After walking through the forest, they arrived at a wharf with several boats docked on the edge of a river with a not-too-strong current. The shinto priest chief stopped reciting mantras and his steps, then looked back.

“Furthermore, the travel will be continued only by the victim and the shinto priests. The villagers can wait here until the shinto priests return.”

The villagers stood in their place while looking at each other with mixed expressions.

The shinto priests removed the cloth covering their faces and prepared to board the boats with boat engines, where each boat could accommodate up to four people. Suga boarded the boat with a shinto priest and shinto priest chief, as well as ten monk staffs tied with long red cloths connected to Suga’s wrists, all carried by a shinto priest who was on the same boat as Suga. Nellson watched them momentarily, then flew and landed on Suga’s boat, surprising several shinto priests. The eight remaining shinto priests were then divided into three other boats, one carrying bags containing food and drink for Suga. The shinto priest chief turned towards Suga and the other shinto priests.

“We will start following the river; all of you, please be careful.”

The other shinto priests nodded. The shinto priest chief sits in the back near the boat’s control stick and engine. The shinto priest chief started the boat’s engine and drove it to leave from the wharf, followed by two other boats.

Suga looked around him and was quite amazed to see the surrounding scenery, dense forest, and sometimes ravine walls that were not too high. Not long after, Suga appeared to remember something. Suga turned towards the shinto priest chief.

“Regarding the man who sacrificed himself ten years ago, was he a member of uncle’s family?”

The shinto priest chief was surprised.

“I am quite surprised by the results of your investigation. That’s right, he is my son.”

Suga’s expression turned curious.

“Isn’t it because he sacrificed himself that there were no missing person cases in Kagohara town for the next few years?”

The shinto priest chief looked sad but hid it with a smile.

“Right, somehow, he was able to calm Gasokami’s anger even for the next few years.”

Suga nodded as he thought.

“What happened at that time might be an important clue for me to stop Gasokami….”

Suga appeared lost in thought, making Nellson look at Suga in surprise.

The four boats they were on arrived at the wharf they were going to. They docked their boats at this wharf, and alighting from the boat, Nellson flew after them. The ten Shinto priests held back the ten monk staffs. They all walked closer to the center of this village's remaining area, a concrete field overgrown with vines. The abandoned building of the wharf guard post was visible, as were the trees from the forest before them. They all then stopped their steps, Nellson then landed near Suga.

The time is 12:15 pm. The shinto priests were still reciting mantras while occasionally stomping their monk’s staffs on the ground until finally they stopped doing it and fell silent together, looking at the scenery of dense forest trees before them. The shinto priest chief closed his eyes briefly while taking a deep breath, then turned to face Suga, making him slightly surprised.

“With this, the Gasokami Sacrifice Ritual has been completed.”

Suga was surprised. The ten shinto priests then took turns untying the red cloth on their monk staffs and Suga’s wrists, making Suga look slightly awkward. After finishing, Suga’s expression changed to surprise.

“It’s hard to believe there used to be a village around here.”

The shinto priest chief nodded.

“That’s right; I almost didn’t believe it either; I don’t know what happened. Many previous residents of Kagohara village believe this may all have something to do with Gasokami.”

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Suga’s expression turned serious.

“Okay, what should I do now?”

The shinto priest chief turned to Suga.

“You have to wait here until tomorrow; we will leave the food supply for you.”

One of the shinto priests gave Suga a backpack containing food; Suga then accepted it with an astonished expression. The shinto priest chief continued speaking.

“We will also leave one boat here; if you want to come back for some reason, we won’t blame you.”

Suga nodded. The shinto priest chief continued speaking.

“We will leave you here and check here again tomorrow to confirm whether the ritual was successful or not.”

The shinto priest chief was silent with a gloomy and doubtful expression.

“Are you sure you want to continue Hisoka san?”

Suga smiled and nodded.

“Of course, I will stop Gasokami.”

The shinto priest chief smiled, then bowed politely toward Suga, followed by the other shinto priests, making Suga awkward and doing the same. The shinto priest chief smiled gently.

