The Entertainment District

Following the events in Saffron Village, the Kami returned to the Celestial Realm to check in on the twenty Timble Men they had rescued. While Amaterasu was unable to fully reverse their condition, she bestowed upon them a new purpose. Each one was appointed as part of her elite celestial attendants, now known as the Taiyō Shinobi—agents who would act as her personal aides, informants, and shadow operatives across the divine and mortal realms.

For their next mission, the Kami were sent to Waterfall Bay, a sprawling coastal city famed for its vibrant entertainment district. Their task: to subtly encourage the people there to walk a nobler path and reclaim the district's waning virtue. Arriving through a heavenly portal anchored in Ryūjin's Temple, the party descended into the colorful streets of the city below, where lanterns danced in the mist and laughter echoed from teahouses, gambling dens, and stage halls.

To fulfill their task, the Kami took different approaches: one gave rousing public performances of morality plays, blending humor and wisdom; another offered blessings and gentle guidance to brothel workers, helping them negotiate better treatment and fairer pay. They whispered wisdom to drunken merchants, placed talismans to ward off greed, and invoked subtle miracles that brought joy, clarity, and change. Slowly, the district began to feel lighter—more human, more hopeful.

Among the many places they visited, one establishment stood out: the mysterious Pinecone Brothel, nestled between a red silk teahouse and an opium den. Inside, the scent of incense hung thick in the air, and courtesans dressed in dreamlike silks moved gracefully through rooms of shadow and velvet. One figure, however, captured all attention: a tall, dark-skinned woman known as The Painted Maiden, rumored to never age and to drive patrons mad with love. Her presence was intoxicating, her beauty otherworldly.

While inside the brothel, the party mingled with guests, sampled enchanted plum wine, and listened to whispered tales about the Maiden. One Kami performed a haunting melody that drew quiet tears from even the most jaded visitors. Another discreetly blessed the sick and disillusioned, lifting unseen curses. Yet beneath the laughter and pleasure, they sensed something unnatural—something wrong.

Their investigation led to a chilling truth: The Painted Maiden was a Yokai, feeding on literal hearts once every full moon to sustain her beauty and powers. Her next victim was already marked. The Kami pursued her to a secluded swordsmith's estate outside the city, a fortified villa known as the Steel Lotus Dojo, run by a man called Master Meng—a renowned bladesmith and, as it turned out, the Maiden's husband.

Master Meng stood in their way, revealing a cursed weapon he had forged: a soul-stealing blade named Akujiki. He claimed the Kami had no right to interfere, defending his wife with fury and steel. A deadly battle followed. In the end, the Kami turned his own blade against him, severing both his and the Painted Maiden's souls from the cycle. It was then they uncovered the truth: Master Meng was another Aspect of Orochi, the one known as Murasame, the Forger of Blades and Harbinger of Sorrow.

With another Orochi Aspect vanquished and the Painted Maiden's twisted legacy ended, the Kami returned to Waterfall Bay. Though they carried the weight of hard decisions, they had also restored a measure of harmony to a city steeped in shadows. Whispers of divine justice rippled through the district, and even the brothels lit candles to Inari, offering prayers between laughter and song.

The hunt continued—but so did the light.