I became Hokage in Tokyo

Chapters 320 and 321 Tokyo Hot

"What exactly happened, that huge explosion and the fire near Senso-ji Temple?"

"Is it a fire, or a chemical plant explosion? I've never seen such a big fire in my life..."

"Even the Self-Defense Forces and tanks have entered Asakusa, something big must have happened."

A large crowd gathered on the east bank of the Sumida River, just across from Senso-ji Temple, pointing at the fire burning the temple and taking photos and videos with their phones.

Behind the crowd, a corner of the tightly closed curtains of a high-rise apartment in Sumida Ward was pulled open, and someone peered down through the window.

After the Self-Defense Forces moved into Asakusa, effectively sealing off almost half of Taitung Ward and evacuating tens of thousands of residents, such a large-scale military operation could not be concealed and had already caused a great stir throughout the city.

For the citizens of Tokyo, these past two days have been filled with anxiety and trepidation.

First, rumors spread like wildfire that the eruption of Mount Fuji might affect Tokyo.

Afterwards, various rumors, both true and false, spread on the internet, saying that a barrier had appeared over Mount Fuji and that countless monsters had escaped from Mount Fuji to eat people.

Less than two days after the eruption of Mount Fuji subsided, another serious incident occurred: the Self-Defense Forces imposed martial law in Nishi-Asakusa.

The entire city of Tokyo was suddenly filled with a sense of unease and panic.

Many citizens, unaware of the situation, drove out of the city to seek refuge in the countryside, and the overnight exodus of cars from Tokyo created long queues, blocking several highways and national roads.

However, only a minority of Tokyo's tens of millions of residents chose to evacuate and wait and see; the vast majority still had to work and live, and couldn't leave even if they wanted to.

Even worse, some people still recklessly went to the Sumida River to watch the commotion even after the Tokyo Metropolitan Government issued a notice to block the Nishi-Asakusa area.

"The Self-Defense Forces' deployment to Asakusa couldn't possibly be for war, could it? Even if it were, who would be the opponent? The official announcements are vague; what's going on?!"

"Could it be a monster that appeared in Sapporo?" someone asked anxiously, their expression changing. "Then isn't it very dangerous for us to stay here!"

A week has passed since the extraordinary battle in Sapporo. The Japanese government, which has been overwhelmed by disaster reconstruction, the halved Nikkei, and protests, has finally managed to organize its internal affairs, coordinate its statements, and announce that it will hold a press conference immediately for the whole country and even the world to reveal some of the truth.

Plans change too quickly, and they were further hampered by the sudden eruption of Mount Fuji, and to this day they have still not issued an official statement.

However, the pictures and videos of the battle between Yamata no Orochi and Susanoo circulating in Sapporo have spread widely on the Internet and are known to everyone.

"What are you afraid of? We're not in Asakusa, we're separated by the Sumida River, what danger could there be?"

A man chuckled nonchalantly, then pointed to the pretty girl next to him holding a camera pole and said:

"There are girls doing live streams here. You're not even more timid than girls, are you?"

"Huh, that girl...it's YOUTNBER Shrine Maiden-chan..."

"boom!"

Just then, flames shot into the sky above Senso-ji Temple on the opposite bank. In the vortex formed by the distortion of space, a huge fire serpent coiled and danced in the air like an angry dragon, scorching the dark clouds into a boiling mess.

Fire Release: Explosive Wind Dance.

The swirling flames formed by the giant fire serpent blotted out the sky.

"What is that? It's practically a fire dragon!"

"It's so hot, so hot!"

Even from a kilometer away on the other side of the river, the scorching and violent hot winds hit you in the face, making you wonder if all the moisture in your body would evaporate and turn you into a mummy.

"Fire Release: Samadhi True Fire!"

Immediately, endless golden flames shot into the sky above Senso-ji Temple, ethereal and transparent yet incomparably sacred, like golden Buddha light raining down from the heavens.

Golden flames devoured the crimson flames!

The arrogant fire serpent, resembling an invincible demon, shook its head and tail under the scorching heat of the Samadhi True Fire, emitting painful hissing sounds, and finally collapsed with a crash.

The unstoppable Samadhi Fire, like a raging tsunami, attacked the man in a black robe with red clouds standing on the five-story tower.

He quickly retreated, his figure flashing towards the main hall further behind.

The five-story pagoda beneath our feet was ignited by the Samadhi True Fire, transforming into a hundred-meter-high tree of fire and silver flowers.

