What Flows

What Flows
Name
Kanji	ながれゆくは
Romaji	Nagare Yuku Ha
Information
Air Date	June 6, 2017 (JP) September 30, 2024 (US)
Episode	72
Adapted From	Chapter 79
Opening Song	Furōria
Ending Song	Kimi no Uta
Episode Guide
Previous A Day That Will Someday Come	Next The Sealed Room
List of Natsume Yuujinchou Episodes
Episode Gallery

"What Flows" is the seventy-second episode of the Natsume Yuujinchou anime. It is the ninth episode of Natsume Yuujinchou Roku, which is the sixth season of the anime.

Summary

Natsume travels to an inn for a study session with the rest of his class. While he's there, a flood washes away a local shrine. The shrine is said to house three masks, but Natsume can see four...

Plot

Natsume Takashi's school hosts a voluntary extra-lessons camp for three days, which Natsume and all his friends attend. On the first day, during cleaning duty, Natsume, Tanuma Kaname, Kitamoto Atsushi and Nishimura Satoru visit the Four-Mask shrine near the hostels to clean there.

While the rest only see three masks in the shrine, however, Natsume is able to see a fourth mask as well, which appears as a hazy black figure to Tanuma, meaning that the fourth mask is, in reality, a youkai.

That evening, a minor flood strikes the area, enough for riverbank to overflow. The next day, during the self-study period, Natsume is shocked to see Madara, in his cat form in the yard, who had sneaked in his bag. When he goes to ask Madara why he came here, the two see a strange woman youkai passing on a boat, with her head underwater, as if she was looking for something.

Later, just after completing some math assignment, Natsume notices a weird youkai mask attaching itself from one person to another, but not seeming to be possessing anyone. Also, sometime later, Natsume seems to have the feeling of water flooding into a hallway whereas no one else was seeing it. Just a few minutes later, he has a confrontation with the mask, who apologized when Natsume did not take kindly to him attaching to his friends' faces. While Natsume was dreaming, the youkai appeared and explained that he was one of the four followers of the 'queen of the mountain' - another youkai - but all his comrades had died and he was the only one left. During the flood, the queen had lost her treasure so this youkai was helping her find it.

Natsume realises that the lady youkai was actually the queen and so, early next morning, Madara and Natsume go out looking for whatever it could be. Natsume finds a hairpin in some rubble and the queen appears to take it back, after thanking him gratefully. He reveals that one of her followers is still alive and is still protecting the mountain, which she is very happy to hear. As she flies away, back to the top of the mountain, Natsume spots the mask youkai and bids farewell to him as well, before he leaves for home the next day, with all other students.

Characters in Order of Appearance

• Takashi Natsume
• Madara
• Mask Guardian of Four Mask Hill
• Mountain Goddess of Four Mask Hill
• Kaname Tanuma
• Priest of Four Mask Hill
• Satoru Nishimura
• Atsushi Kitamoto
• Tooru Taki
• Jun Sasada

Trivia

• Natsume encounters a daiyokai who has reached godly/divine status; the first being Aokuchinashi.
• Despite the fact that Tanuma can detect the presence of low-level youkai, he is unable to do so with the masks.

Anime and Manga Differences

• Tooru Taki and Jun Sasada doesn't appear in the manga version.