The Gods That Once Resided
It was only early in the morning that one Son Goku had begun his day by wanting to repay Kokomi for the meal the day before, mostly due to that particular comment from Naki in regards to the food supply on this island, and decided the best way to do so was to fish for food.
He may not have his tail to act as bait anymore, but catching them barehanded was more than easy for someone that had spent his life out in the wild.
At first, he wanted to jump straight from the shrine to one of the river streams below, but decided against it as he remembered that he needed a container of some sort to store said fish.
In order to search for them, he headed out to the village to see if anyone would lend some to him. There, he met an old lady near a small shrine who was more than happy to agree to his request..
Thus, he quickly moved around the island, while taking in the sights as he went along the path.
From the flowing water to the gigantic landscapes, Goku felt at ease as it reminded him of his old home, a place that he had not returned to for some time now.
But there were also occasions that he saw monsters wearing strange masks walking around, and even ones with one eyeball floating just barely above the waters.
He didn't think much of them, as his current goal was just to simply find somewhere to fish, thus he ignored them.
Eventually, he did find a spot, and another, and the ones after that as he continued to catch more and more fish.
Just as he finished his last catch for the day, he sensed that those masked creatures had approached him from behind, with most of them staring at the baskets beside him.
He instinctively knew what they were after, and quickly got into a battle stance.
Upon realizing that the martial artist was aware of their presence, they immediately charged at him with reckless abandon, swinging their clubs wildly in the air.
He did not rush towards them, but observed their movements carefully as he continued standing in the same spot.
And just as they came into his range, Goku struck them precisely in their vitals before they could even get past him.
One...two...three...four...
A single strike was enough for him to take any of them out, and it was a simple matter of reading their movements and countering it in a way they could not react to.
Just as the last one fell, Goku did not lower his guard as he sensed something else approaching.
It was another one of those masked creatures, only this time it was several times bigger in size compared to the ones he just took out.
The monster stomped on the ground, coating itself in some sort of purple aura as lightning courses through its body.
Goku could not understand what exactly was that particular action, but discerned that it was some sort of way to strengthen itself, somewhat like how he used ki to increase his physical strength.
It roared, before hurling itself towards him at a surprising speed for its bulk.
Not that he couldn't have dodged out of the way, but he couldn't afford to. If he did, then the attack would have most definitely ruined the fish that he had gathered.
So, Goku jumped forward as well, responding in kind as he reeled in his right arm, before swinging a right hook intending to hit it in its head.
The two strikes collided, momentarily stopping in mid-air for only but an instant, until Goku eventually overpowered it as he yelled at the top of his lungs.
"Hargh!"
The monster was sent flying several meters in the air before crashing back into the ground, a loud thud accompanying it as it landed.
Faster than lightning, but calm as the clouds.
Those were his thoughts as he breathed in the air around him, before he rushed towards the still fallen creature, not intending on giving it even a bit of breathing room to regain its footing.
The monster howled in anger, thrashing about as it proceeded to pound the ground, creating a small burst of thunder blasting off in all directions.
Goku almost effortlessly dodges each and every one of them, easily maneuvering his way around them before reaching his opponent.
He ducked as it swung its broad arms wildly, and kicked it from underneath as it was lifted high up into the air.
Without missing a beat, Goku continued his attack as he reached the same heights and sent a right kick onto the creature, rocketing it into the nearby waters.
He did not check on its condition, merely cupping both his hands as a small burst of bluish energy formed in between them once he landed back on the ground.
Perhaps it was overdoing it, but Goku needed to make sure he was still in top form after being dropped into a new world.
He was able to test out his physical strength through fighting those smaller monsters earlier, and was able to push it even more by fighting the giant one.
So, the only thing left he needed to make certain of was his own ki.
And what better way to do so than using the technique that he was the fondest of, the Kamehameha.
"HAAA!"
He then outstretched both his arms as a beam of light blasted from his open palms, heading straight towards the monster that was struggling to even stand.
Before it could even perceive what was happening, it was pressed further into the waters as the wave pushed it in continuously.
The blast continued on as it sank the monster downwards...until finally, a huge burst of water exploded from the resulting impact underneath the waters.
There was a moment of silence until the beam of light died down, where Goku then focused on his senses to make certain of its fate.
It was done.
Life was to be treasured and protected, or so that was what Kami liked to preach. Eventhough his current mentor often utter that saying, Goku found himself agreeing and disagreeing at that statement.
After all, Kami wanted to get rid of Piccolo, so did that not go against what he was trying to teach?
Before, he did not have an actual concept of life and death. Even after finding it out through his adventures, he did not change much in his ways.
That changed during his current training. While he had no qualms about ending the lives of those that he deemed evil like Piccolo, he had also held more restraint to avoid possibly doing such a thing accidentally.
But there was something that was just...wrong about those monsters he just fought. He could not fight off that sense of uneasiness the entire time he clashed with them.
It was not that they were actual threats to him, rather it was their ki that was throwing them off.
Living and unliving, that was what he felt from them.
Perhaps it was premature, and even contradictory after what he had learned in his training, but his guts told him that what he did just now was the right thing. Even putting aside the whole, the fact that he was attacked for merely fishing showed that they were dangerous.
Whether or not that's true however, he did not know.
What he did know was that whatever happened just now, he accepted the conclusion regardless.
After all, it wasn't the first time he had done such a thing.
Moving on, he surveyed the area, seeing a few cracks and scorch marks on the ground. Luckily, none of them had hit any of the baskets he had brought, which also meant the fish he had caught had not gone to waste.
Just as he was about to carry them however, he noticed a number of figures approaching him once.
The only difference this time was that it was clearly not monsters of any kind, but just people.
From their expressions alone, they did not look happy at all.
Goku laughed awkwardly as he found himself surrounded by several people, each one arming weapons looking ready to strike at any moment.
Honestly, he was not so much worried about his safety, but was more concerned with the baskets full of fish beside him. After all, he had spent a good amount of time catching them and gathering them in said baskets.
Averting one problem only to encounter another, it was honestly...not too weird for him if truth be told.
A man at the front of the group approached him, with one of the things about the man that stuck out to Goku was his mustache, "Who are you? A member of the Shogun's Army here to spy on Watatsumi Island?" he yelled out, pointing a spear towards Goku.
Goku blinked, confused more than anything, "Shogun's Army? I don't see anything like that here?"
The only army he could think of was the Red Ribbon Army, but they had been disbanded a few years already thanks to him, and even if they were still around, there was no way they were here in a new world of all places.
"What's this? Baskets full of fish? I get it now, you're not only a part of the Shogun's Army, but you're a smuggler as well! That's why there was a loud explosion just now, you were blasting the waters to gather them in bulk! This way, you get to cut off our food supply!" He accused.
"I don't know what you're talking about. You sure like to think up whatever you like huh?" Goku remarked nonchalantly, not particularly concerned about the hostility being emanated.
He took a glance at the others behind, and found their expressions to be varied. There was one who seemed to be reluctant in regards to this confrontation, another that seemed to be hiding their anger from showing, but was very obvious about it.
"Silence! Come with us quietly...or we do this the hard way," he said, as the others gripped their weapons tightly, trying to intimidate the martial artist.
"Oh come on, you guys gotta believe I'm not from this Shogun's Army. You probably don't know me because I've only just arrived yesterday. You can ask Kokomi about it if you want?"
The utterance of her name had an immediate effect on the man's mood, "So now you're slandering Her Excellency? What fools do you take us for? That's it. Men, apprehend him. If he resists, show no mercy."
Upon hearing the command, two of them moved slowly towards him from both sides, their spears at the ready.
