A few days later, in the Land of Hot Water, a large caravan of carriages was making its way along a mountain road toward the capital.
This caravan was a joint venture between Hibari's Mitsumine Group's investment for reconstruction and Konohagakure's aid convoy. Hibari was currently traveling with his Anbu members, heading toward the capital.
"Shikajin-san, with this move, I've delivered a checkmate..." Inside the slightly bumpy carriage, Hibari was playing shogi with Shikajin Nara, the person in charge of this Konoha aid plan.
But just as Hibari made his move and before he could gloat, a cunning smile appeared on Shikajin's face. He gently moved a rook piece and said, "The game is broken. With this, I deliver a counter-check."
Hibari's expression was stunned as he looked at the suddenly changed game. He then shook his head with a bitter smile, "I shouldn't have played this game with you, Shikajin-san. I've long heard that people from the Nara clan treat shogi like eating, needing to play a game or two whenever they have a chance. I thought I was pretty good, but I've lost all three games to you..."
Shikajin gathered the pieces and said, "It's just to exercise the mind. This game can greatly enhance a person's strategy and also broaden their perspective and magnanimity. You can't care about the gains or losses of a single piece or a single move. You must have the magnanimity of a 'King' to truly win a game!"
Hibari took a sip of tea and said teasingly, "I get the feeling, Shikajin-san, that you're just saying I'm small-minded in different ways..."
"Hahahaha, is that so? Although the Second Hokage-sama and the Third Hokage-sama always say you're small-minded, it's just a joke. In my opinion, Hibari, you have a broad perspective and magnanimity.
"Although due to circumstances, the Senju clan wasn't suited to continue in the Hokage position, if anyone could have competed with Hiruzen for the title of Third Hokage, in my opinion, it would only have been you. And yet, from beginning to end, you were able to disregard the Third Hokage position, and that is your magnanimity and perspective!" Shikajin praised Hibari.
Hibari waved his hand and said, "What Hokage? I just know that I wasn't suitable for that position, and the Senju clan wasn't suitable for that position for a while. Therefore, I made that choice. But I didn't expect, Shikajin-san, that you would know the internal affairs of our Senju family. It surprises me... but on second thought, coming from you, it's not so unexpected."
Shikajin Nara could be considered the smartest person in all of Konohagakure. He also served as the Hokage's advisor, establishing a strategists' department specifically for offering advice to the Hokage. So he knew many secrets. With his wisdom, it was quite normal for him to deduce the situation of the Senju family.
"As the third-generation prodigy of the Senju clan, your ability to consider the big picture for the Senju clan is a form of magnanimity. Not caring about the gains or losses of a single piece or a single move is exactly what I was talking about. You lost the Third Hokage position, but in my opinion, your Senju family gained even more. So whether it's the First Hokage-sama, the Second Hokage-sama, or you, you all possess sufficient magnanimity and perspective. This is the fundamental reason why your Senju clan can flourish endlessly," Shikajin said with a smile.
"Stop praising me, Shikajin-san. I'm a person who can get arrogant, you know..." Hibari said with a laugh.
The two of them exchanged more pleasantries, and then Hibari lifted the carriage curtain, looked at the capital of the Land of Hot Water faintly visible in the distance, and then said, "Compared to the capitals of our Land of Fire and the Land of Water, the capital of the Land of Hot Water is really quite shabby..."
"It's a small country. Their strength in all aspects doesn't allow their capital to be very prosperous, not to mention that they just suffered the ravages of war... Although the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Fire both have Daimyo, when have you ever seen our Land of Fire's Daimyo come out to greet us when we go to the capital? But when we come here to the Land of Hot Water, people from the Daimyo's mansion have to come to greet us... A country's strength determines many things," Shikajin said softly.
But Hibari just smiled and said, "That's not my concern. Whether it's going to the Daimyo's mansion or somewhere else, that's your job, Shikajin-san. We'll split up a little further down the road. We Anbu have some personal business to take care of, so I'll be entrusting the Mitsumine Group's matters to you, Shikajin-san~"
Shikajin also laughed in annoyance and said, "They say you're a cunning one. You're not going to handle the Mitsumine Group's matters yourself, but you want me to do it for you. Are you going to pay me, you little rascal?"
"What's this about payment, Shikajin-san? Don't try to fool me. This is a mutually beneficial arrangement, and I can see that you're even getting the better deal." Hibari said with a laugh.
Shikajin didn't refute him. The more bargaining chips he brought to the Land of Hot Water, the more power he would have. Konoha's aid plan was already very impressive, but if the Mitsumine Group was included, it would be even more so. At that point, whatever he said, the Daimyo of the Land of Hot Water would have to listen!
