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Published In:
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| Publication Date: December 25, 2019 | |
| Pages: 18 (black and white) | |
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Manga Summaries
Volume 4
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| Chapters Originally Published in: | |
| Shonen Sunday 2020 Vol. 4-5 - 9 & 11 - 15 |
Chapter
29: 男の名は
Otoko no na wa
(The Name of the Man)
While it seems that Kuchinawa will protect his master he suddenly decides that he has had enough of cleaning up Tanehiko's messes after he indiscriminately murders. Puzzled by this sudden turn, Tanehiko cannot do anything before a vine from the garden slips into him and rips his still-beating heart out of him and pulls it through his mouth. With that done and much to everyone's shock Kuchinawa tells everyone they are free to go. Mao suddenly calls him by a different name- "Kamon". It is only when he sees Mao's katana that Kamon realizes who he is speaking with. Kamon comments that the Mao he remembered had puppy-dog eyes, but the Mao he sees before him is more cat-like. Suddenly it is as if a light has turned on in Kamon's memory, a life he lived long ago returns to his thoughts and he comments on being a part of the same set of students who were tasked with killing Mao so many centuries ago. Surprisingly he asks if Mao has come to kill him, something Hyakka also wondered about. Mao claims he knows nothing about why everyone assumes he would harm them and asks what happened the day everything was destroyed in the fire. Kamon confesses he was not at the temple complex that day, instead he was off site paying a visit to a lover. When Mao asks what happened to Sana Kamon confesses that the others told him that Mao murdered her and so he assumed that was the case. Mao again admits he has no memory of such a thing. Before leaving Kamon tosses Mao a bamboo vessel containing medicine for Tenko. As he turns to walk away Mao shouts to him asking how it is that Kamon is still alive. Elsewhere Hyakka is traveling along a rural road when he sees a frog and turtle ayakashi disguised as a human and breaks away from his traveling troupe to head back from wence they came much to everyone's shock and confusion.
Chapter
30: 西から来た式神
Nishi kara kita shikigami
(The Shikigami from the West)
Back in the present again Nanoka ponders the return of Mao's former allies from the past and wonders if it has anything to do with Byoki's reappearance. Downstairs she joins her grandfather and Uozumi for breakfast where her maid insists she return to drinking the smoothies that sap her powers as a precautious against Byoki detecting her. Returning to the past to check on Tenko's progress after their confrontation with Tanehiko, Nanoka is shocked to see the town swarming with dragonflies. Many of the citizens of worry that the bugs are an indication of another earthquake on the horizon. In Mao's office Nanoka is shocked to see him remove Tenko's bandages to reveal that she is fully healed. Tenko explains that she heals quickly due to her ayakashi nature. Suddenly Hyakka boisterously bursts into Mao's office telling him about the turtle and frog shikigami he saw coming from the west. He tells Mao that they must be looking for them and demanding to know what should be done about it and suggesting it could be another one of their "siblings" from the past who is coming to kill Mao. Everyone wanders into the ruins of Tokyo and come to a collapsed bridge crossing a river in the city. Butterflies flutter around when suddenly the tongue of a frog darts out and snatches one. From the water frog and turtle shikigami suddenly appear and Mao seems to realize who might be behind the attack. He immediately orders everyone to flee and tells Nanoka he cannot attack these shikigami because they are in fact humans.
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| Publication Date: January 8, 2020 | |
| Pages: 18 (black and white) | |
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Chapter
31: 土と形代
Tsuchi to katashiro
(Dirt and the Katashiro)
Everyone hides among the ruins of homes as the frog shikigami search for them. Thanks to Mao's paper sutra he has made a barrier to help aid in their hiding. Hyakka insists they should stop hiding and go out and simply kill the frogs and turtles, but Mao again explains that they are not what they seem- these are humans who have been cursed. Further, he clarifies that frogs and turtles are water-based entities and so Hyakka's fire will be useless against them. Instead according to his studies, earth is the element to counter water, for earth dams rivers and blocks its flow. He tells Nanoka that he believes she has an earth element. Using a stalk of bamboo as a weapon, Mao tells Nanoka that her earthen-nature will pass through the bamboo and defeat the frogs and turtles that await them. Nanoka hardly reacts well and tries to refuse to take part, but Mao tells her he will guide her. With a few of her hairs jammed into the end of the bamboo the makeshift weapon is ready. Stepping out beyond the barrier the frogs and turtles immediately attack. With Mao's help Nanoka rams the bamboo stick into their bellies, causing them to vomit up water which breaks their curse, changing one after another back into humans. Mao watches where the water flows back to and realizes who the true shikigami are among the disguised humans. Nanoka easily knocks them out with blows to their stomachs and Mao pulls open the frog's mouth to find a piece of paper hidden inside. Inside is a spell that commanded the shikigami to pursue Mao. Puzzled by who might have sent the creatures after him Mao writes his own spell and drops it in the mouth of the frog, sending them back to their master. As they watch the citizens waking from their curse Mao tells the others he has laid a trap of his own.