The five-story pagoda of Senso-ji Temple has suffered many calamities. Its predecessor was built in the first year of Keian in the mid-17th century. It was destroyed by the Great Kanto Earthquake and burned down by the Tokyo Air Raid. It was rebuilt twice and moved from its original site on the west side of Senso-ji Temple to its current location.

This will require a third reconstruction, provided that Senso-ji Temple can be preserved.

"Hmph! Jiraiya, you're courting your own destruction! Die in your own Samadhi Fire!"

The man wearing a white mask, suspended in mid-air, faced the golden flames sweeping in from below. He drew an Uchiha fan from behind his back and swung it down heavily.

"call!"

The Samadhi Fire that had soared into the sky, with its previously unstoppable momentum, surged backward and flowed downward.

"Boom boom boom!"

The sudden appearance of dazzling white light was like a small sun rising in the night.

Smoke and dust obscured the sky, making daytime gloomy.

The sudden burst of high temperature and shockwave was devastating, snapping the buildings in front of Senso-ji Temple in half, and then the fragments were ignited and turned into dust.

"Ouch! My eyes hurt so much!"

"It's so hot, so hot, it's killing me!"

Those who were watching the fire from across the Sumida River were also affected, with screams and chaos erupting.

First, the intense light from the explosion is deeply imprinted on the retinas of those who look directly at it, almost blinding them.

Then the hot wind blows through the body like a razor, creating a phantom pain as if the skin is being burned and the flesh is being charred, causing unbearable suffering.

Some people were so burned that they lost their senses and jumped into the Sumida River in an attempt to cool themselves down.

The next second, it let out a "whoosh" and jumped back onto the shore like a pig scalded by boiling water.

"What's wrong with you?"

"The water was hot too, it almost boiled me alive!"

The female anchor, who was broadcasting live with her back to the Sumida River when the explosion occurred, was so startled by the sudden sound that she dropped her broadcasting pole.

"Ahem, what happened again? An earthquake?"

It took the female anchor a while to turn around with lingering fear and look towards the Asakusa on the opposite bank.

A raging fire shot into the sky, illuminating the night sky as bright as day.

Hers, she couldn't help but gasp for breath of the scorching air, feeling her lungs burning hot.

"Everyone, I'm so sorry! Even the other side of the Sumida River isn't safe, so today's live stream will probably have to end here. Katori-chan is going to make a quick getaway."

The sweet and charming Katori Amami stuck out her tongue at the camera and made an apologetic gesture.

This woman is none other than Katori-chan, the imposter shrine maiden who previously conducted a live stream of ghost hunting in the abandoned shopping mall in Adachi Ward.

The live-streaming team, which mainly uses paranormal adventures as a gimmick, encountered ghosts after walking on the dark night. After almost being wiped out by a real monster, Amami Katori was detained and interrogated by the Metropolitan Police Department for a whole month and was only released after signing a strict confidentiality agreement.

Since the 19th year of the Heisei era, ordinary people who have been involved in incidents involving monsters and evil spirits and have accidentally learned the inside story have all been dealt with using the same procedure.

To make matters worse, after Tenkai Kaori retrieved the item, her account, "The Great Adventure of Apprentice Shrine Maiden Kaori-chan," which she had been running for several years, was also forcibly deleted.

Well, actually, it's nothing.

Once bitten, twice shy. After that nightmarish experience, Katori Amami never dared to do any more supernatural live streams, and even had to sleep with the lights on.

Originally, Katori Amami had lost interest in continuing to be a YouTuber, but after several years as a broadcaster, she wasn't used to working a regular job, and the small machinery factory in her hometown had also gone out of business.

For a moment, I didn't know what to do.

However, the hiatus did not last long. After the Sapporo battle, resourceful netizens used video footage from Sapporo to find that Itachi Uchiha, wearing a black robe with red clouds, first appeared during a ghost-hunting livestream in Katori, Tenkai.

Katori Amami suddenly transforms from a lewd shrine maiden who deceives the audience for easy money into a beautiful survivor who witnesses the mystery.

The influx of traffic and trending topics is truly enticing, so Katori Amami created a new account and started doing what she used to do.

After all, Kaori Amami really wanted money, she desperately wanted money.

The members of the live-streaming team were killed by a monster, but the Metropolitan Police Department ruled it all as an accidental death and even disposed of the body, so naturally there was no possibility of compensation.

Tenkai Kaori felt extremely guilty about the deaths of several childhood friends in her team, so she personally paid a sum of money as a condolence payment, which wiped out her savings of several years.

"Do you guys still want Katori-chan to continue streaming? No, no way."

Seeing the comments urging her to stay put, and even more outrageous demands for her to go further and stream in Asakusa, Amami Katori shook her head with a wry smile.

