After slamming Yato to the ground, Akira summoned a chunk of the earth once again. But Natsuki quickly jumped from the side and drop kicked him. She then helped Yato to stand up. He was still coughing out blood from the impact that was Akira's punch. She made a discovery while looking at Akira right before he was about to finish him off.
She pointed out that Akira's eyes turned purple at the last second, which indicates that perhaps he wasn't himself when that happened. All the rage he burst out could be from something else. This insight also made Yato remember about what he saw before he got there. His doppelganger.
He told Natsuki that the clone called him a 'vengeful spirit', and that he has to take revenge on his family, "I... I haven't thought about that though---" Yato came back to his senses, but kept on coughing out blood.
"I think I know who that was..." Natsuki recalled a faint memory of someone powerful. All the while Akira rose again from the bushes on the side. Kentarou's body was damaged, bruises everywhere, even his shirt was torn by the sticks and twigs he went through.
"Are you done talking yet?!" Akira brushed off his shoulder from leaves stuck on his shirt.
Natsuki then got an idea, "Kentarou!!" she called Kentarou to everyone's surprise. She tried to wake Kentarou up to regain control over his own body. But he couldn't hear her call at first. Soon though, Akira abruptly stopped his movement. His eyes were twitching, as well as his arms involuntarily stopped moving.
Natsuki looked back to Yato, "We have to get Kentarou to wake up, and create a conflict in that body. After that, we'll have to try to kick Akira out," she then explained her plan, "I think he's starting to respond, we just have to force the rest,"
Yato nodded, then tried to stand up on his own. After spitting out the last drop of blood from his mouth, he was finally ready to fight again albeit weaker than before. "Fine then... let see if you have something to say about this," he charged his sword again.
----
Kyuuto meanwhile woke up in the all-white space where he met Kurouzu once before. He was on a small block that was soft just like a bed. His blurry vision caught a glimpse of someone walking towards him, it was Kurouzu himself.
"You---" Kyuuto tried to stand up, then remembered that he had been stabbed. He paused and checked for his wound, but there's nothing there. He was perfectly fine.
"You've already heard everything, haven't you?" Kurouzu sat not far from him, he conjured a similar block to act as a chair, "I apologize," he turned his head down, "it was never meant to be this way---"
*PUNCH!!*
Kyuuto suddenly sprang towards Kurouzu and punched him in the face. The two then tumbled down and separated a moment later. Kyuuto then quickly stood up, then held Kurouzu by his collar, "You--!! It's you who brought this curse!! It was never Yamisuke!!" he then tried to punch him again, but got stopped by Kurouzu's ethereal arms. He tried as hard as he could, but was not able to overpower his ancestor's defense.
Kurouzu then conjured three more of his ethereal arms, and pushed Kyuuto away. Once again he tried to charge to attack Kurouzu out of spite, but he was able to keep his descendant away. "Kyuuto--- listen!! You're right.... it was never my brother... It was MY fault," Kurouzu finally admitted his wrongdoings, "I'm sorry to have you carry this burden..." he then sat on a new block he summoned.
"I was absorbed by my own desire to take back the land from him. I was willing to do anything to throw him down... it led me to this chaos. Everything happens when we're in the middle of a war with his forces..." Kurouzu then told the story of Aotori's army all vanished without a trace in the middle of a battle with the new Ookami kingdom under Yamisuke's rule.
While the general revolutionists were back to their posts, the main team of Aotori were transported into a cave. There, they met with the three earth gods: Yuukai, Raizen, and Anrui. They explained that Yamisuke was beyond their threshold of threat. They feared that he would do considerable damage to the whole planet.
"... They promised to help us, but I found it weird for them to summon someone else instead of helping us directly. We then discussed who would be the vessel of this new power. Karito wanted it at first, but the gods declined. I was chosen to bear this... curse instead," Kurouzu looked at his own palms.
"Wait, wait, wait---- Yuukai and Raizen are what?!" Kyuuto thought he misheard Kurouzu's story.
Kurouzu sighed, then looked at him in the eyes, "You heard it right. And you shouldn't trust them,"