, the better."
Akihi Yu set the dishes on the table and wiped his hands.
Now was the time.
Because of America's "rude" behavior, the island nation's gods had unanimously decided to stop involving themselves in human affairs.
Then the rise of the demons and the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons would follow naturally!
When the island nation's government was at its wits' end, after they "begged and pleaded," Miketsu, a benevolent god, would be unable to bear watching the people suffer. She would therefore bestow a Seed of the Divine Tree, which would grow into a giant tree and shelter the land. It would all make perfect sense.
Otherwise, wouldn't it seem abrupt and suspicious for a god to suddenly bestow a "Divine Tree"?
They had to ask for it themselves before they'd trust it.
"As for Miketsu's 'character,' well, there are eight million gods in the island nation, with every kind of temperament. If anyone doesn't like it, they can go argue with her in Takamagahara!"
Come to think of it, the gods of the island nation were almost all more "human" than "divine." There was the battle-crazed Susanoo, who went around causing trouble until he was kicked out of Takamagahara; Amaterasu, who was so fed up with Susanoo that she hid away in Amano-Iwato; and Tsukuyomi, who was always in the background and had no presence at all.
As the three most powerful gods of the island nation, the Three Noble Children all had tempers.
The Uchiha Clan's top ocular techniques in the World of Fire were named after them.
So—
"Until I reach Kage Level, I won't let the 'gods' make an appearance."
In any case, America would be taking the blame for this one!
"Sora, dinner's ready."
After calling up to the second floor, Akihi Yu continued to plan his next move.
While the siblings of the Akihi House ate and slept as usual, many important people were having trouble sleeping.
Yokosuka.
A city on the Miura Peninsula in the southeastern part of Kanagawa Prefecture, in the island nation.
It was also part of the Tokyo Metropolis area, one of the island nation's three major metropolitan regions. Put simply, Kanagawa Prefecture to the west of Yokosuka and Chiba Prefecture to the east stretched out into the sea like two arms, forming the enormous natural harbor of Tokyo Bay.
Tokyo sat right in the middle of this gigantic harbor.
It had an exceptionally advantageous location.
In fact, the island nation's other two metropolitan regions, Nagoya and Osaka, also had excellent natural harbors like this.
Yokosuka was familiar to people across much of the planet, but not because the "Black Ships" incident had taken place there. In 1853, the American captain Perry had sailed a fleet to Yokosuka and used his powerful ships and artillery to force the island nation to open its doors.
Yet the island nation remembered the invader Perry as a benefactor.
They believed that without Perry, the island nation might have remained closed off and become a colony. Perry had thus become a source of pride for Yokosuka.
The more important reason was—
America had established Yokosuka Military Base here!
This foremost naval port in the East covered about 2.3 million square meters. It had berthing facilities, ship-repair capabilities, fuel and ammunition storage, and facilities for resting personnel. It was also the only home port for aircraft carriers in the Far East. Only here could a carrier be repaired; otherwise, it would have to crawl all the way back to Hawaii.
The Fifth and Seventh Fleets were stationed here. The base was America's strongest foothold for maintaining control of the western Pacific.
More than twenty years ago, Yokosuka Base had already been valued at as much as five billion dollars!
After years of pouring real money into continued expansion, it now ranked among the best in the world, both in scale and sophistication.
In theory, commanding such a top-tier military base should have been an easy and prestigious assignment. After all, there weren't many forces capable of threatening Yokosuka Base.
But—
"General, the island nation's Chief Cabinet Secretary has called to protest again—"
"Tell them I'm asleep!"
In an office decorated with the military's trademark simplicity, the White Lieutenant General who had just been transferred there slammed down the phone and rubbed his brow in frustration.
He had come to replace the previous Black lieutenant general as the powerful American military official in command at Yokosuka. Yet he'd barely settled in before being saddled with this mess.
Those greedy yellow monkeys wanted to seize the chance to get something out of this?
