A divine name is something of utmost importance to a deity. Deities and mortals are connected through these names; mortals pray to gods by reciting their divine names, and their faith converges upon the deity through these very names.
A deity often possesses multiple names. For Miketsu, Uka-no-Mitama-no-Kami is her most formal name, while Inari is a more common appellation. Yet, no matter the name, they all point to Miketsu, and the faith gathered under these divine names belongs solely to Miketsu.
A century ago, Inari Okami fell into slumber, causing her divine names to become uncontrolled. The faith collected by various Inari branch shrines could not be transmitted back to her true form, leading to its accumulation within the shrines and its slow dissipation over time. This particular shrine in the village was no exception.
Watching the orbs of light halt automatically before Miketsu, and sensing her techniques lose control, an indescribable astonishment appeared on the wild god girl’s face. After hearing Miketsu’s words, a deep fear emerged from the depths of her eyes.
“Ina—Inari Okami? Don't be ridiculous! That Inari Okami fell into slumber ages ago!” As if instinctively resisting Miketsu’s words, the wild god girl launched another attack. From mid-air, she unleashed several crescent-shaped blades of light, striking towards Miketsu. Yet, these light blades, just like the orbs before, uniformly stopped before Miketsu, as if frozen, and she once again lost control over her own techniques.
“Slumber? Didn't you just say that Inari Okami has awoken?” Miketsu gently waved her hand, observing the various techniques suspended before her, then glanced at the newly renovated shrine around them, and continued.
“It seems this branch shrine, though long abandoned, still retains its function of recording divine names and carrying faith. You must have used this shrine to invoke my divine name while I was in slumber, didn't you?”
“This… you, you really are…”
Watching her latest round of attacks fail and hearing Miketsu’s words, the fear in the wild god girl’s eyes intensified. Finally, this fear spread from her eyes to her face and body. Driven by terror, she instantly turned and fled backward.
In that moment, she finally understood that everything the girl before her had said was true. She was Inari Okami, the true deity whom she had impersonated this entire time. She had truly awakened!
At that moment, the wild god girl thought of nothing but getting as far away from Miketsu as possible. However, just as she took a single fleeing step, a sudden change occurred.
The wild god girl suddenly felt all the faith power within her body surge out of her control at the same time, rapidly gushing forth. A sense of powerlessness instantly spread through her, and she involuntarily collapsed to her knees.
Under Miketsu’s will, the faith power belonging to Inari was rapidly being stripped from the wild god girl’s body.
“No… don’t do this, this is, this is my faith…” The wild god girl’s pleas were laced with a sob, but it couldn't stop the continuous leakage of faith power from within her. Her strength was rapidly deteriorating in the process.
As her power waned, the wild god girl’s body ultimately began to change. Her elegant blue-violet robes vanished, her body gradually shrank and warped, and her human features faded away. What remained was a small, pale pink creature, dog-sized, resembling neither wolf nor rabbit. The wild god girl’s power had now deteriorated to the point where she could no longer maintain her human form.
Looking at the trembling little beast on the ground before her, Miketsu let out a soft sigh. She slowly walked over, wrapped her hands in her sleeves, then picked the creature up and brought it close to her eyes. Smiling, she spoke to the gaze that still continuously emanated fear.
“Hmm, in this form, you should be able to speak properly. If you don't mind, would you tell me your story?”
Facing the kind Miketsu, the wild god girl quickly nodded twice.
...
The wild god girl’s name was Oitsuki. This was her name as a yokai species. As their kind was exceedingly rare, the species name Oitsuki typically served as her personal name as well.
Oitsuki was a truly unique yokai, living deep in the forest. For some unknown reason, despite being a yokai, she was born with a profound enjoyment of others’ admiring gazes. She reveled in being looked up to and revered, deeply yearning for worship. This inherent nature made her despise the yokai way of life, instead causing her to deeply admire deities who had followers and were held in high esteem. Thus, becoming a wild god had been Oitsuki’s goal from a very young age.
However, becoming a wild god was no easy feat, requiring a continuous flow of human faith. For a yokai, gaining human faith wasn't merely about helping people; it also required establishing a reputation, building a shrine, and maintaining devotion. These tasks either necessitated human agents or, after achieving a human form, personally interacting with people. For Oitsuki, who was still young in her yokai years, all of this was incredibly difficult to achieve at once.
Moreover, starting from scratch to establish a reputation and gather faith was a slow process. Oitsuki didn't want to wait that long; she desired to become a deity as quickly as possible. And it was during her travels that she serendipitously stumbled upon such an opportunity: this abandoned Inari branch shrine.
Since establishing a reputation from scratch was difficult, why not use the divine name of the already famous yet slumbering Inari Okami? Since building a shrine to carry faith was challenging, why not directly utilize this already abandoned shrine? This was far superior to simply starting over.
And so, Oitsuki unceremoniously occupied Miketsu’s branch shrine. Under the guise of Inari Okami, she began to help humans and collect faith, working with unusual diligence, even to extreme lengths.
She couldn't conjure water or food, nor could she perform miracles, and she didn't possess exceptional strength. Yet, she would still find ways to fulfill human prayers. If the village well ran dry, she would fetch water from a distant river, pouring it into the well bit by bit. If people were attacked by wild beasts, she would proactively kill them. If there was a food shortage, she would harvest rice stalks from neighboring villages’ paddies and leave them at farmers’ doorsteps. If a child lost a ball and she couldn't find it herself, she would steal one from a child in a nearby village or town. Even when villagers lost oxen or horses, her methods of resolution were the same…
Thus, relying on an exceptionally high frequency of manifestations, the name of the efficacious Inari Okami quickly spread throughout the village. Oitsuki rapidly accumulated faith, and by utilizing the uncontrolled divine name of Inari and the abandoned shrine, she soon successfully transformed with the blessing of faith, becoming a wild god.
The village where she resided flourished, its resources continuously enriched by her frequent manifestations. However, the surrounding villages, having been repeatedly robbed by Oitsuki for so long, gradually became shrouded in shadow.
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