"The bridge over the Sumida River is cordoned off by the Self-Defense Forces, and look at this fire; getting close would be extremely dangerous!"

Katori Amami pointed the camera at the Nishi-Asakusa area on the opposite shore.

"Bang bang bang!"

Flames were everywhere in sight, covering the mountains and fields, and it was impossible to tell how many streets and tens of thousands of square meters of the urban area were burning.

Tokyo is burning, with temperatures soaring and approaching the record high temperatures of the summer of 1945!

Such a massive fire reminded Tokyo viewers of LeMay's fire attack and Yokohama residents of the Great Kanto Earthquake.

In the 1945 Tokyo bombing raid, 300 B-29 bombers flew from Guam to Tokyo and carried out repeated carpet bombing, dropping 2000 tons of incendiary bombs. More than 40 square kilometers of buildings in the city center were reduced to ashes.

Although the earlier Great Kanto Earthquake did not last long, the fires it triggered burned for three days and three nights. In Yokohama, hundreds of people jumped into a lake in a park to escape the fire, but the flames boiled the lake water, scalding them to death.

Although Katori Amami had already considered retiring, the viewers in the live stream seemed to enjoy the drama and flooded the screen with comments urging her to stay.

The Self-Defense Forces sealed off Asakusa, and then an explosion occurred at Senso-ji Temple, with strange phenomena of fire snakes and golden flames that could be clearly seen even from Sumida Ward on the opposite bank.

And then there was that final explosion. If it weren't for the lack of a typical mushroom cloud, people would have believed it was a nuclear bomb that exploded in Asakusa.

What happened in Asakusa is very likely to be another battle between superhumans like the one in Sapporo!

"Thank you so much for your donations and support, but this is really not an option! It's extremely dangerous to even stay here, let alone get close. The temperature here is like standing on the crater of an erupting volcano. If you're like Katori-chan and are in the vicinity of Taitung Ward, please leave as soon as possible for your safety."

Although she was very reluctant to give up the ever-increasing popularity in the live stream, Amami Katori gritted her teeth and decided to end the broadcast and run away.

Which is more important, money or life? Is there even a question?

Of course it's fate!

What's the use of having a lot of money if you're not alive to enjoy it?

"Ding!"

But just then, the system sent a notification that the number of followers had exceeded 30,000.

Tenkai Katori was both surprised and delighted.

Her original ghost-hunting livestream account only had a few hundred thousand followers at its peak. After all, Japan's population size is what it is, and it can't compare to the entertainment industry in the neighboring country with millions of followers.

The number of old fans and followers who came from the apprentice shrine maiden Katori-chan is barely over ten thousand.

For a small account that has only been back for a few days, this is quite good.

I only did a live stream for less than half an hour tonight, and my number of followers doubled.

With this many fans, one can easily make easy money by taking on gigs, enough to live comfortably in Tokyo.

And the momentum is strong, with the number of fans still rising, increasing by several hundred every time the page is refreshed.

This left Tenkai Katori, who had tasted the benefits, unsure of what to do.

Money, life, money, life, money, life...

Kaori Amami's pretty face flickered with uncertainty as she clenched her fists, finally managing to refuse.

"It's trending!"

Tenkai Kaori's gaze sharpened as the popularity of her live stream began to soar, with the number of followers approaching 50,000, making it even harder for her to part with it.

"No, really no..." Tenkai Kaori said softly, feigning reluctance.

Although rationally, Katori Amami knew it was best to leave this dangerous place now, if she missed this chance to soar to new heights, she didn't know when she would be able to regain 100,000 followers.

Money, life, money, life, money, money, life...

What should I do?!

Just then, a large and bold notification for a donation swept across the dense barrage of comments from left to right.

Katori Amami, with a very professional demeanor, flashed a sweet smile and said, "Thank you to this 'Naruto Uzumaki' for the 10,000...wait, wait, wait, wait, one million yen!?"

Amami Katori was stunned for several seconds, then counted the zeros several times in disbelief. After confirming that there were six zeros, her eyes lit up.

Money, money, money, money, money, money, money!

People die for wealth, birds die for food—let's risk it all!

"Since everyone's so enthusiastic, Katori-chan absolutely can't spoil the fun! Follow Katori-chan's footsteps and see if what appeared at Senso-ji Temple is a human or a demon!"

A bright smile spread across Tenkai Katori's face as she raised her small fist and swung it heavily at Senso-ji Temple, which was now almost reduced to ruins.

"Let's Go! Go! Go!"

(End of this chapter)