461 -455- [ Tsuchimikado Yakou ]
Subsequently, Kurahashi Kyouko ran away as if escaping to change her soaking wet clothes.
Naturally, Rozen didn't chase her at this moment, just shrugging his shoulders.
"There's really nothing to see..." he casually commented.
It seemed like Kurahashi Kyouko heard this as she momentarily stopped in her tracks, blushing and glaring fiercely at Rozen before resuming her escape.
Rozen watched her depart, and after a while, he suddenly spoke up.
"You probably don't need to hide and watch anymore, Mr Kurahashi?"
His abrupt words shattered the relaxed atmosphere, leaving silence hanging in the air.
After a moment, a tall figure appeared behind Rozen.
It was Kurahashi Genji.
"Is the head of the Kurahashi family so protective that he even uses the 'Invisibility jutsu' to protect his daughter from the shadows?" Rozen remarked, seemingly indifferent.
"Only a misunderstanding,"
Kurahashi Genji responded calmly and icily.
"It's simply because of the shikigami's report that I came to check."
With his daughter not having learned jujutsu yet and her unique status, Kurahashi Genji naturally dispatched Shikigami to protect her, allowing her freedom of movement without concern.
However, when Rozen used jujutsu to pull her out of the water, the shikigami must have reacted, leading to this situation.
"In that case, my apologies," Rozen said in a tone completely devoid of remorse. "I'll take my leave now."
He offered a perfunctory bow and was about to turn away.
But at that moment...
"Do you know Tsuchimikado Yakou?" Kurahashi Genji's words, spoken coldly and suddenly, made Rozen halt in his tracks.
---"Tsuchimikado Yakou."
Rozen certainly couldn't be unaware of this name.
No, it should be said that as long as there is a Onmyouji who has learned the way of Onmyodou, it is impossible not to know this name, and even many ordinary people remember this name firmly and can't forget it.
Because the owner of this name has had a tremendous influence on the history of the current world.
From the name itself, it can be seen that he is from the Tsuchimikado family.
Moreover, he was once the head of the Tsuchimikado family, leading the people of the Tsuchimikado family.
This was decades ago.
The Tsuchimikado family had already begun to decline during the Meiji Restoration, as mentioned before.
However, with the end of the Meiji era, the passage of the Taisho era, and the entry into the Showa era, this far eastern island nation began to be shrouded in the clouds of war, bringing the head of the Onmyoudou, the Tsuchimikado, back onto the stage.
On the eve of the Pacific War, a faction within the high ranks of the Imperial Japanese Army, influenced by the mysterious ideas of State Shinto, proposed a theory of the military use of Onmyojutsu, leading to the revival of the previously abolished Onmyou Bureau.
At that time, the young head of the Tsuchimikado family, Tsuchimikado Yakou, was appointed as the supreme head of the Onmyou Bureau.
Legend has it that he possessed astonishing talent, encompassing all magical systems throughout history, including Onmyoudou, Esoteric Buddhism, Shugendou, Shinto, and various other Japanese mystical phenomena and magic. He integrated them, added his own interpretations, and established a new magical system, ushering in a new era.
Legend has it that he used the vast budget provided by the military to militarize and make practical use of magic, demonstrating the value of this technology. He sparked a major revolution in Japanese magical history.
Through refining, strengthening, and enhancement by this legendary figure, the developed system eventually became a powerful set of magic that could even be used in warfare.
This magical system was called "Imperial-Style Onmyoudou."
This magical system, abbreviated as "Imperial-Style," became the foundation of modern magic.
The simplified, universalized, and popularized form of Imperial-Style Onmyoudou gave birth to modern magic— "Common-Style Onmyoudou."
In other words, Tsuchimikado Yakou is the father of modern magic.
Actually, in modern times, practitioners of Common-Style Onmyoudou have not only studied Onmyoudou but also various other schools of magic such as Esoteric Buddhism, Shugendou, Shinto, and more.
However, Common-Style is still suffixed with "Onmyoujutsu," and modern magic users are referred to as Onmyouji.
The reason for this is that the source of modern magic stems from the Tsuchimikado, the head of the Onmyoudou family, Tsuchimikado Yakou.
This is why "Onmyoujutsu" has become synonymous with magic, and official magic users are called Onmyouji.
It's clear that the individual named Tsuchimikado Yakou accomplished significant feats. Under his leadership, the Tsuchimikado family returned to the pinnacle of the magical world, reaching the status it once held.
However, in today's era, the name Tsuchimikado Yakou has become taboo in the world of magic, and the Tsuchimikado family has once again rapidly declined.
The reason for this decline traces back to the late stages of World War II, during the Pacific War when a faction within the military that had long supported the Onmyou Bureau was pushed to the brink.
They were in a state of near madness, refusing to acknowledge Japan's imminent defeat and demanded that Tsuchimikado Yakou conduct a large-scale magical ritual to change Japan's fate.
Tsuchimikado Yakou complied.
The result, however, was failure.
No one knows the details of this ritual. There are no records left. Only the outcomes are known:
1. Tsuchimikado Yakou died.
2. Due to the ritual's influence, the spiritual balance in Tokyo, the capital of Japan, was disrupted, leading to chaos and an unprecedented large-scale spiritual disaster.
The great spiritual disaster resulted in horrific casualties and has since become a historical legacy, still affecting the country today, leading to frequent spiritual disasters.
Ironically, to deal with the post-war continuous spiritual disasters, the American-occupied Japanese government left all countermeasures to the Onmyou Bureau, which was in a half-dead state after Tsuchimikado Yakou's death.
The Onmyou Bureau now called Onmyou Agency became independent from the military, relying on its own strength to deal with the spiritual disasters occurring throughout Japan, mostly concentrated within Tokyo.
At this very moment, Kurahashi Genji, the head of the Onmyou Agency, who also serves as the Bureau Chief of the Exorcism Division, mentioned Tsuchimikado Yakou to Rozen. The reason behind this remains a mystery.
Rozen was puzzled.
Who knew...
"In fact, there have been rumors recently,"
Kurahashi Genji calmly stated,
"It is said that Tsuchimikado Yakou has successfully reincarnated and become son of the current head of the Tsuchimikado family."
