Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

I feel at ease leaving it in your hands.

Zongxian said with a smile.

Uchiha Arashiyama took his leave, while Sogen continued to write his signature on all the documents that required it, becoming a ruthless signing machine. Time passed by, and the sky outside the window gradually darkened.

night,

It will arrive very soon!

[Chapter 258. The Evil God Cult]

"...How much longer will it take to complete?"

"...It's impossible to say for sure right now; it will probably take quite some time..."

"Can't we postpone it for a few days? Doing this in Konoha is too risky. If the Konoha ninjas find out, we're finished. If we wait another seven or eight days, the goods I ordered will be delivered, and then we won't have to take any more risks."

"...We can't stop. If we stop, all our efforts will be wasted. If we anger the evil god, we'll die suddenly. It's recorded in the data. You've seen it before."

"Damn it..."

Midnight,

Deep underground in the embassy, ​​in a spacious secret room, the atmosphere was tense between the Daimyo's special envoy to Konoha, the elderly Mr. Hiramiya Nariaki, and his chief bodyguard, Ogasawara Uemon. Hiramiya Nariaki glared at his chief bodyguard, while Ogasawara Uemon, as the chief bodyguard, stared back, showing no respect whatsoever for his lord.

The tense atmosphere stemmed from a dispute between the two over a shared secret. Due to Kazuma's warning, Hiramiya Nariaki felt uneasy, fearing something unexpected might happen. He wanted to temporarily halt the secret ritual that had been going on for almost a year, but Ogasawara Uemon, who had taught him the ritual, said it was impossible.

This is where the conflict arises.

As for what this secret ritual is?

The answer lies within this underground chamber. Pale, cold, and shriveled corpses are haphazardly piled in the corners of the chamber, looking as if they have been drained of blood by vampires. In the center of the room is a circular stone platform. At the center of the platform is an equilateral triangular pit about thirty centimeters deep, with sides exceeding two and a half meters. Outside the triangle is a shallow groove of an infinite polygon, which is a circular trench.

Outer circle, inner triangle.

This constitutes a symbol representing an evil god.

Yes,

This thing is a symbol of an evil god, an altar for worshipping an evil god, and a breeding ground for followers of evil god cults to receive gifts from the evil god.

Directly above this symbol is a steel hook, on which a person is hanging upside down, his hands and feet bound, his hands above his head, and his wrists cut open, with two thin lines of blood hanging down into the deep pit below. Under the influence of gravity, it is foreseeable that this person's blood will gradually drain out and flow into the triangular pit below.

This is the ritual.

By offering their freshest blood to the evil god, believers can lie in the pit and receive the evil god's blessings, thereby gaining an immortal body and endless lifespan.

only--

This ritual is not something that can be accomplished overnight; it requires perseverance to reap fruitful results. Ogasawara Uemon himself did not know exactly how long it would take to bring about this secret ritual, because he had stolen it.

Speaking of which,

We must mention Ogasawara Uemon. This man is very tall, over 1.9 meters, which is quite tall in the Land of Fire. He has a fierce appearance and his eyes are as cruel and ruthless as a hungry wolf. He is not a ninja, but a samurai from the Land of Iron. He escaped from the Land of Iron after accidentally killing someone while drunk.

After escaping the Land of Iron, Ogasawara Uemon wandered around. While hanging out in the Land of Hot Water, he unwittingly joined an organization called the Evil God Cult. Because of his strength, which was comparable to that of a Jonin, and his past experiences, he was highly regarded by the organization's higher-ups and was fortunate enough to participate in the organization's top secrets as a bodyguard.

That is, the study of 'immortality'.

And he personally witnessed a very young fanatic named 'Hidan' successfully obtain immortality, even after having his heart pierced and his head cut off... he still lived well.

Ogasawara Uemon was tempted. He also wanted to obtain immortality, but there were so many people in the Jashin Cult, and everyone was craving immortality. If he stayed in the cult, who knew how long it would take for him to get immortality? After all, Hidan didn't achieve immortality in just a few days or months; it took him more than three years!

Unwilling to wait any longer, Ogasawara Uemon stole the Jashin Cult's experimental data on immortality and fled to the Land of Fire once again. He then deliberately used immortality as bait to seduce Hiramiya Nariaki, who was over sixty years old and nearing the end of his life.

