---Third POV---
"Ryouma-sama, I've already sent people to investigate the base of the Jashin cult. We have the best hot spring inn in the entire shinobi world, please be patient for now." The Yu leader seemed more like a peace-loving businessman than the head of a hidden village. He didn't care about the age difference between himself and Ryouma and spoke with full honorifics, smooth and polite.
Upon hearing that the cult's hideout hadn't yet been located, Obito couldn't help but think about the children whose lives were still uncertain. He pressed his lips together in frustration.
Ryouma glanced at him and raised his hand to stop the village leader from arranging an escort to the inn.
"No need to be so courteous. I've already found the Jashin cult's base."
"What? You've already found it?" the Yu leader exclaimed in surprise. Was this really possible?
But it wasn't actually that surprising, Ryouma had merely sensed the Flying Thunder God mark he'd left on the sole of a foot of a certain Yu ninja he'd met for the first time the previous evening.
According to the intel the village leader had given earlier, that person was one of the Yu ninjas absorbed into the Jashin cult. To be fair, those cult members were pretty good at running, they'd even established their base on the border between the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Frost.
"Let's go right away! Maybe the kids are still alive." Ryouma's words greatly lifted Obito's spirits.
"Calm down. Don't let your personal emotions interfere with the mission," Kakashi scolded Obito in a flat tone, trying to cool his overheated brain. This was something he had done many times on the Land of Hot Water battlefield, Obito had always been that kind of hot-blooded fool.
With hopeful eyes, the Yu leader said, "Since you've already found their base, I'll go gather the ninjas and prepare to depart."
"No need." Ryouma waved his hand. "Since I've already accepted your commission fee, you don't need to worry about the rest."
To be cautious, he formed a hand seal and created a shadow clone. The clone nodded at the original before instantly vanishing with the Flying Thunder God Technique.
---
On the border between the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Frost, the Jashin cult's base was located inside a hollowed-out mountain. They had several bases in the Land of Hot Water, but this one housed something of utmost importance to the cult: The Jashin Altar.
No one knew who had built the altar, but it was certainly ancient.
At the moment, the Yu ninja who carried Ryouma's mark was stationed outside the base, taking a shift along with three comrades. A chilling wind laced with snow, characteristic of the Land of Frost, swept through.
Whoosh~
In a flash, Clone Ryouma appeared next to the marked ninja.
Without any excess motion, he immediately released blue-white lightning that crawled across the ground in a web, paralyzing all four Yu ninjas in an instant. His hands quickly formed seals, and as chakra flowed, sand particles filled the air around them.
Pupupupu~
The sound of bullets piercing flesh rang out, muffled by the wind and snow.
The four Yu ninjas, who weren't particularly strong to begin with, were instantly killed by Clone Ryouma.
After a quick check of the surroundings, the shadow clone formed a seal with one hand and dispelled itself.
---
Memories flowed back to the original body. Ryouma furrowed his brows slightly, sighed faintly, then placed his hands on the shoulders of Kakashi and Obito. In the next instant, he activated the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Whoosh—
Accompanied by a spatial fluctuation, the three of them instantly crossed half the Land of Hot Water and arrived at its border.
"Brr—" Obito shivered all over. "It's so cold…"
Kakashi glanced at the vast snowfield around them and said, "This should be near the Land of Frost."
"That's right." Ryouma nodded to confirm Kakashi's words and pointed toward a snow-covered mountain surrounded by coniferous forest. "The Jashin cult's hideout is beneath that mountain."
Under the powerful perception of his Rikugan, the internal layout of the hideout was fully revealed. Leading Kakashi and Obito swiftly to an entrance at the foot of the mountain, he didn't hesitate and walked in openly and confidently.
Tap, tap, tap...
Their footsteps echoed clearly in the corridor that cut through the mountain.
Watching Ryouma stroll so brazenly ahead, Kakashi couldn't help but comment uncomfortably.
"Your footsteps are way too loud. We're infiltrating, remember?"
Even Obito was deliberately keeping his steps quiet.