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| Publication Date: January 15, 2020 | |
| Pages: 18 (black and white) | |
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Chapter
32: 式神の主
Shikigami no aruji
(The Shikigami's Master)
Mao, Otoya, Nanoka and Hyakka go to visit the former location of the guardian stone that Byoki was hidden beneath for so many centuries. Now all that stands is a dark, empty pit where the stone once existed. Mao wonders why the frog and turtle shikigami were instructed to capture him alive and ponders who might have sent them. Mao explains how Byoki injested the secret sutras that belong to his and Hyakka's order and Hyakka suggests that he may have been looking for Taizanfukun's secret to immortality. Mao comments that so many people assumed he was working with Byoki that whomever sent the shinigami after him likely also believes the same thing. Because of this Mao has come to where Byoki once hid thinking that whomever sent the shinigami after him will likely appear there presuming he has some connection with Byoki, that way Mao can lay a trap. Elsewhere the turtle and frog shikigami report to their lord who takes the bait, departing to find Mao at the site of Byoki's imprisonment. From deep within the ocean a large creature breaks through the surface of the waves, wrecking fishing boats as they watch what they mistakenly believe to be a whale crash back into the sea. Back in the present day Nanoka returns to school after Mao told her his trap will take some time to lure the Lord of the Shikigami out to confront him. He tells Nanoka she should go back home in the meantime and then return soon. While home, Nanoka does her best to catch up on her missed exams thanks to her friends loaning her their notes. Nanoka ponders why Mao wanted her to return, recalling him telling her that she must get some practice in so she can learn. Back in the past Hyakka asks why they need to include Nanoka in their plans and Mao explains that she is cursed, just like he himself is. With Byoki now seeking to possess her in her own time Mao explains that Nanoka will have to be able to protect herself from him. Mao then continues to build his trap, making a bamboo grid inside the pit and tossing a dummy that looks like him in as bait. He explains that Byoki's aura still permeates the site and will draw others searching for it. Should the Lord of the Shikigami prove to be dangerous they will toss dynamite onto the bamboo, causing it to collapse and trapping whomever comes deep within the hole. Suddenly dragonflies appear and warn Hyakka that something is fast approaching. Suddenly a massive creature takes form from seaweed and towers over the hole calling out to Mao.
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Published In:
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| Publication Date: January 22, 2020 | |
| Pages: 1 (full color) 18 (black and white) | |
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Chapter
33: 藻久不
Mokuzu
(Mokuzu)
The giant creature in priestly garb looms over Mao and Hyakka while they hide behind a rock. Mao realizes that the creature's body is made up of all sorts of sealife- fish swimming in his face, bits of algae and coral within its maw. They watch as the creature approaches the trap and stares at the dummy of Mao laying across the cross bars over the hole that once contained Byoki. Hyakka comments that this creture seems familiar and Mao thinks back to their past, recalling a man named Mokuzu who looked similar to the creature that is hounding them now. In the past Mokuzu worked at the manor where Mao and Hyakka's trained. Mao thinks back to days long ago when Mokuzu would ask him to teach him techniques and Mao refusing, telling him that only their master was allowed to instruct others implying that Mokuzu is merely an employee there rather than a student. Hyakka recalls that Mokuzu was untalented and is surprised that this monster could be connected to someone so incompetant. Leaping out he decides to attack the huge monster, tossing his magical fire to detonate the dynamite trap they laid. Ripping a hole in the monster's robes, ocean water and fish pour out until he tightly wrings his body like a towel, stopping the leaking of his liquid content. In a booming voice Mokuzu calls out to Mao to teach him the Taizanfukun technique, explaining that Taizanfukun's legitimate successor should have knowledge of the technique he seeks. He goes on to reveal that he knows who made Sana's cat Haimaru into Byoki, a fact that shocks Mao. Mokuzu suddenly uses tentacles from within his body to pull Mao and Hyakka into his mouth, forcing them into his watery body before slithering away, saying he will take them to the capital city as they struggle to breathe.
