For the first time in his life Ginji felt extremely sad and nervous. While he was getting ready for the festival Ginji faced a great dilemma. He had two choices, the first one was to tell the whole truth, or he could disguise himself as the priest and continue the ceremony, but he would not be able to complete it. Either way it was impossible to avoid a catastrophe today. He took a deep breath and thought about the priest who was kept in a futon inside the altar. He remembered a conversation he had with the priest. (Sitting under the tree, which was the favorite spot of Ginji, mockingly he asked, "Abbot, if you had to lie for the benefit of all would to keep on lying?" the priest grinned at the innocence of this wonderful beast and said "even if it is for the benefit of all you cannot keep on lying forever. You must always keep this in mind that truth represents itself in the most honest way". Ginji realized what the monk had told him now and thought that if they had gathered all the courage and informed all the people then it would have been much better. He had started to regret his decision of disguising as the priest and of letting the white snake go, but now all this did not matter. He resolved himself that he would tell the truth to everyone and so he dressed up as Ginji and not as the priest.
People had started gathering in front of the temple and like every year Ginji had done a great work of decorating the entire place. Izumi was the first one to arrive and he had brought the rice wine which was the main offering of the ceremony. Izumi looked at Ginji but for the first time he felt that he was looking at a totally different person. He glanced around his hair and saw that he had not worn the red ribbon that Izumi had sent for him. Izumi felt a bit upset but instead inquired Ginji where he had been for all this while. Ginji had thought that he had resolved himself enough to face the world, but Izumi's question made him weak. He had this sudden urge of crying in the arms of Izumi, but Ginji knew that what he had done was wrong. He said, "you will know everything when the time comes" and he left. Izumi stood frozen because Ginji had never been so cold to him. The prayers started and the ayakashi's were welcomed with a great feast. Everything was going on well until the time when the priest had to offer the offerings to the ayakashi's.
After some time, the crowd gathered there started creating commotion. Then the head of the Minamoto clan said, "now that I think about it, I haven't seen the priest since early morning". Everybody started asking Ginji about the priest to which Ginji had no answer. As the time passed by the ayakashis started growing uneasy. The people of the region knew the nature of the ayakashis so they all turned towards Ginji for help. At last Ginji exploded, "the priest has been long dead, but I have put a spell on him so that his body may not decay. The white snake has gone to the Goddess for help". There was an absolute silence in the air. After hearing this Raiju took a sip from the cup and smirked. He was one of those ayakashis who had never liked the idea of living in peace with the humans. Izumi's father spoke, "I had always known that you would bring disaster to us". Izumi felt a sharp pain in his chest, but he wouldn't dare to speak against his father. All the others agreed and ganged against Ginji, Izumi stood there confused and baffled as he couldn't decide between the two sides.
The white snake walked along the road and he saw an old shabby place to rest. He went inside but was amazed to see that kakuriyo operated in the same way as the other world operate, so it was obvious that he had to pay. However, he did not have any money so the manager of the inn was about to throw him when the owner of the inn an ogre interrupted. He inquired about the white snake as he could smell the earthly air from him. The white snake told him the whole story and the ogre offered to help but he also had his own condition. The ogre demanded the skin of the white snake as it could be used to make from it. The skin of the white snake could amplify the of the ayakashi. The white snake saw no harm in it as it would get him an ally in the underworld. Without even thinking twice the white snake agreed to it. He peeled off his skin and offered it to the ogre and he in return showed him the direction which could lead him to the goddess.
The ayakashis at the temple kept silent and were mere spectators. Ginji was on his limit and was about to explode. In the middle of the chaos Raiju and the other ayakashis stood and said, "the tradition is broken and so is the contract which was established by the goddess'" hearing such words the inhabitants immediately fell on their knees. With great hatred in their eyes, they stared at Ginji. When he looked around, he saw Izumi looking at him with disgust. This was too much for him to take. Ginji broke down and fell on his knees and offered a deal to the ayakashis. "If you leave here peacefully, I will join you and serve you in the underworld" he said. "Ginji, what do you think you are saying?" asked Izumi. Izumi's father pulled him on his sleeves and said "let the jinx be gone for good. Don't speak a word". Hearing such words Raiju said, "but you have been appointed by the goddess. Would you still like to join me?". Raiju could see how vulnerable Ginji's emotions were and he could also sense the hatred of the villagers towards him. This was a great opportunity for him and with the goddess and white snake gone he could easily take back the earth if Ginji was removed from the temple as the guardian spirit post. Finally, Ginji spoke, "when we were appointed the goddess had also said that if we wanted to return to the underworld one day, she would not stop us. And this situation might be created by her to test me and as a guardian if I don't save the humans then I have failed my duty". "From this day onwards, you shall no longer be the guardian of the earth and serve me with loyalty', said Raiju.
