It seems that because the ceremony to honor Emperor Shotoku was presided over by the Imperial Family, the members of Nogizaka 46 did not fly directly from Tokyo to Takamatsu Airport in eastern Shikoku, but chose to take a boat from Tokyo to Tokushima Prefecture in Shikoku, and then to Sanuki City, where the Shiramine Imperial Mausoleum, where Emperor Shotoku's bones are buried.

From Tokyo to Tokushima Prefecture, the members boarded the boat from Tokyo at night, slept on the boat for the night, and finally arrived in the Seto Inland Sea at noon the next day.

After passing through the ancient Kii waterway and arriving in Tokushima City, the sea voyage was a novelty for the members. However, Rina Ikoma, who likes manga, has some regrets, and she can't help but complain to the other members, "Why don't you just take a boat to Sanuki!" Then you can go and see the Naruto Bridge. It's the best time to see the Naruto whirlpool! ”

"Ichikuma-chan, why do you want to see Naruto Bridge so much? It's a rare sight, but there's no need to get you so excited, right? Ikuta Erika looked at the excited Rina Ikoma and asked her curiously.

"Because that's Naruto! The romanization of ナルト is naruto, which is the name of Naruto in "Naruto"! なると and ナルト,It's just the difference between hiragana and katakana.,Naruto's name comes from Naruto Bridge.,And his surname Uzumaki,It's also from Naruto Vortex tide! Rina Ikoma's excited appearance attracted the attention of the other members around her, and although everyone didn't understand the excitement of anime lovers like Rina Ikoma, they still accepted Rina Ikoma's excitement with an understanding attitude.

Looking at the excited Rina Ikoma, Kenji Kitagawa, who came in person because of the importance of this festival, smiled and said, "If Ichikuma-chan wants to go to Naruto Bridge so much, then when we come back, we will also take a boat from Sanuki back to Tokushima, just in time to pass through the Naruto Strait, so that we can see Naruto Ohashi and Naruto Whirlpool." ”

"Great! Thank you Kitagawa San! Hearing that she could go to see the Naruto Bridge that she had in mind, Rina Ikoma suddenly bowed excitedly to Kenji Kitagawa to express her gratitude.

"Ichikuma-chan mentioned Naruto Ohashi so excitedly, I thought she wanted to eat Naruto rolls!" Only then did Ikuta Erika react, so she smiled and mentioned another ingredient with the same name.

"Naruto rolls are also indispensable! Naruto's favorite ramen is a must-try, and the ramen with Naruto rolls is a must-try! Hearing Ikuta's Erika mention the Naruto roll, Rina Ikoma immediately made a categorical declaration.

"Ha, Ichikuma-chan is really energetic! However, whether you want to eat ramen or go to the Naruto Bridge, all of this is premised on the successful completion of this festival. Please also focus on this event before you do so! Seeing Rina Ikoma's increasingly excited appearance, Kenji Kitagawa had to hurriedly draw her attention back.

When Rina Ikoma was busy bowing to Kenji Kitagawa, Yuka Sugai stood beside Yoshiko, looked at Yoshiko with a worried face, and asked with concern, "Yoshiko, what's wrong with you?" It feels like you've been depressed since you left Tokyo, are you worried about the festival? ”

Yoshiko looked at her worried friend and nodded silently, but the worried look on her face was still heavy: "Yes, after all, it's the 'Evil God', the 'Great Demon Fate' that has cursed Japan for seven hundred years." Although I mean to quench his resentment through this sacrifice, no one has been able to do this kind of thing, can I really do it? ”

Hearing Yoshiko's worries, Yuka Sugai looked at the Seto Inland Sea in front of her, which was not calm, and couldn't help but fall silent, not knowing how to comfort her worried friend.

"If you don't have faith as the priest of the priest, how can you have faith with us?" Just when Yoshiko and Yuka Sugai were worried, Nanami Hashimoto's voice came from behind her.

Yoshiko and Sugai Tomoka turned their heads and looked at Mai Shiraishi and Nanase Nishino, who were walking over with Nanase Nishino, who were holding a black cat, and hurriedly greeted her and the other two: "Hashimoto-senpai, Shiraishi-senpai, Nishino-senpai!" ”

"I've said you don't have to be so polite! Yoshiko, are you like this again, like we call you His Royal Highness Kashiko? Mai Shiraishi said with some dissatisfaction to the good son who called her senior: "I've said it many times, it's okay to call me Mai." Nana Min and Nana Sai are the same, just call the name, Nogizaka 46 is different from other places, there is no need to be so rigid about the relationship between seniors and seniors. ”

"I'm sorry, I'm just ......" Kako didn't know how to describe her feelings, after all, because of this sacrifice and the previous single audition, she felt a little anxious.