The reason for doing this is simple: experiments to create immortality require a lot of manpower and resources.

It's important to understand the resources of such a large organization as the Cult of Evil Gods.

Just to support this one experiment, the organization had to repeatedly send people to impersonate thieves and robbers to 'make money' and 'kidnap people'.

Ogasawara Uemon didn't think he could complete the experiment alone, so he wandered around the Land of Fire for half a year, eventually setting his sights on Hiramiya Nariaki, and successfully hooking up with him. A year ago, based on the data and what Ogasawara Uemon had seen and heard, he began to replicate the Jashin Cult's experiment to create an immortal body.

Everything was going smoothly. Given Hiramiya Nariaki's status and power, even the discovery of a large number of corpses being transported from his residence could not cause him the slightest harm. In the powerful and wealthy Daimyo Prefecture, the big shots did not care about the lives of the common people. Instead, some people asked Hiramiya Nariaki if he was playing some new trick, but Hiramiya Nariaki brushed them off.

only--

Things didn't go as planned.

A dramatic upheaval occurred in Konoha Village. After a series of dazzling changes, the Third Hokage first abdicated in disgrace, then died, along with Danzo Shimura. Subsequently, major battles broke out against the Hidden Mist Village and the Hidden Cloud Village. The internal power structure of Konoha underwent a complete reshuffle.

The once-prosperous Sarutobi, Mitomon, and Utatane clans suffered greatly, leaving only a handful of survivors. In their place, the Uchiha clan rose to prominence once again.

This turn of events

It also had a profound impact on Daming Prefecture.

The most obvious point is that Hiramiya's predecessor, the special envoy who had a close relationship with the Third Hokage, retired. After some deliberation, the Fire Daimyo appointed Hiramiya as the new Daimyo's special envoy to Konoha. The reason is simple: the Hiramiya family controls the largest pharmaceutical company in the Land of Fire and is a good business partner with the Nara family, one of the three major families of Konoha (Ino-Shika-Cho).

The appointment came so suddenly and so quickly.

Hiramiya Nariaki had no choice but to come to Konoha to take up his post. He couldn't find a suitable excuse to refuse, so he had to bite the bullet and rush to Konoha. Because he came in such a hurry, he didn't bring enough 'experimental materials'. According to the information brought by Ogasawara Uemon, this set of secret rituals could not be interrupted until it was finally completed and had to be held every day.

"That's about enough. Who wants to go first today?"

Ogasawara Uemon glanced at the stone platform; the triangular pit had already accumulated a sufficient amount of blood.

"I'll come first!"

Hiramiya Qijing's face was gloomy.

Ogasawara Eemon didn't care; there were enough materials anyway, so it didn't matter who came first or last. In another corner of the secret room, six missing persons, who had been cleaned and starved for several days, were locked in cages. Their hands and feet were bound, their mouths were gagged, and they had cried their eyes out, numbly staring at the hell before them.

"That Kazuma guy is just bluffing! You are the special envoy of the Fire Daimyo. Do you think Konoha would attack you for those lowly commoners? Instead of being wary of Konoha, we should be more careful of that Kazuma guy. There is murderous intent in his eyes when he looks at you, sir. If you ask me, we should strike first, kill that Kazuma guy, and then push all the blame onto him."

Ogasawara Uemon had long disliked Kazuma.

The two had a minor disagreement, and Ogasawara Uemon, who suffered a loss at Kazuma's hands, still harbors resentment towards him.

"Stop talking nonsense. Kazuma is the Daimyo's trusted bodyguard. If you kill Kazuma, how am I supposed to explain it to the Daimyo?"

Hiramiya Nariaki shouted a rebuke.

However, what he said was quite interesting. The point was not whether or not to kill Kazuma, but how to explain it to the daimyo. Hiramiya Nariaki had also disliked Kazuma for some time. The other party, relying on being the daimyo's trusted guard, had acted inappropriately and arrogantly in front of him, even speaking to him in a warning and lecturing tone.

Upon hearing that there was a chance, Ogasawara Uemon's face revealed a cruel smile. "To protect the reputation of the Daimyo... how about this excuse? Say that Kazuma kidnapped and wantonly killed residents of Konoha, and the Konoha ninja have already come to investigate. In order to protect the reputation of the Daimyo from that fool, we have no choice but to take drastic measures?"

"Hmph! Marco isn't so easy to kill."