They all came back to their original forms and started to leave. Ginji transformed into a white nine tailed fox and turned around to look at the temple for the last time. As he was about to leave, he glanced at Izumi who just stood there without uttering a word. Tears rolled down his eyes and he left. Izumi snapped into consciousness and before he could utter a word his father signaled him to stop. Izumi had never felt so hopeless in his life he wanted to scream, yell, cry and stop Ginji but he could not do so. He tightened his fist and declared to himself that he would not cry and do anything to bring Ginji back.
Shiroi started his journey towards the mountain of Takamanohara as directed by the ogre, but the journey was very long and especially when he had just lost his outer skin. He came across a large tree, so he decided to take rest. In his dream he saw Ginji being taken away by dark forces and when he was about to hold his hand, he was woken up by something very strange. Shiroi looked around and found himself to be a place different than the place in which he was heading towards. He stood up and called out for help. Suddenly he heard a sweet melody coming from far away. It was so sweet that the white snake was mesmerized by its tone. A beautiful figure emerged from far and it turned to be a beautiful lady. The white snake fell in love with the lady and decided that he would marry her and take her to the earth. "Who are you, my lady?", inquired Shiroi. "I am one of the spirits who guards this region" was her answer. "May I know your name, and do you live nearby?" he asked. "We are forbidden to give our names to the strangers", she said "but if you wish to know I may let you have the honor to know my name, but you have to trade something with me". Shiroi was bewitched by her beauty that he immediately agreed and asked her what she wanted in return. "You just have to give me something which is very important to you. Can you give me your venom in exchange of my name?", said the spirit. Shiroi without thinking took out his venom, placed it in his palm and marched forward to give it to her. A light came from a distance and lighted the whole place. Shiroi was temporarily blinded by the light and when he looked around, he saw that the maiden was Bake-danuki a spirit keeper who could create disillusion and take the spiritual power away from the ayakashis. If Shiroi was on the earth he could've easily recognized her but as he was weak, he had become vulnerable. Another light came from a distance and pierced the spirit and the spirit disappeared. The white snake fell to the ground. He heard a voice say, "are you okay? Oi, say something and drink this". The white snake looked up and saw the same ogre, he said "What are you doing here and what was that I just saw?". "That was Bake-danugi and aren't you supposed to thank me for saving your life", said the Ogre. The white snake thanked him but was reluctant to drink the water. "You can drink this water; I have brought this from the other world. You cannot possibly move around without eating or drinking anything", said the ogre. As soon as the water touched his lips, he could tell that it was definitely from the earth. "Why do you think that the goddess would help you?", asked the ogre. "Because she is the goddess who created all of us", was his answer. The Ogre stared at him for a while and said, "you seem to be forgetting the rule of the human life. Once the soul leaves the body nothing can bring it back". He glanced at the white snake only to see a creature with eyes full of tears. He immediately felt guilty for what he said but instead of apologizing he said, "let's go". Shiroi wiped his eyes and confusingly asked, "where are we going?". "Aren't you supposed to find the helping?", asked the confused snake. Lending him his hand the ogre said, "because you are a good ayakashi".
It took them almost 13 days to climb the mountain but when they reached there, they could find nothing but an old house. The white snake felt disappointed as it had already been more than six months and he wasn't able to find the goddess. Just as they were about to check the house the ogre's friend a Tengu arrived. "My, my what do we have here? Oh, and it seems that he has brought a new company along with him". "Hello, there my name is omiyama and I'm this demon's friend, well may I ask you what brings you here?", asked the tengu. The ogre interrupted their conversation and spoke on behalf of the white snake. After hearing the story, the tengu said, "I must say that you are quite brave but what makes you think that the goddess will help you". Shiroi suddenly became grim and noticing this the ogre said, "she was the same goddess who made the white snake, the guardian and the keeper, of course she will help him stupid tengu". On hearing these words his face brightened. He stood up and this time properly greeted the tengu.