Great yōkai were already a rare sight in this world, but a battle between two legendary-class yōkai was a catastrophe that could be recorded in history itself.
Planetary · Orb of Fallen Heaven and the Oni King of Strength's Yomi Eternal Severance—both were techniques powerful enough to obliterate an entire nation with ease.
As the two unprecedented forces collided, every medium of existence within their range was instantly annihilated.
Sound could no longer propagate. Dozens of shockwaves, each resembling the detonation of nuclear warheads, encircled the two colliding energies at the center, continuously clashing and intertwining before expanding outward again and again.
It was reminiscent of the phenomenon that once appeared when Naruto and Sasuke clashed at the Valley of the End—the birth of a black sphere where their ultimate powers met.
Between Ruri's Planetary · Orb of Fallen Heaven and the Oni King of Strength's Yomi Eternal Severance, the same phenomenon manifested—their energies fusing into a chaotic singularity.
But Ruri had already foreseen this outcome through the Akasha Records.
The Planetary · Orb of Fallen Heaven was an intricate technique, its principle comparable to a miniature solar system: the outer layer acted as the stabilizing medium, while the central, larger sphere of tailed-beast energy represented the sun, and the three smaller orbs revolving around it served as the planets.
The central sphere rotated counterclockwise, while the three outer spheres revolved clockwise along separate orbits.
Under this arrangement, once the outer stabilizing medium dispersed, the Planetary · Orb of Fallen Heaven would unleash a devastating secondary detonation.
And Ruri did exactly that.
The moment she saw the fusion sphere forming between them, she brought her hands together and shouted sharply: "Scatter!"
The orb, which had been locked in a stalemate against Yomi Eternal Severance, immediately detonated. From its core, a new and unprecedented rotational force erupted outward.
Under this sudden surge of power, the surrounding mountain ranges shattered one after another. The very ground beneath the combatants, already on the verge of collapse, gave way entirely—caving in and forming a colossal canyon several kilometers wide in mere seconds.
The balance between the two powers broke instantly. The black energy sphere, propelled by the chaotic rotation, accelerated toward Hoshiguma Dōji's direction.
"How… how could this be?! I'm being overpowered?!"
Pouring every ounce of her demonic energy into sustaining Yomi Eternal Severance, Hoshiguma Dōji's face twisted in disbelief as the massive sphere surged toward her.
The world itself shattered before her eyes.
This was no exaggeration—wherever the black sphere passed, space itself collapsed, fissures tearing open in the void around it.
"Damn it! Damn it! How is this possible?!"
The Oni King of Strength roared, blood seeping from her eyes as her horn gleamed with a sinister violet light—her power had reached its absolute limit.
Yet even so, defeat crept inexorably closer.
"No! I, Hoshiguma Dōji, will not die here!"
At the very last moment—just before the black energy sphere could consume her—she dove headfirst into one of the spatial rifts torn open by its energy.
The next instant, with her escape, the balance of power within the orb collapsed.
It detonated.
In the absence of any medium, the explosion produced no sound—only an eerie, absolute silence.
Then came the aftermath—a violent storm of annihilating force sweeping across everything.
Puh~
Even Ruri could not withstand the immense energy. Her internal organs suffered heavy damage, and a mouthful of blood burst forth as her body was hurled backward.
By sheer fortune—or misfortune—her trajectory aligned perfectly with one of the newly formed spatial fissures.
At the critical moment, she extended a giant fox tail behind her, coiling it tightly around the spherical barrier Satsuki had previously used to confine Sesshōmaru. The grip anchored her body just enough to halt her spiraling flight.
Sesshōmaru himself, protected by Satsuki's barrier, remained unscathed. Even amidst the apocalyptic storm of energy and chaotic winds, he sat in calm stillness.
...
Meanwhile, elsewhere—right after the final clash between Hoshiguma Dōji and Ruri...
Deep within the Ōeyama range stood a massive and opulent palace forged entirely from iron. Inside, a handsome man reclined lazily across an enormous throne. A cursed jewel—similar to those borne by members of the Sakura clan—gleamed from his forehead. His broad kimono barely covered his pale, sculpted body, and the cold atmosphere of the hall, lit by dancing blue flames of ghostly fire, made the entire scene both majestic and eerily sinister.