Dream on!
They were indeed "in the wrong" this time.
But America had never cared about reason. It only cared about the range of its missiles.
Unfortunately, this time—
America's missiles couldn't reach into the Divine Kingdom, either.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Come in."
As the door swung open, Brigadier General Thomas strode in, his blond hair sticking straight up and his muscles bulging beneath his clothes.
"Thomas. Have a seat."
At the White Lieutenant General's invitation,
Brigadier General Thomas pulled over a chair and sat down briskly across from him.
"How are things?"
Thomas shrugged at the lieutenant general's question.
"The good news is that Lieutenant Colonel Miller is still alive."
"According to the doctors, his cerebral cortex remains active, which proves he's still thinking. Most of his organs are also functioning normally."
That was right. The unfortunate Lieutenant Colonel Miller had offended one of the island nation's gods and been "cursed" into becoming a tree, but he hadn't died. The roots inside his body had carefully avoided his vital organs. As they grew throughout his body, they had also "healed" his flesh, keeping him in a "healthy" condition.
"And the bad news?"
The White Lieutenant General poured two cups of coffee as he asked.
"The bad news is that the lieutenant colonel might as well be dead."
He had lost the ability to hear, speak, see, write, walk, and do anything else!
He was a genuine "vegetable."
"Maybe we could plant the lieutenant colonel somewhere and watch him grow into a tree."
"Or we could wait for the country's brain-computer interface technology to make another breakthrough, so the poor Lieutenant Colonel Miller can come back—"
"Wait!"
The White Lieutenant General paused as he stirred his coffee.
"Are you saying that Lieutenant Colonel Miller has fused with that 'cherry blossom tree'?"
"That's what the doctors say."
Brigadier General Thomas nodded.
"His body and the tree inside him have formed a strange kind of symbiotic relationship."
"Maybe this is that 'deity's' punishment. Or perhaps it's simply an expression of her authority—"
The deity's name was difficult to pronounce, and supposedly she governed "abundance." Her "nun" followers' abilities were clearly focused on healing. But that didn't mean healing couldn't hurt someone. Take poor Lieutenant Colonel Miller: after offending the deity, he'd fused with a tree and was now suffering an eternal punishment.
"That tree..."
"Has the hardness of steel and an incredible vitality."
"However, the doctors at the base aren't specialists. They only carried out some simple tests."
"Excellent!"
The White Lieutenant General's face brightened.
"Send Lieutenant Colonel Miller to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory at once!"
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Located in Cold Spring Harbor on Long Island, New York State, the laboratory studied cancer, neurobiology, plant genetics, genomics, and bioinformatics. Its main achievements were in molecular biology, and eight Nobel Prize laureates had come from the institute.
"Wait, General."
Brigadier General Thomas raised a hand, stopping his superior.
"Lieutenant Colonel Miller was cursed by a god of the island nation. If we move him to the mainland without precautions, could the curse disappear?"
That wouldn't do!
If they lost such a valuable "experimental subject," the biologists back home would be so furious they'd jump off the Empire State Building.
"The safest option is to build a new laboratory here, then bring over the experts and equipment from back home."
"You're right, Thomas."
The White Lieutenant General nodded, finally realizing it himself.
Sending Lieutenant Colonel Miller home was simply part of his job.
But if they discovered something at this base, he would be the first to get his hands on the secret!
This was a curse from the god of "abundance"—no, a blessing! Perhaps they could discover ways to extend human life.
"Thomas, I'll leave this matter to you."
He personally carried the freshly stirred coffee over to his subordinate and patted him warmly on the shoulder.
"No problem."
Thomas took the coffee. A glint flashed in the eyes of this iron-blooded soldier.
He was also deeply hungry for supernatural power.
What?
You're asking what Lieutenant Colonel Miller thought?
He had given his life for his country. The lieutenant colonel had no complaints!
"Ahhh~~!!!"
