Konoha: Offer your heart to the Hokage!

The scenery along the way kept changing, and a somewhat dilapidated Buddhist temple appeared not far ahead.

Speaking of Buddhist temples, they are a unique product originating from the Land of Fire.

Just like the Land of Grass, besides the Hidden Grass Village, there is also the Hozuki Castle branch of ninja. Similarly, the Land of Fire, besides the Hidden Leaf Village, also has the Fire Temple, which forms its own distinct faction.

The Temple of Fire is a general term encompassing numerous temples of varying sizes.

The monks and ninjas in these temples also did not engage in production and rarely got involved in wars, relying on the daimyo's funding and the incense offerings from believers to make a living. Because they did not participate in battles, the daimyo's funding was limited, so temples with more believers and incense offerings were richer, and vice versa.

Although they do not participate in battles, monks and ninjas can refine chakra just like ninjas and master Buddhist ninjutsu. Their combat power should not be underestimated. It is hard to say how many monks and ninjas there are in all the temples combined.

The influence of Buddhism is profound in the Land of Fire; many of Hashirama's Wood Release ninjutsu incorporate Buddhist elements. Conversely, the Uchiha's eye techniques are related to Shintoism. These different religious affiliations symbolize their destined opposition.

As far as I know, Asuma's friend Jiraiya also comes from the Fire Temple. His strength is only that of an ordinary Jonin, but his Buddhist-style ninjutsu has a golden light effect that makes him look very sacred.

He even relapsed into his old habits.

He looked down on the Buddhist-style ninjutsu of the Fire Temple, but if given the chance, he could still get two volumes to deconstruct and extract the elements that could emit light.

Who wouldn't want to see the Third Hokage glow during battle?

Dark clouds gathered in the sky, obscuring the moonlight, and a light drizzle began to fall. The poorly maintained road was covered in mud, but fortunately, the ninjas could absorb chakra into their feet, preventing them from getting muddy.

The wind and rain are getting stronger.

Senju Momoka spoke up at the opportune moment, suggesting, "Third Hokage, the rain is too heavy. Why don't we go to the Fire Temple ahead to rest?"

“Okay,” Shen Er agreed.

The wind and rain cannot stop the ninjas' advance, but they will interfere with their five senses and perception to some extent. Although they are eager to return to Konoha, they are not in such a hurry. Danzo may launch an assassination attempt on their way back, so it is always better to be cautious.

Even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit, and it is well understood that the root cause of a villain's downfall is arrogance.

All three were dressed in Konoha's standard ninja uniforms, completely lacking the pomp and circumstance expected of a Hokage.

However, to avoid causing unnecessary trouble, the three used a transformation technique to make slight adjustments and entered the small, dilapidated Fire Temple.

Decline means less money for offerings.

However, the large Buddha statue in the center of the temple appears to be well-maintained.

Because of the heavy rain, a large crowd gathered at the temple. Elegantly dressed merchants voluntarily donated incense. Even commoners in simple clothes were offered hot towels by the monks without any discrimination.

Most members of the Thousand Hands clan are Buddhists.

After thinking for a moment, Thousand Hands Peach Blossom also donated some incense money.

When it was Shen'er's turn, the old monk with white hair and beard seemed to recognize their extraordinary nature and invited them, "You gentlemen have an extraordinary bearing. If you don't mind, you may come with me to the tea room to rest."

"it is good."

He showed no reverence whatsoever for the Buddha of the ninja world, and would never use honorifics to address a mere old monk.

The transformation technique failed to evade the old monk's senses, which was not surprising, as the opponent clearly possessed some kind of Buddhist-style sensory ninjutsu.

He then led the two of them to the tea room.

I wiped the rain off my clothes and took a small sip of hot tea.

"You gentlemen, you must be ninjas, right?"

"Hmm." Shen'er nodded, not bothering with the old monk, and directly asked the question that had just come to mind: "Abbot, how much does your temple's Buddhist ninjutsu cost?"

Senju Momoka's lips twitched uncontrollably.

This third-generation patriarch of ours really speaks very directly.

The old monk coughed lightly and replied, "I am merely the deputy abbot of the temple, my Dharma name is Compassion. This matter of yours must be discussed after the abbot returns from his travels. The temple has principles; ninjutsu is not used for trade. We only accept incense offerings from worshippers. If one's sincerity moves the Buddha..."

How can the affairs of monks be described as transactions? The point is that only by offering incense can one form a connection with Buddhism.

Even though he understood the unspoken meaning behind Ci Lei's words, he didn't take it to heart.

They didn't intend to rob them by force; they still had that much dignity.

It was originally just a spur-of-the-moment decision. I took a fancy to the optical module of the Buddhist ninjutsu. If I didn't want to trade on the spot, that was fine. I could send someone over later to negotiate slowly. There would eventually be a suitable price.

If we can't agree on a price... then let the evil Uchiha Yan pass by.

"Let's talk about it later then." The rain outside continued unabated. Shen'er casually asked, "Your Excellency, you seem to possess profound cultivation; are you not the abbot of this temple?"

“That’s right.” Cibei nodded, quite talkative. “Our abbot has a very high level of Buddhist knowledge. In fact, he bears some resemblance to you, benefactor.”

Where are they similar?

