The group was waylaid from their meeting with Ieyasu by the unexpected appearance of Nobunaga's wife Lady Nō, resurrected by Kelly in the form of a Yuki-onna. Now, they must postpone their plans further by heading to Mount Hiei in order to confront the alchemist himself…

June 1600, Mt. Hiei, Yamashiro Providence…

As the group approached the base of Mount Hiei, Tenkai took the time to explain the situation to them.

"For many years, Mount Hiei has served as a barrier to keep fiends and spirits out of the capital." the monk explained. "Now this magical barrier is on the verge of collapse thanks to the spikes Kelley has been planting. We must make our way to the shrine at once, destroying these spikes as we find them."

"Okay, sounds easy enough…so that means there's gotta be more to it, right?" ZS asked.

"With Kelly, nothing is exactly easy." Sunset said.

"The spikes are guarded by Onmyo Mages that have strayed from their duty." Fuku informed the group. "I assume Kelley has promised them power. And it seems they have aid from one of the corrupted spirits you are seeking."

"Which one?" Sunset asked.

"Sorry Sunset, I can't say for sure." Chyma spoke up. "All I could get from the scouting was a name: Ōgama."

"Toadal Dude…" Sunset said. "Meaning…" she said looking out to see a group of four Yo-kai also ascending the mountain. These four being Frazzal, Flamurice, Darumacho and a large bulky being with an umbrella.

Scarasol

Classic Yo-kai

Heartful Tribe

"The Fleshy Souls army…" Sunset said.

"Guess we've got some backup." Bardock said as he got into commander mode. "Alright, until we can get to Kelly, our main targets are those spikes. I'm sensing three large energy sources; those are the crystals. It'll save us time if we split into groups. Jexi, David, your teams are group one; Mark, Jonah, group two; Ace, Dark Water, you and your teams are group three. Sunset, you and William go with the Fleshy Souls. They're likely closing in on Toadal Dude, and they might need the help. Any suggestions?" he asked.

"Uh…no, that seems very organized actually." Hope said.

"Good. Now…break!" Bardock said as the groups split off to complete their objectives.

Group 1…

"So just smash the crystals and everything will be good and over with? Sounds easy enough." Natsu said as the Dimensional Heroes and Brave Adventurers headed to their crystal, seeing a group of black and white robed figures wearing fox masks standing around it performing a ritual.

"Oh…guess we gotta beat these guys to get to it." Luffy said.

"Looks like it." Leonora said.

The Onmyo mage in white saw the heroes approaching and cried out. "Intruders! Protect the spire!"

"Yeah, okay. We're definitely fighting now." David said.

"Yeah, besides, these guys are scrawny, we can take these guys." Jexi said.

The Onmyo mages fought the group with elemental weapons and Oni-bi summons, but they were no match for the two hero groups, who quickly wiped the floor with them.

"Heh…poor unlucky suckers." Kaito said as the heroes went and destroyed the crystal.

"Alright, one down." Francisca said.

Group 2…

The Shining Hope Squad and Team Chronicle arrived at their crystal. It was guarded by more Onmyo mages alongside several yokai.

"Enemies up ahead. Hope, how do you want to do this?" Mark asked.

"No way to do this quietly without them spotting us." Hope said. "We take them out. Hard and fast."

"Heh. At least give us a challenge." Vegeta smirked.

Within moments, the two teams descended on the crystal defenders, beating them down until they were all on the floor.

"Well, that's that." Mark said as he punched the crystal, shattering it to pieces.

Group 3…

Spirit Force and Darksquad approached their target, finding a Nue guarding the crystal, lightning sparking off its fur.

"Another one of these guys?" Klonoa asked.

"It's weak to getting wet. I'll take a piece." DW typed. "Bar, you want one?"

"I will let you have the limelight, Dark Water. I do not want to accidentally wash you away." Baril said.

Dark Water then faced the Nue and spawned some Weapons out of his back and pulled out his phone. "Gimme a minute." he played a voice clip from his phone before wading into the fray. He easily took care of the yokai by damaging it with his multiple forms of weaponry before finishing it of by enveloping it in an Ink torrent when it was down and consuming it.

Makoto then smashed the crystal afterwards. "And that's a wrap!"

Fleshy Souls…

"Okay…so far we're…whoa…" Sunset said, seeing a large frog-like monster with armor on his shoulders and right hip up ahead. "Definitely Toadal Dude."

"These corrupted Yo-kai are getting stronger." William said. "Let's make this quick, before Kelly gets away."

"Well he was pretty strong before being turned so…whoa!" Sunset said as they dodged a rapid fire of the monster's tongue.

Corrupted Frog Demon - Ōgama

William drew his sword and charged the corrupted Yo-kai, unleashing the fire tiger Enko in Living Weapon Mode.

"William, his element is water! That's not going to hurt him!" Sunset called out.

"Not on the outside, maybe! But on the inside…!" William said as the Ōgama lashed its tongue out at him, William quickly sidestepped the strike before slashing down at the tongue, cutting into and burning it at the same time as the yo-kai croaked in pain, retracting its tongue. "He won't be bringing that out again for a while."

Ogama started jumping up and down before jumping and going for a body slam.

"I figured he might try that if he lost his tongue." Sunset said as she brought out a musket.

