The entire area is tightly surrounded by mountains.

That's why the overwhelming, nauseating stench of blood was firmly locked in this world, lingering for a long time.

The ground was no longer recognizable as its original color; it was littered with broken scythes, severed limbs, and dried-up corpses...

The entire village thus lost all its vitality.

Like an empty shell, it was abandoned in this corner forgotten by the mountains.

Only the conspicuous mansion in the distance still had a faint light on.

In this deathly silence, that glimmer of light seemed all the more glaring.

"It must be Kirigakure Inui, right?"

Shan Zhong chuckled twice in the mountains, trying to ease the tense atmosphere among the team, but after he said it, he himself felt that it was somewhat illogical.

He crouched down and carefully examined the remaining corpses before him.

Some died withered and emaciated, while others were killed instantly by a single blow.

Two completely different ways of dying, yet they share the same underlying theme.

Fear or excitement.

The former is like the despair of someone on the verge of death, while the latter is much more bizarre, as if one had already foreseen their fate and chose to accept it gladly.

For three days in the mountains, he wanted to blame everything on Wuyin.

But the facts did not allow him to make that judgment.

He had seen quite a few of the techniques used by the Fog Concealer.

The deaths of these corpses, though equally gruesome, were completely unlike the methods typically used by Kirigakure.

and……

His gaze slowly swept over the surroundings, landing on the various marks and accessories remaining on the corpse's waist, neck, and wrists, and the strange feeling in his heart gradually became clearer.

These people... are probably not innocent either.

Three days in the mountains, they carefully removed a mark from a relatively well-preserved, dried corpse.

It was a strange triangular symbol, with a twisted pattern embedded inside the triangle, its lines intricate and carrying a deliberately designed sense of ritual.

The mountain dweller stared at it for a moment, then his expression changed slightly.

Having spent most of his time on missions in the areas of Yugakure and Kumogakure, he recognized the meaning of the symbol almost instantly.

Cult.

"...This is the symbol of an evil cult."

He slowly stood up, showing the mark in his hand to the others. "That cult that everyone in Tangyin Village hates. They secretly develop followers in various places under the guise of human sacrifice, kidnapping civilians to be used as offerings. Here..."

He looked around and concluded, "This is probably one of their secret bases."

"So it's a cult..." Inuzuka Osamu breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.

"I thought it was just an ordinary village for ordinary people..."

He was only halfway through his sentence when his nerves, which had just relaxed, tensed up again.

If the victims were ordinary civilians, his worldview would almost certainly crumble on the spot.

Even if the five major powers fight fiercely, to the point of near-brain damage, very few of them would openly and honestly harm innocent civilians.

But if it's a cult that takes pleasure in human sacrifice and treats ordinary people as offerings...

So their fate can hardly be considered innocent.

You could even say they deserved it.

However, while I breathed a sigh of relief...

The questions before us, however, did not dissipate in the slightest.

On the contrary, the appearance of the words "cult of evil gods" made the whole matter even more serious.

A cult that has been able to secretly develop around Yugakure and Kumogakure for many years and has not yet been completely eradicated is certainly not without the power to resist.

They may not be as powerful as the ninja forces of the five great ninja villages, but to have survived to this day, they must possess some fighting strength, intelligence network, and stealth capabilities.

But the stronghold in front of them had been completely wiped out.

Who exactly did it?

What methods were used?

Inuzuka E's gaze fell once again on the brightly lit mansion in the distance.

The light seemed to be waiting for their arrival, or like a guiding lamp hanging alone deep in the fog.

"...Let's evacuate for now."

After a brief moment of thought, Inuzuka made a decision.

"This is not something we should be getting involved in right now. Let's wait for Minato to arrive before making any further plans."

If it were an ordinary village or a civilian base, he might lead his team to conduct an in-depth investigation.

But this was a massacre scene that was clearly organized, premeditated, and even deliberately left traces.

Clearly, this was not something their reconnaissance team could easily interfere with.

"Don't be afraid, Shisui, the seniors are all here."

Akimichi Choman noticed Shisui's unusual behavior and whispered words of comfort.

Uchiha Shisui was stunned, as if he had just come back to his senses from the scene of mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

"Thank you, senior... I'm just a little uncomfortable, I'll be fine soon."

...

Dizziness is normal.

"It will be ready soon."

Hearing these indifferent words, Ryuzaki's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

His limbs thrashed about, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the figure in front of him, dressed in a black robe with horns on his forehead.

Who the hell is this guy?

Why attack their cult?

He was certain that the evil cult had not provoked the guy with horns on his forehead.

Damn it...

Unfortunately, it coincided with the time for offering sacrifices.

If the ceremony hadn't just reached its most crucial stage...

If most of them hadn't been so caught up in the frenzy of the sacrifice, how could they have been killed so unexpectedly?

"You still have the strength?"

The ethereal and indifferent voice rang out again.

The force intensified again, and Ryuzaki's struggles gradually weakened.

Qing looked down at him, sensing the life force within him that had not yet been completely extinguished, and a thoughtful expression appeared on her face.

Immortality.

It's already appeared...

Although it is incomplete, and can even be described as rough.

But that vitality has indeed exceeded the scope of ordinary people.

However, may the evil cult vanish today.

His pale right hand slowly rose.

The next moment, a small, bluish-green ball condensed in his palm.

With a soft hum, the small ball slowly emitted a faint glow, like a bottomless vortex, quietly absorbing the surrounding atmosphere little by little.

Time passed by, second by second.

Ryuzaki's eyelids drooped little by little, his skin gradually dried out, and his originally flushed face withered away at a visible speed.

"This trick is really effective."

Ao dropped Ryuzaki, glanced down at the greenish-blue chakra ball in his palm, and muttered to himself.

"It functions similarly to a wedge..."

The Tenseigan's unique ability—absorbing chakra.

In the original work, Toneri Otsutsuki used this technique during his battle with Naruto Uzumaki, absorbing almost all of Naruto's chakra in one fell swoop.

Ao put away the small green ball in his palm, then condensed another energy ball in his left hand and inserted it into Ryuzaki, who was still lying on the ground and seemed to be unconscious.

"ah--!!"

Ryuzaki suddenly opened his eyes.

Clearly, he hadn't expected that this monster wouldn't even let him go in his current state, and would even try to finish him off with a fatal blow.

"you...."

Ryuzaki opened his mouth with difficulty.

However, at that very moment, the world in his eyes suddenly became distorted.

The creature that had penetrated his body and robbed him of his life began to change appearance continuously.

That blurry face sometimes appeared to be covered by a vortex mask in his vision, and sometimes it seemed to be covered by a layer of blue chakra armor.

His consciousness became increasingly blurred.

Even so, he was still unwilling to give up.

He mustered his last bit of strength, wanting to see the person in front of him thoroughly.

They wanted to remember the guy who destroyed the cult's stronghold and wanted to know who he was.

But he couldn't see clearly.

I can't see it clearly no matter what.

Whirlpool mask...

Blue chakra armor...

And that name...

spot……

Who is Ban?

Who exactly is this person?

Finally, Ryuzaki's pupils slowly dilated, and he completely lost consciousness.

"..."

Ao stood there, looking down at Ryuzaki, whose breath was still faint, and gently shook her head.

After confirming that there were no problems with the arrangements he had made, he looked past the broken window frame and gazed into the distance.

In that instant, a golden light flashed silently.

Qing smiled slightly.

Immediately, his figure vanished without a trace.

It was as if they had never been here.

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