Chapter 324: The Man in the Trench Coat
After leaving the Yuigahama residence, Hikigaya Hachiman walked along the road toward his own home. Along the way, he suddenly encountered a strange man dressed in a black trench coat, leaning against a perimeter wall.
Hachiman glanced at the uniquely styled man a few times, but currently wishing only to get home quickly, he didn't pay much attention and prepared to pass him by.
Suddenly, an invisible ripple fluctuated through the air, and Hachiman's body came to a dead halt.
"Such a powerful presence..."
Even a mere leak of this aura was enough to nearly press Hachiman into the ground. Feeling the bones in his body let out a scream of distress, Hachiman immediately began circulating his internal spiritual energy at full speed while actively activating the Sun Breathing technique to resist.
Gradually, under Hachiman's total effort, the pressure that had been crushing him was slowly pushed back.
"Oh?"
Seeing that the pressure—sufficient to crush a Ghost Emperor-level spirit to death—was being pushed back by Hachiman, the man in the trench coat showed a flash of surprise and admiration in his eyes.
In the next second, the pressure that Hachiman had successfully repelled increased once more. In less than half a second, it pinned Hachiman directly to the pavement.
"If you can get up this time, I will agree to answer one question for you."
Looking down at Hachiman, the man walked over and crouched in front of him to offer the promise.
"Really?"
Hachiman gritted his teeth, struggling with everything he had. Upon hearing the promise, his eyes instantly lit up.
"Of course. I never lie."
"Fine then!"
With the man's promise secured, Hachiman instantly triggered the Inari Divine Power hidden within his body. Accompanied by a flash of blinding white light before the man, Hachiman appeared in a half-crouched position in his Demi-God form.
"The power of Inari? I didn't think she was still alive..."
Sensing the familiar fluctuations of power from Hachiman, the man rubbed his chin, a hint of nostalgia flashing in his eyes. But then, he flicked his finger, and the pressure on Hachiman's body doubled instantly.
With a thud, Hachiman fell to one knee, crushing a crater into the concrete road.
"Is that all you've got?"
The man's slightly disappointed voice drifted into his ears.
"Of course not!"
Hachiman gritted his teeth, mobilizing every shred of spiritual energy and Divine Power in his body. After a long struggle, slowly, he finally stood up once more!
"In that case, your strength is actually quite decent. And considering when you started practicing, your talent can only be described as freakish..."
Standing quietly beside Hachiman and seeing him use his full strength to stand against the pressure again, the man nodded in satisfaction.
But it wasn't over yet!
"Possessing two types of power at once is fine in the early stages, but you'll suffer for it in later cultivation."
Noticing that the spiritual energy and Inari Divine Power in Hachiman's body were clearly separated and incompatible, the man's hand moved again. This time, it was a "Super Double" increase!
The instant the pressure adjusted, Hachiman was pressed directly into the concrete, leaving a human-shaped indentation.
"Senpai... I don't believe I've offended you, have I?"
Lying in the crater, feeling as though his bones were about to explode, Hachiman spoke with great difficulty, his voice full of frustration and confusion. If the first two times could be seen as a test of his strength, this third time felt like the man was doing it simply because he found him annoying.
"Brat, don't mistake a good heart for ill intent."
Standing beside Hachiman with his arms crossed, and sensing that Hachiman was in no life-threatening danger while his spiritual and divine powers had yet to fuse, the man increased the pressure to the level of a Lower Ghost God.
Feeling the spiritual energy in Hachiman's body slowly beginning to intertwine with the Inari Divine Power, the man nodded in satisfaction. He then sat down nearby to chat with Hachiman.
"Ask away. I promised to answer one question."
"......"
'Could you let me out before I ask?!'
Feeling as if Mount Fuji were resting on his back, Hachiman felt countless alpacas stampeding through his mind. However, he could only think such words. After all, if he spoke them aloud and the man took that as his one question, that would be truly...
"Why are the five Exorcists leaving collectively?"
After thinking for a moment, Hachiman finally asked the question he was currently most concerned about.
Surprise flashed in the man's eyes. The fact that he and the other four were leaving Japan for a while wasn't exactly a secret, but logically speaking, Hachiman shouldn't have known. Otherwise, he wouldn't have bothered traveling all the way from Kansai this time.
"I cannot tell you the specific details. And even if I did, with your current strength, you wouldn't be able to intervene at all.
This time, it's not just the five of us from Japan leaving. Actually, a total of 121 Exorcists from around the world will gather at a special location and disappear for a period of time.
As for how long we'll be gone, we can't guarantee it in advance. It might be a day, it might be a week, months, or years. Of course, it's also possible we won't come back..."
"Then what about the evil spirits?"
Sensing the hint of bitterness in the man's tone, Hachiman realized that while he didn't know what the Exorcists would face, it must be something extremely severe. However, with his current strength, he had no way to help, so he asked how they planned to handle the spirits after their departure. Since they knew they were leaving, they must have left some means of restraint, right?
"It's understandable if you don't know about the other four regions, but you don't know about the Kanto region either?"
The man stared at Hachiman as if he were an idiot, wondering to himself if a certain tsundere individual had found it too bothersome to tell Hachiman what he should know by now.
"I really don't know..." Hachiman felt quite innocent.
As soon as he finished speaking, however, he received a slap to the back of the head from the man. Then, the man's voice, full of frustration at his lack of awareness, rang in his ears.
"The 2D one, the dead tsundere, and then me—you've met three Exorcists now! And you still don't know?"
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