The instant Goku moved, spears from two seperate directions came at him.
He casually dodge them as he picked up one of the baskets with his teeth, and then jumped backwards, gaining some distance between them.
"You guys are gonna mess up the fish if you keep this up," he managed to say somewhat clearly despite biting into the rope, annoyed at their attempt to capture him.
Several seconds right after, the sound of empty strikes echoed through the air, with Goku dodging them left and right.
Sangonomiya Kokomi ran as fast as she could upon realizing the situation that was about to occur.
Knowing the Resistance members stationed on this island, they would most definitely be quick to draw conclusions.
In most cases, this would not be a bad disposition to possess, as a lot of visitors in the past had been shown to have less than good intentions towards Watatsumi Island.
But that only applied in most situations, which this one was most certainly not..
Upon reaching the area, she observed the situation and quickly found out that it was already devolving, with one side attacking another.
As Kokomi continued moving onwards, she controlled the water in the river as she flicked a fish-shaped projectile into the air, sending it in between both sides.
The men were distracted by the sudden disruption, only to find out who had stopped them.
"Stand down," she stated in her most commanding voice.
Instead of heeding her words, they believed that the Divine Priestess was instead referring to the intruder.
"Ah, Your Excellency. We were just about to apprehend this spy, for not only infiltrating Watatsumi Island, but also for attempting to cut off our food supply and slandering your name."
So, that was the line of reasoning they had created. She supposed that it could be a possibility if one was to look at it from an angle, but there were far too many holes for it to even remotely hold water.
"Daisuke, as much I appreciate your vigilance in ensuring the safety of Watatsumi Island, no doubt because General Gorou had entrusted everyone's safety to you. However, Son Goku is nothing more but a personal guest of mine."
Her words had an instant effect on them.
"...so, what he was saying was true then?" the one known as Daisuke asked, still trying to comprehend her words, believing that he had misheard.
"I don't know the exact conversation you had, but yes, there are no mistakes in regards to his stay here at Watatsumi Island."
A firm affirmation from their leader did just the trick, as many of them slowly but surely put down their weapons, with some of them avoiding the martial artist's blinking stare
"Goku, as the Divine Priestess, I would like to extend my apologies in regards to your current treatment. Though they did not know of your situation, it is still on me that I did not inform them beforehand."
Truly, for as much as she tried, there were still areas she lacked in terms of leadership.
Perhaps it was because she herself had no desire for such a position in the first place?
"You're making it like it's a huge deal. It's fine, don't mind it so much Kokomi," Goku said, laughing it off.
"No, Her Excellency is right. I was too rash in my assumption, and I would like to apologize to you for making such a foolish decision. You may resent me, I deserve it, but please give the men behind me another chance, they only acted on my command."
"Like I said before, you really like going ahead and making stuff up huh? There's really nothing to say sorry about...I mean, what's there to forgive if you've done nothing wrong in the first place?"
He then glanced at the others around Daisuke, giving them the biggest grin he could muster.
"After all, you were just protecting what's important to you right?"
There was stunned silence all around, none of them able to form a single sentence hearing such pure honesty.
Daisuke was the first to speak, "Thank you...for your understanding and I promise I'll strive to be better, not just for myself, but for Watatsumi!"
"Well, if you wanna become better, you mind taking these to Kokomi's place?" he asked them, pointing towards the baskets.
"...Goku, were you out here fishing this entire morning until now just for that?"
Goku scratched the back of his head, "Ah well, I figured I ought to repay you for yesterday, you know?"
Strange. She did not show any outward displeasure during dinner with him yesterday, so there should have been no reason for Goku to return such a gesture.
There was a good chance that Naki had something to do with this, considering how obvious her initial impression of him was.
It was a topic that she needed to have a discussion with Naki at a later time.
Daisuke nodded in admiration, "So that was what you were doing, I pegged you all wrong. In that case, we're more than happy to."
In the midst of chaos, there is opportunity. Certainly, she saw it as a chance to turn this to a more beneficial result than just for her personal comfort.
"Rather than the shrine, distribute half of these to the village instead. After that, send the rest to the front lines, Daisuke."
There was a glint of enthusiasm in his eyes, "If Your Excellency commands it, then we shall follow."
After that, they each carried one in their arms before slowly going back to Bourou village, with Goku and Kokomi at the back of the group trailing behind.
"...Goku, capturing fish wasn't the only event that happened this morning, was it?"
His explanation only covered half the story, as she had observed scorched marks around the area Goku was at just now. He had also not given any explanation as to the cause of the loud disturbance either.
"Ehehe, it wasn't. When I was finishing up, I fought those weird monsters with the mask. They weren't really strong or anything, but the last one sure was a whole lot bigger than the rest of them."
As she suspected, the incident with the members of the Resistance wasn't the only thing that occurred. From the description he gave, it seemed to her that he had fought off a tribe of hilichurls due to the enormous amount of raw fish he had gathered, with the last one he fought off probably being a Lawachurl.
Yet, she did not see any of their bodies.
No...rather, most of them were turned into nothingness from the battle that transpired. It was also the most probable since the lawachurl was not present on the scene, despite its huge size.
It was most probably due to the person walking beside her.
Judging from the lack of injuries, and the baskets that he brought with remaining in good condition, Goku truly did not have much issues in combating them.
It spoke volumes of his strength.
"Hey Kokomi, about those monsters...they can't talk or anything right?"
"As far as I know, hilichurls are monsters that are capable of communication, but only in their own language."
She had heard before that there were those who studied such creatures, but did not think much of it. After all, there was no such discovery of someone cohabitating with such monsters.
"I see..."
There was a strange silence to it, something that she found quite uncharacteristic of him.
It was gradual, but she was beginning to see that despite his straight forward nature, Goku had matters that he contemplated on as well.
"I have to return to the shrine, for there are still matters I have to attend to. I assume that you haven't quite decided on what to do next, yes? Why not enjoy exploring the village for a bit?"
With that, Goku watched as Kokomi began walking away from him, with villagers running towards her in excitement, only for his attention to turn elsewhere as another person approached him.
It was an old woman, who had been standing beside the entrance of the village, as if she had been waiting for him to return.
"My oh my, you are unexpectedly well acquainted with Her Excellency."
"Hey, you're the granny that let me borrow those baskets this morning," he said, pointing at the old woman.
"My name is Komaki, and I would certainly appreciate it if you stop your rude gestures. Youngsters these days..."
Goku could only laugh awkwardly as he put down his finger.
Meanwhile, Kokomi was observing the two of them from afar, momentarily standing in for a moment, only to head out once she finished talking to the villagers.
"Sorry about that...oh yeah, I'll return your things later after those guys are done with it."
"Oh, that. Take your time. I'm certainly not using it, what with my old age. I'm more curious about your relation with Her Excellency. It's rare for her to treat a visitor personally, so I do wonder what your opinion of Her Excellency is."
Was it really that strange? Goku didn't really have a frame of reference of how Kokomi treated outsiders apart from him.
"Nah, it's not anything special if ya ask me. I guess to me, Kokomi is a bit...weird?"
There was a cackling laugh coming from the old woman, "Now that is an unexpected response. I suggest not giving that opinion to others on the island. After all, the people of Watatsumi island look up to the current Divine Priestess. It would be no surprise you would be in a heap of trouble if they were to hear that."
Goku was not surprised, considering his conversation with her yesterday. It merely confirmed more of what he knew.
He also really needed to get used to everyone just saying that one title for the entirety of his stay here, didn't he?
"Since you're a guest, why not try a bit of divination?" she suggested out of nowhere, a knowing smile now adorned on her face.
"What's that?"
