Leaders of Narukami Island 3

(Makoto POV)

An Oni, most of the folk tales portrays them as demons but to us gods they are nothing less of a yokai race like the tengu, tanuki, and kitsune. They are feared not for their strength but mostly their wild attitudes that do anything without reason or acting only on a whim. Free willed creatures they really are, but they have a chance to succumb into madness when they go overboard which results in such folk tales representing them as demons.

But for warriors, they represent the symbol of strength and battle. That's probably why Ei-chan is so excited to meet them. I ordered Sasayurin to gather the strongest tengus he knows since bringing Inazuma's soldiers will only result in unneeded casualties if a fight were to happen during the negotiations. We are visiting without notice after all, a double edged decision since it will make the Onis cautious of our courage or it might just excite them more into fighting us.

"We are ready, my lord. Im guessing we are going there by flight so we don't get noticed by the common folks?" asked a smiling Sasayuri stopping my thoughts as he suddenly appeared from the balcony, behind him are a dozen seasoned warriors from the Tengu faction.

"Yes, everything is already ready on my part." I answered with a smile in response to his question. Ei is already hiding in my shadow, so there really is nothing else to do but to go.

"Leave four of your trusted warriors to protect Inazuma while the remaining will come with us to the Oni Clan." I ordered while maintaining the same expression. I already trust Sasayuri enough after being with us for three months, and I'm sure he will understand the meaning of my decision. His four trusted tengus will guard Inazuma against unknown threats whether they are humans or yokai, and even with a miniscule chance of a betrayal I already prepared for it.

"I will not waste your trust, my lord. I will leave my second-in-command Yoshitsune with three of her most trusted aquaintances to protect Inazuma." Sasayuri answered while a tall adult woman with a tengu mask on her upper right head, and an electro vision on one of her twin blades hanging from her waist moved forward next to him.

"A pleasure to finally meet you, my lord. I heard about you from Sasayuri-dono since I was away for a while to pledge my loyalty. Minamoto no Yoshitsune at your service." The tall woman named Yoshitsune said as she kneeled before me.

"The pleasure is also mine Yoshitsune. Now go on with your duties." I ordered with elegance, making them look straight at me while waiting for my next words while Yoshitsune and three other tengus left already.

"Let me restate our current mission. We are to get into contact with the Oni clan sighted in Yashiori Island. We will go there using the skies so make sure that no one gets left behind!" I continued as the Tengus nodded, some with excitement while others with worry.

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We arrived only within a day, crossing Kannazuka to get to Yashiori Island, and took a rest before we go into the forest where the Oni clan lives. Ei chatted with me secretly to relieve our boredom. Sasayuri joining in with any chance he got since he was busy leading the remaining eight tengus.

We are currently searching through the forest, Sasayuri is leading us with the tengu who reported sightings.

"It looks this we are close, my lord. Your orders please." Sasayuri said to me with vigilance.

"Let me lead, focus on the tengus under you." I ordered after some thought. The two tengus bowed and went behind me , towards the other tengus to make a formation.

"Are you ready Ei?" I whispered seriously as my shadow flickers in response.

Walking forward I saw a normal village that you can find anywhere with a big maple tree in the center of it except from the fact that the inhabitants are Onis. The Onis looked at us with cautiousness since we suddenly appeared as we walked forward slowly. I raised my right hand to get all their attention into me.

"Take me to your leader, I have a proposition for her!" I shouted loudly to make sure they hear me clearly while waiting for someone to show up. I didn't need to wait for long as I saw someone jump down from the big maple tree, landing in front of us. A beautiful youthful woman appeared with two horns from her head, red eyes, and long black hair with red stripes. I cautiously looked at her since unlike the wildness of an oni, she only shows calmness and stillness unbefitting of her signature horns.

"My name is Mikoshi Chiyo, head of the current Mikoshi clan and leader of the Onis in Yashiori Island." The beauty named Chiyo introduced herself with elegance instead of the aggressiveness we expected from Onis. The Onis gathered but only watched at a distance enough to see everything.

