Grand Narukami Shrine.
"Did you see Hanachirusato?"
"I did."
Yae Miko leaned against the gate of the Grand Narukami Shrine and couldn't help but sigh.
"I already knew the news about Hanachirusato, but unfortunately, Hanachirusato is not her..."
"Sigh..."
"Can she be resurrected?"
"I'll try." By now, Raiden Makoto had completely finished cleansing the filth from two thunder sakura trees. Once Lumine and Paimon finished the other two, only the one at the foot of Mt. Yougou remained.
That thunder sakura tree was also the one closest to the sacred sakura tree. The sacred sakura tree was the heart of Inazuma's Ley Lines. She had come to the Grand Narukami Shrine specifically to seek Kitsune Saiguu's true spirit with the help of the sacred sakura tree.
If she could re-coalesce Kitsune Saiguu's true spirit, she would be able to fully resurrect Kitsune Saiguu.
"Mhm."
"Speaking of which, Lady Kitsune Saiguu once gave Hiiragi Kōji a Lens, which he sent to Fontaine to be made into a Kamera. It can record thoughts and memories. I'll give it to you now." Yae Miko suddenly recalled something. "It's also one of the few items related to Lady Kitsune Saiguu."
"Inami, give that Kamera to Sister Makoto."
"Perhaps it can bear witness to what has happened over these past few centuries." Yae Miko's goal was actually to let Raiden Makoto and Raiden Ei know what had happened in Inazuma over the hundreds of years.
If she had to narrate the events of those centuries herself, wouldn't she have to talk for another few hundred years? She was unwilling to do that.
"Hiiragi Kōji..."
Speaking of Hiiragi Kōji, his image also surfaced in Raiden Makoto's mind. Back then, Kitsune Saiguu had asked her to observe Hiiragi Kōji together, and she had found him to be quite an interesting person.
Hiiragi Kōji was the ancestor of the Hiiragi Clan of the Tenryou Commission in Inazuma. outlying islands's development from a small fishing village to its current state was closely tied to him.
"Sister Makoto, here you go."
Seeing the object brought back memories; images of Kitsune Saiguu once again surfaced in Raiden Makoto's mind.
Kitsune Saiguu was truly charming everywhere she went, attracting the gazes of countless young men. Who wouldn't like a gentle and coquettish Fox Spirit?
Both Yae Miko and Kitsune Saiguu were foxes, but Yae Miko appeared more seductive now, while Kitsune Saiguu was elegant, more like a refined young Childe.
"I want to go see the sacred sakura tree..." Because five hundred years ago, after she passed away, she had completely merged herself into the sacred sakura tree, so she still had a very strong connection to it.
"Mhm."
She intended to search for Kitsune Saiguu's true spirit through the sacred sakura tree. If she could coalesce the true spirit, she could resurrect Kitsune Saiguu.
"Alright."
The sacred sakura tree.
Coming to the sacred sakura tree again, Raiden Makoto felt a bit sentimental. At that time, she had just recovered her memories, hadn't she?
And even further back, they used to enjoy the afternoon sun together under the sacred sakura tree. Now, the Grand Narukami Shrine stood there instead.
Yae Miko clenched her fists. She was nervous; she naturally hoped Raiden Makoto could resurrect Kitsune Saiguu.
As for Raiden Ei, she stood quietly beside Yae Miko, watching Raiden Makoto touch the sacred sakura tree.
In her mind, the image of her crying while holding her sister under the sacred sakura tree appeared, watching her sister turn into bits of lightning and merge into the sacred sakura, completely dissipating.
"Sister..."
As Raiden Makoto touched the sacred sakura tree, she slowly closed her eyes, quietly sensing everything within Narukami Island's Ley Lines.
In the past, Inazuma had suffered too many wars. During the Archon War and the cataclysm five hundred years ago, countless people had died in the chaos.
Therefore, the Ley Lines of Inazuma were now filled with a great deal of filth, some familiar to her, some not.
There was Orobashi's, there was the Thunderbird's... "Saiguu..."
While Raiden Makoto's eyes were closed, Orobashi, coiled around her arm, flicked its tongue and licked the sacred sakura tree. As it touched the tree, its originally somewhat ethereal eyes gained a bit more luster.
"Saiguu... come back."
Following Raiden Makoto's call, a bolt of lightning struck from the clear sky, and in an instant, dark clouds once again shrouded Narukami Island.
"Is this the Narukami Authority?" As Raiden Makoto's sister, she was very familiar with the kind of ability Raiden Makoto was currently using.