Komaki then gestured to Goku to follow him, and before long, the two arrived at a small shrine, "Think of it as a way to take a glimpse into a potential path on the road."
Goku crossed both his arms, thinking hard to understand what she meant, "I don't quite get it, but it's like looking into the future right?"
She shook her head, "Oh no, how could the future be predicted with just a few words. It's quite preposterous, don't you think?"
That made sense. If anyone could see what would happen so easily, then it would have been done everywhere else already, wouldn't it?
"What it can do is give you a bit of a hint, think of it as fortune-telling in a way. I can assure you the shrine here is quite effective, so you need not worry about its authenticity."
"Alright, I guess I don't mind. I am kinda lost on what to do right now..."
The matter of finding a way back still lingered in his mind, and despite the hours he had spent mulling over it while he fished, he was just as clueless as what to do as before.
It seemed like Kokomi knew of some way to do it, but was withholding it for some reason.
"Excellent, but before we can perform it, I would like your help on something youngster."
It was a sudden unexpected question, but he did not mind it.
"What do you need?"
She nodded her head in approval of his attitude, "The efficacy, or so to say, the effectiveness of the shrine in this village comes from the Deep Sea Spiritherb grown there."
"Deep Sea Spiritherb...so, like from the ocean then?"
"Yes, but only at the very bottom of it, it was also where our ancestors came from as well."
"Ancestors...wait, you're telling me you all come from inside the ocean!?" he yelled out, realizing the implications.
Even someone like him was bewildered by such a revelation, and he had seen all kinds of things already in his adventures.
"Ohoho, it's always interesting to see an outlander's reaction."
Somehow, this old lady was starting to remind him of Fortuneteller Baba, and he could not tell if that was a good thing, or the exact opposite.
"It is only thanks to our god Omikami, the one who guided our ancestors to the surface, that we are now able to live above the waters."
God huh, so someone like Kami? Guess this Omikami was their protector if he had to relate them together.
She coughed, realizing she had gone somewhat off topic, "Enough of my prattling. I'm sure there is plenty of time to learn more about Omikami if you desire to do so, youngster."
Komaki paused, but decided to ask the young man in front of her instead, "So, where was I?"
"Uhh...something about those herbs being at the bottom of the ocean?" Goku replied to the best of his memory.
"Oh yes, you're quite right. Thousand of years ago, our ancestors transported those herbs to the surface in order to raise them, and in those thousand of years, these Spiritherbs have outlasted them all despite the difficulties of the time."
She then squatted, touching the leaves as she checked on the herb's condition, "Of course, in order to keep them in such condition, a steady supply of water is needed for them to survive."
She stood right back up, facing him as she continued, "Anyway, the simple matter of fact is...I ask that you retrieve the water from the Offering Pool on this island for them."
He had been listening intently, something that he had somewhat learnt to do due to Mr. Popo hitting his head for not listening properly at the beginning of his training, but from the way Komaki worded it, it didn't seem like water specifically from this Offering Pool was absolutely needed.
"Can't I just get any kind of water or something?"
"Hoho, if only it was that easy. Only the water from the Offering Pool will suffice for such a task. This is because the water there contains wishes, if you will."
"Wishes, so if you gather more than enough, you can make a wish come true then?"
"You youngsters and your ambitions. No, its strength is not as broad as you would believe. What I mean is these wishes are from the people's dreams that have lingered for generations now, as these wishes have dissolved into the water itself."
Darn. Here he thought that it would work like gathering the dragon balls back in his old world.
"Once you've gathered the water, don't tarry and return here immediately. Once you leave the Offering Pool, the power of those wishes will disappear if you let the water linger in the air for too long."
"Ummm, you talk about all that but where exactly is this wish water anyway?"
She blinked in realization, "My mistake, I supposed the Offering Pool was much too vague for a youngster that had just arrived on Watatsumi island."
She then pointed in a general direction, "It's not far from here. Simply go straight, and you'll find Mouun Shrine. It is...abandoned now, but it is still easy to spot. Once you've arrived, you'll find a well, an offering well to be more specific, and you can gather the water from there."
"Alright, guess I'll head out then!"
And just as he turned, preparing to head, Konaki's voice stopped him in his tracks.
"Youngster, do you have anything to carry that water?"
Goku merely laughed it off, which indicated clearly he did not think of that, if at all. His mind just now was more focused on trying not to forget what he had to do.
She let out a huff, "So you don't. Well, come along then. I'm sure I still have one of those buckets laying around."
Goku breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the several Torii gates, alongside the stairs leading upward, signifying that he had finally found this supposed shrine.
It took him a bit, what with trying to figure out the area, but it was not before long he was able to get his bearings.
Having the strength to jump high up in the air definitely had its perks.
And upon passing through the gates, Goku was befuddled at the state of the shrine. Collapsed structures, splintered woods, unattended weed...he couldn't even move into the shrine even if he wanted to as the main body of the shrine was not there at all.
There was no comparison between the Sangonomiya Shrine and this Mouun Shrine, but he did see one thing that caught his eye, which stood before the gates leading up to this particular area..
He had seen a few statues around the Island, like the one at the Sangonomiya Shrine or at Bourou Village, but the one here seemed much more refined.
It was a gigantic statue of a woman in robes that stood near the gates of this shrine. For some reason, he felt that there was some meaning to it he did not understand from mere observations alone.
Regardless, he could ask granny later. For now, his goal was to gather this wish water thing and run back as fast as possible.
Goku looked around amongst the rubble, until coming upon a well filled with water.
At first, he thought there was nothing special about it, until he decided to feel it out instead.
He was...not quite sure what he was sensing. There was certainly something different from regular water, but he could not point it out, if at all.
Well, he could only sense ki, or life energy in another word, so there was always going to be a limit to what he could feel out.
It just meant that he still had a lot of things to learn.
After filling the wooden bucket with water, Goku closed it with a lid in order to avoid spilling .
Then, he rushed back to Komaki.
"Really now, village elder? He's just a guest, and a new one at that." A young woman, dressed in the standard shrine maiden attire, said as she faced Komaki.
"The youngster had no qualms in helping out, something certain shrine maidens have neglected to care for as far as I know," the old woman pointed out.
"Look, it's not as if I don't care. It's just that those traditions are too cumbersome and time consuming for us to do."
"And traditions dictate that..."
"Oi, granny!" Goku shouted out as he fell from above, startling the two in their conversation.
"Ah, youngster, it seems you're back," she answered back, leaving her conversation with the shrine maiden aside for now.
Goku cheerfully held up the bucket in his hand, "Yup, here's the water you wanted!"
"Good good, wait here for a bit youngster, there is another step to do after I water them."
As Komaki busied herself with the herbs, Goku turned towards the new individual.
"Oh hey, you're one of those...shrine maidens right? At least that's what I remember that Naki person said."
"Oh yes, I hope she wasn't too hard on you. She...how do I put this, puts Her Excellency on quite a high pedestal."
"Nah, it wasn't anything like that," he said nonchalantly.
"If you say so...oh right, I almost forgot to introduce myself here. I'm Tsuyuko, and as you already know, a shrine maiden from the Sangonomiya Shrine."
"Hi, I'm Goku! Wait, aren't you supposed to be at the shrine right now?"
She let out a soft laugh, "It's not like we're stuck there every moment of the day, but truth be told, I'm here because of you."
He blinked, "Me? I don't think I ever met you before this though."
"Oh, we haven't, but Her Excellency saw you conversing with the village elder and asked for me to take a look at the situation," Tsuyuko explained.
"Eh, so Kokomi sent you?"
