I became Hokage in Tokyo

Chapters 245 & 246: The Wind Rises in Hokkaido

"Are the cherry blossoms in Sapporo about to fall...?"

In the early morning, in a corner of Nogasasama Forest Park on the southwestern outskirts of Sapporo, Hokkaido, a petite girl with almost translucent, snow-white skin emerged from her camping tent, looking at the few remaining cherry blossom petals on the branches beside her.

It's now close to mid-May, and the cherry blossom front had already advanced to the cold climate of Hokkaido at the beginning of the month. After the bustling Golden Week in May, the cherry blossoms in Hokkaido are gradually fading.

Tsukimi no Inaba likes cherry blossoms.

What delighted Tsukimi Sariba most about coming from Tokyo to Hokkaido was being able to see the cherry blossoms.

Therefore, after arriving in Hokkaido on the cherry blossom front, she simply set up camp in Nogasasama Forest Park.

Although extremely beautiful when in full bloom, cherry blossoms have a very short lifespan, lasting no more than a week, and sometimes as short as two or three days. Cherry blossoms are also very fragile; once exposed to wind and rain, they will turn into fallen petals and disappear with the wind.

When cherry blossoms are in full bloom, they are a riot of color and breathtakingly beautiful. But when they wither, they do so without hesitation. Overnight, all their splendor fades away, leaving them untouched by dust, pure and elegant, making them exceptionally magnificent and poignant.

Cherry blossoms are beautiful but fleeting, possessing a kind of poignant beauty, much like she was before.

In the past, Tsukimi Inaba viewed cherry blossoms with a tendency towards self-pity and even self-destruction, but things are different now. After being reborn that night, she can finally calm down and appreciate the brilliant beauty of the cherry blossoms.

The May mornings in Sapporo, Hokkaido, were still a bit chilly, but it wasn't a big problem for Tsukimi Inaba, who already possessed an extraordinary physique.

After a quick wash and tying up her hair, Tsukimi Inaba took out the chakra katana and matching tools that Uchiha Naruto had given her and began to care for them with practiced ease.

Tsukimi Sakae Inaba is the granddaughter of a Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department kendo instructor and a daughter of a samurai family. She also has some expertise in maintaining knives.

The already spotless chakra samurai sword was wiped so clean that every detail was visible.

Tsukimi Inaba picked up her chakra katana and slashed it through the air. The blade flashed like a shadow in the sky, clearly incredibly sharp.

Tsukimi Inaba's face remained as serene as ever, though her expression was unreadable, a hint of satisfaction flickered in her deep, dark left eye.

Tsukimi Inaba cherishes this chakra samurai sword, not only because it is a divine weapon that can cut through iron like mud, but also because it can withstand her Cursed Seal II state and keep breaking.

More importantly, this was a katana bestowed upon her by her lord, Uchiha Naruto.

Just like in samurai novels and Taiga dramas, when a daimyo bestows a sword upon a samurai as his lord, it is the highest honor for the samurai.

Even now, Tsukimi no Inaba is unsure what kind of feelings she harbors towards Uchiha Naruto, whom she rescued from her nightmares.

Is it admiration?

No, Tsukimi no Inaba was only fourteen years old. With little emotional sensitivity, she was clueless about romantic relationships and didn't think of it as love.

But when she thought of what Naruto Uchiha had said in the contract that after her second life, her soul and body would belong to Naruto Uchiha, Inaba Tsukimi still felt her cheeks burning.

However, this is not infatuation, but gratitude and loyalty.

This is to repay a debt of gratitude!

In order to repay Lord Uchiha Naruto's life-saving grace and to give her the opportunity to kill the White Scale Serpent Demon who killed her parents, Tsukimi Inaba, as a daughter of a samurai family, had long been prepared to offer her life as Lord Uchiha Naruto's sword.

The first step is to gain Naruto Uchiha's approval and fulfill the one-month promise.

"An evil spirit codenamed Type B-16..."

Tsukimi Inaba took out the confidential file that Uchiha Naruto had given her, her expression remaining calm.

Her parents were former members of the Metropolitan Police Department's Fourth Investigation Division, so they were well aware of the confidentiality of this file.

To be honest, deep down, Tsukimi Inaba was also curious about Naruto Uchiha's identity, but she was also clear about her duty as a samurai, which was simply to be loyal.

Tsukimi no Inaba harbors deep hatred for the demon who drove her to the brink of death and gouged out her right eye for human experimentation. By extension, she also feels no liking for evil spirits.

