**"'Kidōin'? I've never even heard of that faction. I've met that old tanuki from Shikoku before—the one they call the Lord of the Eighty-Eight Demons of the Night Parade. In the end, he's just a turtle hiding in Shikoku, too scared to step out.
If he came to Kyoto, what would a small fry like him even amount to?
This so-called 'Kidōin' is no different. A bunch of small fry yokai huddled together—what's there to be afraid of? I, Arakuro, could wipe them all out by myself."**
At Ōjizō's warning to Hagoromo Gitsune to be wary of Kidōin, the towering skeleton several meters tall at her side snorted in open disdain.
To Arakuro, the yokai called Ōjizō was making a mountain out of a molehill. Four hundred years ago, they had ruled all of Kyoto under Hagoromo Gitsune's banner. And now he was supposed to care about some newly risen, unheard-of yokai faction?
As one of Hagoromo Gitsune's veteran retainers—like Kyōkotsu—Arakuro was absolutely loyal to her. If anything, he suspected that this latecomer Ōjizō had ulterior motives for hyping up Kidōin.
"Arakuro," Hagoromo Gitsune said calmly, "could I trouble you to go and see what this 'Kidōin' is up to, suddenly arriving in Kyoto at a time like this?
I'm about to give birth and have no spare energy to waste on such minor players. I'll leave this matter to you."
Arakuro's eagerness didn't strike her as inappropriate. Deep down, she felt the same way—this so-called Kidōin was probably nothing special.
It was true that when Ren Kuroda and his forces first entered Kyoto, the yokai aura produced by their marching hundred demons had been impressive. But as a senior officer of Hagoromo Gitsune's faction, Arakuro's strength was something she trusted completely.
To be safe, she even dispatched another capable retainer, Kidōmaru, to accompany him.
No matter what kind of faction Kidōin really was—whether they truly could contend with Inugami Gyōbu-danuki of Shikoku, or even if that old tanuki had personally come—this was Kyoto. For four hundred years, it had been Hagoromo Gitsune's domain.
"Hagoromo Gitsune-sama, dealing with a nameless little faction like this doesn't require Kidōmaru's help," Arakuro said, clearly unconvinced."The Hōzen'in clan must be concentrating all their remaining strength on the final three seals right now. Rather than wasting combat power on small fry, Kidōmaru should stay by your side."
In Arakuro's eyes, if Tsuchigumo could single-handedly wipe out the Nura Clan, then he could do the same.
True, he wasn't quite as strong as Tsuchigumo—but Kidōin wasn't the Nura Clan either.
Arakuro himself had been sealed for a full four hundred years in the fourth seal alongside Hagoromo Gitsune. Now, this so-called Kidōin was the perfect chance to stretch his bones—and vent the resentment he'd bottled up over centuries of imprisonment.
"Arakuro, it's not that I doubt your strength," Hagoromo Gitsune replied coolly."But if Ōjizō places this much importance on Kidōin, then they must have something noteworthy about them.
Don't forget—four hundred years ago, the Nura Clan was also nothing more than a gathering of minor yokai."
"As for the remaining three seals… even if the Hōzen'in clan has concentrated their forces there, it's still nothing special. Honestly, since Hōzen'in Hidemoto died, that family has declined so badly—there isn't a single warrior worth mentioning among them."
Because of Hagoromo Gitsune's insistence, Arakuro reluctantly agreed to let Kidōmaru accompany him, along with several other Kyoto yokai for appearances' sake.
On the way to intercept Kidōin, Arakuro repeatedly insisted that Kidōmaru could just watch from the sidelines—that he alone would be more than enough.
Kidōmaru was a middle-aged man in a black kimono, indistinguishable from an ordinary human at first glance. In truth, he was a yokai—and not just any yokai.
Over a thousand years ago, he had followed Abe no Seimei himself, a leader among oni. His loyalty had always been to Seimei—not to Hagoromo Gitsune.
Meanwhile, when Ren Kuroda led the vast procession of Kidōin's hundred demons into Kyoto, the city was already in chaos thanks to Hagoromo Gitsune.
Nura Rikuo had arrived before them, only to be completely annihilated by Tsuchigumo almost immediately. Though the Hōzen'in clan had once guarded all eight seals, in just thirteen short days Hagoromo Gitsune had broken through five of them.
