Sacred Sakura Cleansing Ritual

Sacred Sakura Cleansing Ritual is a World Quest Series in Inazuma.
Requirement: 
==List of Quests==
# A Strange Story in Konda
# Sacrificial Offering
# Cleansing Defilement
#* Tanuki-Bayashi in the Forest
# Yougou Cleansing
==Summary==
Upon the Traveler and Paimon's arrival at Konda Village, they encounter a strange masked shrine maiden who introduces herself as Hanachirusato and gives the Traveler a ward. Hanachirusato asks the Traveler to lift a barrier and investigate it and promises a reward for the Traveler. The Traveler then goes around the village and talks to the various villagers to investigate strange happenings in the village. After some investigation, the Traveler uncovers the key to a locked well and finds a seal beneath the ground. After using the ward from Hanachirusato to lift the barrier, an Ochimusha appears and is defeated by the Traveler.
After the Ochimusha is defeated, Hanachirusato suddenly appears from behind much to Paimon's surprise. Hanachirusato tells the Traveler about the Sacred Sakura Cleansing Ritual and asks the Traveler if they can help. The Traveler then travels to an abandoned shrine near Mt. Yougou after interacting with some Mysterious Shadows and obtaining the Sacred Sakura Cleansing Summary. However, this summary does not provide much help and so the Traveler and Paimon travel to the Grand Narukami Shrine to get professional help. After learning more about the ritual and obtaining the Memento Lens from Inagi Hotomi, the Traveler travels back to the abandoned shrine and they obtain the ward to lift the barrier. Once the barrier is lifted, the Traveler defeats another Ochimusha and Hanachirusato appears again to have another conversation about the ritual.
Next, the Traveler completes the rituals in Araumi, Kamisato Estate and Chinju Forest. The rituals at Araumi and the Kamisato Estate are fairly simple, but at Chinju Forest the Traveler meets a Bake-Danuki sealed in stone named Ioroi. After playing with several tanuki, Ioroi agrees to give the Traveler his ward.
Finally, after breaking the five barriers and purging the evil within each, Hanachirusato and the Traveler head over to the roots of the Sacred Sakura. Hanachirusato dispels the barrier around the Depths of Mt. Yougou, draining the Electro pool, and the Traveler enters the depths to defeat the After purging the tumor, Hanachirusato appears again and reveals that she is filth condensed from the memory of the Kitsune Saiguu. In order to complete the ritual, all the filth must be cleansed, herself being no exception. The Traveler and Hanachirusato say goodbye to each other and Hanachirusato dissipates.
==Lore==
The Sacred Sakura and the Thunder Sakura symbolize the eternal watch of the Electro Archon, and they have the power to remove evil and cleanse the earth by absorbing the filth into its roots. However, the roots are not capable of purifying the accumulated filth on their own, so it is necessary to routinely purify these roots in what is called the Sacred Sakura Cleansing Ritual, which is ordinarily performed by the Grand Narukami Shrine.
The roots of the Sacred Sakura and the Thunder Sakura are all interconnected, and, should the roots be polluted, the filth will spread among all the roots. If too much filth accumulates, the polluted roots will be corroded and these tainted sections will form tumors and, if left unchecked, the Sacred Sakura will wither away which would be catastrophic for Inazuma. Thus it becomes necessary to routinely perform a Cleansing Ritual.
The Cleansing Ritual is divided into minor and major cleansings. Performed more often than the major cleansings, the minor cleansings are routinely performed to check in on the status of the roots and to set up barriers around the roots. These barriers both protect the roots from the people and protect the people from the roots. The barriers protect the roots from anyone with malicious intent, like the Fatui, and also protect the Inazuman people by preventing any of the accumulated filth from leaking out.
Once too much filth accumulates within the barriers, it becomes necessary to perform the major cleansing. This major cleansing must be performed every 60 years. The Sacred Sakura located at the Grand Narukami Shrine is the central tree and all the Thunder Sakura are its side-branches. When the Thunder Sakura absorb filth, much of the absorbed miasma will be transmitted up the roots to the central roots of the Sacred Sakura. Thus, it is necessary to perform the major cleansing in two parts: first purify the leftover miasma in the roots of the Thunder Sakura, then purify the central roots of the Sacred Sakura.
This purification is performed by breaking the barriers created by the minor cleansings with a ward, which will cause the filth to be driven out of the roots and condense into physical forms known as "defilement incarnate." These forms represent the defilement of the land: should the state of Inazuma be peaceful and happy, then they may condense into harmless forms such as the "." But in times of strife, the filth will condense into something dangerous and must be swiftly neutralized. Once the Thunder Sakura roots have been purified, then the roots of the Sacred Sakura tree must be purified by the same process: once the barrier around the Sacred Sakura roots has been lifted, the ritual performers must enter the Depths of Mt. Yougou to purify the filth, which typically condenses into a tumor.
If the Cleansing Ritual is not performed, then Inazuma will suffer catastrophic consequences. According to Hanachirusato, the records say that the Thunder Sakura almost withered several hundred years ago. The monsters raged unchecked and the seas around Inazuma turned black. The Thunder Sakura tried their hardest to absorb the evil and the filth, and they almost died in the process. The records say that someone did eventually perform the Cleansing Ritual and the situation was resolved.
The most recent performance of the Cleansing Ritual was carried out by the Traveler and Hanachirusato. According to Inagi Hotomi, the Grand Narukami Shrine was making preparations to carry out the Cleansing Ritual, but Yae Miko had those preparations called off and told Inagi Hotomi to have the Memento Lens ready to give to a "blonde-haired outlander" when they arrive at the shrine.
==Characters==
==Total Rewards==
==Other Languages==
==Change History==
==References==
es:Purificación del Cerezo Sagrado
pt-br:Ritual Sagrado de Purificação Sakura
ru:Очищение Священной сакуры