Chapter 23: The Third District’s Commission. Yun Zhou: Please leave it to us!…

With Izayoi Ame present, the outcome of the battle was never in doubt.

Yun Zhou and his two companions saw the young District Chief wield his blade for the first time, witnessing exactly what kind of strength the former top student of Tree Tower Academy possessed.

His draw was so fast it was nearly invisible; even the flashing light was a blur. It was as if he had vanished from space in a single instant.

Yet, the traces he left behind were very real.

An invisible blade glided effortlessly across the path of the ninjas. At the spot where Izayoi Ame had disappeared, it felt as though a wall had risen out of thin air. Beyond that invisible wall, every charging ninja was firmly halted. Before they could even brush against the hem of Izayoi Ame’s clothes, they transformed in a manner that could only be described as eerie…

Into water?

Yun Zhou and the others stared wide-eyed, momentarily forgetting that they were still in the middle of a battlefield.

As Izayoi Ame swung his blade, the pouncing ninjas were transformed into overflowing streams of water the moment they were cut!

Splashing water made the forest path outside the hall look as if it were shrouded in a continuous drizzle. Blood-red Torii gates, deep green trees, spraying water, and pitch-black ninjas.

The scene before them felt less like a battle between Correctors and more like a bizarre plot from one of the Third District’s most famous urban legends.

“Is it… that blade?”

For some reason, Du Shui felt a strikingly familiar aura emanating from the splashing water. Her mind was a blank, yet her lips naturally spoke the source of the eerie scene.

“Yes.” Hozuki gripped her wakizashi and walked toward the students. She gave Du Shui a complicated look before explaining, “That is the ancestral cursed blade of the Izayoi family. Legend says it is the Umizukigiri¹, the sword of the strongest head of the Izayoi family, Umizuki no Mikoto. Back then, Umizuki no Mikoto used this blade to slay the Kraken, ranked Y008.”

“Slay?” Yun Zhou looked at Hozuki in confusion. Hozuki gave a helpless glance at Yun Zhou’s two companions—or rather, his guardians. “Did your captain not listen to a single word during the Anomaly professional courses at the academy?”

Du Shui sighed, while Ying Huo smiled and shrugged. “It seems that’s the case. So, Miss Hozuki, please don’t lower yourself to argue with a wolf.”

Du Shui skillfully added a response more suited to the style of the Third District: “Please, by all means, do not lower yourself to argue with a wolf!”

Hozuki’s lip twitched. Yun Zhou’s sparkling, expectant eyes were fixed on her, making it impossible for her to refuse.

She had no choice but to explain: “The top ten Anomalies in the sequence are known as the Anomaly Kings. As the name suggests, they are the kings of all Anomalies, the apex existences. To those in the top ten, they have become incarnations of certain concepts or disasters, losing the possibility of death.”

Complex emotions flickered in Hozuki’s deep purple eyes: fear, melancholy, disbelief?

Perhaps all of them. This was how everyone living in this world felt about the Anomaly Kings.

After all… they were a brood of monsters that could not die. As long as their Anomaly Core remained, they would not perish, but would be reborn from the core time and time again. Even if one used mental power to inflict death, the result for them was merely a few more years of sleep.

For them, the price of death was only slumber, and after that slumber… came the awakening of a new life.

Even Y010, the World Tree, which had been torn to shreds by the Black Swan’s own mental power, still possessed a terrifying binding capability over Anomalies ranked below it. This was why it had become the official prison used by The Tower to incarcerate Anomalies.

“Counting the time, it really is the day Y008 should awaken.”

Hozuki gave a bitter smile. On the other side, Izayoi Ame’s figure finally reappeared following a final slash. Behind him, the ninjas’ bodies erupted into massive splashes of water, rolling across the ground like raindrops. The blade that Izayoi Ame rarely drew, the Umizukigiri, finally revealed its true form behind the curtain of rain.

It was a very standard tachi. The blade curved slightly like the moonlight of a sixteenth night², tracing a beautiful, elegant arc. The moment the blade entered the scabbard, it produced not the metallic clang of steel, but a sound like waves crashing.

Du Shui stared blankly at the sword. She was closest to Izayoi Ame and thus saw it most clearly.

That eerie sense of familiarity surged in her heart again. Swords could possess spirits, but this was abnormal. She could clearly feel the texture of the Umizukigiri, the sensation of gripping the hilt, and the distinct patterns on the tsuba³.

But she should have never seen this tachi before. After all… after all…

She was supposed to be nothing more than an apprentice shrine maiden at an obscure little shrine in the Third District, sent to Tree Tower Academy only because she was a great fighter despite her lacking professional skills.

While Du Shui was lost in thought, Ying Huo also stared at the Umizukigiri, sinking into his own contemplation, though his train of thought differed from hers.

Looking at the Umizukigiri, Ying Huo suddenly realized something. “Wait! Miss Hozuki, did you just say this blade turns Anomalies into water? Then those ninjas—”

Hozuki nodded and stepped forward, following Izayoi Ame as he finished the battle. Izayoi Ame calmly scanned the puddles accumulated on the ground. “They were all Anomalies.”

“What?!”

Yun Zhou and the other two let out cries of disbelief.

Izayoi Ame said nothing. His gaze stopped behind the three of them—specifically, at the exit of the shrine’s main hall.