The final three seals were indeed the most heavily defended—but with each seal broken, Hagoromo Gitsune's power continued to grow, as did the number of yokai at her side.
"So this is Kyoto—the so-called Thousand-Year Demon Capital," Ren Kuroda said, surveying the city."The density of yokai aura here isn't even comparable to the Kantō region. The yokai here are far more unrestrained, too. It's broad daylight, and yet the miasma is thick enough to blot out the sun."
Unlike the Nura Clan, which strictly restrained its subordinates, Hagoromo Gitsune was focused solely on giving birth and left her hundred demons completely unchecked.
Moreover, to successfully give birth to "Nue," she needed to gather enough living livers—so the chaos consuming Kyoto was no accident.
For ordinary humans living there, the sudden appearance of incomprehensible creatures demanding their organs naturally plunged the city into terror.
"Ren Kuroda-sama," Samurai Spirit asked, "now that we're in Kyoto, how do we find Hagoromo Gitsune? And how do we join her side?"
He couldn't quite understand why Ren chose to support Hagoromo Gitsune instead of the Nura Clan, whom they'd always been on good terms with.
Yet his faith in Ren never wavered. Ren never acted without reason—there had to be a deeper consideration he simply hadn't grasped yet.
"Kyoto is in total chaos right now," Ren said calmly."Both the Hōzen'in clan and Hagoromo Gitsune are extremely sensitive. At a time like this, if a new force capable of tipping the balance suddenly appears, do you think they'll just ignore it?
We don't need to look for Hagoromo Gitsune. She'll come to us soon enough. See? Didn't I say so?
Though… judging by that aura, it doesn't look like Hagoromo Gitsune herself. Just two barely passable lackeys."
Arakuro and Kidōmaru had made no attempt to conceal their power—in fact, they deliberately let it erupt as a show of force. Even before seeing them, Ren could already sense the overwhelming yokai aura rolling toward them.
Moments later, a gigantic red-eyed skeleton and a middle-aged man with a long blade at his waist slowly appeared before Kidōin.
Arakuro's massive crimson eye swept over the gathered yokai, lingering briefly on Ren, the Nekomata, and a few others. Then his fleshless face twisted into open mockery.
"That yokai called Ōjizō really did make a fuss over nothing. As expected, this so-called 'Kidōin' is nothing but a rabble—completely incapable of interfering with Hagoromo Gitsune-sama's plans.
That supposed leader who could fight Inugami Gyōbu-danuki? Just an A-rank aura, that's all.
And his subordinates? A-minus at best."
After a brief assessment, Arakuro's disdain was unmistakable.
By modern standards, Kidōin was indeed a rare and respectable yokai faction. But compared to the Hagoromo Gitsune forces that had ravaged Kyoto for centuries, they were nothing.
Seeing Arakuro's sneering expression, Samurai Spirit and the others were livid—if not for Ren's lack of orders, blades would already have been drawn.
"We came to Kyoto with no intention of opposing Hagoromo Gitsune," Ren said evenly."On the contrary, we came to offer our support and seek cooperation.
But your words just now insulted my family. I've changed my mind.
Now I intend to cripple you—and then have Hagoromo Gitsune herself come and apologize."
Arakuro's contempt was hardly surprising. Compared to Hagoromo Gitsune's ancient faction, Kidōin—barely a year old—wasn't even considered a rookie.
And Arakuro had the right to be arrogant. As one of Hagoromo Gitsune's officers, his yokai power far surpassed anyone present.
Because of his injuries and his lack of full demonization, Ren Kuroda—still the strongest in Kidōin—only possessed A-rank aura in his normal state.
Arakuro, however, radiated A-plus power—bordering on S-minus.
This was the difference in foundation.
Though Hagoromo Gitsune's faction had lain dormant for centuries, its former dominance at the pinnacle of the yokai world meant its hundred demons were anything but ordinary.
Kidōin's current officers—Nekomata, Samurai Spirit, and the others—had grown at astonishing speed, but they were still only on par with Kurotabō or Kubinashi from Nura Rikuo's side.
To match the veteran officers of Hagoromo Gitsune's faction, one would need monsters like Gyūki, Hitotsume, or the Snow Woman Yukihime—the warriors who once followed Nura Nurarihyon in his Kyoto campaigns.
As for Aotabō and Tsurara at Rikuo's side, or Nekomata and Hand-Wash Oni beside Ren now—they were still far too green when measured against these ancient retainers.