Miss Nanoka, when you were on the other side,
NANOKA KIBA OTOYA were you able to meet the shikigami Master Mao sent over?
Yes.
And I took some time to think things through.
Mao, where are you taking us?
Ryounkaku...
also known as the Asakusa Tower.
Ryounkaku?
We passed by it when we arrived at the Imperial Capital.
It was a magnificent building.
Oh...
This is... Ryounkaku?
MAO
It's in shambles...
MAO
Otoya.
Yes sir.
Was that a light?
Master Mao...
It's a cursed object to attract ayakashi.
Huh?
Those things...!
Are from the earthquake!
Otoya!
These are...
I knew you'd be coming to kill me!
I don't care who comes for me.
I'll strike them down!
HYAKKA
I didn't think... it was possible...
But are you...
Hyakka, the senior apprentice?
HYAKKA
You look a little different, but...
Aren't you...
Mao, the traitor?!
Traitor?!
Because of you, we...
They're coming!
Hyakka, tell me what happened.
That blade...
Is that the Sword of Hagunsei?
It is.
It was given to me by our Master.
MASTER OF THE GOKO CLAN
This sword symbolizes that you are my successor.
Mao...
I am entrusting you
with all the secret scrolls passed down through the generations.
Me... his successor...?
But... this sword is...
Mao...
Are you happy to have received that sword?
Lady Sana...
No... You are not that foolish, are you?
I am aware.
Receiving the Sword of Hagunsei is no cause for celebration.
It's a blade of ill omen...
I had no idea...
that the Sword of Hagunsei was such a formidable blade...
and that it could even deflect the attacks of the Great Hyakka...
Whoa...
I've never seen someone give themselves a title before.
I've lived in this world a long time,
but that may be a first, even for me.
That cursed sword...
is wasted in your hands!
I'm not done yet!
It's mine!
Hyakka! You mustn't touch that sword!
Oh, that's right...
If anyone other than Mao or myself touches that sword,
the poison of the Byoki's blood will enter their body and...
Hyakka!
He's dead.
What? He's dead?!
Mao! Come here!
Come straight toward me.
Yes, Hyakka.
Oh...
It's so obvious he buried something there.
It's probably a cursed object.
What's the matter? Just walk straight toward me.
He wants me to step on it?
Alright. I'm coming.
Oh...
How was that? Pretty awesome, right, Mao?
Truly impressive, Hyakka.
Darn right it's impressive.
- Huh?! - Oh no!
Put out the fire!
Hyakka!
- You imbecile! - Ouch!
He’s in for a scolding...
- It's always you! - Sorry!
He was your senior apprentice?
Yes.
His appearance has changed a bit,
but his demeanor and techniques are just as they were back then.
It's definitely Hyakka.
Why was he living in these times?
Is he really dead?
Yes. He drew his last breath.
I had so many questions for him...
It's unfortunate.
Master Mao... What should we do with the body?
- Should we bury him? - What?!
Otoya! That would be abandonment of a corpse!
Abandonment... of a corpse?
Yes! It's absolutely wrong to do that!
I thought I was done for!
Want a towel?
Yeah.
He's got such a big attitude...
But he's so short.
So you're Mao's senior apprentice...
But aren't you younger than him?
What of it?
Hyakka started his training ten days before I did.
That makes me his senior!
Oh, I get it...
Just like in comedy, whoever started first is senior, right?
There goes Nanoka-san again with her bizarre interpretations...
So...
you've been alive all this time like Mao?
I've nearly died plenty of times.
But here I am, still alive.
Why...
can't you die?
Wait...
When he touched the Sword of Hagunsei earlier,
Hyakka clearly died.
Unlike me, who merged with the Byoki's body,
something is different.
You know, Mao...
You think the Master favored you, don't you?
Huh?
Have you ever seen...
the Master's face?
His face?
The right side of Master's face
was always hidden by a mask.
Whether it was an injury or the scars of some illness...
he never once removed it.
I saw it.
It was shortly after he named you the successor.
He summoned several other senior apprentices and me
to the Goshikido near the outskirts of the compound.
The Goshikido has five walls, each with its own entrance...
it was built in a way that each of us could enter without seeing each other.