"Narukami Authority?" Yae Miko was somewhat puzzled. After all, she hadn't lived for very long and had never seen this before.
"Miko, do you know why 'the almighty narukami ogosho, God of thunder' has always referred to my sister? Although my sister and I are Twin Archons, only my sister can use the Archon Authority..."
She couldn't, but she was more skilled in martial arts than her sister. She sometimes even wondered if she and her sister were originally one, that they were fundamentally a single God.
Due to some special reason, she and her sister had split into two Gods.
Her sister received ultimate wisdom, while she received ultimate martial arts. Musou Isshin had appeared alongside them, which was also why she was able to awaken her sister's Musou Isshin.
"In ancient times, every God had their own authority."
"I see."
However, at this moment, due to the dense clouds and flashing lightning, the surrounding air became somewhat stagnant, and Yae Miko even felt a sense of oppression.
As specks of light appeared from beneath the sacred sakura tree, they coalesced into a figure, and that figure was exactly the likeness of Kitsune Saiguu.
"Lady Kitsune Saiguu? It really is Lady Kitsune Saiguu!" Yae Miko was astonished. "Sister Makoto actually managed to call back Lady Kitsune Saiguu's true spirit..."
"My sister's Archon Authority... has always been very strong... it's just that she rarely uses it because the consumption is too great," Raiden Ei murmured to herself. "But if it can resurrect Saiguu, it seems like a very good thing."
As Raiden Makoto slowly opened her eyes, she saw Kitsune Saiguu fully formed before her. However, the current Kitsune Saiguu was a spiritual body that had lost all its memories and could not be considered a physical entity.
She carefully put away the newly coalesced true spirit of Kitsune Saiguu. Having just formed, it needed to be well-protected.
"Sister Makoto, can Lady Kitsune Saiguu really be resurrected?" Yae Miko was excited. This was the sister who used to take care of her, her elder of the same clan.
"Mhm."
"Fortunately, her true spirit has always been within the Ley Lines..." Raiden Makoto breathed a sigh of relief. She had searched through the Ley Lines again and again, using her God clearance to finally re-coalesce Kitsune Saiguu's true spirit. Raiden Makoto's face was now somewhat pale.
"She had even become a part of the sacred sakura tree... but I was able to separate her from it. However, she has now lost all her memories and her physical body. I can call back her true spirit, but I cannot reshape a physical body for her."
"And her memories are currently within Hanachirusato." Using the Archon Authority to call back Kitsune Saiguu's true spirit had taken a toll on her; Raiden Makoto was now quite weak.
If it were merely resurrecting a recently deceased mortal, it would be very simple for her.
But Kitsune Saiguu was a daughter of the Hakushin bloodline and had been gone for five hundred years; the difficulty was immense.
"Ei, you must... create a new physical body for Saiguu... a body that can host her true spirit."
"You remember Saiguu's appearance, right?"
Raiden Makoto looked at Raiden Ei earnestly. She already had a plan: once Raiden Ei finished making the physical body for Kitsune Saiguu, she would merge the true spirit into the body and then extract Kitsune Saiguu's memories from Hanachirusato. Combining the three would resurrect Kitsune Saiguu.
"Create a physical body for Saiguu? Is it like Scaramouche and the Shogun?" Raiden Ei was stunned for a moment, but she still nodded. "However, I haven't done that for five hundred years... I might be a bit rusty, so it will take a little time."
"First, merge the memories into the true spirit. As for creating the physical body, there's no rush... with my power, I can maintain Saiguu's true spirit." Raiden Makoto smiled, though she was currently quite weak. "Being able to resurrect her is what matters most."
"Mhm..."
"I'll rest for a while." Raiden Makoto sat to the side weakly, quietly watching the sacred sakura tree.
Her own rebirth also had something to do with the sacred sakura tree, and the fact that Kitsune Saiguu's true spirit could be preserved intact was also related to it.
The sacred sakura tree had always been protecting Inazuma.
"So tired!"
While Raiden Makoto was resting, Paimon and Lumine finally completed the task of clearing the filth from two thunder sakura trees. They agreed to meet at the Grand Narukami Shrine.
"Sister Makoto, we've completely dealt with the filth on the thunder sakura trees you mentioned... it was really mentally exhausting."
How could Paimon have known that completing those tasks would be so troublesome? It was like finishing a puzzle game, and what she disliked most were brain-taxing puzzle games.
"What now? What do we do?"
...Mt. Yougou.
