After rescuing Nagamasa Kuroda, the group has gained his clan's allegiance to Lord Ieyasu's faction. Now, acting on the tip of a kunoichi under Hanzo's tutelage, the group heads to a meeting with the Tachibana clan. More accurately, to Lady Ginchiyo, the wife of the clan's head, Lord Muneshige, who seems to have gone missing…

The group and William had arrived at Tachibana Castle alongside Hanzo as they were greeted by a woman with long black hair in a dark blue kimono as she had a pink shiba inu spirit by her side, this was Lady Ginchiyo.

"Welcome, Master Hanzo." Lady Ginchiyo said as Hanzo bowed his head. "Let me get to the point. Oni are preventing my husband, Lord Muneshige, from returning from Dazaifu. Was he overcome? Or has he simply fallen into the arms of his mistress Lady Yachiko…? Where could he be?" she pondered as two of the maids behind the group looked around in nervousness while the third remained calm as William and some of the group turned and saw a familiar yellow bunny on the third maid before it vanished.

"Hmph." Simon said with a smirk.

May 1600, Daizafu

The group and William had soon arrived at Daizafu and saw that it had seen better days from the slight damage on the buildings, yet some of the stone lanterns were lit.

"Once this place flourished; it was even known as a sort of capital away from the capital. But look at it now!" Nekomata complained. "Lord Takakage rebuilt it a little, but…"

"Now rogues and rogue yokai have taken residence. Why would Muneshige come to a place like this?" Jin asked.

"Maybe it's less that he came here, and more that he was taken here." Moltar suggested.

"Whatever the case, stay on your toes." Kido said, pumping his Riot Shotgun.

The group then began exploring Dazaifu, fighting off any rogues or oni they came across before entering the grounds of a manor.

"(Turn back now if you want to live.)" a voice spoke.

"Did anyone else just hear that?" Shirou asked.

"Look out!" Ajna called as a lightning bolt struck down in front of the group as appearing before them was a beast-like yokai as it had a monkey's face, a tiger's torso, and a snake for a tail. The creature roared up to the sky.

Thunder Beast Familiar - Nue

Weaknesses: Water

Resistances: Lightning, Poison

"This yokai…another that Kelly has corrupted." Thorani said.

"I don't know…there's something different about this one." Emo remarked. "It seems…I dunno, less savage?"

"Who bloody cares? It's still trying to kill us!" William pointed out as the Nue fired a beam of lightning from its mouth, forcing the group to roll out of the way.

"Knock it out so Sunset can purify it." Ajna said.

(Cue: Ayakashi II - Nioh)

Though the Nue could use its claws to swipe at the group if they got too close, it proved to be more adept at long range, firing out beams of lightning from its mouth and calling down lightning bolts from the sky with its roar.

"I hope you don't mind this." Francisca said as she fired ice crystals at the beast.

"Pierce my enemy!" Jin called, slashing out a giant ice wave across the ground.

Tōga Hyōjin

"Let's do this, Lapis!" Mermista said.

"Ready when you are!" Lapis replied.

Mermista blasted Nue with a torrent of water, which Lapis used to construct into her hydro fists to follow up, pummeling the Yokai with back to back haymakers.

"Hey, save some for me!" Frosta said as she jumped into the fray and matched Lapis's beat down with her own ice fists.

"I call upon the power of nature itself." Baril said as she floated into the air, her eyes glowing as she held her right hand to the sky while pointing her left down. "Bring forth the mightiest of ice storms!"

Dark clouds started to gather above Nue.

"You all might want to stand back. When I unleash my hailstorm it may become dangerous." Baril said.

"Already done!" Glimmer said as the group backed up, having already seen what it's like when Baril unleashes her full fury.

"Freeze! Ice storm!" Baril called, launching down a hail of icicles as the Nue was bombarded before collapsing in exhaustion.

(End song)

"So young…and she's that strong?" William asked.

Baril let the rain hit her face as she closed her eyes.

"Commanding the forces of nature itself is no easy feat." Nedris said.

"Yeah, it's hard to imagine Baril can be that strong sometimes." Zephyr said..