I don't know who else was summoned...
because the inside was partitioned by walls.
As you are already aware,
the many secret arts passed down through the Goko Clan...
trace their lineage back to the traditions of Jugondo,
a form of jujutsu sorcery forbidden in the present age.
They include not only killing spells,
but resurrection spells to summon back the spirits of the dead,
and secret spells to manipulate lifespans at will.
I have decided to bestow them all to Mao.
Is there anyone who objects?
W-Why?
Why...
Why Mao?
Wasn't it because he was talented?
Hardly, he never took it seriously.
He could barely cast a single spell.
I see...
I never cared much for curses.
If any among you believe you are worthy of inheriting the secret arts...
then curse Mao to death.
The five gathered here shall battle one another
for the right to inherit the secret arts.
Whoever survives in the end
shall be the true successor...
If you lack the resolve to do that...
then die right here!
Thus have the secret arts of Jugondo been passed down through the generations.
I, too, survived a battle of deadly curses...
and was the last one standing.
Mao is being offered to all of you...
as a sacrifice.
Mao is being offered to all of you as a sacrifice.
I was meant to be...
a sacrifice?
The five senior apprentices were supposed to curse Mao,
and whoever killed him first would win?!
That's horrible!
I...
was the lowest-ranking among his many apprentices,
and I'd trained far less than the others.
Yet the Master was strangely fond of you.
Even though you could barely use even the most basic jujutsu.
Mao...
I entrust to you all the secret scrolls passed down through the generations.
Why Mao?
He's not worthy.
Jealousy... resentment...
Negative emotions swirled all around me...
Master said it himself.
To inherit the many secret curses,
it is essential for one to possess
the energy born from dark emotions.
From the very start,
the Master probably intended for you to be a sacrifice.
You probably just didn't know it.
So that was the reason why
the Master bestowed the Sword of Hagunsei
upon me.
What do you mean?
Surely Hyakka already knows, but...
Huh?!
TONRO KOMON ROKUSON MONGOKU
Hagunsei is the seventh star of the Big Dipper...
RENCHO MUGOKU HAGUN Hagunsei is the seventh star of the Big Dipper...
RENCHO MUGOKU HAGUN
A sinister star said to bring misfortune in every direction it points...
TONRO KOMON ROKUSON MONGOKU RENCHO MUGOKU HAGUN A sinister star said to bring misfortune in every direction it points...
TONRO KOMON ROKUSON MONGOKU RENCHO MUGOKU HAGUN
Oh...
So when I was given this sword,
I wondered, why entrust me with something so ill-omened?
I see...
Yeah... the Hagunsei...
Totally knew about that.
This guy had no clue.
Is that why?!
You realized you'd been cursed, and before
the rest of us could curse you to death,
you joined forces with the Byoki?!
Joined forces?
Huh?!
That is a misunderstanding.
Mao, can it be that you don't know?
We were framed...
both you... and I.
Hyakka...
Mao, as far as I'm concerned,
I don't give a damn that our crazy Master died...
or that the compound was destroyed.
But...
Why did you have to kill Lady Sana, too?
That's the one thing I cannot forgive!
Lady Sana...
Lady Sana?
Who's that?
You're saying Master Mao killed her?
That's what the senior apprentices said.
I don't ever want to see your face again.
I'm done with you!
I killed...
Lady Sana...?
Um...
Who is Lady Sana?
She was the Master's daughter.
He killed her?
Did Mao...
really kill that woman?
That day...
what did I do?
I can't remember anything.
Mao...
Only two rice balls each...
I heard that another young girl disappeared.
Maybe she moved to another shelter?
No, the rumor is...
the son of Lord Ibaraki, the man letting us stay on these grounds,
is responsible for those incidents.
I heard those rumors, too.
Even before the earthquake, they said he was always causing trouble
and the family was covering it up.
TANEHIKO IBARAKI
Kuchinawa.
My, my...
Master Tanehiko...
KUCHINAWA
You’ve gone and done it again.
It's quite the talk of the town...
Even despite all the chaos of the big earthquake.
Oh, don't worry about it.
I make sure to choose girls with no family ties.
That girl said it was the first time she filled her belly
with white rice.
She looked so delighted.