At his side knelt a beautiful woman, her expression blank with despair. With trembling hands, she poured crimson 'wine'—clearly blood—into the skull-shaped goblet held in the man's hand.
As the scent of that bloody liquor filled the air, the entire hall became thick with the aroma of alcohol and the sweetness of iron.
Just as he tilted the goblet and drank, a thunderous boom erupted from the distant mountains. In the blink of an eye, the entire palace quaked violently. Were it not for its steel-forged structure, it would have collapsed instantly.
"Tch. That Hoshiguma woman again? Making such a fuss... this wine's lost its flavor. Perhaps I should get a bit of snack to go with it."
Grumbling with irritation, the handsome man—none other than Shuten Dōji—lifted his goblet once more, gesturing for the woman to refill it.
But just then, a sudden gust swept through the entire palace, blowing away the heavy scent of wine and blood.
Shuten Dōji's eyes sharpened. With a flick of his wrist, he hurled the skull goblet toward the grand doors.
Yet the goblet never struck anything visible. Instead, it rippled against the air as if colliding with an unseen barrier—and then vanished entirely.
A moment later, space itself distorted. From within that distortion stepped forth a woman of unparalleled beauty, her very presence radiating an otherworldly power that made even Shuten Dōji—who had seen every kind of woman over the centuries—momentarily stunned.
Her golden eyes shone with cold authority. Her elegance, her divine composure—she eclipsed every mortal and spirit he had ever known. The very image of regality and divine allure. Her beauty was intoxicating, like a vintage wine that promised both ecstasy and ruin.
"Ha ha ha! To think I'd meet someone like you after a fine drunk! Fortune smiles upon me today!"
The intruder was Satsuki. After leaving the previous battlefield, she had swiftly scanned the entirety of Ōeyama and located Shuten Dōji's lair in mere moments.
She stepped into the iron palace without hesitation, her eyes briefly sweeping over the soulless woman still dutifully pouring wine. Through the Tenseigan, Satsuki saw it clearly—this woman was beyond salvation. Both her body and soul had long since been broken. The faint pulse of life that remained was no different from a walking corpse, much like Matō Sakura she had once encountered.
Satsuki gave her no further attention. Her gaze turned to the throne.
At her current level of mastery with the Tenseigan, she needed no effort to perceive the Oni King's true nature. Beneath his languid exterior, a vast reservoir of demonic energy brewed, powerful enough to shake heaven and earth.
The stench of sake surrounding him made her frown faintly. "Sake and demons… quite the perfect match."
"Ha ha ha! After centuries, that's the finest compliment I've heard!" Shuten Dōji roared with laughter. Slinging the enormous gourd of divine wine onto his back, he slowly rose from his throne.
To the untrained eye, he appeared defenseless, almost casual. But Satsuki's Tenseigan revealed the truth—the boundless force seething within him was more than enough to obliterate a mountain range.
Yet, for her, such defenses were meaningless.
Satsuki never wasted words when dealing with her targets. Aside from his ability to shapeshift, Shuten Dōji possessed no attribute worthy of special caution. Thus, she acted instantly—invoking the Judgment of the Ten Kings.
From her Tenseigan burst forth a brilliant golden light. Shuten Dōji didn't even have time to react before it enveloped him completely.
In an instant, his body felt as though it were sinking into an invisible mire. The world around him dissolved into absolute darkness and silence.
A single heartbeat later, the Great Oni King of Ōeyama—who had reigned for centuries—collapsed lifelessly before Satsuki.
And such an outcome was anything but surprising.
After all, even the Three Kings of old could only be effortlessly suppressed under Satsuki's Veil of Light and Shadow. Though Shuten Dōji was one of the most powerful yōkai of this world, before Satsuki—the Demon Buddha who stood at the pinnacle of existence—he had no chance of resistance.
With Shuten Dōji's fall, the curses and seals woven throughout the palace unraveled simultaneously. Before arriving here, Satsuki had already annihilated every lesser oni along the way. Those imprisoned within the fortress could now flee freely—though the treacherous mountains surrounding Ōeyama would be their only remaining obstacle.
