Chapter 154: Replacement

"This is... the Shinigami Mask of the Uzumaki clan? Are they planning to use this to seal Celebi?"

"These also have Hypnosis powder! Those idiots..."

"Oh no! They're already coming! Hey, wake up!"

"It's too late... You should hide in here first!"

...

Amu's mind was still dizzy at this moment, but he could roughly figure out what was happening. It seemed Kato Yama had... hidden him inside the box originally meant for offerings?

Then, amidst a splitting headache, Amu vaguely heard Kato Yama arguing with someone outside, and the voices seemed to include Kato Hayashi's...

"Yama! What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing? That's what I should be asking you guys!"

"We're doing this for the Kato clan too, you..."

"Huh? Why are you wearing clothes too?"

"You... stop talking nonsense!"

...

Well, Kato Hayashi from a thousand years ago was clearly on the opposing side now too!

Although Amu's consciousness was still hazy, he struggled and released his six partner Pokémon.

No matter what happened, it was better to have some self-defense capabilities...

At that moment, Gengar, Clefable, Ditto, Electrode, Alakazam, and Exeggutor—all six Pokémon were released!

Knowing they might face bizarre and ghostly entities, Amu had tried to bring Pokémon of sufficiently high levels, plus the Psychic-type Exeggutor. Never mind that Psychic types were weak to Ghost types in terms of typing; in actual combat, their abilities were at least esoteric enough to put up a fight...

If he had brought elemental types instead, although there were no type disadvantages, they would easily end up being toyed with!

"Boss, Boss?" Clefairy called out to Amu twice, then hurriedly said, "The Boss isn't looking too good, maybe we should split our belongings and go our separate ways!"

Amu: ...

What kind of shows has it been watching lately at Professor Cerise's research lab?

"Wait a minute, it sounds like there are people outside... and none of them look very friendly!"

"What is this? A mask? It looks kind of ugly..."

"Huh? A-Kai, do you recognize this mask?"

"How are we supposed to use it?"

"Ee—ee!"

"Wait, cover it with this..."

"Emmm... your face is a little too small... I've got it! Have Boom wear it!"

"Coffin and I will set the mood for you guys."

...

Amu vaguely heard them doing something with the masks found here.

Judging by what Kato Yama said, were these masks from the Uzumaki clan? Could it be related to some sealing jutsu?

Had Amu been fully awake, he definitely would have told them not to "mess around" recklessly, but for now, he had no choice but to let them be.

If Amu were to open his eyes right now, he would see...

Boom wearing the "Demon Mask," hoisted up on top of the Ams, draped with a makeshift white cloth found on the spot. The heads of the Ams peeked out slightly, looking just like a skull necklace worn by a fierce apparition.

Atop Boom's head was also a clump of kelp, and... A-Kai hiding within the kelp.

Meanwhile, Coffin, in its Despotank state, was also hidden beneath the white cloth, stretching out as many shadow hands as possible to prop up the arm sections and making its "body" look somewhat bloated.

To appear taller, Clefairy and Haunter stacked themselves like the base of a human pyramid beneath the Ams, each "person" holding up one of the Ams' legs, while Gengar controlled a few wisps of Will-O'-Wisp, floating behind the "giant ghostly shadow"...

Just as they finished "rehearsal," the fighting outside had already broken out!

"Saemon! Stop him!"

Kato Yama was barely holding off Kato Fu and Kato Hi, while Kato Hayashi arrived with reinforcements, only to be met with... something resembling a giant inflatable dancing tube man swaying outside a newly opened store, taking the form of a "ghostly shadow."

"This is... Damn it! This isn't what we agreed on! You Uzumaki bastards!" Kato Hayashi cursed.

This had to be a plot by the Uzumaki clan!

Otherwise, why would the borrowed "Shinigami Mask" activate on its own?

"Dreamy! You guys hold it off!" While ordering his Pokémon to "stall" the Uzumaki clan's trump card, Kato Hayashi commanded his clansmen to move the other offerings away first—they didn't rely on just one backup plan either.

Besides the "Shinigami Mask," many of the offerings were berries famously favored by Celebi, except... they were all laced with Hypnosis powder.

Amu vaguely sensed that the box he was in seemed to have been moved as well, and... it was being carried toward the direction where the "wind" was blowing!

Meanwhile, Kato Hayashi, an expert commanding three Elite-tier Pokémon, was confronting Amu's Pokémon in dead earnest...

Clefairy, Haunter, and the others knew that if they actually threw down, they would be instantly wiped out, so they were just bluffing!

The ghost fires grew increasingly fierce, the kelp hair grew more and more claw-like under the influence of telekinesis, the skull necklace grinned wickedly in the netherworldly illumination, and the white cloth covering twitched with increasing horror, as if beneath it were not a body, but countless tentacles... which actually turned out to be true!

Facing this trump card left behind by the Uzumaki clan to ambush the Kato clan, Kato Hayashi didn't dare lower his guard for a second, hoping only to stall them... Since the opponent hadn't attacked immediately, he maintained his imposing aura, sweating profusely on his forehead as he stared them down.

If Amu could see this scene, he would finally understand why, a thousand years later, his tone was so evasive whenever he mentioned "getting ambushed by another Ghost-type family"!

"Hey, hey! Wait, you can't send that over... Ah! Saemon, watch out!" Kato Yama's voice faintly carried over amidst the sounds of battle.

Clearly, however, Kato Yama couldn't break through the encirclement; on the contrary, the situation on his own end seemed increasingly desperate.

Soon, Amu felt that he had arrived at the exact center where the ripples of time appeared, and... whether it was his imagination or not, Amu felt his discomfort subsiding!

It was hard to tell whether he had simply gotten used to it, or if the complete manifestation of the time ripples meant they no longer triggered violent spatial-temporal fluctuations.

"Cele—bi—"

An ethereal cry echoed through the air.

At the same time, Amu heard what sounded like Kato Fu's voice—it seemed Kato Yama couldn't hold off two people for long!

"Celebi, thank you for coming to soothe the temporal ripples and bless my hometown. These are the offerings our Kato clan has prepared for you!" Kato Fu shouted toward Celebi.

Normally, after Celebi absorbed the time ripples, the surrounding vitality would flourish and prosper, so Kato Fu's words of gratitude weren't entirely wrong.

"Cele?" Celebi's voice sounded somewhat puzzled, as if it had sensed something.

Celebi was extremely sensitive to conflict; even distant battles would draw its attention...

Meanwhile, having regained some strength, Amu determined Celebi's approximate location inside the box by sound alone, and then extended his palm outward, activating [Animal Sense] to conduct telepathic communication with Celebi from afar!

"Cele?" Celebi looked suspiciously toward the "gift."

Kato Fu, thinking they had been discovered, quietly made hand gestures, signaling the surrounding clansmen to prepare for a sneak attack!