"Well, I am usually the one who gives guided tours on Watatsumi Island, and Her Excellency wanted to make sure you didn't get yourself into any sort of trouble. After all, it is only your second day on the island."
It was a request from the Divine Priestess after all, so she saw no reason to deny it, that and she held a bit of curiosity for this new visitor.
"Ohoho, I believe that no longer applies, don't you?"
Komaki joined in once more, having just finished watering the Spiritherbs.
"Forgive me for being rude, village elder, but you aren't helping in that endeavor either," Tsuyuko countered back.
"Perhaps, perhaps, but is he truly in trouble if he can get out of them so easily?" the old woman reasoned, a simple smile that somehow seemed more intimidating than it should be.
Goku did not understand what was going on, but even someone as socially inept as he could tell that there was some sort of disagreement going on between the two of them.
"Hey granny, I thought you said there was another thing I needed to do?"
"Oh, you're right. The next step is to make the Spiritherbs even more radiant than they are now, it is only then, will they be able to display the true color of the wishes. To do so, they need to be placed in an environment rich with hydro from the deep sea."
"So, we just have to get more water? Aren't we just doing the same thing as before then?" Goku summarized succinctly.
Tsuyuko let out a snort, which Komaki gave her a judging look for.
"He's got you there village elder," the shrine maiden explained her reason for her laugh..
After all, it wasn't everyday that someone, let alone a visitor, was able to unintentionally question their tradition.
The old woman hesitated for a moment, but ultimately let it go to explain instead, "Simply put, there is a cavern to the north where the hydro composition of the water is closest to the environment of the deep ocean."
Goku looked towards the direction she was describing, but could not see a cavern at all considering the distance.
"Look for one that is crystal clear and transparent, that would be the most ideal concentration you are looking for. Do be careful of any other disturbances, lest you spend more time looking for another that is just as concentrated. "
"Got it, but where exactly is it?"
Tsuyuko decided that it was about time she intervened, "No need to worry about that, since I'll be guiding you there."
"Oh? Am I simply becoming senile but are you helping in safeguarding our tradition?"
"I still have reservations on them, but Her Excellency did send me here to keep an eye on our guest, and what better way to do so than going along with him?"
"Ohoho, this certainly wasn't what I was expecting, but I supposed it is not unwelcome."
Pleased that the two were somewhat getting along, he held out a thumbs up as he turned around, "Don't worry, we'll get you that water you need before the day ends."
"This sure is a lot farther than I thought it would be," Goku couldn't help but voice out, having walked for around an hour already.
Currently, they were moving across one of the many paths that lead outside of the village. The road did not lead them downwards towards the waters within the island, but led them upward, traveling around it instead.
"The cavern is not exactly a straight path for us to go to, so we'll need to take the long way if we want to get there."
The cavern itself wasn't anything too hard to traverse, at least for those that had lived their lives on the island. However, it was still very troublesome if one were to get there as fast as possible, as traversing through the multitude of waters was not exactly the most pleasant of experiences.
"But if we keep walking like this, it's gonna take a while before we get there," he tried to argue.
"At our pace, it'll probably take a day or so before we reach the place," she stated casually, not at all bothered by the implication.
It was an exaggeration, but it would certainly take them at least until night time before they arrived at said cavern.
"That's way too long! There's gotta be another way there."
She let out an amused smirk, "There certainly is, but that involves a lot of swimming, and I'm not quite looking forward to getting my robes wet."
Then, Goku placed his fist on his palm as realization spurred within his mind.
"I can just carry you there, That way, we can get there way faster."
Instead of questioning the proclamation of his ability to do such a thing, she merely shrugged, accepting the suggestion.
After all, the Divine Priestess herself did not seem worried about Goku's safety, as evidenced by her request to merely observe the situation and get him out of any unnecessary trouble.
"I certainly don't mind efficiency, but before we do that, do you mind answering some questions I have for you? I don't think we'll be able to talk if you carry me around at a faster pace."
"Sure, what do you wanna ask?"
"You've been here for more than a day. So, as a visitor, what is your opinion of Watatsumi Island so far?"
Having done many tours in the past, it was always interesting to see an outsider's view on her home.
Goku thought about it for a bit, stopping in his tracks as he took in the sights of the island.
"...This place reminds me a bit of home. It ain't the same since this is an island and mine was in the mountains, and there weren't anyone around as far as I could remember, but it's pretty nice. Plus, there's a lot for me to explore here since it's so big."
So he lived in the wilds, all alone from the sounds of it. At the same time, it did not seem like he lacked any sort of human contact either.
Goku then stared at the area below, "Still, this place sure has a lot of water huh?"
"When an island is made by breaking off corals, questioning the amount of water would be silly, wouldn't it?"
Goku lit up in excitement at her explanation, "That sounds amazing! So, this island wasn't always here in the ocean?"
"That would be correct. Our ancestors didn't start living on this island out of nowhere either."
"Oh yeah, I remember granny talking about that...a god brought them here right?"
"So, the village elder told you that I see. Well, Omikami, or what we like to call him, Orobashi not only created Watatsumi Island, but he was also the one who taught the people to thrive in a world above the ocean. It's why the people here worship him, even to this day."
"If he's that important… how come I didn't see him back at the shrine?"
The more he thought about it, the more strange that he had not even seen a single instance of this god yet.
"Well, you don't need to be at a shrine to see him. After all, he's a serpent the size of an island, I'm pretty certain anyone would notice him if he was here."
"He's a giant snake!?"
If Naki was here, Tsuyuko was sure that she would have cast a glare at him for describing their god in such a way. Fortunately for him, she wasn't the one that was present.
Tsuyuko did not mind it, if at all. From her experience in guiding many people around the island, she had heard much worse in comparison.
"Since he's so big, that means he's in the ocean right?"
It was the only explanation Goku could come up with, and it would make sense except for one thing he did not consider...
"That would be incorrect. After all, Orobashi is no longer present in this world."
Judging from his expression, Tsuyuko surmised that he was indeed caught off guard by such a revelation.
"Oh, so he's gone huh..."
After hearing how powerful this Orobashi was, Goku was wondering if he was somewhat like Kami, and wanted to actually meet him.
Seemed like that could never be.
"It is what it is, but it doesn't diminish our worship of him in any way."
Though she had just criticized tradition, she was still very much a proper shrine maiden of the Sangonomiya Shrine.
"Say, weren't I the one who was supposed to be asking you questions? At this point, I think you are getting more out of this than I am."
"Hehe, sorry about that."
"Well, how about we even things out. Hmm...what do I want to ask?"
There was a short pause as she deliberated on her question.
"Ah yes, since my previous question was in regards to our island. I was wondering what do you think of Her Excellency?"
"You all really like to know what I think of Kokomi for some reason, huh?"
So it seemed that someone else had asked him this question already, and if she were to guess, it had to be someone that had experiences when it came to the state of Watatsumi Island.
It was definitely that village elder Komaki.
"It's just that...it's a first for Her Excellency to bring back a personal guest to the Sangonomiya Shrine. While we have had visitors in the past, most stayed in one of the guestrooms in Bourou Village. So, you either left a pretty lasting impression on her, or she's keeping an eye on you for some other reason."
"Well, my answer is still the same. Kokomi is weird," he said plainly.
Now that was an answer she needed more insight into.
"Care to elaborate?"
"She helped me out a lot yesterday, since I am pretty lost right now, but when I asked her about some things, she never told me about any of them. It's kinda confusing. I've also noticed she stays silent whenever she thinks no one noticed, and I don't really get that either."
"...You can't expect to understand a person just after a day, right?"
That was true. He couldn't count the number of times he was wrong about someone, like with one of his friends such as Yamcha, who he thought was a bad person in their first meeting, only to turn out to be a friend he could count on.