That was fine. Satsuki needed survivors. Word of Shuten Dōji's defeat at the hands of the Moon God Hall had to spread.
Through this maneuver, his death would bear no connection to her. And within her larger plan, the exposure of Shuten Dōji's demise—amidst the later Decree of Separation Between Gods and Buddhas—would further inflame the internal strife among the three great doctrines, hastening the arrival of the Vipralopa Era (Dharma Ending Age).
Thus, her arrangements in this world would be complete.
But for such a story to take root, witnesses were necessary.
The woman who had stood there all along, lifelessly pouring wine, was the perfect candidate. Her humanity had long since been extinguished; even after watching Shuten Dōji collapse, her expression did not change. Mechanically, she raised the sake flask again, awaiting a hand that would never reach for it.
That didn't matter.
Using Veil of Light and Shadow, Satsuki rewrote the woman's memories—implanting the illusion that one of the Three Kings had appeared to persuade Shuten Dōji to surrender, and that he had refused, only to be struck down by that higher being.
Before leaving, she pressed a black magatama into the woman's palm.
From the crimson jewel upon her own forehead, several lines of death extended outward—Dead Line Boundaries. The threads twisted and wove together, wrapping around Shuten Dōji's fallen body until it condensed into a single black bead resting within her hand.
By the time the freed captives began rushing out of the great hall, Satsuki's form had already vanished.
When she reappeared, she stood high above the area that had once been the battlefield of Ruri and Hoshiguma Dōji.
The mountain terrain below was gone—replaced by a massive, sunken canyon stretching for miles in every direction.
Sensing her presence, Ruri drifted toward her from a distance. Behind her, one enormous fox tail coiled tightly around Sesshōmaru, who was completely immobilized within its grip.
"Where's Hoshiguma Dōji?"
Ruri's voice echoed telepathically, tinged with sheepishness. "I… might've accidentally punched her into a different dimension."
"Another dimension?" Satsuki mused for a brief moment, then dismissed it with equal calm. "No matter. We already collected her energy data, and she wasn't a critical target to begin with. Not worth wasting time. Since the main objective's complete, we'll focus on upgrading your shikigami form next."
"What about Yasaka Shrine?"
"I'll rejoin them after your reconstruction is finished."
Compared to the Oni Kings—Hoshiguma Dōji, the Oni King of Strength, and the others—why was Shuten Dōji able to stand above them all?
This truth revealed itself as Satsuki placed the unconscious Shuten Dōji onto a long stone table in a temporary reconstruction chamber. Under the gaze of her Tenseigan, the mystery began to unravel.
In terms of raw power, Shuten Dōji was not substantially stronger than her fellow Oni Kings. Her dominance as the supreme ruler of Ōeyama came instead from her ruthlessness, her cunning schemes, and—most importantly—the mysterious gourd she carried.
That massive sake gourd was far from ordinary. Through the Tenseigan's record of Shuten Dōji's past, Satsuki discovered that it had been stolen from a yōkai known as the Medicine Venom Sage.
The gourd produced an endless supply of its own liquor over time—a divine brew irresistible to the Oni race. Yet, in truth, that "sake" was a deadly poison.
Fortunately, the poison was not incurable.
To adapt to it, Shuten Dōji had spent years consuming human blood and flesh to neutralize the toxins within her body—hence the notorious tales of her cruelty that had spread far and wide.
It was through the power of this poisonous sake that she had triumphed over the other Oni Kings in the struggle for Ōeyama's rule, becoming its undisputed sovereign.
Now, that same infamous Oni King lay silently upon the stone table. Her body motionless, her five senses and internal organs faltering, her immense vitality fading. Though Oni were not human, even they could die.
Above her, a chandelier burned with faint blue foxfire. Satsuki no longer needed such illumination—but old habits persisted.
Circling the table once, she finally stopped beside Shuten Dōji's enormous body, which had reverted to its true form.
Her natural body measured nearly six meters tall—broad-backed and red-skinned, her head nearly bald except for five jutting horns. Fifteen sealed eyes lined her face, all now closed.
The next step was to begin shikigami reconstruction.