An elegant middle-aged man wearing a black-patterned Haori and hakama, with the Izayoi family crest of Kanagawa on his back, walked out.

Yun Zhou was incredulous. “No, seriously, do you people from the Izayoi family love appearing out of nowhere like this?”

No one knew when the middle-aged man had appeared in the main hall. Izayoi Ame’s battle had been so dazzling that it had captured the full attention of the young Correctors. Even so, three Sentinels with keen senses had heard absolutely nothing. This level of ability to conceal one’s presence was far beyond the reach of ordinary people.

“Second Elder.”

Hozuki gripped the wakizashi at her waist and quickly bowed.

“Second Elder.”

Izayoi Ame’s gaze lingered on the refined middle-aged man, his expression carrying a hint of questioning… and a certain dependence on an elder?

Ying Huo paused, wondering if he was hallucinating. Otherwise, how could he possibly see the Third District Chief displaying such a dependent emotion?

“It is fine. Tell them. After all, this team was personally dispatched by the Council Chairman and represents her will. Moreover, things have already progressed to this point.”

The Second Elder sighed, narrowing his eyes as if he couldn’t bear to mention the current state of the Izayoi Family.

Izayoi Ame nodded.

“These Anomalies were man-made. Someone within the Izayoi Family conducted Anomaly experiments that are strictly forbidden by the Seven-District Council.”

Izayoi Ame’s voice was calm, as if he were simply reciting a divine hymn.

“They merged Anomalies with the Izayoi Family’s death-sworn shinobi⁴, creating combat machines that don’t even dodge the Umizukigiri, but instead charge head-on in a frenzy.”

Izayoi Ame closed his eyes. His voice did not tremble, but the sound of flowing water continued behind him—the remnants of the death-sworn shinobi who had once been loyal to the Izayoi Family.

Hozuki’s expression had been grim from the start. She gritted her teeth and punched a nearby cedar tree with a resounding thud. “Damn it! That bastard occupying the Great Elder’s seat isn’t even bothering to act anymore, is he?!”

“Hozuki.”

The Second Elder’s eyes remained narrowed; no one knew if he could actually see, but the moment he tilted his head toward Hozuki, she immediately fell silent.

Ying Huo made a mental note: this Second Elder must be a close elder to Izayoi Ame, otherwise neither Izayoi Ame nor Hozuki would be acting this way.

Just as he was about to continue listening to Izayoi Ame’s report to deduce more information, he realized the Second Elder had turned toward him at some unknown point.

A humble and polite smile spread across that refined face. “I apologize for letting our honored guests witness such a sight; it is the Izayoi Family’s failing. The traditionalists of the Izayoi Family have always had friction with the District Chief. Although the Great Elder has constantly tested the boundaries of the Seven-District Council, he never had the courage to truly cross the line. Now that he has committed such acts, I venture to guess it is because of a certain special existence mentioned in the prophecies.”

Yun Zhou was still bewildered, and Du Shui was terrifyingly quiet, so Ying Huo had no choice but to brace himself and take over the negotiations. “Are you referring to… Anomaly Y008?”

The Second Elder nodded. “As a member of the Elder Council, even if he is the nominal Chairman of the Elder Council, he cannot contend with the District Chief and the blade in Hozuki’s hand.”

Ying Huo noticed that when the Second Elder said this, both of them straightened their backs proudly, like toddlers being praised by a teacher in kindergarten.

The Second Elder continued his explanation, “Therefore, I suspect the opposing party must possess something capable of checking the District Chief… In the Third District, the only thing that can check the District Chief and the Umizukigiri is Y008.”

Izayoi Ame and Hozuki nodded in agreement. “The Umizukigiri, the blade of Umizuki no Mikoto, can cut through anything in this world. The only ones capable of surviving its edge are the Anomaly Kings within the top ten of the sequence.”

Ying Huo took a deep breath and put on a formulaic smile. “So, what you’re saying is…?”

Although he hadn’t undergone the lifelong training Liu Ming had, he wasn’t an idiot; he could hear the subtext in the Second Elder’s words.

This seemingly refined and gentle Second Elder wouldn’t let them hear so many secrets of the Izayoi Family just so they could report back to the Black Swan.

He wanted something. He definitely wanted something!

The Second Elder was quite candid and admitted his intentions directly. “The Izayoi Family’s shinobi have now been turned into Anomaly monsters by the Great Elder using his position in the Elder Council. The Third District is short-handed, so we earnestly request your assistance. We cannot be certain how long the Great Elder has been in contact with Y008, so we can only ask you to coordinate with our operations and investigate the Great Elder’s secret laboratory.”

Ying Huo: …As expected, it came to this.

He attempted one last effort. “But we’re just Corrector students. We might mess things up—”

The Second Elder interrupted him with a smile. “Young heroes have existed since ancient times. I heard the representative of the Liu Family who recently partnered with the Great Elder is the next head of the Liu Family. Isn’t that child the same age as you? I believe he is even part of the Salvation project group, just like you. I wonder how many of these Anomaly shinobi were funded by the Liu Family’s resources.”

Yun Zhou, Ying Huo, and Du Shui: …It’s truly embarrassing that our teammate caused such trouble for others. Damn you, Liu Ming! Hasn’t he basically made it impossible for us to refuse?

Yun Zhou looked like he wanted to cry. “Please, we must make it up to you!”

Translator’s Notes