"I take back what I said earlier. The Second Hokage-sama and the Third Hokage-sama were right; you are a small-minded guy." Shikajin said with a smile.
"Hahahaha, it's too late to take it back now!" Hibari said with a big laugh.
Not long after, near the capital of the Land of Hot Water, a whistle sounded from Hibari's carriage, and then several black shadows shot out of the caravan.
Looking inside the carriage, only Shikajin was left, leisurely drinking tea. The original occupant next to him, Hibari, had disappeared.
....
Night was slowly falling.
In a small valley near the capital of the Land of Hot Water, a group of seemingly deranged and fanatical individuals were gathered, busy performing some kind of human sacrifice ritual.
A young girl was surrounded by the cultists, her hands tied with a rope, hanging from a cross. In front of her was a bonfire that had yet to be lit.
Not only that, but inside the bonfire lay the corpses of a middle-aged man and woman, a truly gruesome sight. Their chests had been split open, and their internal organs had been removed.
It was a well-known belief that the human body's organs corresponded to the 'Five Elements,' such as the 'kidney belonging to Water.' At this moment, the organs from the two bodies were arranged around them according to the Five Elements, and a corresponding pentagram was drawn with blood in the bonfire.
The naked girl, tied to the cross, looked at the two corpses, her eyes filled with sorrow and despair.
Just then, two more figures, wrapped from head to toe in black robes, each carrying a bucket of half-coagulated black blood, walked up to the girl.
The crowd of cultists then split apart on their own accord, leaving a path in the middle. A man holding a skull staff, wearing a blood-red robe, with an evil glint in his eyes and a strange pattern painted on his face, walked step by step toward the girl.
He looked over the girl's body with his foul gaze, a slight smirk on his lips. Then he spoke in a slightly evil and hoarse voice, "Are you happy? Today is the day your soul will be sublimated. When the filthy blood of your parents is poured over you, you will, through this ritual, become our Jashin cult's 'Defiled Maiden.' You will also become a cherished follower of Jashin-sama. When that time comes, you will be worthy of becoming my fifty-fourth wife... I'm a little impatient..."
But when the girl saw him, her eyes were filled with nothing but fear, as if she had truly seen Jashin himself. She shivered all over, showing no desire to resist.
The man seemed to enjoy the fear in others' eyes. A sinister smile hung on his face as he raised his skull staff, pointed it at the girl, and said softly, "The baptism begins..."
As his words fell, the two people carrying the buckets of foul blood stepped forward. They plunged their hands into the buckets, covering them in black, foul blood, and then, with sinister grins, began to smear the blood all over the girl's body, taking the opportunity to grope her.
Just then, a voice filled with rage echoed through the valley.
"Fire Release: Erupting Firestone Bullet!"
As the angry voice finished, three fire dragons descended from the sky, directly setting the cultists in the back who were muttering and dancing on fire and also blowing up the formation array.
Suddenly, the once gloomy valley was lit up by the fire. Many cultists were on fire, screaming in pain on the ground, trying to roll around to extinguish the flames.
The high priest holding the skull staff was also stunned, cautiously retreating a couple of steps. Just then, a group of black-clad figures rushed into the chaotic scene from all directions. They began to slash indiscriminately, and in no time at all, they had dismembered those half-dead cultists with their blades. Their actions were extremely cold-blooded.
The high priest had two guards who had just been smearing blood on the girl standing next to him. The three of them cautiously observed the situation.
But in the dim firelight, two more cold flashes of light appeared, and then the heads of his two guards rolled to the ground. A large amount of blood gushed out of their cleanly severed necks like a fountain.
"Who dares to oppose our Jashin cult?!" the high priest shouted in a panic.
Although he knew a few ninjutsu and had a large number of subordinates and evil jutsu, becoming a high priest and acting with impunity, he was essentially just a hooligan.
While he had killed countless people, he had always picked on the weak to bully and kill. He had never seen such cold-blooded methods from the Anbu, who didn't waste any words, just one word: kill.
That true coldness made him, a person who loved to spread fear, feel a continuous shiver of dread in his heart...
Just then, Hibari's figure had silently appeared behind him. He grabbed him by the back of the neck and lifted him up, pulling him off the ground with his feet slightly dangling.
"So this is what the high priest of the Jashin cult looks like? You certainly look disgusting... Pleh!" Hibari said. He twisted the high priest's head to face him and then spat a mouthful of saliva at his face in disgust.
The high priest was about to speak or beg for mercy, but Hibari had no intention of listening. He raised his leg and kicked him directly between his legs. At that moment, everyone present seemed to hear something being ruptured, and their hearts felt a pang of sickness.
The high priest of the Jashin cult began to howl in pain, but with Hibari gripping his neck, his voice was choked back in his throat. He twisted and writhed like a maggot...
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