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| Publication Date: January 29, 2020 | |
| Pages: 18 (black and white) | |
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Chapter
34: 蟲毒の穴
Kodoku no ana
(The Kodoku Pit)
Mao thinks back to the distant past when he was still in training. He recalls a conversation he had with Sana about Mokuzu. She stated that Mao should stop interacting with him, that he has continued to bother other trainees and ask them to teach him secrets and ever since Mao was named as the disciple who will inherit their master's secret teachings Mokuzu has been staring at her ominously. Mao snaps out of his memories to the present where he is entangled by a huge octopus inside Mokuzu's massive ocean-like body. He watches as a shark approaches followed by the real Mokuzu who floats submerged in a bubble. The shark devours Mao and the octopus only for Mao to slice it apart and cut his way free as Mokuzu watches. Speaking to himself Mokuzu says that Mao will sleep peacefully on their way to the capital inside of the shark, but is shocked when Mao easily escapes. Soon his massive body is sliced apart and Otoya rushes over to watch as Mao frees he and Hyakka. Otoya tells Mao that Hyakka has died, drowned after staying in the watery body of Mokuzu for too long. Mao demands to know why Hyakka, an innocent bystander, would be killed while trying to take him, but Mokuzu tells him that he was told to murder anyone that came between he and Mao. Mao immediately wonders if Mokuzu could be working for one of his "brothers" who were assigned to kill him in the five-sided temple. Suddenly Hyakka sits up and Mao comments on him returning to life. Hyakka exclaims that he thought he had died, and Otoya tells him he was quite dead. Mao demands that Mokuzu tell them about the connection between Byoki and Haimaru, Sana's pet cat. Mokuzu explains that everyone at the temple refused to train him except for one pupil who he refuses to name. His mystery benefactor promised to teach him if he would do do as he commanded and take Haimaru and throw him into a poison hole- a hole filled will poisonous insects, wild dogs, boars and other viscious creatures. This is much like the poison jar Mao uses to make anti-venom and medicines. Haimaru devoured and destroyed everything, the poisons eventually turning it into Byoki. Mokuzu explains that after that is when Byoki devoured the secret book of Taizanfukun, gaining further power and becoming one with Mao. Mokuzu begins to brag about having learned these skills but Mao watches, noticing that Mokuzu is already beginning to disintergrate. Suddenly his flesh rots away and he falls dead and Mao explains that he had been dead all along.
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| Publication Date: February 12, 2020 | |
| Pages: 18 (black and white) | |
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Chapter
35: 泰山府君
Taizanfukun
(Taizanfukun)
Mao thinks back to how Mokuzu only desired to learn the various jutsu the other students were adept in as he ponders the pile of bones he has been reduced to. Whomever manipulated Mokuzu convinced him to take Haimaru and toss him into the poison hole that turned him into Byoki. One thing that bothers Mao however is that Sana told him that Haimaru would not let anyone pet him other than she and Mao. How was Mokuzu able to get the cat to toss it into the poisonous pit? Back in the present Nanoka and Shiraha researching "Taizanfukun". Shiraha explains that he was able to research it a little during class that morning and has tossed together a short report for Nanoka. He explains that Taizanfukun is a powerful technique said to grant immortality, further explaining its connection to the Taizan mountains in China where the technique was originally developed. He goes on to explain it was purportedly only used once and also connects it with the Heian era practitioner Abe no Seimei who Nanoka thought was only a character in a video game rather than an actual historical individual. Shiraha explains that a master asked his pupils to if any of them would sacrifice their lives to heal him and one novice who was considered of mediocre skill volunteered. He explains that the legends say both the master and the pupil lived long lives, likely because of the Taizanfukun technique, a story that sounds at least somewhat similar to Mao's situation. Nanoka quietly thinks about the implications of this- that Byoki used this technique to bind lives to his own for extended life. Back in the past Kuchinawa is traveling with a young woman named Beniko through the capital, a city he says he has not visited in a very long time. Kuchinawa is investigating a recent healing he has heard about and uses magical flowers to coax the family into letting him in to examine the young woman who was recently ill. Miyako, the sick girl comes down to meet Kuchinawa and he notices water trailing from her garments as she comes into the house. Staring at her he can see that her face is already corpse-like, something the rest of her family cannot detect. Someone attempted an imperfect Taizanfukun life-extending technique upon her. With this information Kuchinawa and Beniko depart as a young masked man watches them silently.