As island nation officials brought their political influence to bear and fiercely protested America's damage to the relationship between the island nation and its native gods, their covert "Super Soldier" experiment was also in full swing.
Through the laboratory's glass partition,
Director Takeya and Iori Ichika calmly watched the woman on the operating table as she writhed and screamed.
"Do you think it'll work, Ichika?"
"How would I know?"
Iori Ichika stood with her arms folded, still wearing her usual carefree expression.
"You should ask Professor Osumi."
"He's the Nobel Prize-winning biologist. I just arrest people."
"Excessive modesty is arrogance, Ichika."
Director Takeya recognized his subordinate's abilities. Of course, he was also well acquainted with her awful temper.
"Since you recommended her, surely you have some confidence in her?"
"Since you're pressing me..."
With her superior continuing to ask, Iori Ichika had no choice but to answer seriously.
"Professor Osumi and the others have extracted a special serum from the Shiba Inu that can produce 'demonic power.'"
"The serum has tremendous vitality and a powerful ability to multiply. In theory, transplanting it through surgery can create new 'supernatural beings.' But they've run into two problems—"
The subjects from previous experiments had already proved that creating a supernatural being was nowhere near that simple.
"First, when these cells enter a subject, they consume enormous amounts of energy, quickly causing the subject's organs to fail."
"That can be dealt with by selecting subjects with strong constitutions and continually replenishing them with nutrient solution."
"Second, the entire process places the subject's mind under intense strain. Most subjects quickly fall unconscious. Once they do, the experiment fails immediately."
"To overcome this, the subject needs an iron will and must remain conscious despite prolonged stimulation."
Animals only followed their instincts. No matter what meaning humans "assigned" them, whether they were wolves, bears, lions, or tigers, they all failed at the second hurdle.
Only humans could consciously force themselves to remain awake.
"So, in my view, if Fuji Seiko can't succeed, then we should suspend this experiment for now."
Iori Ichika had looked through Fuji Seiko's record and knew she was exceptional in both ability and willpower. In fact, the policewoman had once been a star in the Criminal Investigation Division. Unfortunately, she had offended someone powerful and been demoted to a superintendent position in Adachi Ward.
As the two spoke, the mature policewoman lying on the operating table had already been struggling for over half an hour!
Sweat poured off her body, soaking the operating table and dripping down like a curtain of rain. Without the nutrient solution being continuously administered through her veins, she would already have been reduced to a mummy.
Even so, her screams had turned into hoarse panting. Her arms and ankles, strapped to the operating table, were torn and bleeding from her violent struggles!
Only her bright eyes and clenched teeth showed that she was still conscious.
I can't give up. I can't give up!
Wave after wave of pain surged into her brain from her muscles, blood, and bone marrow. Her body's instincts urged Fuji Seiko to stop fighting and meet the crisis by passing out.
But her reason told her that doing so would mean certain death!
I have to stay alive—for Mai, too.
As your senior,
how could I watch you spend your whole life lying in a hospital bed?
Never—
Blood began to seep from her eyes, and her skin turned a vivid red.
As the policewoman gritted her teeth and held on, the "serum" injected into her body gradually gathered three inches below her navel, giving off a faint green light that was almost impossible to see. It even began to rotate slowly.
And all around her, a large team of experts bustled about, constantly pumping her full of various nutrient solutions and the "super serum" extracted from the Shiba Inu, while recording every change in her body to build up experience for the next experiment.
"Hm?"
Akihi House,
Akihi Yu, already in bed, froze.
He sensed a new, faint trace of mana.
"From that direction..."
The place where Tanimura Wataru's Shiba Inu was being held.
"Looks like the researchers on the island have a few tricks up their sleeves after all."
Good.
The more people who possessed mana,
the more likely the Divine Tree would bear Fruit of Mana in the future.
In high spirits, Akihi Yu moved his younger sister's arm off his chest and drifted off to sleep.
Before you continue