The Sarugamori Sand Dunes, on the coast of the Shimokita Peninsula in Aomori Prefecture, had been chosen as an artillery testing ground and had always seen few visitors.
Now, a temporary press conference venue set up among the dunes was packed with people.
Diplomats from various countries in immaculate suits gathered alongside reporters from major international news agencies carrying cameras and lenses of every size.
Sea winds and moisture blowing in from the Pacific Ocean formed a curtain of dark clouds overhead, a black mass rolling and churning. Even at noon, the gloomy weather felt oppressive.
More suffocating to everyone was Shukaku of the Sand, towering like a mountain not far away.
His eyes were now closed, his arms lowered, and his body cast an enormous shadow.
"Isn't this monster even bigger than Godzilla?"
"First a King Kong with four tails appeared at Yellowstone Volcano, and now Japan gets a giant tanuki. Both monsters appeared one after another after the blood moon, and both can spit out those huge black spheres with the power of nuclear bombs. There must be some connection."
"You've got to be kidding. Are we entering an age of monsters next?"
The reporters kept filming Shukaku while whispering among themselves and exchanging information.
"I never expected Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to stop playing deaf and dumb this time and hold a press conference the very next day."
"Right. It's so out of character that I'm not used to it."
"Is the Government of Japan trying to show the world that Director-General Uchiha has tamed such a powerful monster?"
Although Tokyo residents considered Aomori Prefecture, separated from Hokkaido by only a narrow stretch of water, the countryside, it was hardly a barren wasteland. Mutsu City alone had a population of over a hundred thousand.
The battle