"I don't know the full reason, but as someone who has seen that girl ever since she was little, nothing she ever does is without reason. At the same time, she doesn't go out of her way to seek someone out personally. That girl...she actually does not enjoy interacting with people for too long."
"Really? She seems pretty good at it to me."
This was especially so considering every one he had met so far always treated her so formally.
She smiled wistfully, "She does, doesn't she? But for every time she had to take command of a conversation, she gradually becomes less enthusiastic. What happens after...well, I'll let you find out for yourself, makes it more exciting, doesn't it?"
There was a tentative silence, which was a rarity for him. Eventually, he settled on a simpler solution, and just simply extended his trust to Kokomi.
To accept that she has her reasons for hiding things, and just believe in her justifications for doing so.
It was neither logical nor reasonable, but when had he done anything that was even remotely close to those words?
If he did it in the past, then he could do it again. A new world wouldn't stop him being himself.
"Don't know about the exciting part, but I guess I don't mind waiting for a while to find out."
Tsuyuko let out a satisfied smile, "Guess that is enough of that. Now, show me how exactly you can get us there faster."
"I'll carry you, of course," he stated as a fact of matter, as he stretched out both his hands towards her.
The sincere smile he gave off made even Tsuyuko start questioning a bit of her status as a shrine maiden.
"So, all we have to do is just jump down from here?" Goku questioned, Tsuyuko still held in his arms.
After running through a fair distance from their previous conversation, the two had finally stopped at one of the highest points on Watatsumi Island. There, they had stumbled on a cave-sized hole that led to a cavern down below if one were to jump into it.
He peeked into it, but to him, there was nothing noticeably remarkable about it, except for the gigantic tiles that made up a circular stage, somewhat reminding him of the ring that fighters would battle on during the Budokai Tenkaichi.
Yet, for how gigantic those tiles of floor were, he did not see anyone or anything on it.
It was clearly empty. So, maybe it was for something else?
"I'm half sure this is it," she said, inspecting the insides of the cavern from above.
"Only half? You're not completely sure?"
Tsuyuko shrugged, "I haven't come here in a long while, because as you can see, getting here is more trouble than it's worth."
And returning once more solidified her view even further. She had no qualms with her duties as a shrine maiden of the Sangonomiya Shrine, but following these tedious traditions that were dictated by folklore had never really appealed to her.
"Yosh, time to get down there then."
And before Tsuyuko knew it, they descended into the hole with nothing but a grin on his face.
She had thought that their landing would be hard, but it was surprisingly soft as his feet touched the ground, almost as if they were floating in the air at the very last second.
...only for him to suddenly drop her onto the floor anyway.
"Ouch. That was rough of you to do out of nowhere," she groaned, exasperated at the rough landing.
"Sorry sorry, got distracted by something." Goku said apologetically, yet his eyes never left the insides of the cavern.
She noticed his expression, and decided to ask his reason, "And what exactly is more important than this poor shrine's maiden's buttocks?"
He ignored her comment, and immediately sensed something in the water. While he couldn't exactly get a good feel of it, it did somewhat resemble the water back in the offering well.
"...is the special water that one?" he asked, pointing in a direction to his right.
Tsuyuko stood back up, "Let's go find out, shall we?"
With that, the two moved towards one of the edges of the cavern, where water flowed from the waterfalls gushed down from above.
Tsuyuko squatted down to scrutinize the water, while Goku maintained his attention on their surroundings.
There was this prickly sensation he had felt ever since he got here, but no matter how much he focused on sensing ki around the area, he came up empty.
Having gone through so many battles in the past, his experience easily told him there was something more than what it seemed.
"Hey Tsuyuko, there's not supposed to be anything else here right?" he asked, since she had been here far longer than he ever had.
"As far as I can remember, it's just an empty cavern. It has a special type of water, but that's about the extent of it," she explained as she grabbed a small bottle from her robes.
"It also seems we got lucky, this is the exact concentration we need for the Spiritherbs," she said as she scooped up the water with the bottle.
Out of nowhere, Goku grabbed her from behind, causing her to drop it into the water as he quickly carried her away by jumping onto higher ground.
Before Tsuyuko could question his sudden action, she quickly understood the situation as splashes of water slammed onto the ground they were previously standing at with great force.
As Goku removed her from his arms, the two took the time to see who was their assailant.
It was not a who, but more of a what as they saw some sort of construct, made entirely of the element of hydro floating in the middle of the stage.
"This was certainly not here the last time, or any time as far as I can recall," she stated plainly.
"You got any idea what it is?"
"Unfortunately, I don't believe there's any useful information I can provide you with. The best I can surmise is that it is made from the element of hydro, but that was already obvious."
"Guess it means I get to fight it without knowing much about it, that sounds just fine to me," his serious disposition turned to his usual easygoing grin.
She would suggest finding the bottle first, but with that unknown entity present, there was no guarantee that it would be the safest method either.
"Goku, as a visitor of Watatsumi island, you're absolutely not in any way obligated to help out in the affairs of this place. While it would be unfortunate that we won't be able to retrieve the water, it is not worth endangering your life for."
"Don't worry, it'll be fine. It ain't my first time fighting something like this. Besides, I've been itching for a good fight anyway," he said confidently.
The martial artist then jumped off, leaving her alone to watch the fight that was about to ensue.
The moment he arrived at the stage, his new opponent flew towards him almost instantly, indicating that it had sensed his presence.
Good. At least it was focused on him rather than Tsuyuko, which meant he didn't have to worry about anything else in this fight.
From a single glance, he could tell that just punching and kicking it wouldn't be too good against it, considering most of its body was constructed by water, meaning it wasn't solid enough for him to hurt it effectively.
However, those cube-like structures surrounding the middle point of its body did look solid enough. So, his first attempt should be on one of those.
As Goku dodged to the right, he took a sharp turn to his left before jumping towards it. Putting a good bit of strength into it, he let out a straight right hook onto one of the cubes. The moment his fist came into contact, the cube burst into drops of water, destroying it entirely.
With one of the cubes now destroyed, Goku was able to see into its inside, and saw a crystal shining ever so brilliantly in the middle of all that water floating around. Before he could capitalize on this new discovery however, the cubes around it started to deform, melding itself onto the creature, resulting in a gigantic bubble being formed.
Goku put up both his arms in response as the bubble burst into an explosion of water, sending him back onto the ground.
The martial artist was not deterred from such an attack, his eyes searching the area for any changes, and found that it had exposed itself as the crystal was now floating slightly on the floor, unprotected.
But that was not the only thing around him.
Before long, the water scattered around the area began to gather into one from multiple locations, forming itself into something else.
They seemed to be some sort of slime made out of water?
Well, that was certainly different.
Instead of having his attention divided between the slimes, he focused solely on the crystal. There was no point in fighting those slime monsters, as it was glaringly obvious to him that the crystal is the one controlling the hydro around, so his focus should be on it instead.
So he did.
"YATATATA!" Goku yelled out as he let out a barrage of punches, mixing it with a couple of kicks in his assault.
With each and every strike, cracks began to accumulate on the crystal, until it was almost to the point of being shattered into pieces.
But just as Goku was about to land the final attack, he found his punch stopped short just before it could hit its target.
That was because he now found himself floating in the air, and the reason this only happened now was due to the fact that he was submerged entirely in water.
Basically, he was trapped due to his opponent returning back to its original form, causing him to be caught in the process. And as much as he trained, he still needed oxygen to breathe. Fortunately, it was also because of his training he wouldn't immediately drown either.
