Hokkaido, at the Seal of the Special Grade Cursed Spirit Ootengu.
A team of Jujutsu Sorcerers cautiously entered the shrine where Ootengu had been sealed.
Three days earlier, the personnel assigned to inspect the Seal's condition failed to report back to the local Jujutsu department as scheduled.
Since the Seal had remained stable for centuries, the local department initially assumed the two had simply forgotten and only sent messages to remind them.
However, when there was still no contact, they realized something was wrong.
They escalated the matter and sent a second team to investigate.
That team also quickly lost contact.
At that point, the local Jujutsu department finally understood the gravity of the situation.
This was a Special Grade Cursed Spirit, one they had failed to exorcise even after repeated attempts hundreds of years ago, ultimately sealing it instead.
A new investigation team, led by a Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer, was swiftly assembled and dispatched to the mountain shrine where the Seal was located.
However, by the time they arrived, Dhruv had already left.
All that remained were bloodstained stone bricks and shattered warding stones.
The Seal on the Special Grade Cursed Spirit Ootengu had been broken.
The local department's first instinct was to suppress the news, since this was clearly a failure in their guardianship.
But after half a day of arguing, they eventually filed the report.
On one hand, exorcising Ootengu would inevitably require deploying Grade 1 or higher sorcerers.
There were not many such individuals in the country, and such mobilization would surely attract attention.
On the other hand, they had no clue where Ootengu had gone.
Realizing the incident couldn't be handled quietly, the regional officials tried to soften the report as much as they could before submitting it to Jujutsu Headquarters.
In reality, for Dhruv, breaking Ootengu's Seal wouldn't have taken much time.
Although the Seal was powerful, it wasn't difficult for a Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer like him to break it from the outside.
Moreover, after Tamamo-no-Mae's death, she had incarnated as the Special Grade Cursed Spirit Nine-Tailed Fox.
Thus, she understood the level of intelligence that Special Grade Cursed Spirits possessed.
The reason it took two days was because Dhruv had his own motives.
In the Binding Vow made with Ootengu, aside from the terms proposed by Tamamo-no-Mae, Dhruv also added conditions favorable to himself.
That was why he didn't break the Seal immediately.
He waited until the next day to persuade Ootengu to enter the Binding Vow.
This was also how they encountered the second investigative team...
Miyagi Prefecture, Isayama Family Dojo.
Naraku whose body had recovered, was currently training with a sword.
Eichi, with nothing better to do, had picked up a wooden sword to spar with him.
Though Eichi's swordsmanship wasn't top-tier, even Artoria-san would need time to defeat him.
His swordsmanship had already reached a certain level of refinement.
Clack. Clack.
The two wooden swords clashed repeatedly in a fierce exchange.
Eichi's gaze grew more serious.
'His moves are a bit restrained, but every strike clearly targets vital points.'
As expected of a renowned warrior.
There were many things in Naraku's sword style that Eichi could learn from.
The match was becoming increasingly intense, until—
"Family Head."
Upon seeing the arrival, both men stopped and simultaneously sheathed their swords with tacit understanding.
"What is it?"
Although Naraku was clearly displeased at being interrupted, he didn't rebuke the servant.
He knew that unless something important had happened, no one would casually disturb the head of the family.
The servant bowed, presenting several reports with both hands.
Naraku glanced apologetically at Eichi.
Eichi smiled and nodded, then stepped aside to enjoy some tea with Artoria-san.
Naraku took the thick stack of documents. His expression darkened as he glanced at the contents.
The report included the results of the Assistant Supervisors' investigation into the beach battle, with on-site photos attached.
Several keywords stood out.
Flame Technique.
Grade 1 or higher, suspected Special Grade.
Northern Sendai.
The mention of a Flame Technique and suspected Special Grade reminded Naraku of the Curse User who had once bewitched Isayama Mei, something he had heard about recently from an old acquaintance.
The mention of Northern Sendai also made him uneasy.
Could that Curse User be planning to stir up trouble in Sendai?
It was important to note that Sendai, the most prosperous city in the Tohoku region, was home to many properties owned by Jujutsu Sorcerer families.
Moreover, this particular Curse User had a history of luring Cursed Spirits into populated cities.
If he weren't so elusive, he would have likely been eliminated by the organization long ago.
If he truly started acting recklessly...
A flash of killing intent passed through Naraku's eyes.
He turned to the next report.
It was a summary of missing persons and a speculative analysis involving Incarnations.
Lastly, there was an investigation report issued by the Hokkaido regional Jujutsu department about the Special Grade Cursed Spirit Ootengu moving south after its Seal was broken.
"Special Grade Cursed Spirit?"
Naraku was a bit surprised.
Could the Curse User be planning to use the Special Grade Cursed Spirit to seize the Sesshoseki this time?
"Special Grade Cursed Spirit?"
This time, it was Eichi who spoke.
"If it's a Special Grade Cursed Spirit, could you leave it to me? One of my classmates has Cursed Spirit Manipulation. He'd definitely be interested."
Eichi planned to verify the situation, and if necessary, call Suguru over.
"In that case, I thank you, young friend Eichi."
Naraku gave him a sincere smile.
"Young friend, you should take a look at this too."
He handed over the report in his hands.
Eichi accepted it and began reading.
"Special Grade Cursed Spirit, Ootengu..."
The report was followed by publicly available information from Hokkaido detailing past attempts to subdue Ootengu.
"This is a bit interesting. Seems like I'll have to call Suguru here."
Eichi flipped to the next report.
The moment he turned the page, something felt strangely familiar.
He spread out the reports and carefully compared the photographs included in several of them.
"What is it, young friend Eichi? Do you know this woman?"
Any additional information about the enemy would be extremely helpful to Naraku.
"...I do, actually."
Seeing the blurry photo showing an unclothed back, Eichi finally confirmed her identity.
Takako Uro. A powerful figure from a thousand years ago, whom Yuta had defeated 1-on-4 in Sendai.
There were many things about that battle in Sendai that left a strong impression on him.
For example, the Special Grade cockroach that Yuta passionately kissed to hide his use of Reverse Cursed Technique, only to fail at doing so.
Ryu Ishigori, who caught Yuta's attention and was then eaten up like a dessert.
And then there was Takako, who left the deepest impression.
This woman was even bolder than Yorozu. At least Yorozu wore clothes after her resurrection.
Takako, from beginning to end, never wore a single article of clothing.
(Except for promotional covers, where nudity wouldn't pass inspection.)
Moreover, she was also a master of elbow Techniques and eagerly invited Yuta to exchange elbow strikes.
Unfortunately, with his wife nearby, the pure-hearted Jujutsu Sorcerer Okkotsu Yuta chose to respond using his feet instead.
(To be continued.)