I became the Lord of the Eternal World in Tokyo.

"No... he is a more powerful, more suitable target..."

After a brief silence, the sly-smiling little monk stared intently into Uesugi Tetsuya's eyes and said in a seductive tone,

Do you crave power?

Uesugi Tetsu smiled.

"A mere cluster of lotus light, secretly gathered up with a will, dares to talk to me about power?"

The smile vanished in an instant, and Uesugi Tetsu retorted mockingly,

"Who do you think you are?"

The young monk remained silent.

Its chaotic, complex, yet extremely simple thoughts spun rapidly.

"The true identity... has been identified..."

“Capture him…and cast him into the cycle of reincarnation as well…”

"Confirmed, confirmed."

Two seconds later, the little monk's lips curled into a strange smile.

"You will crave me."

Everything around him blurred rapidly after those words. Uesugi Tetsuya, who was prepared, knew that this manifestation of willpower was trying to use the same methods used against the two-foot-tall man to deal with him.

I want him to have his will worn down in endless cycles of torment, and finally accept the fusion with the principle.

Then, let's go.

Uesugi Tetsuya did not resist, allowing his thoughts to be drawn into the situation, following the coping strategies he had previously discussed with Eijaku.

Just as everything was about to restart, Uesugi Tetsuya had a slight thought and used his inner energy to crush the little monk's body into particles invisible to the naked eye.

A distinct lag sensation followed, and then Uesugi Tetsu's past memories were obscured by a thin veil of blur.

……

Everything restarted.

However, unlike before, this time a boy who has lost his memory and has no relatives or friends appears in this world based on the memories of the two-foot-tall adult.

This time, Erchi and her brother have a new companion.

This friend named himself "Che".

In the Edo period, in the eighth year of Keicho.

No matter how much Uesugi Tetsuya's appearance changed, the men destined to meet on this day, in this month, in this year will eventually encounter Futaba and her brother.

"Hehe... He has such a face, and he's actually a man."

"Tsk tsk, what a beauty! Interesting, very interesting!"

"Get out of here! Let me go! Xiao Jiu, run! Run!"

Is everything about to repeat itself...?

"—What do you want?"

A boy carrying some dry firewood, a few grain pellets, and a couple of pieces of cloth stood behind several men, and his voice immediately quieted the noisy environment.

"There is still one?"

A man turned around, his eyes widening in surprise the moment he saw Uesugi Tetsu: "There's another one! Look!"

Upon hearing this, the boy who had been grabbed by the men immediately screamed in terror.

"Che, run! Quickly, take Xiao Jiu and run!"

The boy named Che placed what he was carrying on the ground, thoughtfully observed the men who were grinning maliciously for a moment, and then asked,

"What do you want to do?"

Upon hearing this question, several men burst into laughter. The relatively burly man among them extended his dirty hand towards Uesugi Tetsuya.

"What are you doing? Hehe...of course, I'm doing..."

click!

"what--!"

With a blank expression, Uesugi Tetsu gripped the wrist in front of him tightly with his five fingers, grinding and crushing the wrist bones: "I understand."

He loosened his grip, tightened his fingers, made a hand chop motion, and calmly nodded.

"—Then you all deserve to die."

The man, filled with rage and regret, roared wildly at those around him.

"Damn brat! Get him, hand this brat over to me..."

Swish!

After the sound of something cutting through the air, there were no more annoying, ugly noises.

Gululu.

Thick blood gushed from their gaunt necks like small fountains, staining the scattered heads red.

"That's right."

Uesugi Tetsuya smiled and nodded at the two men lying on the ground with their mouths slightly open: "To deal with these people, we need to use a sword."

He then reached out his hand to the boy who lay unharmed in a pool of blood.

"Che...you killed someone..."

The two-foot-tall older brother said blankly.

Uesugi Tetsu blinked, then asked in surprise, "These are all people who deserve to die. Is there anything wrong with me killing them?"

The two-foot-tall older brother was speechless.

At this moment, Erchi slowly pulled his gaze from the sticky pool of blood and asked the boy who had killed several people with a single strike, yet whose clothes were still clean, "..."

Is killing right?

"Neither right nor wrong."

Uesugi Tetsu said, "There are some people in this world who deserve to die, who are destined to die but have not died, so I killed them."

Er Chi was puzzled: "Then what is a person who should be killed, and what is a person who should not be killed?"

"You'll have to find the answer yourself."

Uesugi Tetsu grinned at her, "But it's okay, just follow behind me until then."