I'm sure she died completely satisfied.
And besides, Kuchinawa...
I can rest easy knowing you'll clean everything up for me.
Yes, Master Tanehiko.
Before the big earthquake,
this was a splendid greenhouse.
I'm sorry...
You deserve a more beautiful resting place...
You mean you don't know, Uozumi?
Not even about Lady Sana?
NANOKA'S GRANDPA
I was created much later.
FUNA UOZUMI I don't know anything about Master Mao's younger days.
Sorry to keep you waiting, Shiraha.
Oh, not at all!
Your room has a cute, retro vibe.
Think so? Thanks.
I wanted to ask you about Jugondo...
Right. Jugondo...
Broadly speaking...
It was a medical art that used jujutsu to protect people
from evil energies believed to cause illness.
A medical art?
Back in the Nara period,
under the Ritsuryo system of government,
there was a medical bureau called the Tenyakuryo.
Practitioners known as Jugon sorcerers served there as government officials.
While they employed jujutsu for treating illnesses,
they could also use kodoku, which utilizes poisonous creatures,
and Enmi, which uses cursed dolls to kill people.
How were they connected to onmyoji?
Separate from the Tenyakuryo, there was also the Onmyoryo bureau.
It was a specialized institution devoted to astronomy and the calendar.
But in the Heian period,
belief in curses caused by vengeful spirits and demons,
known as Goryo Shinko, became widespread,
leading to the use of Onmyodo spells to ward off disasters
and seal away evil spirits.
Meanwhile, Jugondo came to be seen as dangerous due to
repeated incidents involving Enmi and kodoku.
TENYAKURYO: JUGON DIVISION (MEDICAL JUJUTSU, KILLING SPELLS) So the Tenyakuryo was absorbed into the Onmyoryo...
ONMYORYO: ONMYO, CALENDAR, ASTRONOMY, AND WATER CLOCK DIVISIONS
and the Jugon system was abolished.
ONMYORYO: ONMYO, CALENDAR, ASTRONOMY, AND WATER CLOCK DIVISIONS
Absorbed by the Onmyoryo...
And about the Goko Clan you mentioned...
no matter how much I searched, I couldn't find anything.
It might not be the right time to ask Mao about this...
Why did you have to kill Lady Sana, too?
Mao looked more shaken than usual...
Who was Lady Sana to him?
I have no idea why she's making me research all this stuff.
Oh... but...
Nanoka's room sure smells nice...
Haimaru.
Come down.
Lady Sana!
I'll bring him down.
Hyakka...
Come, Haimaru.
Haimaru...! Stop that!
Allow me...
Come.
Oh my...
Haimaru hates being touched by anyone but me...
Haimaru, do you like Mao?
Lady Sana...
Now that I think about it, was I...
being targeted from the very beginning?
Oh, they've cleaned up a bit...
The clinic survived the fires.
Oh, Miss Nanoka.
Oh...
Everyone has been so helpful.
I feel awkward talking to him...
Nanoka.
You're not afraid of me?
Afraid of you?
Although I don't have any recollection...
I may have killed the Master's daughter...
I may have killed Lady Sana.
Well, when you put it that way,
I suppose I am afraid, but...
I need to know...
What is it?
Were you two...
a couple?!
Huh?
If you are to inherit all of the secret scrolls...
Mao, that means you will become my husband.
Lady Sana, is that acceptable to you?
I will obey my father's wishes.
But Lady Sana...
Did I ask something I shouldn't have?
Young lady...
It's dangerous to be walking around alone in a place like this.
Why don't you hop in?
TENKO
No thank you.
TENKO
I'm looking for someone.
A fellow waitress went to check on relatives living nearby...
and she never returned.
There have been rumors
that several young women have disappeared in this area,
So I became worried.
Is that so?
Well now, what a fine-looking woman.
Guess the trip out here was worth it, after all.
NEXT TIME
A number of young women have gone missing.
I'm positive that man is the one responsible.
Are you here to kill me?
If Mao is still alive, then...
the other senior apprentices might also be...
Nanoka... please come over here.
Why should I?
Those giant frogs don’t even have navels, and the staff’s too short!
I'm scared! It's gross!
I can't do it! No way!
Next time: Kamon