"They are all full of vitality and look very young. You must be quite old, benefactor? The abbot is older than me, but he looks similar to you."

"Oh?"

He immediately became interested, as eternal youth is an extremely rare ability in the ninja world.

Aside from the Yin Seal, the Earth Grudge Fear, and the Reanimation Jutsu developed by Orochimaru in the future, he didn't know of any other secret technique that could achieve this. Could it be that this Fire Temple in the middle of nowhere was actually built by the Uzumaki clan?

"Is your abbot a red-haired man?"

Compassion shook his head: "No, he has black hair."

"Black hair... what's his name?"

“After entering the temple to practice, he abandoned his secular name and kept only his Dharma name. The abbot’s Dharma name is Cixian.”

“Ci Xian…”

Shen Er frowned. The name gave him a strange sense of familiarity, but no matter how hard he tried to recall, he couldn't remember when or where he had heard it before.

Shen Er considers himself a seasoned Naruto scholar, familiar with all the timelines in Naruto except for the movies, so this kind of memory lapse rarely occurs in him.

So, is this another ninja from a movie?

I couldn't think of it for a moment, and I didn't even dwell on it.

They were just waiting for the monk named Jigen to return so they could send out the ANBU to find out what was going on.

"I will send someone over later to discuss matters related to incense offerings with the temple."

Upon hearing this, Cibei nodded: "It seems that the benefactor's status is quite noble."

The rain outside the window gradually subsided.

Then he got up to take his leave, followed closely by Senju Momoka and Nara Hiro.

Just as the three were about to leave the teahouse and continue their journey, a sudden change occurred.

I saw

Two masked ninjas, using some secret technique to shield their senses, broke into the temple's front gate.

Without saying a word, they clapped their hands together, then pulled out kunai and stabbed them into their own abdomens.

In an instant, blood gushed from their abdomens, and what was unsettling was that the blood they were spurting was an eerie black.

Shen Er's gaze narrowed slightly as he realized what methods Danzo intended to use to assassinate him.

The Four Symbols Seal!

Even though he can ignore most damage in direct combat, he is not immune to sealing techniques. Once covered by the sealing range of the Inner Four Symbols, even he will not escape death.

Two more masked ninjas rushed out from behind the temple, remaining silent as they continued to slit open their abdomens, splattering black blood everywhere. A ninja also appeared atop the temple tower, blocking the path above from a high vantage point, with black blood dripping down.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye; black blood gushed out from all directions, turning the entire temple into a prison.

This was a meticulously planned assassination.

"I underestimated Danzo."

Shen Er thought to himself.

He was only focused on attracting assassins to lead Konoha to turn left, but he didn't expect Danzo to have this trump card up his sleeve.

Danzo not only knew the forbidden technique of the Reverse Four Symbols Seal, which was a suicidal act, but he could also pass it on to others, which led to the arrival of five assassins.

Looking at the state of these five assassins, they were either Danzo's trained dead servants or had been implanted with similar binding seals, forcibly controlled, and forced to activate the seal and self-destruct.

Having such a trump card of mutual destruction, Danzo didn't use it to cover the Second Hokage's retreat and fight the enemy back then. Instead, he used it to harm his comrades in the village and the new Hokage.

Another sin has been added to the list.

Even in the face of such a dangerous situation, Shen Er remained absolutely calm.

He was surprised by Danzo's methods, but that was all he was surprised about.

This level of assassination attempt is insufficient to kill Zen-in-no-Israel! The activation time of the Four Symbols Seal is relatively long, and there is a risk of it being evaded. Besides space-time ninjutsu, the ultimate Body Flicker Technique can also evade the seal.

Even with his peripheral vision, he subtly glanced at Senju Momoka and Nara Hiro beside him.

With his abilities, he was absolutely certain he could escape alive, but this assassination would have to come at a bloody price; one of the two had to die to demonstrate the seriousness of the assassination and achieve his original goal.

The remaining person, as a "witness," returned to the village alive to recount the heinousness and horror of the assassination.

The worshippers in the temple screamed and ran away in terror.

"Help!"

"Someone, please save us!"

"..."

The four trigrams appeared simultaneously on the chests of the five assassins.

At the critical moment, Shen Er made his move.

His back tore open, and countless Heavenly Compassion Lines burst forth, coalescing into tentacles that struck directly at the five assassins.

boom!

Before the Four Symbols Sealing Array was fully formed, the five people were pierced through by Shen'er's Heavenly Compassion Tentacle and sent flying backward. However, this was not enough to destroy the formation of the sealing array; it could only slow down the formation process and buy them time to escape.

Nara Hiroshi and Senju Momoka responded simultaneously.

The former immediately activated the Shadow Technique to restrain the enemy's movements, while the latter quickly formed hand seals and used Earth Escape to try to bury the caster and compress the sealing range.

Shen Er twitched his fingers slightly, preparing to activate the Earthly Grudge Parasite, and lead Nara Hiro away, abandoning Senju Momoka.

Momoka Senju held a higher position in Konoha. If she were to die in Danzo's assassination attempt, it would cause an even greater uproar in the village. He might even be able to use this opportunity to get close to Senju Kensuke…

Unexpectedly, Nara Hiroshi took the initiative to step forward.

"Shadow Ninja Technique: Multiple Shadow Stitching Technique"