Goku did not panic despite the situation he found himself in, but calmly began to think up ideas on how to free himself.
Punching the crystal while he was within its body was an idea, but he shot it down, having realized his movement in the water was far too slow to deal any sustainable damage to it..
That meant using his ki was the only option left.
And there was one technique he could always rely on.
Goku began to cup both of his hands, as a ball of blue light started to form in between them. Despite the water drowning out his voice, Goku began his chant regardless.
"KA...ME...HA...ME..."
The radiance of the energy he was holding shined even brighter than the crystal, pulsating uncontrollably, as if it was prepared to be unleashed on its intended target at any given moment.
But then, it stopped.
The ball of energy slowly but surely became dimmer until the light dissipated into nothingness, with Goku relaxing both his arms, showing no sign of continuing the technique.
That was because he realized that he needed to think up another way out.
There was no doubt the Kamehameha would have saved him out of this situation, but upon staring at the insides of this cavern as he concentrated on the technique, he came to the realization that even a single use of it would collapse the entire structure.
If it were just him alone fighting this thing, then he wouldn't mind it as much, but with Tsuyuko here as well, alongside the chance they might lose the bottle from the ensuing blast, he needed to turn toward other options.
Options that he was struggling to think of.
Truthfully, up until his current training, he honestly did not have a lot of techniques involving the usage of ki, and even including his training with Kami, he could only count them on one hand. If the opponents he will face in this new world were anything like this one, then he'd probably have to think up of more ways to use ki beside the ones he had learnt.
For now however...
Goku held his breath as he concentrated his ki onto his right hand, and then aimed it right at the crystal.
A burst of ki exploded from his fist, forcing the water to be pushed away from him, including the core.
As said crystal flew into the air, alongside a portion of the water being splashed onto the ground, Goku heaved a sigh of relief being able to breath again before quickly jumping out of it.
Just as he landed, what followed was the body of water that had once imprisoned him also fell onto the stage, spreading itself all over the ground.
The martial artist sprung into action as he began to run towards the crystal, only to find himself gawping at the scene in front of him.
It was one of those hydro slimes, only it was staring right back at him, unmoving.
But its body was shaking ever so slightly.
The implication was not lost on him as he immediately kicked it into the air, only for it to explode in a burst of water right after.
"Whew, guess I know how it's mainly going to attack now."
To split and then reform itself. That was how his opponent operated in a battle. There was a huge weakness to it, and it was that the crystal seemed to expose itself every time it split the Hydro around it.
All he had to do now was just land a good enough hit to end it.
His train of thought ended as he observed the slimes slowly moving towards the core, with one of them already being in close proximity to it.
Unsurprisingly, the slime melded itself into the crystal that was levitating in mid-air, and was surprised that the cracks that he had caused before were slowly disappearing, as if it was recovering from the damage.
That was certainly not good.
Goku bended both his legs, and jumped the distance between them as he spun his leg mid-air
Even if it was recovering, one good hit should still do it.
His kick however, never connected in the slightest as he simply phased through the crystal.
Goku stared back in confusion at what just happened, "Eh? But it worked before!?"
He didn't have much time to contemplate on the issue, as another one of those slimes dissolved itself into the crystal.
If physical attacks didn't work, then the other option was ki techniques.
Goku held his breath once again, calming himself, right before letting out an explosion of ki from his fist, blasting it towards the core. Upon impact, droplets of water splashed around the area, but it did little more than startle the particles of hydro element floating in mid-air, and nothing else.
Just like before, his strike did not connect.
So, how exactly was he supposed to put it down then, if it was capable of recovering its strength every time it was almost at the point of being destroyed.
There had to be a weakness somewhere.
As the last of the slimes got absorbed into the core, cube-like structures surrounded it once more, indicating that it had returned to its full power.
...he supposed he'll just have to figure it out as he goes.
Goku prepared himself as the unknown entity dived itself into the ground, the large pool of water never leaving his sight even for an instance.
And just as quickly, a pod of hydro dolphins suddenly leaped towards him.
Goku responded by dodging to the side, avoiding the attack completely, but did not stop as he jumped to another as they came after him again.
This continued on for several minutes, with Goku continuously moving to avoid getting hit while his opponent followed his every movement. Despite his focus on dodging the dolphins chasing after him, Goku was very much still thinking of a way to finish this fight.
What if instead of targeting the crystal, he should be attacking the slimes?
The issue with the idea that he had found was that the crystal could just make more of those hydro slimes again, and absorb them again and again.
If it could keep doing that repeatedly, then he would probably tire himself out by repetition.
So what did he have to do to break the cycle?
The crystal had to absorb hydro slimes in order to recover its strength...and nothing else.
Goku's eyes lit up in realization, a wild grin adorn on his face.
That was it, it could only absorb one of its own parts, or the hydro element to revitalize itself, so if he could just disrupt the process, then...
Goku came to stop as he stood his ground, a feeling of excitement rushing to him, wanting to try the new approach he just came up with.
As pods of dolphins jumped into the air, Goku responded by blasting a wave of ki towards it, splattering the water into puddles.
It immediately reformed itself back into shape, but this time in the form of a gigantic ray, swooping down on him.
Goku opened up his right palm, channeling his ki into it as the blast of water split into half upon contact. Once the water died down, the crystal laid bare on the ground once again, which was an opportunity Goku would absolutely take advantage of.
Solidifying the ki in his hand, Goku curled it into a fist as he struck it at its dead center, with cracks immediately appearing from the strong impact.
For the second time Goku was about to deliver the final blow, the crystal core spun around uncontrollably as hydro began to gather around it.
It did not return to its original form, but continued to spin until it formed a mini tornado, with water flowing through it.
Before Goku was able to jump into it, rains of water fell from above, forcing him to move.
He could see the marks formed on the stage from the attack just now, and recognized that those definitely weren't ordinary drops of water.
Rain wasn't the only thing plummeting from above, as foams of human-sized bubbles started to form from the surface of the ground.
Instinctually, Goku moved around with them in mind, dodging one explosion and another, only to sidestep droplets of rain that was about to fall on him.
Clearly, it was doing anything it can to prevent him from getting any closer.
It didn't matter though, at least to him.
After all, it couldn't rain down all this hydro for too long.
And he was right. The attacks slowed down to the point that he was not even focusing on them anymore, alongside the fact that the tornado had disappeared .
There were however, three slimes popping up from the ground.
He grinned, because this was exactly what he waited for.
Goku dashed off, aiming for one of them, and quickly kicked it into one of the other slimes once he got into its proximity.
As the slime was sent flying to its brethren, he rushed off to the next one, only to do the same thing as he threw it towards the very same slime. When the three collided into one another, it did not explode into bits, but merged into becoming a single slime that had a size that was even bigger than Goku's.
It wasn't what he expected, but it might work out better than he thought it would.
The newly formed slime ignored him despite its bigger size, still intent on moving towards the crystal.
Now standing behind it, Goku stuck both his hands into the slime, a bit weirded out by how wet it felt.
Regardless, he started to concentrate.
Traces of energy began to pulsate around his arm, as light radiated from his arms.
If the core wanted to replenish its energy with hydro, then he would just mix it in with so much of his own ki, that it would overpower the hydro entirely.
Right after he was finished transferring his Ki into the slime, he immediately pulled out his right arm, and followed it up by blasting it forward.
"HAH!"
With a single push, Goku was able to send the gigantic slime flailing in the direction of the crystal. As the two collided, the slime immediately merged itself into the crystal, water splashing about as it slowly disappeared.
Then, there was nothing left but the core floating about.
For a brief moment, nothing happened.
But right after that, it started to shake uncontrollably, with nearby water levitating and falling back into the ground at an erratic pace as a white light radiated from within it.
