They're promoting the "Konoha threat" theory, and spouting nonsense about the Hidden

Chapter 102 Shimura Danzo: It's easy to judge my faults after I've served; it's difficult to act in my place.

"Mangkhut, have you heard? There seems to be a new religion starting up in the village lately. They say all the members are brothers and sisters. If you join, and someone bullies you, all the other members will come to your aid!"

In a corner of Konoha Village, in the slums, two idle ronin are leaning against a wall, gossiping to each other.

"Oh? Really? How did you know?"

The guy named Mangosteen clearly looked skeptical; he didn't believe there was such a good religion in the world that could help them for free.

"Of course it's true! Didn't you see these injuries on my face? They're from the family I went to collect protection money from, who happened to have joined that religion, so I got beaten up afterwards!"

As idle ronin who do nothing all day, their source of income is very simple: extortion.

However, they were also clever; they never tried to extort the locals, but only those who had moved in from other villages and lived in the slums.

"So what are we going to do then? Outsiders can't move, and locals can't afford to move either. Are we going to have to learn to work elsewhere?"

"Hehe, then you go find a job yourself. I've already found a way, I've joined that religion. With so many brothers in the cult supporting me, I can now go and extort money from those locals!"

Seeing the smug look on the man's face, Shan Zhu panicked and quickly grabbed his arm, begging him to help her up.

After seeing that the person in front of her finally agreed, Mangosteen finally felt relieved and looked forward to the good days to come. However, she did not see the deep coldness in the person's eyes.

Religious initiation rites require human sacrifices, so how could one enter so quickly? He was worried about where to find someone to be a sacrifice, but unexpectedly, the sacrifice was delivered to his doorstep.

At this moment, Mangosteen finally remembered that she didn't know the name of this religion, so she quickly asked her companions for it.

Faced with his companion's question, this guy thought for a moment before slowly answering:

"It seems to be called... Maitreya Cult."

-

Since the goal is to spread religion, the name "cult of evil gods," which refers to the very deity they worship, can no longer be used.

Originally, Hozuki Shingetsu wanted to pay homage to the number one evil cult in the heavens by naming the religion the White Lotus Cult.

When the time comes, if you shout "Eternal Mother, True Homeland," wouldn't that be the ultimate show of prestige?

But then I thought about it again. The first Mizukage of my village was named Byakuren. Wouldn't calling this religion Byakuren Cult be an admission of guilt?

And you still say it wasn't Kirigakure that did this?

Therefore, Hozuki Shingetsu had no choice but to regretfully abandon this idea and turn to the existing Buddhist thought in the ninja world, naming the religion "Miroku Religion".

Anyway, the Maitreya sect is a well-known religion in the heavens, often seen in various martial arts and fantasy worlds, so it's not bad.

This also conveniently connects concepts like luck and reincarnation with Buddhist concepts of karma and the afterlife, making it easy to understand.

With thorough preparations and various forms of "entrapment" by Kirigakure, the newly transformed Miroku sect quickly gained control of the poorer areas of each ninja village and won the support of the general populace, especially outsiders.

With the allure of brotherhood within the sect and the promise of accumulating good karma for a better rebirth by sacrificing others outside the sect, the Maitreya Sect has flourished throughout the ninja world, like sparks constantly igniting in various regions.

In contrast, the number of people disappearing or going missing in impoverished areas throughout the ninja world is rising sharply.

After all, compared to ninjas and ordinary people with families and jobs, these destitute people who relied on odd jobs for a living would be completely ignored if they disappeared.

Moreover, with the Ninja World War about to begin, the Ninja World was teeming with starving people who had turned to banditry, so it was perfectly normal for people to disappear.

For nobles and the administrators of the ninja village, as long as those with permanent property did not disappear on a large scale, the disappearance of the unemployed was not a problem at all.

It's more of a good thing than a bad thing.

However, this situation can only last for a period of time. If this trend continues, the abnormal disappearance of people will eventually be discovered.

Three months later, the first person to discover this situation was none other than Shimura Danzo, the "Dark of the Ninja" who had long been in charge of Root and was a renowned figure in Konoha!

Or perhaps, Hozuki Shingetsu deliberately made him discover it.

"The Maitreya Cult? Through rituals, one can obtain offerings and karmic connections; accumulating these connections can influence the next life; all members are brothers; blood relatives seek revenge; justification is based on faith?"

In the dimly lit underground, with only faint lights, Danzo Shimura listened quietly to his subordinates' report.

"Our investigation revealed that the Maitreya sect has only been present in the village for three months, but now one-fifth of the surrounding area has become a religious area of ​​the Maitreya sect, and even some civilian ninjas have been attracted by its doctrines and joined the religion."

"It is projected that by the end of the year, perhaps half of the area surrounding the village will be practicing the Maitreya religion."

Looking at the Root ninja kneeling before him reporting, Danzo Shimura's eyes flashed, and he instinctively gripped the cane in his hand.

Ever since Hiruzen Sarutobi apologized in a roundabout way last time, Danzo Shimura has outwardly remained a good brother who helped him rule Konoha and an old comrade-in-arms who maintained Konoha's hegemony.

