I became Hokage in Tokyo

Chapters 278 and 279: Last-minute cramming

"Achoo!"

At Senso-ji Temple in Taitung Ward, Yuji Kanbara, dressed in a white monk's robe, sat upright on a futon in his meditation room, striking a wooden fish and chanting incantations. Suddenly, he couldn't help but sneeze.

"What's wrong? Is someone talking about me? Is it my precious daughter?"

Even now, Inspector Yuji Kambara still feels a sense of unreality, as if he were in a dream.

How did I, a lowly policeman, a divorced man with a daughter, end up becoming a monk?

However, the Metropolitan Police Department has already decided that Yuji Kanbara will become a monk at Senso-ji Temple.

"The Holy Monk of Earth and Land..."

Yuji Kambara raised his right hand and looked at the brilliant Buddhist swastika that Jiroku had carved on it, as if it had been drawn with gold paint. A complex expression appeared on his face.

Because Yuji Kanbara was the first official member to come into contact with Master Jiriku, and was later regarded differently by Master Jiriku, who even had the idea of ​​taking him as a disciple, it can be said that he had a deep affinity with Buddhism.

Although Yuji Kambara refused, the Metropolitan Police Department's higher-ups had a sudden idea that Kambara had great potential in Buddhism, and they forced him into the famous Asakusa Temple.

Unfortunately, Yuji Kanbara had no choice but to accept it as a special mission.

However, the Metropolitan Police Department was quite accommodating, providing a substantial daily stipend during my time as a practitioner at Senso-ji Temple.

If it weren't for the fact that Yuji Kambara's police rank had only been promoted one level from patrol chief, another promotion would have been easily within reach.

Although it is unknown how long he will have to train at Senso-ji Temple, his superiors have indicated that Yuji Kanbara will be promoted to police inspector after his training ends.

It's important to know that even passing the national Class A civil service exam only gets you into the pre-professional police inspector group, and it takes several years to become a police inspector.

Not to mention non-professionals like Yuji Kambara, who worked diligently in the Nakano Koban for twenty years and was still just an insignificant patrol officer.

If things proceed as planned, Yuji Kambara might be symbolically granted the rank of Assistant Inspector when he is about to retire.

This is not bad, considering that for non-professionals, the police inspector is already their ceiling, and this is on the premise of establishing merits.

Yuji Kambara never imagined that he would experience a second spring in his career when he was already in his forties.

A person's destiny depends on their own efforts, but also on the course of history.

During his two-week stay at Senso-ji Temple, Yuji Kanbara did only three small things: listen to sutras, chant sutras, and strike the wooden fish drum.

The Metropolitan Police Department invited several prominent monks to give sermons to Yuji Kambara, but to be honest, Yuji Kambara could hardly understand what they were saying. It was even more boring than listening to a math teacher in school.

Several high-ranking monks privately and tactfully informed the Metropolitan Police Department that Yuji Kanbara was like a stubborn rock with little understanding.

The Metropolitan Police Department didn't really buy it. Even the Holy Monk of the Earthly Land commented that Yuji Kanbara had a connection with Buddhism. How could you bald monks be more proficient in Buddhism than the Holy Monk of the Earthly Land?

If you're truly practicing, then you should release some Buddhist teachings yourself.

The Metropolitan Police Department refused to give up and continued to make various attempts, leaving Yuji Kanbara with no choice but to remain in Senso-ji Temple, with no end in sight for him.

"Alas. The holy monk must have misjudged me. How could someone as hopeless as me possibly have an affinity with Buddha?"

With a puzzled look, Yuji Kambara stretched out his left hand, scratched his thick, fluffy hair, and internally doubted himself.

Because Yuji Kanbara refused to shave his head, which is why he gave up following the holy monk Jiroku in his ascetic practice, the Metropolitan Police Department was also very perceptive. Yuji Kanbara was practicing as a lay Buddhist at Senso-ji Temple with his hair still on.

Yuji Kanbara closed his eyes and began striking the wooden fish again, chanting Buddhist scriptures.

Because of the generous allowance given by the Metropolitan Police Department, Yuji Kanbara did not just go through the motions, but instead forced himself to study Buddhism as instructed by the Metropolitan Police Department.

Having memorized 300 Tang poems, even if one cannot compose poetry, one can still recite it. After being immersed in the Buddhist chants of the monks at Senso-ji Temple for several consecutive days, Yuji Kanbara also memorized several verses by rote.

"Thump."

"Thump."

"Thump."

Amidst the crisp, rhythmic sound of the wooden fish drum, Yuji Kanbara's eyelids began to droop involuntarily.

Good sleep.

No, I need to finish my morning homework at least.

But I'm still so sleepy.

I'm so... sleepy...

Yuji Kambara closed his eyes completely.

The next second, Yuji Kanbara felt his body break free from gravity and rise into the clouds.

"Where am I?"

His body felt like it wasn't his own; walking was as light as walking on cotton. Yuji Kanbara's sleepiness vanished instantly. He quickly looked around and saw that the clouds were swirling and ever-changing, appearing very dreamlike and beautiful.

We've actually reached the clouds!

Am I ascending to heaven? Is this the afterlife?

Yuji Kambara was taken aback.

Did I die suddenly?

How is that possible!

He used to be so busy during his shifts in Nakano that he was constantly on the go, drinking coffee and cigarettes to stay awake, and he was fine. So why did he suddenly die after moving to Senso-ji Temple, where he ate simple meals and had a stable routine?!

"No, that's impossible!"

Shocked and furious, Yuji Kambara screamed at the top of his lungs above the clouds.

Yuji Kambara still had too many things he couldn't let go of, and he was absolutely unwilling to die like this.

"Yuji Kanbara".

Just then, a magnificent voice, devoid of sorrow or joy, and indistinguishable in gender, drifted in from the west.

"Who is it!?"

Yuji Kambara quickly turned his head and saw that in the west, the clouds had formed a magnificent display of five colors, with seven halos of red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple illuminating half of the sky.

Within the Buddha's light, there is a towering, majestic phantom that stands between heaven and earth, its height indistinguishable at tens of thousands of feet. Just one glance is enough to evoke an irresistible urge to prostrate oneself in worship.

Yuji Kambara gasped, almost collapsing to his knees.

"Is this the Western Paradise? Could you be the Buddha?"

"Buddha? No, I am merely an enlightened being in the process of cultivation, just like you."

The majestic phantom within the seven-colored Buddha light continued to transmit an ethereal voice.

Although this unknown, almost godlike being was so humble, Yuji Kanbara dared not take such words seriously at all.

What a joke! I'm just an ordinary little policeman. How could I possibly compare to such an extraordinary being?

"I don't know, what advice do you need from me?"

"In the year of the Demon, the world undergoes great changes, evil spirits emerge, and the end times have arrived."

The voice of the majestic, illusory figure was filled with compassion and empathy, making it impossible not to believe it.

"The calamity is imminent, but I cannot bear to see living beings suffer. Although I am far away on the other side and cannot intervene in the human world, I once left something in the world that can protect all living beings."

"Yuji Kanbara is in Senso-ji Temple."

(End of this chapter)