"I'm sure you already heard about me since you appeared here as if you were expecting a visitor but I will introduce myself nonetheless. I am Raiden Makoto, god of lightning, the leader of the nation Inazuma, and I am here to propose an alliance of sorts." I answered, quickly stating our business.

"I would rather not fight the one near you that my instincts is constantly warning me about." She said silently only enough for me to hear while my shadow is constantly flickering.

"But how could I back down from a challenge?!" She shouted loudly enough for everyone to hear while I looked at her, stunned with the sudden change and confused at her actions.

"A duel I say! A battle between leaders! Win and we shall be at your service!" She countinued, looking straight at me with excitement.

"Here i thought the wildness disappeared. It looks like once an oni, always an oni even with their outward appearance and behavior." I silently whispered to myself after sighing with resignation then looked into my flickering shadow.

"What do you think Ei?" I asked the person in my shadow.

"She is strong, but you should be fine Makoto." She answered silently back at me.

"Ehhhh? You're leaving this to me?" I replied with a pleading tone only to not receive an answer.

"One attack! Is that good enough to decide the victor?" I questioned to the excited oni.

"Yes! It should be enough to know the difference between us!" Chiyo excitedly answered, drawing her katana and preparing her pyro vision. The tengus and the oni crowd moved away to give us space, as we took our spots far from each other but enough distance to charge an attack. The atmosphere around us tensed as we looked into each other with battle intent.

I drew my katana, forming a stance while gathering electro to enhance my speed, and infusing my blade with lightning as much as I can. Looking in front of me I saw Chiyo doing the same, gathering enough pyro at her feet for what I assume is an explosion while trying to infuse the raging flames from her vision into her arms and blade.

After a while, we noticed that both of us are done with our own preparation. Without a signal I dashed with lightning on my feet while she responded by dashing around the same speed as me by using the explosion from the pyro from her feet. Not even a second later, we are right in front of each other, our blades roaring their own element. Our blade clashed, the raging flames and the roaring lightning fought each other resulting in an explosion from both elements that blocked the sight of the people watching.

Sasayuri quickly ordered the tengus to contain the area and make sure the forest doesn't burn. A few seconds later, the smoke from the explosion disappeared showing the result of our exchange. Chiyo is using her katana to stand up properly while looking exhausted, her arms and legs having burns enough to leave a scar, a few clothing burnt and spilling blood in some places. She only have minimal injuries in total except for her burnt limbs while I'm standing up with my blade sheated, only looking a bit tired.

"Its a pleasure to serve you, my lord." she quickly kneeled to the ground while saying those words filled admiration and respect. The shocked Onis needed a few seconds to understand the situation before kneeling to follow their leader's decision and to greet their new lord. I looked at them for a few seconds before walking forward to help Chiyo stand up, surprised to see her burns healed already. What a strong regeneration ability I thought, my shadow flickering in agreement.

She took my hand and stood up slowly. Looking at me for a while with a hint of embarrassment.

"I'm sorry for the sudden duel, but it's the only way to convince those stubborn Onis under me." Chiyo cutely whispered an apology. Hearing her half assed way of hiding her embarrassment from showing her wildness, I only smiled in response.

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After a small celebration, we left the Oni village with Chiyo as a new member of the group to bring her to Inazuma. We arrived only after a day of travel through the skies, with me helping Chiyo since Ei told me that Sasayuri helping her is wrong since he's a man. Leaving her with the female tengus is also not a choice because they don't know each other and she is one rank higher like Sasayuri as the leader of Onis.

Seeing Inazuma in front of us, we sped up only to see a group of yokais with different races, A Kitsune in front of them which I assume is the leader in the gate of Tenshukaku. She is standing in front of Yoshitsune, the three other tengus and some of Inazuma's soldiers.

A pleasant surprise indeed.