"Makoto, you're back?" Hanachirusato stood there quietly, her tone now full of calmness.
"It seems you've resolved the filth in all the thunder sakura trees; now only the last location remains."
As Hanachirusato, she naturally didn't want to dissipate, but as Kitsune Saiguu, she hoped the Sacred Sakura Cleansing Ritual would be completed to fulfill her role in protecting Inazuma.
"What exactly is going on with Miss Hanachirusato?" Paimon was a bit confused. She had only met Hanachirusato once in Konda Village; the rest of the time was spent completing the tasks.
"Hanachirusato is the filth entrenched at the roots of the sacred sakura tree... but Hanachirusato is Hanachirusato, and Kitsune Saiguu is Kitsune Saiguu."
"What the Sacred Sakura Cleansing Ritual must dispel is the filth."
"Does Sister Makoto mean that what we need to dispel is Hanachirusato herself?" Paimon's eyes widened. "Why? If the Sacred Sakura Cleansing Ritual is completed, won't Miss Hanachirusato disappear too?"
"Yes, after the Sacred Sakura Cleansing Ritual is completed, Hanachirusato will also disappear." Raiden Makoto sighed. It seemed that even with her abilities, it wouldn't be easy to keep Hanachirusato. She had been thinking all along about how to solve Hanachirusato's problem, but she still couldn't figure it out.
Unless the filth was left behind, but that contradicted the Sacred Sakura Cleansing Ritual. To keep Hanachirusato, the ritual could not proceed; to proceed with the ritual, Hanachirusato would cease to exist.
"Thank you all."
"I don't mind whether I can continue to exist or not."
"As filth, being able to carry her memories has already made me very happy."
"To be able to protect Inazuma is my wish." Hanachirusato's tone was very indifferent, as if she had seen through everything.
"Sister Makoto, even with your abilities, you can't keep Miss Hanachirusato?" Paimon was quite sad now. While she and Lumine were completing the Wards, they had also discovered information about the Sacred Sakura Cleansing Ritual.
She had learned quite a bit.
"Hanachirusato is filth, after all..."
"But I can try..." Raiden Makoto's tone was heavy. Regarding the search for Kitsune Saiguu's true spirit, she had firm conviction and believed she could resurrect Kitsune Saiguu.
But regarding Hanachirusato, she was truly uncertain. She didn't know if she could keep her.
"Makoto, there's no need for that."
"From her... from my memories, I know you are a gentle God... I know her feelings for you... It's already wonderful enough that you could be resurrected..."
"So whether I can exist or not... it doesn't matter."
Hanachirusato's words left Raiden Ei completely silent. She didn't know what to say. After all, she had been in the Plane of Euthymia for five hundred years and knew nothing; she hadn't known the sacred sakura tree had accumulated so much filth.
She didn't even know about the Sacred Sakura Cleansing Ritual. If Raiden Makoto hadn't told her, she would have known nothing.
As the Raiden Shogun, she was completely incompetent.
If her sister could have been with her all along, who would have wanted to become the Raiden Shogun? she would have preferred to always accompany her sister as her Shadow Clone.
Fortunately, her sister was back now.
"Makoto, complete the Sacred Sakura Cleansing Ritual." With her final words, she also slowly disappeared from everyone's sight.
"Miss Hanachirusato... she didn't just disappear, did she?" Paimon looked around in confusion, her heart filled with mixed emotions and a bit of a bitter taste.
"No."
"There is a most dense mass of filth within the roots of the sacred sakura tree. Once that mass is completely dealt with, the sacred sakura will purify her as well." Raiden Makoto sighed deeply. "I need to think about what to do to keep her."
"She isn't Kitsune Saiguu, but she is like someone who inherited Kitsune Saiguu's dying wish..."
"Sigh..." Lumine was a bit dejected. Sometimes she couldn't stand such sad things. In her mind, she still remembered a young master she met in Liyue who wanted to play hide-and-seek with her; thinking back on that, she still felt quite sad.
She hoped Raiden Makoto could think of a solution; keeping Hanachirusato would be for the best.
"Sister... should I also create a physical body for her? If you extract her from that mass of filth and merge her into the body... then she should be able to exist as well."
"We can try that, but as for how it will go, we must go see that mass of filth... separating her from the filth won't be easy..." Raiden Makoto nodded, agreeing with Raiden Ei's method. "Then you must properly create puppet bodies for them."
"Mhm."
"The technology is mature anyway." With Scaramouche as a test subject and then using her own body to create the Shogun, the technology was fully mature.
"Let's go check the final location first."
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