Chapter 293 Shinto Festival
Tonight, the sky is clear and cloudless.
The bright moon slowly climbed up the mountain, and then gradually climbed towards the middle of the sky with its little tail.
Under the bright moonlight, the Meiji Shrine was bustling with people crowded everywhere.
Although the approaches to Meiji Jingu Shrine are spacious, it still seems very crowded due to the large number of people present at once.
There were no special personnel on the scene to maintain order or disperse the crowd. It seemed that the intention was to let the crowd fill the entire Meiji Shrine.
In the central woods, an altar had already been built, as well as a circle of protective fences, and special personnel were guarding them to prevent crowds from pouring in.
Special cameras were set up in the four directions of east, west, south and north. Reporters from several well-known TV stations came, and even the Meiji Shrine allowed direct live broadcast online.
That night, NHK, which was invited to broadcast and film the event live, also set a viewership record.
Not only in Tokyo, but throughout Japan, TV programs about Meiji Jingu Shrine are being broadcast.
This is a publicity campaign that has affected the whole of Japan.
"There are so many people, there's no way we can squeeze in!"
Looking at the almost impassable road ahead, Iori Fubuki stopped. She was carrying the Manjusri sword on her back and didn't want to mingle with the crowd and squeeze around.
"Wait a moment. I have contacted the people at Meiji Jingu Shrine to pick us up."
Iori Miyaji said soothing words and asked Iori Fubuki to wait patiently.
"We came here to cause trouble tonight, but they treated us as guests of honor. It's quite interesting."
Thinking of this, Iori Fubuki's mood improved.
Saburo Takeda and Mitsuhide Akechi had no choice but to part ways with Iori Fubuki and others and go to join the crowd.
They were not Shintoists but Buddhists, and were not welcome by the people of Meiji Jingu.
Fortunately, Saburo Takeda was tall and strong, and had greater strength, so he easily squeezed into the crowd, like a big fish swimming upstream, swimming in the stream.
Akechi Mitsuhide followed silently behind Takeda Saburo. Occasionally, when he encountered a situation where he could not squeeze in, he would use a little magic power to make the crowd in front of him automatically make way for him to pass.
On the other side, Iori Miyaji and others waited for a while, and the Meiji Shrine sent a priest to welcome fellow Shintoists. He led them through the area where normal tourists were not allowed to enter, and then took a detour to the central area and prepared seats for them.
This is a small temporary platform where many people from famous shrines and shrines are already seated.
As the chief priest of Ogamiyama Shrine, Iori personally came to Tokyo and came from afar to watch the ceremony at Meiji Shrine, and was given corresponding attention.
There is only one seat, Iori Fubuki is sitting, Iori Miyaji is standing on the right, and Inugami is standing on the left.
When he met acquaintances, Iori Miyaji greeted them familiarly and showed off his daughter to them with great pride.
After going through hardships and gaining a new life, Iori Fubuki has made rapid progress in her cultivation and has already possessed the strength of a regular priest, far surpassing the average priest.
The ranks of Japanese priests can generally be divided into five levels, from low to high: Jingjie, Mingjie, Zhengjie, Ganzhengjie, and Zhijie.
Jingjie is the lowest level of priest, mainly responsible for some basic sacrificial activities.
Mingjie is a slightly higher-level priest who is responsible for more important sacrificial ceremonies.
The Shokkai usually hold important positions in the shrine, and the Kanshokkai are responsible for managing and supervising other priests.
The last straight ranks usually hold high positions in central or important shrines.
This is the level of status, and it can also indirectly measure the strength of one's ability.
In addition, Iori Fubuki had been with Manjusri Sword for a long time and had learned a lot of Buddhist methods, following the orthodox path of combining gods and Buddhas.
Among the younger generation, he is already considered to be terrifyingly strong.
The prerequisite is to exclude Master Padmasambhava from the younger generation.
"I didn't expect that Izumo Taisha would also send someone here."
Glancing at a familiar figure, Iori Miyaji's expression became solemn, and Iori Fubuki's eyes also showed a bit of seriousness.
