While Uehara had already lost his sage transformation due to Shikibu’s sudden actions, back in Heiankyo, Chizuki was cleaning up along with Sakura.

Sakura had just finished her training and was planning on visiting Uehara when she saw how the entire palace district was destroyed entirely.

Right now, she and Chizuki were walking through the secret tunnel towards the bunker where the royal family currently was.

Turning around and walking backwards, Sakura looked at Chizuki with starry eyes.

“Nee-san. How did Aoki-sama look? You said you were gonna tell me!”

Chizuki’s brows twitched. Ever since she told him that Uehara was fighting Shikibu in his flame sage-transformation, Sakura never stopped hounding for details on how he looked.

Forcing a gentle smile, she replied.

“I told you before Sakura. You’ll see it for yourself soon.”

Turning around, Sakura crossed her arms as she pouted.

“Hmph! Once Aoki-sama teaches me how to enter sage mode and then unlock my own sage-transformation, I’ll definitely remember this day.”

Chizuki didn’t bother with her tantrums.

“As long as you sleep at night.”

Seeing that Chizuki was not going to pursue the matter, Sakura rushed forward and stood in front of her.

Holding her palms together, she lowered her head.

“Please, nee-san! Just give me a few teency weency details!”

Chizuki closed her eyes in an attempt to calm herself down but a singular vein could be clearly seen bulging on her forehead.

Seeing that Sakura wouldn’t drop this matter, she sighed.

“Fine. I’ll tell you.”

“Thank you nee-san!”

Sakura immediately sat down in the lotus position like a student waiting to be educated. Although the tunnel was dark, it didn’t hide the spark in her eyes. Even her pink martial robes seemed to be illuminated by an aura of excitement.

Looking at how Sakura gave off more enthusiasm than a child waiting for the going-home-bell to ring, she knew she couldn’t swindle her way out of this one.

“Well, master was…”

An image of a tall figure with long golden hair that reached his back while two bangs framed his face appeared. In front of him was a four-tailed fox but the man only had a stern face that exuded unyielding confidence.

Her cheeks instantly became more red than a ripe apple’s.

“Master was…”

His black cloak as well as his entire body were golden in colour due to how dense his aura was. Wisps of flames that danced on his skin and flashes of golden lightning that appeared around him gave off a domineering appearance, like an insurmountable mountain.

Chizuki felt herself become hot, severely contrasting the coldness of the tunnel.

“Master was very…handsome.”

Sakura instantly cried out.

Stolen story; please report.

“Nee-san! Tell me more! More more more!”

She wasn’t oblivious to Chizuki’s current state. In fact, just seeing her cheeks turn red enhanced her curiosity even further. Sakura knew Chizuki was a very composed person by nature. But for her to suddenly lose it after just recalling the appearance of Uehara, she definitely had to know how his sage-transformation looked like.

Unfortunately, all she got was a giggle from Chizuki who was definitely lost in her own world. She’d seen her in that state multiple times whenever Uehara took a nap on her lap. So she knew she wouldn’t get anything from her for quite a while.

“Hmph!”

Standing up, she walked away while stomping her feet.

“I’ll definitely remember this nee-san!!”

…

“Akiko-nee-chan!”

Emperor Go-Ichijo barreled right into the embrace of his wife, Empress Dowager Akiko. She was a beautiful twenty-three year old woman who had a calm temperament and gave off the reliability of an older sister.

Gently brushing his head, she gave off a gentle smile.

“It’s okay little Atsu. No one can reach us here.”

Emperor Go-Ichijo’s name before he ascended the throne was Fujiwara no Atsuhira. Empress Dowager Akiko’s name was also Fujiwara no Akiko. Although they came from different branches of the Fujiwara clan, they shared a very close relationship ever since Atsuhira was born. It was how the elders decided for Akiko to marry him when his father, Emperor Sanjo died.

Holding her little husband close, she didn’t care for how the guards, the servants and other members of the imperial family viewed them. All that mattered was that her little Atsu was safe.

As the servants were hastily loading all the valuable possessions on the carriages, everything came to a screeching halt when they heard a girl’s shout.

“I’ll definitely remember this nee-san!!”

Everyone became quiet as the guards pulled out their swords. They stared at the only tunnel exit that led to the outside clearing in the forest.

Another, much calmer voice was heard.

“Stop, Sakura! They’ll hear us- nevermind.”

“What?”

An audible sigh was then heard.

“They’re already aware we’re here.”

As the two voices drew closer, the guards could now hear the sound of their footsteps echoing in the tunnel. Soon, two women emerged from the tunnel exit. The guards immediately aimed their bows and spears.

One of them shouted.

“Who are you?! State your names and purpos-”

He couldn’t finish his sentence before an ice-needle pierced his throat.

“Is everyone in the capital as loud as you, Sakura?”

The red-haired girl immediately glared at the blue-eyed beauty.

“No way! Don’t compare me to those pigs!”

The both of them completely ignored the existence of the entire imperial family and its guards. As for the guard that died, no one had the guts to retrieve his corpse. Although the soldiers still aimed their spears, their hands were clearly trembling.

As for the little emperor, he was holding onto the dress of Akiko for dear life. Different from his usual boisterous voice, he mustered up enough guts to ask in a respectful tone.

“W-who are you people?”

Chizuki and Sakura stopped quarreling and looked at the little emperor. Before Chizuki could act, a flame bullet went right through the forehead of the little emperor and going through the guts of Akiko, emerging through the back and went through several servants before it landed on the carriage and resulted in a large flame burning the goods.

Sakura then turned her head back towards Chizuki.

“As I was saying, I’m not loud so don’t compare me to these pigs!”

Chizuki sighed, completely ignoring the multiple corpses that fell over.

“You’re right. You’re much worse than them.”

From start to finish, barely ten seconds had passed and there was already more than a dozen corpses. Worst of all, the Emperor and Empress Dowager died like flies. The enemy didn’t even pay proper attention to them.

All the guards immediately dropped their spears in complete trepidation. They could not offend these mysterious people. Even the emperor and his wife weren’t worth squat in their eyes.

Before they could even gather enough courage to ask for leniency on their lives, the words of the blue-eyed beauty caused their southern area to shrivel up.

“Enough Sakura. As much as I dislike doing it, we still have to erase all witnesses of master’s greatness.”

Sakura turned towards the now panic stricken group.

“You mean them? Did they do something to Aoki-sama?”

Chizuki extended her hand forward.

“Not now but they may do so in the future. Master has said to me that until he reaches adulthood, he doesn’t want the attention of the world on him.”

A gigantic ice wall formed behind the group of imperials, causing them to instantly wallow in despair.

“So I will get rid of them before they can spread what they saw.”

Sakura looked at the imperial family in front of her. From the children to the grownups, none of them even had it in them to scream. Their entire bodies had frozen up as they stared wide-eyed at the two of them. If not for their trembling, they may actually have been confused as statues.

Sakura smiled as she turned to Chizuki.

“I take first dibs on the throne.”

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