It took the older brother a while to recover. He gestured with his hands and said, "But how did you do that? You took care of these guys in one go..."

"How did you do it?"

Uesugi Tetsu scratched his head, finding the question somewhat difficult to answer.

Under the silent gaze of the young monk in the distant mountains, Uesugi Tetsuya, who had not yet regained his memories, played with the internal energy at his fingertips and laughed happily.

"I guess it's something they were born with."

In the following decade or so, samurai, ronin, thieves, natural disasters, and wild beasts constantly attempted to do evil, harass, and torment Che, Nichi, and Nichi's older brother.

It hardly seems like the peaceful beginning of the Edo period.

However, they were all killed one by one by Uesugi Tetsuya.

Erchi followed behind him, learning little by little about cultivation, life, and the principles of killing.

The two feet, completely unaware, are growing.

Only his older brother, who was only two feet tall, held a kind heart and had a completely different set of beliefs from Uesugi Tetsu, and never actually killed anyone.

Finally, upon returning to the dilapidated temple, the three young, strong, and healthy individuals once again encountered the little monk with his stiff smile.

Upon seeing the young monk again, Uesugi Tetsuya's memories, which had been painstakingly sealed away, naturally returned in their entirety.

He took a moment to process the experiences of the past decade or so, first smiling at the stunned adult behind him, then looking at the little monk whose body had become somewhat transparent.

"Your chances are running out."

Unlike easily sealing away the memories of a two-foot-tall adult.

Just as Huijue said, if his memories of experiencing all the branches of phenomena were to be obscured, then the little monk, the embodiment of his vows, would need to expend a great deal of his own consciousness.

If this happens too many times, it will become an unclaimed power of will.

This is why Huijue said that the higher the level of spiritual cultivation of those who enter this realm, the better.

If it were Ririko, she might not be able to have her memories sealed even once or twice.

Therefore, there is no question of reincarnation eroding one's will.

The little monk stared intently at Uesugi Tetsu.

Finally, he only said one sentence.

"Good luck, that's the end of it."

And so everything started all over again.

No matter where Uesugi Tetsuya is placed in this dream world, or what obstacles he encounters, nothing can stop him from saving Nichi and his brother.

The dream within the Ksitigarbha statue is based on the weakest will of the two-foot-tall man, and is grounded in his memories before becoming a bound spirit. Therefore, its scope is limited, and it cannot conjure up any supernatural beings out of thin air.

As a result, Uesugi Tetsu fought his way through, saving the enemy time and time again, and teaching Nisha.

This was repeated ten or more times.

Once again following his heart's guidance, he returned to the dilapidated temple. Uesugi Tetsu looked up and saw the little monk, his fists clenched tightly, no longer smiling.

"Why... can you always find it!"

Uesugi Tetsuya, who immediately remembered everything, couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Intuition? Or, it's because I've been doing it for a long time."

The young monk was speechless.

The method that was supposed to provide this great power with a new body did not assimilate them; instead, it dissolved their own will.

The young monk sighed deeply and lowered his eyes.

Its body slowly dissipated, replaced by a wisp of pure white willpower floating in mid-air, devoid of any distracting thoughts, righteous and peaceful.

【The pure, unclaimed power of will】.

The last vestige of power that tarnished the past and memories dissipated here.

Two feet in diameter, his pupils trembled slightly, regaining their original brilliance.

However, she never forgot the long experience of the Ksitigarbha statue in her dream.

She abruptly raised her head, staring at that familiar figure from behind, and asked in a trembling voice,

"Lord Che?"

Hearing the familiar tone and address, Uesugi Tetsu breathed a heavy sigh of relief. He turned around casually and smiled at her.

"Long time no see, Erchi."

He blinked.

"See, I kept my promise."

"Waaaaah!!! Lord Che!!!"

A cry of joy, however indescribable, rang out.

The two-foot-tall man looked up and wailed, trying to run over, but lost his sense of direction and fell headfirst into that large mass of unclaimed willpower.

Under the speechless gaze of Uesugi Tetsuya, who had already spread his arms wide, notifications kept popping up.

Your shikigami "Yasata-onna" is absorbing "unclaimed pure willpower"...

Your shikigami "Yasata-onna" is absorbing "pure willpower within her body"...

[Because your shikigami "Yasata-onna" absorbed a massive amount of pure willpower, its quality has been improved, and it has now broken through the rank cap!]

[Because your shikigami "Yasakani no Onna" absorbed a massive amount of pure wish power, it became a special shikigami—"Yasakani no Bosatsu"!]