Izumo Taisha Shrine is one of the oldest shrines in Japan. The deity they enshrine is Okuninushi Omikami, who is known as the "most sacred deity in the country."
Every year in the month of Kanna, eight million gods from all over the country gather at Izumo Shrine for divine meetings.
In the entire Shinto system, the influence of Izumo Taisha ranks among the top three.
The only shrines that can be compared with Izumo Taisha are a few, such as Ise Jingu, which enshrines Amaterasu.
"Fubuki, wait here for a while. I'll go get some information and find out what the Izumo Taisha is saying."
Iori Fubuki waved her hand, signaling Iori Miyaji to leave early and come back early. "This party tonight is really lively!"
The Inugami, who had been observing for a long time, couldn't help but sigh. It can be said that two-thirds of the famous Shinto shrines have come.
Although some shrines only send one representative to show their respect, when they gather together, there will be a large group of people.
“The Meiji Shrine is indeed very impressive.”
"If it were our Ogamiyama Shrine, even if Iori sold his ass, he wouldn't be able to invite so many people."
Iori Fubuki raised an eyebrow when she heard this, "Aren't you still here?"
"..."
"Isn't our Lord Inugami's honor enough to ask them to come?"
"Oh, I'm too lazy to invite them."
The Inugami showed an arrogant expression as if he disdained to associate with them.
The man and the dog chatted for a while, and often teased Iori Miyaji who was not there.
About 20 minutes later, Iori Miyaji returned with a priest who looked familiar.
After sitting down at the same table and talking for a few words, Iori Fubuki learned that this priest was from Tsukimi Shrine.
This shrine is often mentioned by the dog gods.
Especially the moon god who has been worshipped in this shrine for many years.
"Your daughter doesn't look like you at all."
Omaeji looked at Iori Fubuki for a few seconds, then shook his head and sighed.
"Oh, you are clearly envious and jealous!"
The Grand Secretary said disdainfully: "How can you be worthy of giving birth to such a beautiful and lovely daughter?"
"well said."
Iori Fubuki smiled and clapped, agreeing with this statement very much.
After the greetings and jokes, Iori Miyaji gave Inugami a look, and Inugami slowly retreated behind the three of them and opened a small barrier to prevent eavesdropping.
"Izumo Taisha agrees that Meiji Jingu should produce a deity, even if it is the Seven Sins."
"Although Ise Shrine did not send anyone, their attitude was to acquiesce and wait and see. They neither opposed nor supported..."
Iori Miyaji quickly shared the information he had found out.
"They clearly want to support the Seventh Sinner Lord and have him fight against Master Liansheng," the Grand Master of the Imperial Court chuckled, revealing the real purpose of tonight's event.
Iori Miyaji was silent for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Master Liansheng shouldn't come tonight."
Allowing the Seven Sinners to ascend to the throne and become the guardian gods of the entire Shinto religion is the common will tacitly agreed upon by many shrines.
As a Buddhist practitioner, Master Rensheng will become the focus of the entire Shinto religion once he arrives.
Iori Fubuki placed the sword case on the table, gently stroked it with her hand, and sneered, "If this is just an internal problem of Shintoism, no one would dare to say anything, right?"
"Don't be impulsive!"
Iori Miyaji hurriedly coaxed Iori Fubuki, telling her not to be the first one to stick out.
Seeing this scene, Omae no Miyaji felt funny at first. It was obvious that Iori no Miyaji was being severely controlled by his own daughter.
But soon, he fell silent, with a deeper worry in his eyes than that of Iori Miyaji.
He was also being harshly controlled by his own goddess!
The clock slowly pointed to 10 o'clock in the evening. Three old priests from Meiji Shrine led the way and led the Seven Sinners to the main altar, ready to start the enthronement ceremony.
"That young man is the Seven Sins Master?"
When Iori Fubuki and others saw this scene, they stood up at the same time, and many other people did the same thing.
If that young man had not passed the three old priests and stood in the very center, they would never have been able to connect that man with the Seven Sinners.
He is clearly a young priest who has achieved great success in his practice and has an extraordinary temperament!
(End of this chapter)
