Naki Kito

**Naki Kito** (鬼き
頭とう
ナキ, *Kitō Naki*?) is a subterranean who spent over 200 years offering human sacrifices to the Tsuchinoko in order to prevent her village's destruction.

In *Dandadan*, Naki serves as one of the primary antagonists during the Cursed House Arc.

## Appearance

While disguised as a human, Naki appears as a short elderly woman with a large perm and a unibrow. As for attire, she wears a stripe long-sleeve, buttoned shirt, with a large pearl necklace, and harem pants with a flower shape pattern.

As a subterranean, Naki has a wide head with side plating, eyes that have concentric circles and a cross, a long-puckered mouth with dark line markings, and long horns that curve on opposite sides. She has a spring hose body and abnormal feet with toes that resemble fingers.

## Personality

Naki is devoted to protecting the Kito Family's home village from the Tsuchinoko, being willingly to offer human sacrifices to the Tsuchinoko for 200 years to prevent it from causing the village volcano from erupting. At the same time, she and her family worship the Tsuchinoko, possibly because they believed that it blessed the village with hot springs for appeasing its hunger. After being sent down to its lair, she expressed to it how it was an honor to be in its presence as the Kito Family present Momo, Okarun, and Jiji as their next sacrifices and felt that it was disgraceful how Momo was using the Tsuchinoko's corpse as a giant hose to cool down the lava despite the fact that the gigantic worm swallowed her earlier. After the Kito Family were arrested, it was revealed that her allegiance leaned more towards the Tsuchinoko than the protection of the village, as she became frustrated that her 200-year plan to feed the Tsuchinoko until it was big enough was ruined by Momo.

Naki is shown to be very prideful and arrogant, proclaiming that the village is the land of the Kito Family, given the many years they secretly kept it safe, and those who live in it should be grateful to them; especially of the fact that their offerings resulted in the village having hot springs. She also pointed out to Jiji that he would have ended up on the streets if not for her "warmheartedness" allowing him to continue living in his house rent free. Naki's pride as a self-proclaimed protector also could not allow Momo to make a successful attempt at saving the village from the active volcano, believing that an outsider should not dare to take over the Kito Family's role.

## Background

During the feudal period, Naki led her family into offering village children to a Mongolian Death Worm they praised as the Tsuchinoko in order to prevent the volcano the worm resided in from becoming active and destroying their village. As this ritual continued up to the modern era, the Kito Family constructed a sacrificial house to lure in families, which would lead to the birth of the Evil Eye.

## Synopsis

### Cursed House Arc

Naki and her relatives spot Jiji, the son of the hospitalized Enjoji Family who are the currently renters of the sacrificial house, inviting over Momo and Okarun to his home. While the male relatives confront Momo after she leaves for the hot springs, Naki and her female relatives invite themselves in to find out from Jiji as to why he recently left without a word and are told that he left to invite Okarun. Naki then questions him on whether he was planning on hiring more spirit mediums as he did before when he suspected that the house was haunted and becomes seemingly hostile after presenting her gun to inform him that she has a hunting license. Upon the male relatives return, Naki asks Jiji when the girl he brought with him would come back and hears him feigning ignorance, resulting in her pointing out that he was lying to her and having her family attack Jiji and Okarun in retaliation.

After Momo returns to the house to find Okarun and Jiji lying on the flying severely beaten, the Kito Family launch an attack on the girl, with Naki sending Momo to the sacrificial room with a strong blow. Naki then lets Momo in on who the Kito Family are and prevents her from escaping the sacrificial room as the floor starts to have her sink down to the Tsuchinoko's lair. However, Naki and the other family members are sent down to the Tsuchinoko's lair as well after Okarun and Jiji regain conscious to push them into the room. After the Tsuchinoko shows itself, Naki and the other family members present themselves as worshippers to inform the Tsuchinoko that they are not the sacrifices, only to end up being swallowed by the Tsuchinoko regardless.

Later, Naki and the other family members are vomited out of the Tsuchinoko's body after Momo manages to kill it. Having killed the Tsuchinoko, Naki starts to blame Momo since the worm's death resulted in the village volcano becoming active. After quoting the village legend leads to Momo using the Tsuchinoko's corpse as a hose to cool down the magma, the Kito Family try to stop her from disrespecting the creature, as well as not wanting her to take credit for protecting the village. The Kito Family are then attacked by Manjiro who has come to defend Momo, as per his master's past phone call instructions to look after her and her friends, and the Evil Eye who has taken over Jiji's body. Naki's right arm is then broken after she tries to block an attack from the Evil Eye and is pulled by Momo from taking on another blow as she did not want the yokai have Jiji responsible for killing anyone. With the Evil Eye targeting both Naki, Momo, and Manjiro, the three go on the defensives and fight alongside each other.

After the events, the Kito Family are arrested after their crimes were finally made known to the authorities. However, Naki manages to hide from her search party and takes off her human disguise in anger, having become furious with Momo for ruining her 200-year plan to grow the Tsuchinoko and declares vengeance on her on behalf of the subterraneans.