Chapter
36: 雨の訪問者
Ame no houmonsha
(Visitor in the Rain)
In a shanty during a storm two voices speak of a dying child who lays inside. One asks the other if they can truly save their child, the other answers in the affirmative. As someone exits in the distance the young masked boy watches quietly as the rain falls upon him. In Tokyo, Nanoka arrives in the past toting goggles, a snorkel and other water gear which draws curious looks from Mao and Otoya. It seems Nanoka thought the items would be useful in dealing with Mokuzu, but she did not realize she was gone too long and that Mao and Hyakka defeated him already. Suddenly the door opens an an impoverished woman and her daughter ak if this is the doctor's home and if he can help her son. As soon as she asks she faints in the doorway while the little girl offers to take Mao to see her brother and Otoya and Nanoka watch over the exhausted mother. Nanoka asks Otoya if they often see human patients and he says only sometimes, typically people that do not have much money. Suddenly the room fills with water and Otoya freezes as the woman sits up. She apologizes, having opened a shell in her hands that cast a spell to pause everything in the room. She hurries over and grabs Mao's wrapped box that contains the poisons he uses to make his medicines as Nanoka watches helplessly knowing that the poison pot is Mao's lifeline when he is injured. Meanwhile the little girl leads Mao to her shack and he finds her brother who is already deceased. Mao stares in puzzlment, knowing by the state of the boy's body that he had been dead for a time before the mother and sister came to fetch him. Suddenly a huge spear pierces the ceiling of their shack as Mao leaps back with the girl in tow. The masked boy stands outside as the little shed collapses and Mao can tell from the boy's eyes that he is a shikigami. Nanoka and Otoya finally are able to stir race to help Mao who is unarmed. When the boy attacks him he grabs the spear in his hand and receives a jolt. It is then that he realizes it is one of the spears that impaled Byoki on the day they were merged centuries ago.
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Published In:
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| Publication Date: February 26, 2020 | |
| Pages: 18 (black and white) | |
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Chapter
37: 蠱毒の壺
Kodoku no tsubo
(Pot of Kodoku)
The masked boy tells Mao that the spear that pierced Byoki is the perfect tool for catching him as well. Mao turns to hear the mother calling to Shigeru, her deceased child as she carries his stolen poison jar. She pleads for the masked boy to save her already dead son but instead he removes his mask and an eel flies out of his mouth, rushing to kill the mother and her daughter. Mao jumps in the way, slashing the eel apart to save them, but this allows the boy to ram the spear through Mao's chest. The boy tells Mao he will be taking him to the capital now, but then Nanoka leaps in, grabbing his spear as it shocks her due to her connection with Byoki and she kicks the boy away, however his arm becomes disconnected and remains clinging to his spear. While Nanoka pulls the spear free, the masked boy stops Otoya from bringing the poison jar to Mao as he knows it will heal Mao's injuries. Mao fights back, cutting the boy to pieces as he dissolves into water and flows away. When Nanoka turns back to call Otoya over she sees him laying face down in the dirt with the poison jar smashed to pieces beside him.
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Published In:
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| Publication Date: March 4, 2020 | |
| Pages: 1 (full color) 18 (black and white) | |
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Chapter
38: 血の交わり
Chi no majiwari
(Mixing of Blood)
Nanoka shakes Otoya awake, pleading with him to come help Mao. When the boy stirs, he realizes the poison jar that is used to help heal Mao has been destroyed and its healing contents spilled out onto the ground. Mao lays dying on the ground and weakly asks the two of them to bury him deep in the earth after he dies and to erect a barrier around his body in hopes of preventing Byoki from recovering his corpse. With that he grows silent and Nanoka pleads with him not to die. Suddenly she feels a pulse of energy and Mao's wounds start to knit themselves closed. Both of them stare into each others's demonic eyes and Nanoka faints from the relief of Mao surviving his brush with death. When she wakes Mao is carrying her on his back as they walk home. Mao asks her how she feels and she confesses that she feels very weak just like after she drinks the smoothies that sap her strength back in the present day. They muse how the shinigami could have known about the poison jar in the first place and Mao ponders that because of their water affiliation they were able to spy upon him through the rain and water and see it. He thinks back to their frequent comments about taking him to the capital and wonders why it is he must be brought there instead of whomever resides there coming directly to him. Elsewhere in a temple set upon the seashore a middle-aged man pleads with a priest to help the heir of an important family to recover from an illness and pleads with the priest who is said to be Shiranui, the onmyoji of the imperial family itself. Shiranui agrees and smiles kindly before the temple attendants say they have prepared the water mirror but see nothing reflected inside. Shiranui marches over to them, calling them both shikigami and slicing their heads off for their failure before settling into the sea and staring up at the sky hoping to find Mao soon.
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Published In:
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| Publication Date: March 11, 2020 | |
| Pages: 18 (black and white) | |
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