With the group splitting up, Mordred, Kotoko Iwanaga, Yukino Yukinoshita, and Yui Yuigahama headed west. Raikou, Taichi, Akane Shinjo, and Ann Takamaki went east. They collected spirits with the katashiro while also searching for the Hannya-masked figure's suspected hideouts.
The Yokai, under Kotoko's command, were unusually active. Almost everywhere they went, they saw smaller Yokai diligently working with their katashiro. Even a Tengu occasionally flew high overhead.
It was now early morning, and the new day had officially begun.
"Lady Raikou is so cool," Ann murmured. She hadn't seen Raikou in action while hiding in the hospital, so this was the first time she was witnessing Raikou's prowess. Raikou's fighting style was exceptional, flowing like a river, with an ancient, graceful aura. This was Raikou's way of fighting. This style was devastating to young people going through their teen years, particularly the more dramatic ones. Ann was basically a fan girl now.
"Those Visitors are no match for Raikou, yet they don't show any intention of running away from her," Akane said with a worried frown. "I'm starting to wonder if these Visitors don't have self-awareness and are just 'robots' controlled by a simple program."
"Akane, don't try to understand how they act," Taichi warned. "It'll just make you feel like you're wasting your time later."
"Taichi! Akane! Look over there! Over there!" Ann suddenly grabbed Taichi's arm and pointed into a deep alley. At the end of the alley, a female Visitor stood in a gray trench coat with a round hat, a large white surgical mask covering the bottom half of her face, and a large rusty pair of scissors in her hand.
"It's the Slit-Mouthed Woman! That's definitely the Kuchisake-Onna from the urban legends!"
"It's not just her," Akane reminded them ominously. "Look closely around. There's another Slit-Mouthed Woman in a red trench coat without a mask or a hat... Ugh, she's so ugly!"
Under the dim streetlights, the pale-skinned, tall, and muscular female Visitors with scissors charged at Taichi's group.
"They're coming!"
They were both over two meters tall.
"If it weren't for the iconic slit mouth and scissors, I would have thought she was the silent Hachishaku-sama," Ann said, trying to calm her nerves.
"Be careful a taxi doesn't stop, and a Hachishaku-sama dressed as a driver climbs out," Akane joked.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Ann looked at Akane in confusion.
"Oh? Well..." Akane's expression froze.
"That's scheduled to be released next year," Taichi said, reminding her. "You're saying that too early."
"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" Akane covered her face, not daring to look at Taichi.
"Huh? You know too, Taichi? What's coming out next year? A novel?" Ann, who was currently living in 2015, blinked in confusion.
"No time for that," Taichi said, changing the subject. "Watch your surroundings. Be careful of Visitors coming out of blind spots and dragging you away."
The Slit-Mouthed Women were much stronger than the average Visitor. Their mobility and strength were far greater. The rusty scissors in their hands also had increased lethality, even inflicting tetanus. But to Raikou, they were still just trash that could be cut down in a single blow. The only difference was that because the Visitors were faster, Raikou had to move even faster to deal with them.
"By the way, are the number of Visitors decreasing?" Taichi asked Raikou, who had just finished another fight.
"Yes, they are," Raikou replied, nodding. "The number of lurking presences has dropped significantly. Before, you'd see at least two or three on every street, but now we're only seeing a few every three or four blocks."
"Are they gathering somewhere?" Taichi frowned and called out to a passing Ittan-momen.
"Taichi-sama, did you need me for something?" The Ittan-momen, under Kotoko's control, stopped obediently about two meters away from Taichi. The Ittan-momen felt that if it got within two meters of the female warrior next to Taichi, she would cut it down.
"Find out why the Visitors are disappearing in large numbers and where they were last seen."
"Yes, Taichi-sama. I'll immediately relay the command to the other Yokai," the Ittan-momen said, twisting its body as it flew higher.
"Is this the last of the suspected hideouts we've cleared?" Taichi asked, looking at the Oni-like Visitor that lay at Raikou's feet before dissipating into particles.
"The sixth one," Ann replied, looking at her phone. "It perfectly matches the number of suspected hideouts that Kotoko-san first gave for this direction... but not a single one was real."
At 3:00 a.m., Taichi and the others walked out of the last suspected hideout.
"Mordred's group also had no luck," Taichi said, rubbing his forehead with a sigh. "We searched twelve suspected hideouts and didn't find a single trace of the Hannya-masked person."
"These guys are really good at playing hide and seek."
"Master, please remain calm," Raikou said, seeing Taichi's frustration. "The opponent has hidden their tracks so meticulously; they must be plotting a more important scheme."
"You must not lose your cool."
Just then, the Ittan-momen descended from the sky.
"Taichi-sama! The reason for the mysterious disappearance of the Visitors has been found!" The Ittan-momen said, getting straight to the point. "Some of them are underground, trying to drain the sealing barrier set by the great Ultraman."
"And the rest of them are gathered at the sealing barrier on the highway."
"How are they draining it?" Taichi asked, confused.
"They're canceling it out with their bodies," the Ittan-momen said, its mouth curving. "They're using a suicidal method to counteract the barrier's effect."
"Are the Visitors doing it on their own, or is there a trace of someone controlling them behind the scenes?" Taichi pressed for more information.
The Ittan-momen innocently fluttered its body, indicating that it was just a Yokai and didn't know the answer to those questions.
To this point, even though the Visitors often attacked Taichi and his group, their connection to the true mastermind behind the fog and the barrier was unknown. If there was a connection, what was the relationship? Was the Hannya-masked person the true mastermind or a puppet of another villain? None of these questions had been answered.
After all, from beginning to end, the Visitors only knew how to fight, and they couldn't be reasoned with.