A cloaked man wondered into the wet farmlands farmlands of Kiyomizu village. This area, located on the foothills of Mt Ibuki, was extremely prone to long periods of rain. In fact, it had been raining for a long week. Only recently did it let up
The stranger wetted his fingers along the rice paddies, tasting its liquid on his lips. He hummed with disappointment. “A trace of ki, but no divinity.”
There was a look of unsureness on him as he circled the rice fields around the village. At first no one seemed to notice him as he investigated. No one could sense the small tremors of ki flowing back and forth.
Eventually, the stranger returned to the dirt trail leading up to Kiyomizu village’s main entrance. Turning his head, he observed a small shrine in the middle of the fields, looking like an overseer for the area. It depicted eight snakes bitting each other on the neck forming a circlet
He approached the village calling out, “Hoi, which one of you is the elder.”
For the common man who resided on the land, far away from the emperor and his beautiful capital, visitors from afar were neither rare nor common. Travellers would also carry weapons of various kinds to protect themselves from yokai who prowled the land. As such, they did not find the sight of the man strange.
The villagers shrugged, unsure how to respond. Their village chief had passed away not too long ago and things were a bit hectic as they were all leaderless.
The cloaked stranger murmured to himself once he entered the village. There he pulled up a tattered map.
“Hey you!” He called to a passing farmer wheeling his crops. “This is Kiyomizu village correct? The gateway to Mt Ibuki?”
“Hm? Yes,” the farmer said unsurely. He was concerned as to what this stranger may want. Mt Ibuki was far away from the imperial capital, and aside from its rainfall was unremarkable. So to see someone specifically seek this place out was strange.
“Then I am in the right place.”
The strange took the sword he’d been hoisting on his person, a straight double edged blade belonging to the Totsuka-no-tsurugi class of weaponry, then he stabbed it into the soil starling the villages around him. The sword in the ground began giving off brilliant light.
Not only his sudden aggressive actions, even the sky began rumbling with thunder. The stranger pulled his hood back, revealing a handsome scarred man obviously of noble upbringing. His hair was thick and long, reaching well into his back.
Overall, he cut an imposing warrior’s figure that farming villagers did not see often. What’s more, his obvious display of magic indicated a mastery over ki. This was not a simple warrior, but either an omnyoji or a yokai who had cultivated to a significant degree.
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legends had it that the emperor of the land employed many such individuals to control the yokai causing chaos. It was said that sufficiently powerful omnyodo practitioners could even transform into a Shinrei and become a Kami
“Listen up, I am Susanno-no-mikoto, a god of the Amatsukami.”
His voice rumbled throughout the village, giving these farmers a sense to kneel. Many did immediately do so unconsciously, unable to withstand his presence. Even if this was not a deliberate action on his part, it was still a natural consequence of the difference in their existence.
Even so, no one was sure if he were telling the truth or not. For all they knew, he could just be a very powerful omnyoji from the capital mimicking the presence of a Kami.
Susanoo gave off a smirk as he observed his crowd. “I was informed there was a legendary Oni king residing in this area. One that has not only taken root on Mt Ibuki, a powerful Oni who portrays himself as an object of worship.”
The villagers gulped hard. “Honoured Kami-sama. We…we…we simply pray for good harvest.”
Even if they were not sure as to the validity of his words, simple villagers knew better than to mess with a powerful individual. In their eyes, any sufficiently powerful yokai or omnyoji who practised magic were indistinguishable from a Kami. They did not know if they did anything wrong.
“Good, good,” Susanoo said. He thought back to what had led him here, the ferocious Tenma of Mt Oe Ibaraki had been a challenge. Ibaraki Doji of Mt Oe was not a simply Oni, he had cultivated to become a true Tenma.
In essence, that Oni was demonic god on par with members of the Shinrei or Majin of the Amatsukami and the Kunitsukami. Naturally, he was curious where such a creature learned his magic from.
“Lead me to this Oni king,” he declared. He had been itching for a fight ever since learning of this being’s existence.
The villagers nervously glanced at each other. Most were confused as to what this, ‘Oni king’ was. But some older members sighed. These old folks were the ones teaching the youths about snake worship and knew of what Susanoo was talking about.
“Honoured Kami-sama,” an elderly gentleman said. “That Oni doesn’t appear easily. Only occasionally when we make offerings of wine. Even then, he dislikes noisy crowds so only one of us ever go see him.”
The younger villagers murmured to this revelation, but Susanoo tapped his foot in impatience. “Call him over then.”
“We…we don’t have any good wine prepared. I’m afraid we can’t call him over.”
“Hmph.” Susanoo strolled pass the elderly man and starred right at Mt Ibuki. On the surface, it appeared entirely ordinary. Perhaps rich in ki, but nothing compared to the more enriched environments of Takamagahara.
When he scanned the mountain, he found nothing. This was to the extent where he doubted Ibaraki’s words of guide. But the map he had confirmed it, the villagers he asked confirmed it. Even the little divination he performed previously confirmed this was the Mt Ibuki Ibaraki spoke about.
“Good wine eh? I’ve got some on me now.” He took out a jug and tossed it at the elder. “Summon this Oni king now.”
“Honoured Kami-sama,” the elderly man said again. “Usually we go offer this at this cave up the mountain. Not here on the slopes.”
“Make sense, take me there now” Susanoo demanded. He picked up his sword, Amae-no-Habakiri and indulged himself on a little daydream of this upcoming battle.
…
A great distance away, high up in the fields of Takamagahara, a beautiful lady wearing a sun shaped head ornament stood by when a fox servant handed her a scroll.
“What is the meaning of this?” She spoke softly, only giving small hints to her frustration.
“Amaterasu-sama, Susanoo-sama has been confirmed to be sighed at…”
“I know what the scroll says. I’m wondering why he went there.” She turned to the fox wielding an glare that could cut flesh. “I blasted Mt Ibuki from the records specifically because he’s the type to go to that place. How did he even find out about it?”
She thought about, ‘that person,’ and internally shivered. “Notify Ryujin. I need to speak with him immediately.”
“At once Amaterasu-sama.”
The woman named Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun and head of the Amatsukami continued to stare into the horizon even when the fox servant left. This time, her gaze pierced the clouds, past the land and into the endless ocean surrounding it.
Things had finally calmed down since her father’s generation of Amatsukami. But it appears her generation will experience turbulence once again. The Kamis of the sea were a strange lot, always keeping to themselves.
But in the many generations since the universe’s creation, they’d always been powerful. Her parents found out the hard way, and it was only a timely intervention by Ame-no-minakanushi that prevented larger conflicts. The heavens and the earth, then the seas, two separate forces that should not interact.
“Mt Ibuki, that is the home of an Oni that learned from the Kamis of the seas. Susanoo went to deal with an Oni warlord earlier. What was his name again? Iba something? Could he also have been related to them?”