The evil cult's lair was hidden underground, about fifty kilometers away from the nearest town. When Logan, Kakashi, and Tsunade arrived, they found the place deserted—eerily quiet, as though it had been abandoned in a hurry. Moments later, the floor beneath them detonated in a massive explosion.
The trap collapsed the ground, burying them in rubble and darkness.
But a collapse of this scale was no match for the three.
With Star Platinum's rapid-fire fists, Kakashi's Earth Style Ninjutsu, and Tsunade's raw physical power—plus the help of Katsuyu—they managed to claw their way out after a few tense minutes.
As they emerged from the debris, Tsunade dusted off her cloak and gave Logan a sharp look.
"You run fast."
Logan nodded, expression unreadable. "Didn't want to waste time."
He retrieved a memory disc from the Left Protector, reviewing the contents carefully. The image of the White-Haired Leader flickered into view—an ordinary-looking man, but with a dangerous gleam in his eyes.
After analyzing the memory, Logan summoned Hermit Purple. The Stand floated into view, thin purple tendrils writhing around his wrist. He extended his hand, and Hermit Purple shot forward, pointing in the direction their enemy had escaped.
They took off in pursuit.
---
They chased all night through forests and plains, finally arriving at a village just as the first light of dawn broke over the horizon.
It was a mid-sized settlement, nestled between two hills and flanked by dense woods. There were more than 200 homes and close to 1,800 residents.
The village was alive with activity. As the sun rose, villagers emerged from their homes, beginning their daily routines. Cats lounged lazily near doorsteps. Dogs barked and trotted at their masters' heels, waiting to be fed.
Logan frowned and raised his hand.
Hermit Purple emerged again, its tendrils sensing the surroundings. It moved erratically, then abruptly stopped—hovering in place, as if confused.
"He's here," Logan said. "The White-Haired Cult Leader is in this village. But something's interfering with my lock. I can't pinpoint him."
Kakashi narrowed his eye. "How are we supposed to find one man among nearly two thousand?"
Tsunade scowled, brushing her fingers over a wound on her arm. Since the night before, the wound had been steadily worsening, leaking life energy at an unnatural rate.
"The Holy Child… the Holy Grail… Hidan…" she muttered.
The words from the Left Protector's memories echoed ominously in her mind.
She didn't know what was coming, but her instincts screamed danger. Something was being born—something terrible.
"We don't have time to search every house," she said urgently. "We need to find the cult leader now."
Logan floated upward slowly, until he was hovering high above the village.
"Cover your ears," he said.
"Huh?"
Kakashi and Tsunade barely had time to react before Star Platinum materialized behind Logan, raised both arms high, and slammed his palms together at supersonic speed.
BOOM!
The shockwave echoed like a volcanic eruption. The sheer force rippled through the air, cracking windows and startling every animal in the village.
Dogs barked frantically. Cats hissed and ran for cover. Villagers froze, turning their gazes upward toward the strange man hovering in the sky.
---
Elsewhere in the village, a man with unremarkable features—just another face in the crowd—looked up.
His expression twisted into something between awe and anticipation.
"He's here," the White-Haired Leader murmured. "Logan… that was fast."
Despite being hunted, he showed no fear. On the contrary, his eyes gleamed with fervor. He had come to the Land of Hot Springs knowing this confrontation would come. He wasn't afraid to die. That wasn't what the Evil God demanded of him.
Standing among the crowd, he could feel Logan's life force from this distance—stronger even than Tsunade's.
This was the test. The Evil God had given him a mission, and Logan was the final trial.
"I've been waiting for this."
Suddenly, Logan sliced his palm in midair, letting a single drop of blood fall. The crimson droplet gleamed as it descended, thick with power and life force.
The White-Haired Leader immediately realized the tactic.
Any follower of the Evil God would be drawn to that blood. They would desire it—use it as a medium for curses, or simply as nourishment. But that also meant they would reveal themselves.
"If I avoid looking at it, I won't be exposed," he thought.