Since Lord Naruto Uchiha has ordered her to slay the evil spirit within a month, she will definitely do it.

Sheathed her chakra samurai sword and placed it in her sword pouch. Then, she took out an eye patch to cover her strange demonic eyes before setting off from Nogasayama Forest Park.

Tsukimi Inaba took the JR train to Sapporo JR Station. As soon as she stepped out of the station, she was greeted by a sea of ​​people, a bustling commercial district.

Japan's first-level administrative units include metropolitan areas, circuits, prefectures, and counties. Among the 47 parallel administrative units, Hokkaido is the only circuit and a strong contender for the title of the poorest first-level administrative unit.

Hokkaido was formerly known as Ezo, and for a long time it was regarded as a barren land. The Ainu people, the native inhabitants of Ezo, were regarded as barbarians by the Yamato court. The real ruler of Japan, the famous Shogun, was originally a temporary official position established to deal with the Ezo people.

It wasn't until the 15th century that feudal lords came to Hokkaido to manage land. After the Meiji Restoration, a large number of displaced farmers flocked in to reclaim wasteland, and Hokkaido ushered in a period of rapid development.

Even so, Hokkaido is sparsely populated, with only 5.5 million people living on its 83,000 square kilometers of land, more than a third of whom live in Sapporo.

This is precisely why Sapporo boasts a level of prosperity that seems disproportionate to Hokkaido.

Looking at the bustling crowds near Sapporo JR Station, Tsukimi Inaba frowned almost imperceptibly; she disliked such overcrowded places.

Tsukimi Inaba turned her hood up to cover half her face before going out.

The weather in Sapporo is terrible today. Although it's not raining, dark, leaden clouds hang over the city, creating a particularly heavy and oppressive atmosphere.

Dark clouds loomed over the city, threatening to crush it. The entire commercial district seemed to have been isolated from the outside world, plunged into another realm.

As Tsukimi Inaba passes by an electronics store in a shopping district, NHK is broadcasting a conversation between several seemingly knowledgeable and highly respected experts on an LCD screen in a cabinet.

"The so-called blood moon phenomenon is simply that the thick atmosphere absorbs violet, blue, green, and yellow light, leaving only red light to pass through. Similarly, the atmosphere refracts red light onto the moon's surface, which is why we in Japan were able to witness the spectacular sight of a blood moon last night."

Last night's blood moon spectacle has spread like wildfire on social media both in Japan and abroad, even causing some unrest in the real world.

Several major Japanese television stations also invited experts and professors from prestigious universities to provide science popularization and debunk rumors.

"Regarding the online rumors following the blood moon phenomenon, the Metropolitan Police Department stated that the internet is not above the law, and they will crack down hard on those who spread or fabricate rumors!"

Tsukimi Inaba listened calmly to the news broadcast on the television station.

She subconsciously reached out and touched the left side of her neck, the part where the white-scaled snake had bitten her and planted the curse mark.

Tsukimi Inaba naturally witnessed the blood moon spectacle last night, but her intuition told her that it was probably not as simple as the experts and professors made it out to be.

After Naruto Uchiha sealed the cursed seal with the Evil Sealing Technique, Inaba Tsukimi's body was freed from the oppression of Orochi Higuchi's chakra, and she no longer needed sleeping pills or painkillers to fall asleep.

However, when the blood moon appeared last night, the curse seal that Inaba Tsukimi had been sealed with began to activate like a red-hot brand, tormenting her to the point of unbearable pain.

After falling asleep, in a state between sleep and wakefulness, Tsukimi Inaba could even hear the white-scaled serpent demon's murmured murmurs.

According to what Naruto Uchiha said, the White Scale Serpent Demon has not been completely exorcised. It still clings to my body, its spirit lingering and restless!

Tsukimi Inaba looked up at her reflection in the glass of the cabinet, where a clean and pretty face was clearly reflected.

"Hiss hiss hiss—"

But that face quickly began to deform, growing patches of snake scales, and its pupils elongated into vertical pupils. In the blink of an eye, it transformed into the nightmare of Tsukimi Inaba, the face of Higuchi Orochi!

The illusion reflected in the shop window vanished in an instant.

"Sooner or later, I will kill you with my own hands."

Tsukimi no Inaba remained expressionless, a chilling smirk playing on her lips.

Covering her head and face with her hood again, Tsukimi Inaba arrived at the center of Sapporo's shopping district and walked onto a pedestrian bridge.

On the overpass, an old woman had an iron stove for roasting sweet potatoes next to her, and an electric loudspeaker at her feet was blaring a shrill hawking cry:

"Stone-roasted sweet potatoes, fragrant, sweet, and soft, 100 yen each!"

