Morning mist still veiled the eastern wing of the Kamisato Estate, where birdsong and the soft chime of wind bells filled the quiet air.
Ji Bai was organizing his scrolls, the ink on his latest painting still drying. A gentle breeze stirred the paper, when suddenly—A soft knock.
"May I come in?" A calm voice spoke—light, teasing, but impossible to refuse.
Ji Bai turned. Standing at the door in a red-and-white shrine maiden's robe was none other than Yae Miko.
He quickly stood and bowed. "Lady Yae…"
She stepped inside uninvited, folding her fan with a light smile. "So it's true. The little painter really is staying at the Kamisato Estate. How efficient—summoned to the Tenshukaku last night, housed here by morning."
"You… know about last night?"
"Of course." Her violet eyes sparkled. "You're the first mortal who's ever drawn a divine response strong enough to move the Shogun herself."
Ji Bai remained silent for a moment. "It wasn't intentional. I didn't mean to summon anything."
"But you painted her divinity," Miko said, her tone almost casual. "Do you know what that means?"
Ji Bai shook his head.
"It means your art isn't just art anymore." She tapped the edge of a scroll gently. "It's a key, a fuse—perhaps even the door to something long buried."
"To what?" he asked quietly.
"To the Divine Archive, or as we call it—Shinzō.""Long ago, during the age of archons and demons, there was one who painted the world into being—whose brush captured not form, but godhood. He served alongside the Raiden Shogun during the early days, guarding Inazuma's secret roots.""But he fell in the War of Thunder. His spirit and will were sealed away—in Yashiori Island, in Mount Yougou, in scrolls and storms and silence."
She looked at Ji Bai intently."And now, your paintings have stirred that slumbering will."
Ji Bai's fingers trembled slightly.
The visions, the storm within his body… it all made sense now.
"Am I… supposed to carry this?"
Yae Miko smiled again, but her eyes were serious. "You no longer have a choice, Ji Bai. Once the brush touches the divine, there's no turning back."
She turned to leave."Wait," he asked, "the one who painted gods—who was he?"
She paused at the doorway, then replied without turning back:
"We called him... Raidenkyoof the Thunder Brush. Or in old Inazuman—Kagura Raiga. But in records, he's remembered only as… the Painter of Storms."
And with that, she vanished into the mist.
Ji Bai stood there, unmoving.
Something old had awakened.And it had chosen him.