“Then we’ll excuse ourselves. Good luck Hisoka san."

The shinto priests walked away from here, got back into their boats, and drove away. Suga stood silent in his place with a deadpan expression as he watched the shinto priests depart with their boats until they were no longer visible. Suga stood alone in the concrete field near the wharf, looking around him curiously. Nellson watched their surroundings warily.

“What should we do now, Suga?”

Suga turned to Nellson.

“We can only wait to confirm whether this ritual was successful.”

Nellson nodded and looked at Suga curiously.

The time is 1:30 pm. Suga sat and leaned under a nearby tree to shade while calmly eating his bento lunch without looking distracted. Nellson watched the surroundings vigilantly while watching Suga in surprise.

“Why are you sitting under a tree near the forest like that, Suga? Isn’t that dangerous?”

Suga stopped eating and looked at Nellson with a surprised expression.

“We’re basically in the middle of the forest now, so it’s the same.”

Nellson looked around him and also realized that.

“You’re right... do you think Gasokami will come?”

Suga shook his head slowly.

“I don’t know either, but looking at the records of the person who sacrificed himself ten years ago, it seems this ritual was successful.”

Nellson nodded.

“If Gasokami does come, how will we defeat him?”

Suga looked a little doubtful.

“There is no guarantee that we can defeat Gasokami. But we have no other choice but to try it. According to the information I received, the association is also in a critical situation right now, so help will come only when absolutely necessary when we are unable to handle this Yokai.”

Nellson nodded. Suga appeared to remember something.

“We can devise a strategy to defeat him.”

Nellson appeared to realize something.

“Our alternating attack formation to minimize attack gaps is quite good.”

Suga nodded; he then appeared to remember something.

“Right; what still bothers me is that if Gasokami is a gods-type Yokai, it will be difficult for us to defeat him. So, the strategy I came up with was to ensure that if Gasokami was a gods type, we would avoid fighting him and only focus on saving Ishikari.”

Nellson nodded.

“Good idea, Suga.”

Suga appeared to realize something.

“This will probably be a tiring battle. Do you want to rest first while there is still time?”

Nellson looked doubtful.

“I’ve trained quite well in managing my stamina usement, but it seems like I have to be even more careful this time. Also, what if one of the missing victims attacks you while you’re blind?”

Suga immediately realized that possibility.

“You’re right... then hang on, Nellson.”

Nellson nodded.

“Leave it to me. This is nothing.”

Suga nodded, then resumed his lunch activities.

The time is 4:30 pm. Suga walked around the wharf, looking at the surroundings in astonishment, Nellson standing nearby while watching the surroundings. Before long, something unusual happened. The thick grayish-black smoke began to billow very high in the middle of the forest, forming like a gigantic smoke pillar, surprising Suga and Nellson, who then entered into a stance ready to attack. Suga’s expression turned serious.

“Something strange going on; get ready, Nellson.”

Nellson nodded. The thick grayish-black smoke pillar then expanded very quickly in the sky and moved quickly towards Suga and Nellson until finally passing them both, followed by strong winds hitting them and causing them to sway slightly. The bright sunlight this afternoon suddenly dimmed and was almost dark if it weren’t for the white light shaped like cracks in the sky, which made the surrounding atmosphere dim and not dark. Suga protected his face with both hands, which he crossed in front of his face, but Suga still tried to be able to see what was happening:

The previously dense forest trees began to shatter into something like shredded paper that began to disintegrate gradually. From the middle of the forest in front of him, Suga could see something strange; there were buildings’ groups of village area moving by sliding closer toward the wharf, getting closer and closer. Until finally, Suga realized that these groups of buildings were village buildings with the shady trees in the middle of the village were moving quickly toward him; the forest trees that this village area hit shattered into pieces like shredded paper.

As the village got closer to Suga, its movement slowed until finally, the village area rejoined the wharf where Suga and Nellson were; there was even a building that moved to Suga’s left. The village area moving towards Suga finally stopped and caused a momentary earthquake. Suga was shocked when he saw this unusual event.