It continued to shine ever so brightly, to the point it became too blinding for even his eyes to handle.
Until finally, it exploded, as bits of water drenched the area.
As the light dimmed down, Goku opened his eyes, only to find nothing in front of him, except for something shining on the ground.
Moving closer to the source, he noticed that it was water, or water that seemed to have solidified itself in the form of a small cube.
He picked it up, and started to inspect it as he felt it in his hand.
It didn't seem like it could reform back into its gigantic form, as he could feel the solidified water repelling his touch. Thus, he kept it for now and decided he could ask about it later.
Inspecting the damaged arena, Goku couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.
That...was certainly a first for him to utilize his ki in such a way. It was also because of his inexperience, that he had probably overshot more ki than was necessary to overload his fallen opponent.
He had thought of it during the fight, but he was even more certain now than ever that he had a lot of things he needed to refine after this.
It wasn't a difficult fight, not compared to the ones he had experienced up till this point.
However, it did require more than just his physical strength to win. If that was an indicator of the fights in Teyvat, then he needed to find a way to vary his techniques, especially the ones that used ki.
Despite the realization, he was actually quite excited just thinking about it.
"You've certainly finished off your opponent quite nicely," the voice of Tsuyuko chimed in, who had come from her previous, and was now approaching him.
"It took me a bit to figure out, but I still won in the end," he smiled as he gave her a victory sign.
"Indeed. I can see why Her Excellency was confident in your strength. Still, it would be best if I reported this and warned that village elder to avoid coming here anymore."
"Oh yeah, we still have to find that bottle!" he yelled out in a panic, and ran off to the last place he saw it.
As Goku searched for it in the shallow water, Tsuyuko held a satisfied smirk unbeknownst to the martial artist.
Minutes passed as Tsuyuko merely observed from behind, while Goku continued splashed the water around in hopes of finding it.
"Hehe..." she let out a small laugh, which made Goku stop to turn around, staring confusedly.
"Why are you laughing?"
"Oh, a lot of reasons, but most of them are because of this," she explained, holding an ever familiar bottle in her hand, "While you were busy fighting that thing, I took the chance to retrieve it during the chaos."
It wasn't quite as easy as she had described, since during the battle, she was desperately searching for it so that they could escape without fighting that construct any further than he should.
But by the time she was able to retrieve it, the fight was already in its last stage, and she had to hide somewhere further to avoid being hit in the chaos.
"You could have told me that sooner, sure would have saved me a lot more time."
She tapped her chin in amusement, "Hmm, consider it a bit of payment for leaving without explaining anything just now, and for my poor rear."
Goku didn't quite understand her explanation, but let it go as he somehow felt that he deserved that for some odd reason.
With that, the two started their journey back to Bourou Village.
"Do you truly distaste generations of tradition that you would go so far as to abandon it entirely," Komaki said, shaking her head in disappointment.
The two had now found themselves back in Gorou Village, where the first thing they had done was to give the bottle to the old woman.
She was delighted to see that they were successful in their task, but just as she was in the process of watering the Spiritherbs, Tsuyuko decided to voice out her concerns on such ventures in the future in consideration of the events that transpired.
"It isn't that, village elder. I can understand your unwillingness to accept my reasoning but for now, as one person living on Watatsumi island to another, I implore you to refrain from doing so until the situation at the cavern has been confirmed and stabilized for safety reasons."
The old woman closed her eyes, letting out a sigh as she relented, "Very well, though it is unfortunate, for who knows how long the radiance of these spiritherbs will last."
In spite of the mood, Goku decided to chime in regardless, "Why are ya worrying so much granny? just ask me anytime ya need help with it!"
Tsuyuko was the first to respond to such an absurd proclamation, "While I cannot say for certain, but it is not impossible you will meet the same opponent again."
"I really don't think it'll appear, but even if it does, you don't have to worry so much since it would be good training for me. After all, I got some stuff I want to try out, ya know?"
His nonchalant attitude certainly got a laugh out of the old woman, "My oh my, I certainly haven't met a youngster like you before, even in all my years."
She turned towards the leaves of the Spiritherbs, inspecting them, "Now then, I did promise you to a bit divining, did I not?"
"I wonder what it's gonna say?" Goku asked, his attention fully on them as well.
Tsuyuko would be lying if she said she was not curious either. Due to her experiences today, it was a very safe assumption to make that Goku was not someone ordinary, not even by her standards.
"Strange, usually the radiance of the Spiritherbs allows one to tell their fortune for the day."
She stood right back up, her eyes staring into his, almost in a frightened manner, "Youngster, you..."
She shook, snapping out of her trance as she let out a smile, "You will have great fortune in the coming days."
"Wait, that's it!? Darn, I thought it was gonna tell me more than that...well, I guess I kinda count myself lucky today."
After all, if it weren't for the many events that happened today, he wouldn't have come to a realization in regards to so many matters, from understanding bits of affairs on this island, to finding out his lack of variety in terms of his fighting style.
All in all, he could count himself lucky.
"Like I explained before, how can one capture the image of the future with mere words?"
While the young martial artist bought that excuse, Tsuyuko however was skeptical, and this time, it was not simply a matter of her dismissing tradition.
To her, it seemed to make more sense that Komaki had seen something unexpected in those leaves, and instead of telling the truth, chose to tell a false fortune instead.
For what reason the old woman would do such a thing, the shrine maiden could not fathom.
Goku then realized something he had wanted to ask for a while now, "Oh yeah, I almost forgot to ask you about something granny."
"Ask away. It's not everyday a youngster would ask for my knowledge."
"Right. So I gotta ask...what's up with that abandoned shrine? Why doesn't anyone take care of it?"
Tsuyuko feigned ignorance at his question, but she knew that exact question would hit a sore spot on the village elder, especially so considering the generation she came from.
"...My my, it seems my age is showing. Unfortunately youngster, I need to rest these old bones of mine, perhaps another day."
That was...nicer than it would have turned out. It seemed that in the span of a day, the old woman was actually somewhat fond of him, as the expected reaction was a silent glare, alongside multitudes of nagging.
She would know more than anyone else.
"I agree with the village elder, it is getting late. I think it's time I guide you back to the Sangonomiya Shrine, I'm sure we all need a good rest after today," she said as she began to push Goku a bit, prompting him to start walking as well.
Tsuyuko noticed the old woman's gaze as they took a few steps in, who gave her a silent thanks for her efforts in steering the conversation on hand.
As the two left the village, with Goku's eyes lingering on the people walking about the village.
His interest died down, he turned to the shrine maiden, "Hey Tsuyuko, do you know anything about that weird shrine then?"
He couldn't help it, there was just something that had stood out to him about that place, prompting him to know more.
It was too bad Komaki was too tired to tell him about any of it.
"If you're referring to destroyed state that is of the Mouun Shrine, then yes, I am knowledgeable of how it came to be what you saw today."
"Ooh, that means you can tell me right?"
She pondered in her head, before giving him a cheeky smile, "I could...but it is a bit of a long story, so why not ask Her Excellency instead? I'm sure she wouldn't mind talking about it while I prepare dinner for the two of you."
"You can cook?"
From anyone else, it would come off as rude, which it honestly was, but she knew better now that she had a basic grasp of his personality.
"Now what kind of question is that? Just for that, I might put a little something to spice up your tastebuds. I did hear from Naki you are a big eater, so I hope you enjoy it."
Goku's blanched expression all but told her that in order to mess with him, then food was a very safe bet to do it with.
She usually wasn't one to tease someone so openly, rather she had done so subtly on the Divine Priestess, something of which only the two of them know of.