"You flatter me, Zephyr. But even I have my own limits due to being the youngest of the Shadow Knights." Baril said. "But enough about me. Sunset, please restore this Yo-kai to his original form."

The watch holder shined the light onto the corrupted Yo-kai (noting that it was much calmer and in less pain than the ones before), causing the Nue to shrink down and take the appearance of a creature with red skin and hands, and white, messy hair, wearing a tiger-pattern scarf.

Chymera

Classic Yo-kai

Mysterious Tribe

"I'm…I'm back to normal." Chymera said as he looked at himself.

"Yeah. Sorry you had to suffer like that, old friend." Sunset said as she was given the medal.

"Yeah, I owe you for turning me back." Chymera said. "But first…I gotta go report to my new boss."

"New boss?" The group tilted their heads in confusion, as Chymera flew towards and dispelled a seal on the door into the temple, allowing the group to enter. Once inside, they saw Chymera approaching a woman dressed in black, somewhat revealing clothes, with a tall hat upon her head.

"Hey boss, look! I'm back to my old self!" Chymera said to the woman.

"So I see." the woman replied with a smile, before looking at the group. "I never would have expected a group of foreigners to be able to repel my familiar, much less purify him! I tried to do away with his corruption myself, but I admit I failed. My name is Fuku. I am an Onmyo mage who protects this area. Nice to meet you."

"A pleasure. I'm Sunset and I'm the one who saved Chymera by purification." Sunset said.

"Then I owe you a great debt." Fuku replied. "I apologize for sending him against you, but I needed to stop those who would misuse the power within this temple."

"Well, we aren't here for power. We're looking for Lord Muneshige. I don't suppose you've seen him?" Scarlet asked.

"I'm afraid not. However, there is a maze of catacombs beneath this temple. If you believe he is down there, then you are free to press forward and seek him out." Fuku stated.

"Yeah, thanks." Mark said as the group passed her and entered the next room, where an elevator awaited them.

"Please, be careful down there. Many yokai prowl the halls." Fuku warned the group.

"Not to worry, we're experts when it comes to fighting yokai." Eddy said as the group descended down.

"Getting through an underground graveyard, on the other hand…" Eddy muttered as the group wandered the halls of the underground catacombs.

"I never imagined such a space beneath the grounds of Dazaifu!" Nekomata marveled at the stonework around them.

"Glad you're having fun…" Emo snarked. "If anybody here is claustrophobic, now's a good time to let the rest of us know."

"Someone getting scared of the big bad Yo-kai that might come after them?" Pit asked.

"Please. If anything, you should be more scared then me." Emo pointed out. "You're an angel, being underground is pretty much enemy territory for you."

"Hey, I'm the commander of the armies of Lady Palutena. Some yokai aren't going to scare me." Pit said as he stood next to a statue holding a sword, Emo noticing their eyes glowing orange.

"Really?" Emo asked.

"Yeah, really." Pit responded, unaware that the statue was raising its sword.

"Okay, cool. By the way…behind you." Emo said, quickly pulling out a spell book and channeling a magic missile.

"Uh…" Pit said as the statue was destroyed. "I was totally prepared to get that."

"Sure you were, Angelface." Hapi said.

"Least I don't have mud dripping from my hair." Pit said.

"Huh?" Hapi said as she saw some mud on her head. "Ew…where did this even…" she said as the trio looked up to see a slimy figure with a single eye looking down at them.

Mudmunch

Classic Yokai

Brave Tribe

Most of the girls retched at the sight, while Sunset looked happy. "Mudmunch, you're okay!"

"Eh, of course I am, why wouldn't I be?" Mudmunch said. "Oh wait, I know why you're here: you're here to kick those three trespassers outta my new vacation home!"

"Your…vacation home?" Connie asked in confusion.

"Yeah, isn't it great? The neighbors rarely bother you, it's nice and quiet, nobody ever comes down…well, except for those three." Mudmunch said.

"That does sound rather nice…" Bernadetta remarked, getting odd looks from some of the others.

"Wait, three trespassers? Did one of them look like a guy wearing armor?" Mark asked.