Stone-baked sweet potatoes are a common street vendor in Sapporo. Hokkaido is an important livestock production base in Japan, and sweet potatoes are a by-product of the agricultural and livestock feed supply chain. The vines and leaves of sweet potatoes can be fed to cattle and horses, and sweet potatoes have become a common snack in Hokkaido households.

"Hey, pretty young lady! You're here again today. Are you the same as before?"

Grandma greeted Tsukimi Riha warmly as soon as she saw her.

"Excuse me, could you please give me twenty?"

Tsukimi Inaba nodded and handed over two thousand-yen bills. The old lady immediately beamed with joy. These past few days, this little girl had been coming to the overpass every day and had bought up all of her stone-baked sweet potatoes.

After peeling the sweet potato, Tsukimi Inaba took small bites of the hot, golden flesh, her cheeks puffing out like a hamster's.

Seeing how much Inaba was enjoying her sweet potato, Grandma even wondered if her own sweet potato-roasting skills were worthy of the title "Sweet Potato Sage."

One 100-yen stone-baked sweet potato can fill half a stomach, and three stone-baked sweet potatoes can make a full stomach, but the petite Tsukimi Inaba swept away 20 roasted sweet potatoes in the blink of an eye, like autumn leaves being swept away by the wind.

"Little girl, you have a good appetite."

Although it wasn't the first time she'd seen it, Grandma still couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.

"Thanks."

Tsukimi Inaba reached out a finger to pick a bit of crumb from the corner of her mouth and put it in her mouth, but her gaze remained fixed on a commercial center more than 20 meters high a hundred meters away from the overpass.

This impressive commercial building is a landmark in Sapporo's business district.

Meanwhile, Tsukimi Inaba's target for this trip, Type B-16, is located on the thirteenth floor of the business center.

The file obtained from Naruto Uchiha, type B-16, is from the second year of Reiwa, and details the death of a pregnant woman who hanged herself in the bathroom on the thirteenth floor of a shopping mall.

Regarding the three ironclad rules concerning evil spirits, Tsukimi no Inaba had also obtained relevant information in advance.

Compared to other evil spirits, Type B-16 is incredibly docile. For years, it has lingered on the thirteenth floor of the mall and has never descended to other floors. It does not take the lives of humans who intrude, but merely causes them to fall seriously ill.

The Metropolitan Police Department assessed that the building posed little danger, and given that it was located in the heart of Sapporo's commercial district and involved significant interests, the department ultimately only closed the thirteenth floor under strong pressure from Sapporo City, while the other floors continued to operate as usual.

Perhaps that's why this type B-16 was chosen by Uchiha Naruto as a whetstone for Inaba in Tsukimi.

After arriving in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Tsukimi Rinba scouted and observed the area around the shopping mall.

Although the Metropolitan Police Department only sealed off the thirteenth floor, they did not let their guard down and also placed surveillance teams in the mall.

For Tsukimi no Inaba, it wouldn't be difficult to force her way in.

However, these police officers might be former colleagues of Tsukimi Inaba's parents, so she couldn't bring herself to be ruthless. Therefore, Tsukimi Inaba had been secretly observing and waiting for the right opportunity.

With just over a week left until the agreed-upon month with Uchiha Naruto, it's about time to make our move.

Suddenly, a huge piece of tempered glass on the thirteenth floor of the mall fell off and shattered on the ground, sending shards flying and injuring several passersby.

The crowds on the street scattered and screamed in surprise.

After some people escaped to a safe distance, they curiously looked up at the thirteenth floor, and some even started cursing.

"Damn it, throwing objects from high-rise buildings is a crime!"

"Who did this? Jump down and apologize!"

A man in a black suit, along with several salespeople and customers, stood at the window, frantically waving his arms and shouting "Help!" and similar cries at the top of his lungs.

"What happened? Could there be a fire?"

"But there's no smoke or fire! And this is the thirteenth floor, isn't it always locked? How come there are so many people all of a sudden?"

"No matter what, let's call the police first."

Just then, a staff member at the window was seen cursing loudly, his face filled with fear and despair, as if he was trying to avoid something. He slipped and fell straight down from the thirteenth floor, his brains splattering.

The people around him glanced at the mangled corpses below, then at what was behind them. Gritting their teeth and closing their eyes, they jumped down one by one like dumplings being dropped into a pot.

Thump, thump, and he fell to his death, shattering into pieces!

(End of this chapter)