Nana Hashimoto smiled at Yoshiko and said jokingly to her: "Why, before joining Nogizaka 46, I called me Nanamin, but now why is it starting to become so rusty and call me Hashimoto Senpai, this is not like the Princess Yoshiko I know!" Or does Her Highness think I'm not worthy of being friends with you? ”

"...... Bridge" Kako was about to speak, but was glared at by Nana Hashimoto and had to change her words: "Na...... Namin, I just think that because of the single selection before, our second-term students have already caused a lot of dissatisfaction among the first-term students, and if I show so close to you again, it will have a bad impact. ”

Kako's words made Nanami Hashimoto and Mai Shiraishi laugh, and even Nanase Nishino on the side covered his face and laughed: "Yoshiko, you're a little too worried about it, everyone in the first phase rejected you before, not because they were dissatisfied with your second phase, but because they were a little dissatisfied with the operation." Mai Shiraishi explained, and at the same time carefully glanced at Kenji Kitagawa, who was talking to the staff.

Yoshiko's eyes also looked at Kenji Kitagawa on the side, and she smiled a little embarrassedly, and then asked Nanami Hashimoto, "Nanamin, do you have any opinions on this sacrifice ceremony?" Did Chiba-san tell you anything? I really don't have much faith in this ritual. As she spoke, Kako's face was sad again.

"You don't have to worry too much about that." Nanami Hashimoto looked at the seabirds flying around the side of the ship in front of her, raised her finger, let a seabird stop on her fingertips, and comforted Yoshiko: "Although Qianye didn't come in person, he has already made arrangements for this sacrificial ceremony, so Yoshiko, don't worry, there will be no danger." ”

However, what Nana Hashimoto didn't tell Yoshiko was that if she couldn't appease Emperor Shotoku's resentment and dispel his resentment, Emperor Shotoku, who had already turned into the Great Tengu Hakumine Sagamibo, would choose to wash away this resentment with the blood of the imperial family. Because in Nanami Hashimoto's view, if the resentment of Emperor Shotoku cannot be extinguished, the best solution is to eliminate him.

Even if you can't do it, there are two big monsters here, myself and Mai Shiraishi, and several cadres of the Nine-Tails Group who were temporarily called by Mai Shiraishi and disguised as Shikigami; and the cat ninja clan who just took refuge in themselves and is being held in the arms of Mai Shiraishi at the moment, Jiujing, who is also a big monster, so many big monsters together, it is enough to prevent the resentful spirit of Emperor Chongde from hurting Yoshiko.

Hearing Nanami Hashimoto's comfort, although Yoshiko still felt a little worried, she felt more or less at ease, so she barely cheered up and prepared to deal with the next sacrifice ceremony, after all, she was still the main priest in this sacrifice ceremony.

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After going ashore from Tokushima City, Yoshiko was the blessing of the princess, and the Imperial Household Agency had already arranged a vehicle to Sanuki City. Not only that, but the countermeasures room and the guards sent by the Imperial Family who arrived in Shikoku in one step of the Sennogizaka 46 and the guards sent by the Imperial Family also joined them, and the convoy carrying the group headed for the Hakumine Imperial Mausoleum in Sanuki City.

"Speaking of which, the Yajima Ikoma clan was originally supposed to be a branch of the Ikoma clan!" In the car, because she wanted to liven up the atmosphere and bring the relationship closer to the same students, Yuka Sugai talked about the family origin of Rina Ikoma, who is also from a Chinese family.

It seems that because of the reason that he is not so repulsive to the second phase of the student, Rina Ikoma also responded seriously to the topic provoked by Yuka Sugai: "Yes, the Yashima Ikoma clan was originally due to the 'Ikoma Riot' incident caused by the third generation of the Maruka Domain, Ikoma Takatoshi, who was the lord of the Maruka Domain at the time, and was reduced from the 178,000 stone of the Saki Kingdom that Ikoma was entitled, to the 10,000 stone of the Yashima Domain. ”

"Huh? If there wasn't such a thing, then Kuma-chan would be in Sanuki City by now? Although Ikoma had heard Rina Ikoma mention it, Erika Ikuta, who still didn't know much about these things, asked Rina Ikoma curiously.