Normally, shikigami conversion was not unlike a summoning ritual. There were only two paths—willing or forced.
But the result was always the same: the transformed being became bound by a contract or artifact of servitude, forming an unequal relationship of master and servant until one of them ceased to exist.
Speaking of shikigami, one could not ignore the legend of the ascetic En no Gyōja and his two demonic attendants—Zenki and Goki. Their bond had been far more intricate. Beyond simple subjugation, En no Gyōja sustained the two through spiritual nourishment—a major reason why such powerful Oni served him willingly.
However, with Satsuki—who possessed the Three Supreme Authorities—the process of shikigami reconstruction was an entirely different art.
Raising her hand, she first used a blue beam of light to record Shuten Dōji's current state. Then, with a touch of the Instant Death Authority, she erased Shuten Dōji's consciousness completely.
The infamous Oni King of Ōeyama perished in an instant—without struggle, without drama.
But that was not the end.
Shuten Dōji's death was merely the first step—to dissolve the centuries-old curse that bound the Yasaka Shrine clan, and to ensure the shrine maidens and monks would "confirm" that the Oni King was truly slain.
Only then could her planted narrative align with the rewritten memories of the human witness.
Now came the true purpose of the operation.
Satsuki required Shuten Dōji to infiltrate Kyoto itself. But for a demon to walk unnoticed among the Onmyōji stronghold, the disguise had to be flawless.
—Flawless enough that even she would no longer recognize herself as a demon.
Using the recorded data from Status Infusion as a template, Satsuki employed Ruri's Akasha Records to convert that data into an entirely new projection.
It was somewhat akin to how Alaya recreated Heroic Spirits through the Throne of Heroes—constructing a different entity altogether from the same foundation.
For Satsuki, who had already mastered the power of the Root, accomplishing such a task was hardly difficult—far simpler, in fact, than the Holy Grail Game she had once participated in.
After all, in that age when myths had already faded from the world, the power of fantasy had greatly diminished. Thus, the Servants of the Holy Grail War required a class container to manifest—a conceptual anchor through which they could exist.
But in the current era in which Satsuki stood, the Vipralopa Era—the age of the end of myth—had not yet fully arrived. Therefore, supernatural beings and divine monsters could still manifest freely without such restrictions.
Through that freedom, Satsuki soon succeeded in separating another body from the fallen Oni King. And whether by coincidence or fate, the Records of the Swirl of the Root contained an existing Heroic Spirit template for none other than Shuten Dōji herself.
Compared to the monstrous original body, the newly manifested Shuten Dōji was far more pleasing to the eye.
Gone was the grotesque visage of the Oni. The new form—rebuilt using the Heroic Spirit framework—was nothing short of a complete metamorphosis.
Her face bore a faint, almost childlike beauty. She had short, deep-violet hair and two small, delicate oni horns. The cursed jewel on her forehead was replaced with a jeweled circlet inlaid with emeralds. Her fair skin gleamed with a faint, seductive lavender hue under the foxfire's glow. The minimal clothing covering her body concealed only what was necessary, leaving her lying there like a newborn child, arms folded gently over her chest.
Satsuki wasn't particularly surprised by this outcome. The Swirl of the Root seemed to have a peculiar fondness for gender reversal.
After all, if the legendary King Arthur could be reborn as a woman, then a shape-shifting Oni like Shuten Dōji could certainly become female without issue.
Still, while the physical vessel was complete, the shikigami reconstruction was far from finished. Satsuki still needed to infuse this new body with Shuten Dōji's abilities and grant her a measure of self-protection.
Raising her hand once more, the light of Status Infusion radiated across the new form. She re-embedded the Oni King's transformation ability into the vessel and, deep within its subconscious, implanted a single directive—to deliver the Decree of Separation Between Gods and Buddhas when the time came.
Once this was done, Satsuki cast one final glance at the newly reborn Shuten Nyōko, her gaze resting on the pair of small horns atop the girl's head.
"If you're going to walk into Kyoto looking like that," she murmured softly, "you might as well be announcing your own execution."
With a flick of her hand, Satsuki drew her fingers across the girl's forehead. Instantly, the two oni horns vanished without a trace.
The rebirth of Shuten Dōji was complete.