"No need to worry." Ryouma didn't look back, just waved a hand casually. "This is true infiltration."
Through his full-field vision, he saw four cultists heading their way. They were likely coming to switch shifts with the four Yu ninjas his shadow clone had just killed outside.
"Four enemies approaching," he said softly in warning.
Obito and Kakashi immediately tensed, ready to engage.
Just as the two sides were about to meet at a corner, Ryouma gave the signal. Kakashi's hands flew through seals and he slapped the ground with a palm.
The hard rock beneath the cultists' feet suddenly turned into a several-meter-wide swamp.
Obito, fueled by pent-up anger, formed hand seals and unleashed a Great Fireball Technique with full force, spewing flames down the corridor. Seconds later, the fire dissipated, leaving behind only four charred corpses.
Sensory-type ninjas were still quite rare in the shinobi world, most trained ones belonged to the Five Great Hidden Villages. Caught completely off guard, the four cultists were instantly wiped out by Kakashi and Obito's combo.
They encountered no more cultists along the way.
In Ryouma's vision, aside from the four who had come out to switch shifts, all of the remaining cultists were gathered in a large underground chamber at the center of the hideout. The three picked up their pace. As they neared the massive underground cavity, Ryouma felt it necessary to give a warning.
"Obito, Kakashi."
Seeing their puzzled expressions, Ryouma paused before continuing. "No matter what you see in there, I want you to at least remain calm during the mission."
Obito wasn't an idiot. He immediately understood the implication in Ryouma's words. His pupils shrank, and he gave a low reply, the disappointment in his voice barely concealed.
Kakashi wanted to say something to comfort him, but his throat trembled slightly. In the end, he chose silence.
The two silently followed Ryouma deeper underground.
The surrounding rock walls gradually became etched with strange runes. Under their eerie glow, it felt as though ancient curses were whispering. The air was thick with the stench of decay, laced with an unmistakable scent of blood.
Despite Kakashi and Obito having done their best to mentally prepare themselves, standing at the edge of the vast underground cavern, the scene before them still made their hearts clench violently.
It was a living portrait of hell.
"This... this is just..." Kakashi's voice trembled, his words cutting off in shock, as chaos and destruction reflected in his pupils.
"Damn that Jashin cult!!" Obito's voice was full of rage, and filled with a trace of fear even he didn't notice himself.
Because what lay before them wasn't just terrifying, it was a challenge to human sanity.
Within the massive subterranean cavity stood an altar, like the grim centerpiece of a dark ritual. Countless grooves twisted down from the surface of the altar, converging in the depths below to form an enormous circular relief.
Surrounding it were thirteen towering pillars, each as thick as an ancient tree. Their surfaces were covered in writhing tentacles that twisted and grew like living things. Tied to each of these tentacles was a missing child from Yu!
Their blood was being greedily drained by the tentacles, then slowly transported down the pillars to the relief, where it flowed in reverse along the grooves, finally being poured out at the top of the altar.
But that wasn't the worst of it.
Around the base of the altar, each adult captives' severed head had been shoved into the ass of the one in front of them, creating a ring of mutilated bodies. Blood and waste pooled beneath the circle as some bodies still twitched reflexively, the headless torsos kept upright by the sick arrangement.
The sight was so revolting that even Obito, for all his rage, felt his stomach lurch violently.
Cultists circled the altar like phantoms, their eyes empty and lifeless, chanting a chilling hymn in unison to a strange, eerie melody.
♪At the edge of chaos, You slumber in the endless night.
We offer up sacrifices, flesh and soul alike.
In Your shadow, we dance, we go mad,
In Your name, we are lost, we yearn.
O Master of the Abyss, O Ruler of Darkness,
We offer up our souls in exchange for Your favor.
We call Your name until the world's end.♪
Their bodies twisted and swayed involuntarily with the sinister rhythm, as if controlled by some unspeakable force. The air was thick with a nauseatingly sweet and bloody stench, merging with the foul rot emanating from the cultists themselves, making Ryouma's nose burn with discomfort.