"Maybe, I don't know about it, it's been hundreds of years. However, because of this, the Yajima Ikoma clan later participated in the Aizu War as the lord of the Yajima Domain, and was later awarded the title of baron after the abolition of the domain in the Meiji era. Rina Ikoma doesn't seem to care about this, but just calmly talks about her family's past.

Looking at the members who suddenly had a heated discussion about what to do if Rina Ikoma was still a daimyo princess, Nana Hashimoto and Mai Shiraishi did not participate in the discussion, and the two were whispering to Kuji, who was lying on Mai Shiraishi's lap in the form of a black cat, telling information related to Emperor Shotoku.

"Emperor Shotoku had Buddha nature because he spent three years writing five Buddhist scriptures, but in the end, because he wanted to dedicate the Buddhist scriptures to the imperial court and was rejected, he chose to sink into the devil's path and became the great devil of Japan. However, because of his Buddha nature, he was saved from falling into the four realms of hell, hungry ghosts, asuras, and beasts, but he was unable to ascend to the heavenly path because he had no moral heart, and was eventually banished to the Tengu Path, which was outside the six realms of reincarnation, and became one of the eight heavenly dogs, the White Peak Sagamibo. "Kuja seems to be talking to Mai Shiraishi and Nana Hashimoto in a secret technique, and only the two of them can hear her voice.

After listening to Jiujing's introduction, even Mai Shiraishi, who has always been very confident in her current strength, couldn't help frowning: "In this case, the strength of this Baifeng Sagami Workshop should be very strong, right?" I've heard Chiya say that if a person falls into the path of demons because of his obsession, the monsters he turns into are much more terrifying than ordinary youkai. ”

"That's true." Because he turned into a cat, Kujin just danced his tail to show his approval of Mai Shiraishi's words: "Emperor Chongde was originally just an ordinary human, but because he was born in the imperial family, he himself was an emperor, so he had a special fate. Coupled with a body of misery and full of resentment, he originally wanted to resolve his sins by copying Buddhist scriptures, but he didn't expect that in the end, it was because of these five Buddhist scriptures that he was pushed into the devil's path. He wrote the curse of 'killing the people for the king, killing the king for the people' on these five Buddhist scriptures, which was indeed fulfilled, so that the imperial family lost its rule over Japan, and the whole of Japan fell into war for 700 years. ”

"In this case, can we really deal with this 'god of woe'? With his strength, even if it is not as good as the original Tamamo, I'm afraid it's not much different, right? After listening to Kujing's introduction, Nana Hashimoto couldn't help but worry about whether her group would be able to complete this sacrifice ceremony, and she was even more worried about the safety of the members of Nogizaka 46, who linked this sacrifice ceremony with the new single prayer.

Regarding Nanami Hashimoto's worries, Jiujing comforted her and said, "You don't have to worry too much about this, Lord Hashimoto. After Emperor Shotoku became the Great Tengu Hakumine Sagamibo, he was affected by his own Buddha nature, and his own resentment had left him with that curse, and now he only left his obsession with the imperial family. Otherwise, His Excellency would not have kept the thousand-year-old covenant of not fighting and stayed in Hakuho, so much so that there is a folk legend that he was the Sagami Daisen Tengu who was responsible for pacifying the resentful spirits of Emperor Shotoku. ”

"That means that this Lord Hakufeng Sagamifang is actually not too difficult to deal with?" Mai Shiraishi seemed to have her hope lit up, and asked Jiu Jing tentatively.

"It's just relative." Jiujing shook his head, refuting Mai Shiraishi's statement while explaining to her: "No matter what, Your Excellency Shiramine Sagami is the head of the Shikoku Tengu clan, one of the eight great tengu in Japan, and one of the three major yokai in Japan along with Tamamo and Sake Swallowing Boy. Even if he doesn't want to embarrass you, it's not something ordinary people can handle. ”

Seeing that the faces of Nanami Hashimoto and Mai Shiraishi became ugly after listening to their words, Jiujing added: "But Lord Hashimoto, you don't have to worry too much, this time the matter of asking the imperial family to rise up to worship Emperor Chongde was also proposed by His Excellency Sagamibo Shiramine himself. As long as Her Royal Highness the princess can worship Emperor Chongde with a pious heart, Her Excellency Hakumine Sagami Fang should not embarrass her. ”

Seeing that Jiujing said this, Mai Shiraishi and Nanami Hashimoto could only nod, and at the same time prepared in their hearts in case this big tengu turned his face.