"Yeah, he was being dragged around by that half-dressed weirdo everyone's been talking about recently, Kirby or whatever." Madmunch said. "Then this lady came down a little bit before you did, and now she's fighting with my neighbors."

"Kelly…he's here?!" Sunset gasped.

"And it sounds like he's with Muneshige." Jexi said.

"Finally… can't think of a better chance than now to get Saoirse back!" William said. "Let's hurry!"

"I can show you where they are, if you want." Madmunch said. "If it gets them out of here faster, then I'll help. Follow me!" he said, flowing across the ceiling, the group following after the classic Yo-kai.

After some twists and turns, the group entered a large chamber where multiple statues were active, all of them fighting a woman the group recognized as Lady Ginchiyo, now armored and wielding a long blade that seemed to surge with lightning, cutting down the statues as if they were nothing.

"Whoa…let it never be said that the female isn't the deadliest of the species." ZS remarked.

"Wait, is that the Raikiri she's using? The sword that's said to have cut a lightning bolt in two?" Hayase asked.

"I'm more curious on how she beat us down here." Bardock stated.

"So…should we go help her?" Steven asked.

"Nah, kid, she's wrapping this up pretty well." Lancer remarked.

"Wow…we don't even need to do anything. Easy victory." Yang said.

Lady Ginchiyo soon cut down the last of the statues, before she turned her attention to the group. "Ah, so you've made it this far, sir Anjin and Lady Taiyo. But I must accompany you now, as this is Tachibana's problem. I won't hold you back."

"Never crossed our minds." William stated.

"She came to this place, in total disregard for her own safety…" Nekomata mused to the group, unseen by Ginchiyo. "This princess must have been quiet worried about her lord."

"Well those two are the perfect power couple." David said, making some of the group members giggle.

"What are you all smirking about? Let's get moving!" Ginchiyo ordered as she moved deeper into the catacombs.

"Right, let's go!" Mark said as the group followed after her.

As the group entered a room with a torii gate at the far wall, they saw a man in armor slumped against the wall, breathing heavily. The man looked up at them, his expression morphing into one of relief when he saw Ginchiyo. "Ginchiyo? Thank goodness." he said.

"Lord Muneshige, we presume?" Jin said as they approached the wounded lord and offered a hand up. "We've been looking all over for-"

"Wait, stop!" Adora made Jin stop before Ginchiyo could make a move. "That's an Impostor!"

"You knew…?" Ginchiyo asked.

The alleged Muneshige stood up and chuckled. "It seems you've grown wise to my tricks. Well done." the imposter said before his eyes glowed red and his disguise fell away to reveal Kelly.

Taken aback at first, William suddenly steeled himself in the face of Saorise's kidnapper. "I found you."

"M'lord!" Ginchiyo cried out as she raced over to where her husband laid, unresponsive to the world.

"Well, well. I all but expected you heroes to make the voyage, but I never expected William to follow me all the way to these godforsaken islands." Kelly laughed.

"Kelly…you know why we're here. Return Saoirse and let Enma go." Sunset said.

"Sorry. They're part of the Yo-kai Alliance's collection now." Kelly mocked the group before he changed back into Lord Muneshige, cracking his neck and drawing his sword.

Kelly's Disguise - Tachibana Muneshige

Weaknesses: Water

Resistances: Lightning

(Cue: Mononofu I - Nioh)

"He shapeshifts now too?!" Rainbow asked.

"Guess so. But Shang Tsung, he ain't." DW typed.

"Still, it's best not to underestimate him." Tsubaki said.

"He's weak to water, same as Chymera when he was possessed." Entrapta said.

"All right." Mermista said as she started blasting water at the swordsman as Kelly easily blocked each shot. "Whoa…he may be a fake but he's got skill."

"So Kelly can take on the person's skills besides their appearance." Spade said.

"Miriam, you said you had some idea to counter Kelly. Now would be a good time for it." Lucy said.

"The plan I had in mind was for when Kelly uses his true form to fight us." Miriam said.

"That's not gonna work. I get the feeling he won't focus on you at all during then." Sunset said.