Hiramiya Nariaki had to admit that it was a good excuse.

Ogasawara Uemon may seem like a brute who only relies on force to act arrogantly, but anyone who actually believes him is doomed. He managed to escape the pursuit of the samurai of the Land of Iron and even thought of colluding with nobles like Hiramiya Nariaki. He's not the kind of fool whose brain is just full of muscles.

"As long as you're willing to use your brain, you can always find a way."

Ogasawara Eemon didn't find killing difficult; the real challenge was how to safely deal with the series of troubles that followed. He had killed someone in the Land of Iron but failed to clean up the mess, ultimately forcing him to flee the Land of Iron.

"Let's talk about it later! Let's wait until you come up with a feasible solution first."

By this time, Hiramiya Qijing had already taken off his clothes, walked onto the stone platform, and then slowly lay down in the pool of blood.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The embassy, ​​the study of Hiramiya Nariaki.

At the desk by the window, a one-eyed man wearing a mask and a black robe sat in the chair belonging to Hiramiya Qijing, flipping through a stack of documents printed with a circular triangular symbol of an evil god, using the moonlight streaming in from the window.

"...Immortality? That's interesting!"

"...Unfortunately, is it necessary to worship an evil god?"

"The only successful case so far..."

Just as the man was muttering to himself, a black and white pitcher plant emerged from the ground. Zetsu looked at the masked man, and the white Zetsu spoke up, "Madara, aren't you going down there to take a look? It's quite interesting!"

"What are you looking at? An experiment by a cult of evil? I have no interest in that stuff."

Obito Uchiha, who was still using the alias Madara Uchiha, shook his head.

"You need to wholeheartedly believe in an evil god to receive its favor... That kind of thing is useless to me. I found some interesting targets in this document. If I'm lucky, the organization might be able to add another member."

"Not that Kazuma?"

"No, it's a follower of the Jashin cult named Hidan. According to this information, this guy named Hidan is immortal and has some strange abilities."

Hidan? Never heard of him!

“It’s normal not to have heard of him. If I remember this information correctly, Hidan has only had an immortal body for a few years. He’s still a teenager and probably hasn’t had time to make a name for himself yet. But overall, he’s worth trying to recruit.”

"If that's the case, it does seem like a good target."

Black Zetsu said something, and White Zetsu continued shouting, "Madara, Madara, where can we find this immortal body? Is this immortal body truly unkillable no matter what?"

"There's no specific whereabouts, but... this says that Hidan is a fanatical follower of the evil god, extremely enthusiastic about spreading the evil god's faith. Perhaps we can start from that point. As for how powerful this immortal body really is, I don't know without having seen it in person." Uchiha Obito said slowly, glancing out the window and whispering:

"Mr. Ma, you've been eavesdropping for so long, shouldn't you come out and meet me?"

Two seconds later,

Kazuma slowly rose from beneath the ground outside the window. Standing there, his gaze pierced through the wide-open window as he looked at Obito Uchiha and asked, "When did you discover me?"

"From the moment you arrived."

The nonchalant reply made Kazuma's facial muscles twitch, and he subconsciously clenched his fist.

That's what I meant.

What a show-off!

"Who are you, no, who are you people? What is your purpose in infiltrating the embassy?" Kazuma questioned again.

"You'll know the answer to this question once you join us."

Obito Uchiha played a game of feigned indifference.

Kazuma frowned, sizing up Obito Uchiha and Zetsu beside him. After hesitating for a few seconds, he said, "I don't care who you are, please leave. This is the embassy, ​​not a public restroom for you to come and go as you please." He was only saying this because he wasn't very confident in dealing with these two; otherwise, he wouldn't have said such nonsense and would have already made his move!

"We'll be leaving soon."

Obito Uchiha had already flipped to the last few pages of the document in his hand. In the blink of an eye, his three-tomoe Sharingan read through all the documents at a glance. He put the document back in its original place and then looked at Kazuma and said, "See you next time, Mr. Kazuma."

finished,

Obito Uchiha and Zetsu each used their own methods to leave under Kazuma's watchful gaze. This time, Kazuma finally confirmed that the man called "Madara" was most likely using a space-time technique, but he still didn't understand how the other pitcher plant-like thing left!

The conversation between the two people that he had overheard spontaneously came to mind, and he tried to piece together the fragmented information.