Kakashi and Ryouma exchanged a glance, both reading the same message in each other's eyes.
"Those cultists... they seem to be under some kind of genjutsu," Kakashi whispered.
"Mm. Likely a sound-based illusion. Be careful not to listen too closely to their chanting," Ryouma warned seriously.
Meanwhile, Obito had locked eyes on a man in black closest to the edge of the altar. His gaze burned crimson, with two faint black tomoe flickering within.
That man, no, that Bishop of the cult, slowly turned around, revealing an utterly unremarkable middle-aged face to the three.
"Oh, my dark god. Look what we have here? Three little lost lambs!" His hoarse voice echoed through the massive cavern.
Ryouma had imagined all kinds of dramatic openings for a cult leader, but the dubbed-film tone of this one's speech left him speechless for a moment.
Obito hadn't expected the villain to be this cocky either, and his fury surged, boiling over in a heated shout.
"Even innocent children?! What do you take life for?!"
"Hehehehahaha!" The Bishop seemed to be switched on by Obito's outburst, erupting in maniacal laughter. "Life? Why, life is the sacred offering to our dark god, of course. Like these children, what greater joy than to return to His embrace!"
"You're insane," Kakashi muttered.
Shhhrrrkkk—
Suddenly, the ground beneath the three churned violently. Several thick tentacles burst forth, surging like a crashing tide, rushing to ensnare and kill them.
Kakashi and Ryouma simultaneously drew their blades. Silver-white arcs sliced through the air, severing tentacles that fell to the ground like the bodies of decapitated serpents.
"Overflow, overflow, eternal cycle, five follows next..."
Beside the altar, the Bishop murmured an incomprehensible prayer, his voice low and unsettling. Below, the cultists seemed to respond to the call. Like mindless corpses, they began charging toward Ryouma and the others. As they ran, grotesque tumors across their bodies twitched, and from them grew metallic, glistening tentacles that writhed like octopus limbs.
Ryouma's brow twitched. This whole grotesque Cthulhu-esque style really didn't fit the shinobi world at all. Unwilling to look at it any longer, he formed a hand seal with one hand, activating Shukaku's seal within him.
Lostvayne slid back into its sheath. He lowered his stance, preparing for a powerful Iai slash. Massive amounts of fire chakra surged into the sheathed blade, compressed and perfectly controlled.
Shiiing—
A dark red blade light split the blood-reeking air of the underground cavern, unleashing a heavy, arcing wave of flames.
The flaming arc roared forward, engulfing the hundreds of cultists in front like a storm of wildfire.
"Aaaahhhh!!" The pain of being consumed by fire made the cultists scream out in hoarse, piercing wails.
The flames of judgment, fueled by the resentment of lost souls, roared along the abominable tentacles, devouring all like hellfire. The dark-purple flames continued to surge forward until they struck the thirteen massive pillars, only to be stopped by a black barrier of light.
"Ryouma!"
"Those tentacle monsters!" Obito and Kakashi's shouts echoed in his ears.
To their horror, the cultists who had been severed and incinerated by the flames were now growing new tentacles from their bisected corpses. The number of tentacle creatures had doubled, now nearly flooding the entire underground chamber. Wriggling and crawling toward them in a horrifying mass, the tentacles slithered like countless snakes in the dark, sending chills down their spines.
Ryouma narrowed his eyes slightly. "Looks like conventional attacks won't be enough to kill these things."
He had expected as much, after all, the most infamous figure of this cult in the future was Hidan, known for his immortality.
Obito, worried, asked, "Even your fire can't handle them?"
But Kakashi remained calm. If Ryouma had agreed to bring them here, then he must have a plan.
"Don't worry." Facing these seemingly unkillable monsters, Ryouma had a specific combo prepared just for them.
"Shukaku."
"Hehehehe, I've been dying to get in on the action." With a slap of two chubby paws, the entire underground chamber was instantly engulfed in a sea of sand.
The shrieking, flailing tentacle creatures struggled and writhed, trying to escape, but in the end, they were ruthlessly dragged into the quicksand and buried.