"Oh for the love of…." Hayase said as he drew his blade as he clashed with Kelly, surprising the alchemist as he kept up with his movements before landing a strike that dispelled the illusion.

A green shiba inu then materialized out of Kelly as it ran over to the real Muneshige while Kelly stood up and held out the imprisoned Saoirse.

"This spirit guided me to the Amrita." Kelly said, holding his other hand over Saoirse's prison as she grunted in pain as golden motes of light flew into her, causing red feathers from her hair to scatter. "Hm. I think it's time to move on."

William tried to make a grab for Kelly and Saoirse, but Kelly was too fast on the draw and vanished with the spirit in tow. "Damn!" William cursed.

"I thought for sure I'd be able to get him to spill where Enma was." Sunset said.

"Don't be too sure. Man may be evil, but he's no squealer." Emo said. "We're gonna have to find Enma ourselves."

"That Guardian Spirit seems important to you." Ginchiyo said to William, before holding out Raikiri to him. "Take this sword, Raikiri."

"Wait, isn't that your sword?" Glimmer asked.

"It wants him to wield it." Ginchiyo answered. Right as William grasped it, a pink Shiba inu materialized out of her and ran to William's side….

After Lord Muneshige led his forces overseas, Overlord Hideyoshi came to me. Even had I refused him, it would have meant suicide… And then what would happen to Lord Muneshige and the people of Tachibana… I've lost a child. I haven't long to live. But… Joining forces to serve my Lord Muneshige and the people brings me great joy.

As the vision ended, Ginchiyo returned to her husband's side, their two Guardian Spirits nuzzling each other.

"Aw…" some of the group members cooed at the scene.

"Yep. You were right, David. These two are great together." Sachiko said.

"Love is an amazing thing." Marta said, as Muneshige's Guardian Spirit leaped out of him and towards the group…

"Overlord Hideyoshi recognized Honda Tadakatsu and myself both as the Undefeated of the West. Yet still I despair. Ginchiyo must take the secret to her grave. The Tachibana clan is the flower of justice. You taught me that, precious Ginchiyo. Sublimating one's desire is the way of a warrior. I live to serve the Overlord."

After the vision faded, William looked at his right shoulder, seeing nothing there. Looking around, he then saw the two Guardian Spirits on the shoulders of Yuri & Ren.

"Well, look at that. Looks like these Paired Raiken spirits are shippers." Emo remarked. "Sorry Will, guess you're not getting lightning powers just yet."

"I'm not torn up over it." William said, looking at a red feather in his hand.

"William, I promise we will get her back." Ace said.

"...Thanks lad." William replied, slipping Raikiri into his sheathe.

The next day, outside the Tachibana compound…

The group stood outside the walls of the compound, before Hanzo left the gates.

"Well, what did they say?" Mark asked.

"The Tachibana clan has made their decision: they will support Mitsunari." Hanzo informed the group.

"What?! We saved his life and he's still working with the other team?!" Eddy complained. "What a rip!"

"Eddy, I know it sounds disrespectful, but that's what was supposed to happen." David said. "The Tachibana Clan owes a lot to the Toyotomi clan."

"Ishihara speaks the truth. I expected this outcome, but even so, you did well to save Lord Muneshige." Hanzo said. "Come, we must move on."

"Where are we heading next?" Steven asked.

"Lord Kanbei has arranged a crew for us. I must leave for Osaka to inform Lord Ieyasu of Ishida's latest actions. Let us set sail on the Grand Terry immediately. Lord Nagamasa will accompany us on his way to Mohri." Hanzo said.

"Alright then, Osaka it is." Scarlet said.

A few days later, in the Sea of Japan…

It was currently downpouring as The Grand Terry sailed towards Osaka, the Hero Alliance, William, Hanzo, and a handful of crewmen in tow.

"~Hey-ho, we'll go anywhere the wind is blowing!~" Frisk sang over the rain and thunder as they stood in the crow's nest.

"Frisk, get down from there dear, you may get struck by lightning." Toriel warned.