The Eerie Tribe as their name suggests, thrives from being creepy as well as using their inspiriting powers to get by. However, using this mere musket, you can use their powers to help. Just aim…

"And shoot!" Sunset said firing in the air as a large web wrapped around the frog.

"Whoa…how did you do that?" Frazzel asked.

"This musket lets me use inspiriting powers of the Eerie Tribe. I loaded Arachnus's medal so it could shoot out webs." Sunset said. "Having Itokuri didn't hurt either."

"Not bad, lass. Now it's got no way to fight." William said. "Go and purify it."

"I'm on it." Sunset said shining the light on the frog as it writhed in pain before in its place was a humanoid being with a long tongue-like ponytail and dressed in green.

Toadal Dude

Classic Yo-kai

Tough Tribe

"Commander!" the Fleshy Souls Yo-kai said.

"Whoa…what…the heck happened? Did I…jump the pad or something?" Toadal Dude said.

"Uh…you could say that. Point is, you're back." Sunset said.

"Yeah…I can get on with that." Toadal Dude said.

With everyone's objectives fulfilled, they all reconvened at a gate leading to the shrine, quickly opening it and charging ahead to see Kelly using Saoirse to absorb the Amrita from the shrine.

"So we finally meet again, Kelly." Sunset said. "Let her go and release Enma as well."

"Stop!" Tenkai yelled. "If you release the fiends, Kyoto will be ravaged again!"

"Ha, ha. I came here for Amrita, but that's very good to know." Kelly laughed. "Annihilating Kyoto and crushing Ieyasu will throw this "Land of Gold" into utter chaos."

"What? Lord Tokugawa?" Hanzo questioned.

Just then, the group felt the ground shake as Kelly smiled evilly before vanishing.

"Dang it, again with the teleporting?!" Eddy groaned.

"The Aratama…!" Tenkai warned the group, before a swarm of dark spirits burst out of the shrine and towards the group.

"Not good!" Sunset said as a defensive barrier was raised to try and mitigate the damage.

"They're still coming through! How strong are these guys?!" ZS asked as the spirits broke through the barrier, closing in on the group, until…

"I shall sacrifice myself!"

Nekomata emerged from William and put himself in between the group and the spirits, causing them to flow into him as his body began changing before he was now a large white tiger with black angel wings on his back and an amrita crystal in his right eye.

"Nekomata…!" Sunset exclaimed.

"Kill me to destroy them all!" Nekomata managed to get out before he roared at the group.

The White Tiger - Nekomata

Weaknesses: Water

Resistances: Lightning, Poison, Paralysis

(Cue: Ayakashi III - Nioh)

"You heard him, guys. We gotta fight." David said.

Nekomata fought with a corrupted fury, lunging and slashing at the group, while also firing balls and beams of electricity.

"We're sorry about all this, Nekomata!" Juvia said. "Water Slicer!" she said cutting into the large tiger.

"We'll make it as gentle as we can." Mermista said, firing off some water shots into him.

"No promises though, we can get a little rough!" DW typed, peppering him with some Dualie shots.

"This hurts me more!" Thorani said as she poured down water from her hair like a waterfall.

"Sorry Nekomata…" Lapis said, firing out balls of water that splattered against the White Tiger's fur.

Nekomata roared as the spirits floated out of his body and vanished in flashes of light.

(end song)

"Fuku, use the spirit stone to rebuild the kekkai barrier." Tenkai said as the two mages raced to the shrine as the group members watched Nekomata's form shrink until he was back in his original state. The more spiritual members could tell that he was fading.

"Nekomata…" Sunset said in sadness.

"No need for tears. All souls come and go in cycles, just as the history of war and peace repeats." Nekomata said before he closed his one eye, fading into light that floated off into the sky.

(Cue: Sorrow - Nioh)

"Nekomata…Nekomata!" Sunset cried out to the skies above.

William said nothing, hanging his head low before picking up a feather left behind by Saoirse.

"Yet another sin that Kelly must pay for…is there no end to that man's cruelty?!" Sir Saiyan growled.

"Sunset…" Mark said, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder. "You shouldn't-"

"No…I know. This is Kelly's fault, not mine." Sunset said, wiping her tears away. "He'll answer for what he's done. All of it."

"Peace…" Tenkai said as he and Fuku rejoined the group, having repaired the barrier. "When next we meet, I hope we can see it together." he said as the group looked up at the storming sky above them. All of them thought the same thing, yet none of them dared to ask: Will we ever see an end to the constant wars and death?

"I'm sorry…I let Kelly get away." Hanzo apologized to the group as they came down off the mountain. "There was nothing I could do against that strange magic of his."

"Don't blame yourself, Hanzo, he's slipped away from us multiple times." Connie said.

"Even so…if he is after Lord Ieyasu's life, we haven't a moment to lose. We must reach Suruga before the fiend does." Hanzo said.

"Then it's time we got to our meeting. C'mon, we've put it off long enough." Bardock said as the group headed off towards Suruga.

Frisk noticed that Hanzo looked troubled. "You okay, Hanzo?"

"I feel a deep sense of unease." Hanzo said. "Perhaps I'm imagining things, but even my cat seems out of sorts."

"...Oh." Frisk realized, looking down. "Yeah…I guess he does."

The group, having lost Nekomata to Kelly's machinations, now travel to Suruga in the Tokai region in order to meet with Lord Ieyasu and protect him from Kelly. How much more will they lose in their fight against the Yo-kai Alliance?