Youkai Exorcism amid the Steaming Springs

Youkai Exorcism amid the Steaming Springs
Name
Kanji	妖怪退治 湯けむり行
Romaji	Youkai Taiji Yukemuri-kou
Information
Air Date	January 19, 2009 (JP) December 4, 2022 (US)
Episode	16
Adapted From	Chapter 14
Opening Song	Ano Hi Time Machine
Ending Song	Aishiteru
Episode Guide
Previous Melting Into Spring	Next A Chick Hatches
List of Natsume Yuujinchou Episodes
Episode Gallery

Yokai Exorcism Amid the Steaming Hot Springs is the third episode of the second season and the sixteenth episode overall of the Natsume Yuujinchou anime series. It first aired on January 19, 2009.

Summary

Natori invites Natsume on a Hot Spring trip. But noises from the closet and a kimono-clad figure dangled from the ceiling make Natsume uneasy. Not wanting to trouble Natori because of his kind gesture to enjoy the Hot Spring with him, Natsume investigates the Hot Spring himself. During the night Natsume meets with the Youkai, where she comments that he is too soft, and attacks. Fortunately, he and Natori are saved when the Lord, Natsume had helped earlier exorcises her for them to return the favor.

Plot

Natsume is heading home with Nyanko-sensei in tow when he comes across four tiny yokai people bearing a palanquin with a head inside. They are worrying about a puddle in front of them which Natsume puts a piece of wood on top of the puddle so they could cross.

When Natsume reaches his house, a line of paper dolls are waiting for him. When he touches the paper, he is dragged through the forest to a road where Natori is waiting for him. Natori had cast a spell on the paper so that when Natsume came home, the paper dolls would bring him here.

They both go to a café where Natori invites Natsume to go on a trip to a hot spring. Natori tells Natsume's mother that Natsume will be going on a vacation and they leave.

Reaching the mountains, Natori says he is travelling incognito but Natsume comments that were using public buses and trains to get there. They make their way to the hot spring inn. Checking in, Natsume passes some rooms and sees a body without a head. He is exhausted and rests with Nyanko-Sensei in a room. They all later go to a spa where Natsume and Nyanko-sensei argue about why Nyanko-sensei went into the bath first. Going to a new room, Natsume sees a pot in a closet with a seal placed on it. He says it gives him the creeps and to forget about it.

Later at night, Natsume is having nightmares. In the morning, Natsume tells Natori about the pot. They find it opened and Natsume meets a youkai lying on the floor named Sumie. Sumie begs Natsume for her name and Natsume returns it to her while Natori is walking by. Sumie attacks Natsume but Natori deflects the attack for a second before Madara blinds Sumie and the three run away.

Sumie, enraged, searches through the house to enter the room where Natori previously prepared a circle for exorcism. Natori's plan was to have Natsume to come along and assist him in the exorcism instead of going on a vacation. Natori's exorcism does not prove to work as Sumie breaks through the spell. Just as Natsume and Natori are to be eaten, a youkai appears and restrains Sumie. He gets rid of Sumie as a thanks to Natsume for making a bridge for his sake (he was the yokai whose head was in the palanquin).

The next day, Hiiragi assures Natsume that even though the trip was a way to ensure that Sumie was properly sealed, she thinks that her master still wanted to spend time with him personally, which Natsume likes as well.

Characters in Order of Appearance

• Small Escort Youkais
• Takashi Natsume
• Nyanko-sensei
• Shuuichi Natori
• Natori's Fans
• Touko Fujiwara
• Shigeru Fujiwara
• Inn Lady
• Hiiragi
• Sumie
• Large Three-Eyed Youkai

Trivia

• In the episode, the title is renamed "Yokai Extermination, Steamy Road."
• Natori almost catches Natsume returning Sumi's name to her and the Book of Friends.
• Natori used a baseball bat to attack Sumi, which was one of Natsume Reiko's signature weapons.