"I'll get 'em, don't worry." Krillin said, hopping up and getting Frisk down.

"So, what's our status?" Mark asked.

"Well, this storm is slowing us down, but at the rate we're going, we should hit Osaka by the end of the week!" Scarlet said, as he stood by Wendy, who had her head hanging over the deck. "But uh…we should start looking into nausea medication, cause our Dragon Slayers are practically dying here."

"Well, at least the ship is holding." Bardock noted.

Gouto soon spotted something in the distance as it rose out of the water, the only sign being glowing yellow eyes. "An Umibozu."

The rest of the crew saw it too, as they started to panic at the sight.

"I'm getting tired of these creatures…" Nagamasa said as the group watched the Umi-Bozu disappeared under the waves.

"Huh, where'd it go?!" Eddy asked as the crew frantically scanned the sea around them for any sight of the yokai.

"Let's calm down, everyone! Perhaps it didn't notice us!" Double D tried to calm everyone, only for the Grand Terry to shake and the Umi-Bozu to emerge right next to the ship. "Nevermind, it noticed!"

"We're going to capsize! Brace for impact!" Sunset said.

The crew held on for dear lives as the boat was rocked by the emergence of the towering yokai, as it formed a tentacle arm out of water and broken boat wreckage, slamming it down onto the front of the Grand Terry.

"What are you doing?! Full rudder! Full rudder!" Hanzo ordered.

"And this is why Mermista always suggests the Sunny!" Emo yelled as he used a Sphere Field to save a crew member from going overboard.

The helmsman rapidly tried to steer the ship away from the yokai as it prepared to smash the boat once more. "I can't get away in time! It's going to hit us!" he shrieked in fear.

"The Terry's not gonna survive another hit…brace yourselves!" Mark yelled.

Just before the Umi-Bozu could bring its tentacle down, a loud siren echoed through the storm as a creature familiar to the group landed on the tentacle and started wrestling it, managing to pull it away from the ship.

"What is that?" Sir Saiyan asked.

"Who cares, it's saving us! Jinbei, give the poor sap at the wheel some help!" Mayumi said.

"Of course!" Jimbei said as he quickly steered the ship and navigated away from the creature.

"Is everypony alright?" Applejack-2 asked, as the crew and Alliance all let our affirmations.

"Wow…Swosh definitely went through some changes." Sunset said.

"He's certainly a lot bigger than the other ones! What happened to him?!" Emo asked.

"He's been made a Special Grade." a voice said as none other than Trevor was standing above them on the mast, before he jumped down. "Heard you guys were heading to Osaka, so I thought I'd move the ship there. Good thing I caught you before the big blob did."

"Wait…why didn't we just take this ship instead?" William asked.

"What, and ruin the plot?" Eddy asked.

"Anyways! You said something about Swosh being made into a Special Grade?" Mark asked.

"Yeah. From what Zazel said, the Yo-kai Alliance did a little extra with a few Yo-kai: they weren't just corrupted, they were pumped full of this Amrita stuff, to the point that any one of 'em could wipe out the whole country. They've got at least three of them. Water Boy there was the first." Trevor said.

"Venoct is probably another one." Sunset said.

"The third could be any classic Yokai. Kyubi could've been one." Hope said.

"How the heck is Sunset supposed to purify something that big?" ZS asked.

"At the moment, I'm not sure she can. Not on her own, anyway." Trevor said. "You're gonna need a lot more Yo-kai before you can save him without some outside help."

"Well, we'll just have to find more." Sunset said.

"Yeah, let's do what we gotta do here and head back out to sea later." Ajna said.

"The Grand Terry won't make it to Osaka like this." Hanzo stated, seeing the damage Umi-Bozu had caused. "We should make port in the Chugoku region at once."

"She can be repaired though, right?" Klonoa asked.

"She just needs a little work. We'll make her SUPER again in no time!" Franky promised.

"Then we'll see what we can do in Chugoku for the time being." Saber said.

With the group's progress halted, they stop in the Chugoku region in order to repair the Grand Terry. However, what adventures and Yo-kai await them here in this region? Will they once again run into their enemies?