Still in the desert, Wooden Sword Ryu uses his Shamanic ability to get them a ride, which takes them to L.A., where they try to track down any mention of the Patch tribe, but no one seems to have heard of them. But a visit to a professional Ethnologist reveals that only one tribe seems to have known the Patch, a tribe called the Seminoa, who recorded their coming as the "Night of Doom". Apparently, there is one Seminoa woman still living in the area, and she is also a Shaman, so she may know where the Patch lands and their village are.
Lilirara, the shamaness, lives on the outskirts of town. But she doesn't want to reveal where the Patch village is, as her tribe sees the Patch as Evil, the kind of evil that will infect anyone who dares trust them or interact with them. In the last Shaman Fight her tribe was wiped out, and she uses their spirits to try and dissuade Yoh and his friends from taking part in the Shaman Fight. Apparently, 500 years ago, the Patch decided that only Shamans should live and rule, so they set up the Shaman Fight to make a magical theocracy of Shamans ruling the world, and whatever normal humans were left.
When the Seminoa shamans rebelled against such an idea, a Patch shaman who looked like a modern Patch named Silva slaughtered them all, leaving the tribe defenseless against the white men, who later wiped most of them out. The Shamans realize that the oversoul of this Shaman is the same as the modern-day Shaman Hao, who looks so much like Yoh.
Eventually, they talk Lilirara into telling them where the Patch village is, but that entails a trip to a thinly disguised Santa Fe (Yonta Fe). Of course, after they leave her, Hao appears and kills Lilirara, saying that the rest of the Patch weren't evil, only himself, and he needs Yoh to get strong so he can take him over and get revenge on the man that killed him 500 years ago.
Along the way they meet a young man named Lyserg Dyethel who wants to join them. But when he decides to force them to take him by attacking him, Yoh turns him down and defeats Lyserg and his spirit ally, Morphea. After being defeated, Lyserg reveals his backstory and why he wants revenge on Hao so badly... Hao killed his parents, including his father, a Sherlock Holmes pastiche who used dowsing to solve mysteries. After being roundly defeated by Yoh, Lyserg leaves to get stronger, and the three move on, still seeking the Patch village.
While, back at home, Anna is shown the secret of the Asakura clan by Yoh's grandfather, a secret that somehow involves Hao.
Ah, another mostly non-all-fighting manga. I'm gonna miss these during the Shaman Fight arc. Though this one is ostensibly about the Patch, we learn more about the last Shaman fight and Hao than we do about the present Shaman fight. This sets up the mystery to come. I enjoyed this book, because it was more about the characters than the fighting. Goodness knows how long that will last!
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