That remained true, but she had a feeling that having this little dynamic with him would be fun during his stay here.
There was just something about this newcomer that she believed would make the coming days on Watatsumi Island interesting, that was for sure.
Goku felt uncomfortable as he sat down, settling himself in the room, with Kokomi present on the other side of the table.
The reason he felt this way was because he had changed out of gi, and into one of those robes that he had seen others in the village wore, though this one had a different color to it.
He was still questioning why he needed to change clothes in the first place, since his clothes were just as wet as today as it was yesterday when he arrived at the shrine at night.
"So this was the result from your venture into the cavern?" Kokomi asked him, as she held up the solidified water that Goku had given to her.
She heard the gist of the situation from Tsuyuko. While it was not quite unexpected to her, it was still a concern that an elemental being made of hydro was present on the island.
Fortunately, the situation had been handled for the time being thanks to Goku. Still, it was best that she send out some people to investigate the aftermath of the battle.
One can never be too careful, for one person can never truly account for everything that can transpire in the past or the future.
"Mmhmm, it gave a pretty decent fight, and I kinda hope it's still around if I ever go back there again."
If all goes well, then they would not be seeing that strange entity again, even if it would be to his disappointment.
Still, there was admittedly a strange sense of repulsion emitting from this tiny cube of water, just like he described. It was worth looking into it a bit more, but for now, she would keep it to her person for safekeeping.
After finishing with her thoughts, she gave Goku a formal smile, "And as the Divine Priestess, I would like to thank you for dealing with the situation."
Goku waved it off, "It's no big deal...but if you don't mind, can I ask you something Kokomi?"
She had an inkling of what he wanted to ask, but her expression remained neutral as she spoke, "Go ahead, it's the least I can do for what've you done today."
"Right, so do you know anything about that empty shrine near the village? I tried asking granny about it, but she said she was tired. I asked Tsuyuko about it when we were coming back but she told me that I should ask you instead."
It was not lost on her to what Tsuyuko was doing, that girl had always been like this for as long as she remembered. Regardless, she didn't mind being the one giving him the answers that he seeked.
"What we refer to now as the Mouun Shrine now is in actuality, the original Sangonomiya Shrine for worshiping our god Orobashi."
"That place? But it looks so much smaller compared to the one here."
"You are correct in that assessment, but can you guess why the Sangonomiya Shrine was moved to this location?"
Goku considered the question for a moment, before he gave an answer, "Hmm, because this place is at the center of the island and it's way bigger compared to the old one."
It was not a bad assumption, as geographically speaking, he was correct. The fact that the current Sangonomiya Shrine was situated at the center of Watatsumi Island made it much easier to handle affairs from such a position.
But he was wrong.
"A good guess, but those were not the reasons. In order for you to fully understand the context, you would need to first understand why Mouun Shrine was built."
Goku scooched closer, his eyes telling her everything she needed to know, as they beckoned her to continue.
Thus, she began to tell the tale of one Yuna Moona, who was considered to be the greatest master of whalesong in history.
Yuuna Moun was born to the Yuna Clan, one of the oldest Watatsumi Clans that could be traced back to the depths of the ocean.
And in her life leading up to maturity, she learned the rituals of shrine maiden, serving the Divine Priestess at the time, only to become one of its shrine maiden when the war with the Raiden Shogun was about to commence.
At some point in time, Mouun and her twin sister Ayame had mentored an unnamed boy, who would later become Touzannou, the champion of Orobashi.
Due to the impending war, she was ordered to assemble the first navy of the island, where she spent three days persuading the great whale Daikengyou to ally with Watatsumi Island.
Daikengyou was an old yet gigantic whale who commanded five hundred narwhals as bodyguards and five hundred humpback whales as musicians.
After the war with the Raiden Shogun began, Orobashi and Touzannou set out on Yashiroi island, while Mouun and Ayame led the navy alongside Daikengyou.
And in those torrents of battles, they were able to successfully slay the tengu Sasayuri, a general of the Raiden Shogun.
But the war was decided the moment the signature art of the shogun, Musou no Hitotachi emerged, severing Orobashi and Touzannou together with nothing but a single slash, creating a huge gape now known to be the Musoujin Gorge.
Upon hearing the news of the death of both her god and student, she and the great whale Daikengyou attempted to flee the battlefield, only to be killed by the subordinates of Sasayuri.
Their bodies were captured, while her sister Ayame disappeared into the sea, never to be seen again.
But even as years passed, the people of Watatsumi island still remembered her contributions through songs, and the Mouun Shrine was built in dedication to honor her memory.
As Kokomi finished the story, Goku was silent, his mind processing the story that she had just told.
To him, it was unfortunate.
War was a foreign concept to him, as even in his own world he had never experienced such a thing.
It wasn't as simple as back home, where he could tell there was a bad person doing evil things, and all he needed to do from there was to stop them the best he knew, through fighting. Here, it seemed much more complicated.
"So, that was it huh...but why is no one taking care of it then?"
It didn't make sense, if everyone on the island even now still knew of Mouun, then why was her shrine so devastated then?
"...Do you remember seeing a statue of a robed woman before walking up the stairs to the shrine?"
He blinked, scratching his head until it hit him, "Oh yeah, I remember seeing that weird statue thing, but what does it have to do with what I was asking just now?"
"The statue represents the very same god that split Orobashi in half, the Raiden Shogun. Perhaps in the beginning the people of Watatsumi Island were too drowned in their grief to care for anything else but their god, including the ones that had contributed to the war. In that sense, it is also understandable that over time, it turned into resentment towards the Shogun, as that statue was a reminder of what had happened, and what they have lost. It is especially true now, as the current situation in Inazuma has opened up old wounds that even generations after, do not want to remember."
Having said that, Kokomi did not feel any sort of resentment towards the Shogun, despite her position as the current Divine Priestess. After all, she never had any intention of scrutinizing any of the Shogun's actions, be it the future or the past, as she only cared about the future of Watatsumi Island.
That of which she was still fighting for to this day.
Meanwhile, Goku was in deep thought, trying to recall some things that he had learned today.
Raiden Shogun...he remembered that the guy with the mustache was accusing him of belonging to Shogun's Army back in the rivers, so if he connected that particular morning event with Kokomi's explanation, then...
"Is this Raiden Shogun still around then?"
She supposed it was about time that he knew. It was earlier than predicted, but it was bound to happen sooner or later.
"Around? It is more fitting to say she encompasses every aspect of Inazuma even to this day, for the Raiden Shogun is the Electro Archon. How could she not be present, when eternity is what she pursues? She...is also the reason you cannot leave here. Due to the Sakoku Decree, Inazuma will continue to be closed off to the rest of the other nations, until a time unknown to all but her."
This new revelation certainly surprised him more than anything else he had found today.
AN: Finally, this mess of a chapter is done, and please do note that chapter length will not always be this long, I just felt that splitting them into two chapters didn't feel right to me. If the basic structure of this chapter is similar to a certain quest, aka 'Divine Plant of the Depths', that's because it is. I only just repurpose it for something else, I hope it was able to convey the things it needed to, mainly to show Goku's strength relative to Teyvat and for him to be aware of Raiden's existence as a whole. As this chapter is the first time I've written one with fights, I would like to say something, and that is in this story, Goku is strong, but I do not believe he is so strong he can trivialize everything and everyone in Teyvat. After all, elemental reactions dictate almost everything in this world, and in that sense, Goku can be beaten by other means besides absolute strength. So, please do accept the fact that Goku can win fights, just as much as it is possible for him to lose them in this story. Anyway, thank you for reading, and if possible enjoying this chapter as well!