───

HIMARI FELT MUCH BETTER AFTER CONFIDING in sukuna the previous night; waking up with more determination than ever, and with the mindset of avenging yuki.

     in fact, the woman was now enjoying the spring flowers that had bloomed after yuki's death, though specifically one had caught her eye.

     "lady himari, isn't that lake biwa?", itadori asked, pointing at the large lake with a red torii (shrine gate) perched on a small platform at the center of it.

"oh wow...so where's susanoo?", himari questioned, squinting her eyes, as she even bent her body forwards, looming over the clear waters.

     "mm...how did you summon amaterasu?", itadori asked, setting down their baggages, since they still lacked the accompaniment of their horses.

     "I don't know...I stepped into her territory and apparently I disturbed her sleep or something", himari answered, still standing on the edge of the grassy field, as gojō suddenly snickered.

"then perhaps you should step into susanoo's territory", gojō grinned, pushing the woman into the shallow waters, as himari fell onto all fours, scraping her palms and knees.

     "BITCH! WHAT THE FU—"

     gojō then promptly splashed some water onto himari's face, causing her to glare at the male, as getō hurried over with a dry towel.

     "himari, are you okay?", getō asked, helping the girl up, as he draped the towel over her head.

     "gojō satoru, I swear...one day...I'll make you get on your knees and kneel to me, you white rat", himari spat.

gojō snorted, as he stuck his arms in his opposite sleeves.

"please! the day I bow down to you will be the day that I lose my wit, because I will never, ever kneel before someone who's weaker than me", gojō proclaimed, causing himari to huff, as she only turned towards getō.

"thanks, suguru, but I can dry my own hair", himari smiled, to which the male had nodded.

"okay...sooooo that didn't work. what's next?", itadori awkwardly chuckled.

"mm...should we offer him some food and finery?", rumi suggested.

"it's okay guys. I got this", himari said, obnoxiously clearing her throat, as she made an oval formation with her hands pressed against the corners of her lips.

"WOW!! I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS WHERE SUSANOO RESIDES! PITY HE GOT BEATEN BY HIS SISTER...WHO'S A WOMAN!! NOW THAT'S JUST A SHAME~"

"h-h-himari!! what are you doing?", rumi harshly whispered, tugging on the woman's sleeve, as himari just shrugged.

"remember, to coax someone out of their shell — especially men — you've got to stroke their ego a little...THEN DRAG THEM! SHOW NO MERCY!", himari instructed, causing rumi to flinch.

without a doubt, a whirlpool at the center of the lake had started forming, to which it had instantaneously became a watery figure of susanoo.

     the buff god even had a water beard, as his brows furrowed at himari, who was amazed at how tall the god was.

"damn...you really be taller than the colossal titan", himari muttered.

"human, you dare disrupt my peace and insult me in my own territory? is it a death wish you seek?!", susanoo grunted, to which himari had dipped her head immediately.

     "no sir! I was just trying to summon you, but my ✨smol brain✨ could only only think of insults as a way to invite you out. my apologies for that", himari stated, to which the god had scoffed.

     "I assume it's the stone that you desire. after all, I see that my sister was foolish enough to give you hers. perhaps she's finally gone mad", the man slightly grinned.

     "say, how did you bribe her? or did you seduce the men behind you to get them to slay the beast for you?", susanoo questioned.

himari snapped her head upwards.

"okay first off, I don't need a reason to seduce the men behind me. and second off, I actually killed it on my own", himari seriously answered.

a boisterous laughter suddenly filled the forest — so rowdy that it caused a flock of birds to fleet from hiding.

"y-you?! you killed that stupid snake?!", susanoo chuckled, sighing, as he swatted his hand back and forth in disbelief.

"umm...yeah? so can you like get on with the task that I need to do to get to the stone please? I'm kind of on a time crunch", himari said.

"lose the attitude, woman. I don't take commands from the weaker gender", susanoo insulted.

     "okay naoya 2.0, I know you ain't talking, especially since you got wrecked by your sister in that fight like eons ago", himari snapped back, crossing her arms as she stood with all her weight shifted to her left leg.

     susanoo gritted his teeth as his brows knitted together even more — if that were possible.

     "since you're so eager, why don't you give it a try then? if you can survive going towards the torii, get through the barrier, and pass the purity trial, then I shall bestow the sea stone upon you", susanoo promised.

     "wait, wait, wait! PURITY TRIAL?! HOW PURE WE TALKIN'?! like the rice purity test or...."

     "let's see if you can even get through the first trial without the help of your 'seduced men' first", susanoo mocked, snapping his fingers, as the water started churning again.

an eight-headed dragon with scales like a snake had suddenly emerged from the waters.

if one knew their history, they'd know that it was the yamata-no-orochi that was once slayed by susanoo himself.

himari stumbled back a few steps as the eight heads snarled at the woman, not daring to exit out of the waters, as they were chained to the center — where the torii stood.

"holy shit! this for real be some naruto shit", himari cursed, biting the bottom of her lip, as she watched susanoo grin.

"good luck! though I suppose if you're really desperate, you could get the others to do the dirty work for you", susanoo teased, disappearing back into the waters, as himari simply stared at the demon in front of her.

"h-h-himari, why don't you just ask sukuna-san or getō-sama to help you? i-it looks really threatening...", rumi whispered, to which himari had sighed, nodding her head.

"yeah, like how the fuck am I supposed to pass the purity test? how pure is he talking?!?", the woman huffed.

"that's what you're worried about? pft! you think you could take on that all by yourself?", gojō taunted.

     "bitch, at least I'm clean. if anything, you should be even more concerned on whether you'd disintegrate from the purity of the waters or not", himari sassed, causing an irk mark to appear on gojō's forehead.

     "you—"

     "huh?! what's that?? you called, suguru? I'll be right there", himari shouted, snapping her head back at gojō before skipping off.

     "sorry, my suguru's calling. ta-ta!"

     "but he didn't even—ugh!"