"Sigh, have you heard? They say a nearby village fell to the barbarian people. The men and children were all killed, and the women were carried off. A fate worse than death."
In a small village in Hokkaido, a group of women were selling seafood caught the day before. As they chatted, the conversation turned to the unrest sweeping across Japan.
"Of course I've heard. They say His Majesty the Emperor has ordered all those barbarian people killed!"
The whispering between the two soon drew a crowd, everyone chattering about whatever news they had heard.
"They say it's not just His Majesty. Even the Abe family has mobilized. Looks like they're serious this time."
An old woman looked at them with undisguised disdain and said scornfully, "Oh, what Abe family? I heard His Majesty asked heaven to send a hundred thousand divine soldiers to wipe them out."
"If divine soldiers are helping, won't they be able to kill all those barbarian people in no time?" The gossiping women grew excited the moment they heard this.
The barbarian people around Hokkaido occupied most of the mountains, leaving the villagers with nothing to eat but seafood. They even dreamed of being fish at night. They could hardly stand it anymore, so of course they were delighted to hear that divine soldiers were coming to help.
"Oh, I can't stay and chat. It's getting late, and I have to go home to make dinner. I'm in such a good mood today, I might even put some rice in the porridge."
The women talked for quite a while, until the sky began to darken. Nobody bought any of their seafood. Everyone in damned Hokkaido fished for a living; only a lunatic would come to buy it. They were just trying their luck, hoping an outsider might pass through so they could swindle a little money.
Soon, night had fallen deep, and the husbands who had gone out fishing returned one after another.
"What's the occasion? Such a feast! There's even porridge with rice in it, besides the fish!" The woman's husband was delighted too. It had been a long time since he had eaten porridge with rice.
"I really don't know how we're supposed to get by these days. The volcanoes have been erupting for years, and tsunamis keep coming too. They say evil always appears in a year of great calamity!"
Her husband felt helpless as well. He had once happily grown millet in Hokkaido, but for some unknown reason, a volcano that had been dormant for ages erupted. He had no choice but to fish at sea, yet the tsunamis kept coming. Every fishing trip meant putting his life on the line, terrified that one day he would never return.
He handed his bowl to his wife, signaling for another helping of porridge. When he saw her preparing to serve herself a bowl as well, he hurriedly waved her off. "This is a year of disaster. You're sitting at home doing nothing anyway, so you might as well eat less. Save it for me to eat when I come back tomorrow."
His wife smiled gently and obediently closed the wooden tub. She kept smiling as she watched her husband. Only after he finished eating and went to sleep on the tatami did she gather up the dishes and take them to the kitchen.
She opened the tub and found little rice porridge left. Making as little noise as possible, she used a wooden spoon to scoop out all the solids and eat them herself. Only when not a trace of rice remained did she stop, satisfied, and close the tub. Naturally, nothing but water remained inside.
"My lord, I've spread all the news you wanted circulated. Those barbarian people have already begun preparing their defenses. I also took quite a few weapons from nearby towns and delivered them." Uraume approached silently.
That was right! As the mastermind behind this war, Sukuna helped the Emperor keep the Thirteen Family Heads in line while sending his capable aide and sole subordinate, Uraume, to inform every major tribal chief that the Emperor was about to send troops to wipe out the barbarian people.
"Hahaha! Uraume, we'll soon have a wonderful show to watch, and we'll be the ones directing it!"
Sukuna laughed uproariously. This plan could hardly have been simpler for him. It did not even require any thought; sheer force was enough to make it work.
"Brothers, kill them!"
In the middle of the night, deafening battle cries suddenly shattered the quiet streets of a small village in Hokkaido. Everyone woke at once, and the young men guarding the village rushed forward to fight the attackers.
"The bandits are here! Pack your things and get ready to run, everyone!" the old village chief could only shout helplessly. Then he boarded a carriage prepared in advance and sped away. He truly had no way to save those people; after all, his carriage was already loaded with the gold, silver, and treasures he had extorted over the years.
"Chief! Chief, save me!" A woman climbed onto the carriage, believing she had found a chance to survive. Just as she was about to crawl inside, the village chief's son kicked her off.
"What makes you think the likes of you deserve to ride in my carriage? Try to hold us back, and I'll kill you right now."
The vicious words from the chief's son frightened the people nearby. No one else dared climb aboard, and they could only flee in other directions. But none of them noticed the child holding a chariot hub, staring venomously after the fleeing village chief.
"Ah! Get out! Get out!"
The entire village descended into chaos. Bandits burst straight into the villagers' homes to plunder their money, killing anyone they encountered in the streets. The young men on night watch were soon slaughtered, unable to fight back with so few weapons.
"No... please, no!" A bandit broke into a house and stabbed the man inside to death. Only the woman remained, struggling desperately on the tatami. But how could a woman possibly overpower a man?
"Behave yourself, and if you keep me happy, I won't kill you. Otherwise..." With a savage grin, the bandit raised his long blade and chopped off one of her fingers.
"Aaah!" The woman's agonized screams rang out without pause, but she still could not escape being violated. She could only shed tears of humiliation and pray that the bandit would leave once he had finished.
"Pah! How boring. Couldn't even get on top and move yourself." The bandit spat in her face, then snatched the handkerchief tucked into the back of her kimono and wiped himself carelessly.
Just as the woman thought the bandit was about to leave, a long blade plunged through her back into her heart. She could only stare fixedly at the floor, dying with her eyes still open.
"What a shame. The boss said we can't take anyone back this time. We have to keep the authorities off our trail. Otherwise, I could've spared your worthless life." The bandit pulled his blade from the woman's back and wiped the blood off with the handkerchief.
The same scene played out throughout the village. Almost everyone was killed.
"Brothers, pull back! We're leaving!" At the bandit leader's shout, the blood-drenched bandits gathered around him, like demons that had crawled out of hell.
"Before dawn, we'll go sack a few more villages."
"Hahaha, it's my turn this time. Number Three killed one outright earlier, so I didn't even get a turn. What a bore." The bandits laughed, utterly unconcerned with how many people they had killed.
"Boss, you always have the best ideas. We attack these villages at night, and when the authorities investigate, we just say the barbarian people did it."
"Of course. Those fools at court chose to go to war with those savages. They can't blame us for taking advantage of the chaos." A smug smile appeared on the leader's vicious face. They could evade both the authorities' investigations and the great families' demands for an accounting. It was truly killing two birds with one stone!
Had a jujutsu sorcerer been present, they would have seen wisps of black mist gathering ceaselessly in the village behind the bandits. A cursed spirit was being born.
By the time all the families' armies successfully reached Heian-kyo half a month later, the entire Jujutsu Society had its hands full. Cursed spirits were appearing in great numbers all across Japan. A special grade cursed spirit had even appeared in a small village in Hokkaido.
They said the village chief had escaped that village, but for some reason, a wheel had come off his carriage halfway down the road. He had come so close to getting away, only to be killed by the special grade cursed spirit.
"Your Majesty, many bandits across Japan have recently been posing as barbarian people to burn, kill, and plunder. We ought to send troops to suppress them."
Abe Jinyuan had behaved himself much better over the past half month, though he was worried about his family's stability. Even his own territory had suffered bandit raids. The village chiefs kept seeking their protection, but with the army gone, they could now do little more than protect themselves.
"Then have your armies wipe out those bandits on this campaign. While you're at it, turn their wealth over to the imperial treasury," the Emperor said with a smile.
"Very well..." Abe Jinyuan agreed through gritted teeth. He had never expected his own scheme to backfire on him.
"Since the armies have finished assembling, let the war begin!"
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