"Can Lord Jiraiya really establish contact with that deity by offering monsters as burnt sacrifices to the Buddha statue?"
The Governor of Tokyo thought anxiously, his heart pounding with apprehension.
The nameless deity had appeared in a dream to Yuuji Kanbara, who was studying Buddhism at Senso-ji, claiming that as long as monsters were sacrificed to it, the stone image it had shed could protect the peace of the area.
Naturally, the Japanese government was deeply wary of this nameless deity of unknown origin.
During the Great Mount Fuji Eruption two days earlier, the Japanese government had even considered making sacrifices to the nameless deity in its desperation, but Princess Kaguya had been sealed before it could act.
"This stone Buddha beneath Senso-ji is positioned at an extremely critical junction. Without its suppressive presence, the spatial fissures would already have joined into a permanent passage."
Jiraiya pressed his palms together and gazed at the nameless stone Buddha at the bottom of the pit, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face.
"According to the Great Toad Sage, a mighty being who reached the other shore deliberately sank the sacred body shed in its previous life here from the Inner World to suppress this world."
It was like sinking a truck loaded with sandbags into a river to plug a breach before the levee burst.
"Severing the Connection Between Earth and Heaven, this sage finds it rather difficult to manage alone. But with this mighty being's assistance, we could achieve twice the results with half the effort."
Jiraiya held one hand palm-up. The flickering flame of light in his hand was the incense offering sacrificed before the Buddha. He blew gently, and specks of light sank into the incomplete stone Buddha.
The Buddha statue's plain, ancient-looking blue stone suddenly became as translucent