However, in reality, darkness had already been quietly growing in Shimura Danzo's heart, gradually corroding his soul in this dark underground.

He was gradually growing tired of the dark underground and longed to stick his head out and bask in the sunlight.

However, he knew that this would not be easy. The biggest obstacle to achieving this was his old teammate, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who stood in his way.

As long as Hiruzen Sarutobi remains in power, he will never reach the top.

In addition to him, Hiruzen Sarutobi's new disciple, Fugaku Uchiha, is also a problem.

After becoming Hiruzen Sarutobi's disciple, Fugaku Uchiha not only displayed exceptional talent in ninja training, but also demonstrated remarkable politeness in his interactions with others, lacking the arrogance and haughtiness characteristic of the Uchiha clan. This earned him unanimous praise from the entire village of Konoha.

After all, humans are such complex creatures. When a person who has done all sorts of bad things suddenly reforms, people will give him unlimited recognition. This was also the case with Fugaku Uchiha.

Born into the Uchiha clan, as long as he acts approachable, he is seen as having the demeanor of a great man.

Even Shimura Danzo, who had always disliked the Uchiha clan, had to admit that this guy was indeed an outlier in the Uchiha clan.

In his conduct and character, he is very much like one of his former comrades-in-arms, Uchiha Kagami.

Thanks to Fugaku Uchiha's efforts, the Uchiha clan's reputation in the village is actually starting to change—after all, Madara Uchiha has been gone for decades, and the people have gradually forgotten Madara's deeds. As long as the Uchiha clan restrains themselves a bit, their reputation can be easily reversed.

Therefore, recently, Fugaku Uchiha's seemingly unattainable position as the Fourth Hokage has actually shown signs of becoming a reality.

Shimura Danzo naturally could not tolerate this.

As the leader of the Root organization who had access to intelligence, he was naturally aware of how outsiders viewed him, but so what?

After him, it is easy to judge his faults;

It is difficult to be in his position and to do his work.

The leader of the Root is not someone that just anyone can become.

He believed that his contributions to Konoha were unparalleled, so he could not accept being trampled on to rise to power by others, especially members of the Uchiha clan.

"What a pity, who told you to have the inherently evil blood of the Uchiha clan flowing through your veins?"

As Shimura Danzo looked at the intelligence in his hand, he kept thinking about how to deal with the Uchiha clan.

As a master of intrigue who also rose to power, Shimura Danzo immediately discerned the evil nature of the Miroku cult. At first glance, he assumed it was Hozuki Shingetsu's doing, but then he realized something was amiss.

The doctrine of justification by faith meant that Hozuki Shingetsu, who was far away in Kirigakure, could not command these people. If he were to send a "Buddha's disciple" out of the village, it would be too easy for Konoha to notice him.

It's impossible for Hozuki Shingetsu to do a good deed for free and give Konoha a highly cohesive force, right?

After ruling out Hozuki Shingetsu, he then tried to link it to the Uchiha clan—wasn't this bloody ritual practice something the inherently evil Uchiha clan would do?

Furthermore, with the Uchiha clan controlling the Konoha police force, this kind of thing couldn't be easier for them.

But he immediately dismissed the idea.

It is nothing more than the doctrine of justification by faith.

Because of this doctrine and because the Maitreya sect does not have a leader, Shimura Danzo had no idea who was behind all of this.

Because of this large-scale publicity, it's obvious to anyone with eyes that someone is pushing it from behind the scenes.

However, he quickly came up with a solution—wouldn't it be fine if he became the "Buddha's disciple"?

Who cares what the people behind the scenes want to do? As long as they firmly control this organization, then whatever they do is just a matter of a word from them.

Although he only knew about it from books and did not investigate it in depth, Shimura Danzo clearly recognized the potential contained in the Miroku sect—a power that could shake Konoha.

Those commoner ninjas who banded together for warmth under the doctrines of the Miroku sect were all, on the surface, exclusively belonging to Hiruzen Sarutobi, a power he could not touch!

How could he not be drooling over it?

Thus, under his orders, the Miroku sect in the Konoha region was quickly brought under the control of Shimura Danzo.

With Danzo Shimura backing them up, the Miroku Cult's territory expanded rapidly, like an inflating balloon, and by the end of the year, they had successfully taken over half of the area surrounding Konoha.

In addition, nearly a hundred civilian ninjas joined the organization, making the Miroku Cult increasingly powerful.

Even so, fearing that Hiruzen Sarutobi and others would notice, Danzo Shimura deliberately slowed down his expansion. Otherwise, the territory of his Miroku sect could have doubled!

However, Shimura Danzo soon stopped worrying about it.

Because Mito Uzumaki was about to face the end of her life, and Konoha was busy with the Nine-Tails' transfer and sealing ceremony, no one was paying attention to the affairs of the Miroku Cult.

Moreover, Mito Uzumaki's death also revealed one thing:

The Second Shinobi World War is about to begin!

(End of this chapter)