So he stared straight ahead, resisting the urge to glance at the falling blood.
"Logan… you think I'll fall for that?"
But then his eyes widened.
Wait… this has nothing to do with whether you believe in an evil god.
It's human nature. When someone in the sky drops something—blood, a stone—everyone instinctively watches it fall.
The one person who doesn't react stands out.
In trying too hard to avoid suspicion, he had made himself even more suspicious.
"Damn it!"
The leader shifted his gaze quickly, trying to blend back into the crowd. There were nearly a thousand people—surely Logan couldn't track them all.
But then—
"Platinum World!"
Time slowed to a crawl.
One second… two seconds… three…
Logan glanced downward, scanning the frozen crowd.
Four seconds.
His eyes locked with the disguised cult leader.
Time resumed.
The White-Haired Leader blinked.
Where was Logan? The blood? Gone.
Suddenly, he felt a hand rest gently on his shoulder. A chill ran down his spine.
Logan leaned close, whispering in his ear:
"I found you."
The leader's face twisted in rage.
"Logan—!"
In an instant, he dropped the illusion and returned to his true appearance—white hair, pale skin, eyes burning with madness. He stabbed himself in the abdomen with a short sword hidden at his side.
Around him, the nearby villagers tore off their disguises and weapons—knives, steel needles—shouting:
"Protect the leader!"
They swarmed toward Logan.
Logan glanced at the self-inflicted wound on the leader and shook his head.
"Don't waste your time," he said. "You're going to die today."
He turned to face the cultists.
"You all are."
"No one in this village is leaving alive."
---
The moment he had entered the village, Logan had sensed something was off.
Hermit Purple's reaction had been the first clue. Then, while flying overhead, he'd noticed something else—there were no elders or children. Only young and middle-aged villagers.
And the layout of the buildings…
A formation.
"This entire village is a trap," he realized.
A secret sanctuary for the cult—one even the Left and Right Protectors hadn't known about. It was the White-Haired Leader's trump card.
Logan snapped the cult leader's neck with a twist of his hand. White Snake slithered out, pulling a memory disc from the corpse.
Logan discarded the body. "A hollow card. Everyone's dead—who's left to play?"
"Wait," White Snake hissed. "Something's wrong."
The disc's projection shimmered.
It showed an ordinary man. Then, a woman. Her face and body shifted rapidly—until she became the White-Haired Leader.
"What…?"
Another cultist transformed into the same man.
Then another.
Logan understood.
As long as the formation was active and the cultists remained, the leader could transfer his consciousness. He was one—and one was all.
The cultists began stabbing themselves, blood splashing onto the ground in gruesome waves. The earth absorbed it greedily. A moment later, the evil formation activated.
Darkness fell.
A black barrier covered the entire village.
"Space blockade?" Tsunade muttered. She looked around—the very air was decaying. Faces twisted with madness peered at them from every corner. Everything the miasma touched withered and died.
They were trapped.
---
Kakashi heard something above.
He looked up.
Rain?
No. As the droplets fell closer, his eye widened.
"Steel needles!" he shouted. "They're raining steel!"
Thousands of them. At the same time, the earth shifted beneath their feet, growing metallic fangs and razor-sharp blades. Like carnivorous plants, they writhed and snapped at anything that moved.
Even a single wound—just a drop of blood—would trigger the curse.
The entire village would respond. A thousand fanatics ready to die, ready to kill.
The White-Haired Leader appeared again, his true form manifesting through the ritual circle.
"I didn't want to open the Kingdom of God this early," he said. "I wanted to wait… until I drained Tsunade's life force completely."
He spread his arms wide, allowing the needles to pierce his flesh, smiling through the pain.
"But that's the nature of life, isn't it? Pain. Chaos. Uncertainty."
The madness in his voice echoed like a sermon.
"Come, Logan! Let's die together!"
His voice reached a fever pitch.
"From our death, the true Son of God will rise—he will create a new world!"
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