"So, that's the situation..."
"From what I sense, since the young Emperor has discovered my assets, then you, too, can't possibly be clean."
Inside a secluded chamber, Tanaka Ken-go was communicating with Chizuru Gin-shiro through a special soul-linking method.
During these extraordinary times, Tanaka Ken-go no longer trusted conventional communication methods and was forced to resort to this means.
"Indeed..."
Chizuru Gin-shiro's voice emanated from the soul vessel.
However, it sounded at least ten times more aged than their previous conversation.
"The tactic of beating the grass to startle the snake hasn't only been applied to you; our organization is in utter chaos right now..."
Tanaka Ken-go blinked in surprise:
"What, were you also teleported to some dark, hidden place?"
Chizuru Gin-shiro let out a wry chuckle:
"The situation is even worse..."
"Our teleportation was so precise it targeted specific areas and personnel managed by each organizer."
"I can hardly believe the young Emperor's methods could be so heaven-defying..."
"If it were just a loss of information, fine. But now, he has grasped every single detail of ours with absolute accuracy. How can anyone accept this?"
"Even if I, a core member, were to arrange things without the final list, I couldn't possibly do a better job."
"If it weren't for the sheer impossibility of it, I would almost suspect that Master..."
"Ah, forget it, never mind..."
It was evident that Chizuru Gin-shiro's mental state had completely collapsed.
Tanaka Ken-go inhaled sharply:
"Knowing such detailed information is indeed terrifying..."
"Even with our entire Eyed Clan working together, we couldn't achieve this..."
"Hmm? Wait! What did you just say?!"
"You... were also teleported away?!"
Tanaka Ken-go was about to say something else but suddenly realized a dire predicament.
"Yes, is there a problem with that?"
Chizuru Gin-shiro's brain was almost malfunctioning and didn't grasp the issue.
Tanaka Ken-go exhaled a breath of accumulated frustration:
"Do you recall me saying I was teleported from outside the imperial villa?"
"So at the time, I thought I was caught because I had stepped onto the grounds of his villa..."
"But if what I'm hearing from you is true, the scale of His Majesty's teleportation this time probably far exceeds our imaginations."
"To take away so many people simultaneously, and with such precise coordinates..."
"At the very least, this must be a city-crossing level teleportation array."
"This means that His Majesty not only has an unfathomable number of capable individuals at his disposal, but the planning for this scheme has also been underway for an unknown duration..."
"We... seem to be cornered!"
After hearing Tanaka Ken-go's analysis, Chizuru Gin-shiro fell silent.
He was right. What Kanna Gūji now stood behind was on a level that was utterly incomprehensible.
To possess such celestial power meant they already held an invincible advantage.
Under such circumstances, if they were to continue resisting, the outcome would likely not be favorable...
After a long pause, Chizuru Gin-shiro finally murmured:
"But we have no retreat, do we?"
"With him knowing everything, how could he possibly let us off easily?"
"Even if he has given us a chance to admit our mistakes and atone for our sins, who can guarantee he won't settle scores later?"
"If that's the case, once the situation in Sakura stabilizes, we'll be nothing more than fish on a chopping board!"
Tanaka Ken-go nodded gravely:
"That's precisely what I think..."
"I suspect the reason he chose not to immediately punish us is because we are still useful to him and can significantly aid in his actions to purge Kyushu and even the entire Sakura nation."
"Otherwise, he wouldn't have resorted to this warning; he would have launched a surprise attack before we could prepare..."
Chizuru Gin-shiro nodded repeatedly:
"That's about right..."
"So, we must not let them have their way!"
Tanaka Ken-go took a deep breath:
"Then, I hope we can cooperate more closely—at least during this critical juncture of life and death."
"I believe you also don't want your organization, along with your dreams, to be annihilated by this young Emperor's schemes, do you?"
Chizuru Gin-shiro blinked:
"What kind of closer cooperation?"
"Is our current level of cooperation not close enough?"
Tanaka Ken-go sneered:
"Miss Chizuru, you don't actually think I know nothing, do you?"
"You believe your playing both sides, straddling countless boats, is so seamless?"
"If you continue to feign ignorance, then I believe we should just wash our necks and wait for the young Emperor to chop them off!"
"To still prioritize covering your own tracks during such a critical time, your Shrine Priest organization has done well!"
Chizuru Gin-shiro quickly stammered:
"No, no, no... It's not, it's not..."
"I admit we made preparations for multiple outcomes, but that was truly out of helplessness!"
"An organization like ours, with few subordinates and reliant on elite members for maintenance, truly has no choice."
"However, now that the young Emperor has torn off the mask with us, I don't think we need to pretend anymore..."
"Let's unite! Let's form a wartime alliance of the closest kind! Unite all the forces we can unite!"
"The young Emperor has gone too far; how can we endure this in silence?"
"Let's charge at him together! Even if we ultimately face defeat, we must at least take a few layers of skin off him!"
At this moment, a cornered Chizuru Gin-shiro also began to show ferocity.
Tanaka Ken-go, however, paused:
"Can you truly make decisions for your organization?"
Chizuru Gin-shiro immediately scoffed:
"Master issued this directive to us after discovering what happened..."
"It's just that I was initially unsure of Patriarch Tanaka's stance, so I didn't declare my position directly."
Hearing this, Tanaka Ken-go also scoffed a couple of times:
"What a cunning little fox..."
Chizuru Gin-shiro giggled:
"Aren't you no less, Old Fox Patriarch?"
...
And so, without Kanna Gūji's knowledge, he inexplicably shouldered a massive burden for the forgotten ones.
Moreover, the direct consequence of this burden was that Tanaka Ken-go and others, who had long harbored ill intentions, decided to go all out right now!