"Shinji."
Shinji, who had just sealed Hidan, heard Mimi call his name.
"What's wrong?" Shinji walked over slowly, asking as he approached.
"Look." Mimi extended a front paw, pointing to the center of the blood pool.
"Hmm?" Shinji looked over, then froze.
In the very center of the blood pool, Takase's body was floating, surrounded by blood chains piercing through him.
"Ever since you sealed that chatterbox, these blood chains have receded." Mimi said, narrowing his eyes and staring at the figure in the blood pool.
Shinji, meanwhile, turned to look at Hidan's body, which he had pinned in place. The corpse was now a grayish-white color.
Shinji muttered, stroking his chin with a hint of exasperation, "So, the so-called 'blessing' can be withdrawn at any time?"
Mimi asked, completely unconcerned, "How do we deal with it?"
After all, in his eyes, this so-called blessing was not even as good as some yokai's acts of gratitude. It was an ethereal thing, yet Hidan and Takase had clamored for it. Their souls probably wouldn't find peace even after death.
"Do I even need to say? Seal him, then smash this altar." Shinji pulled out another scroll.
Although Takase currently looked like he wouldn't wake up anytime soon, he wouldn't give his enemies a chance to gain strength.
"Leave it to me." Mimi didn't say another word, transforming into his true form.
He glanced at Shinji before opening his mouth and sucking from the blood pool.
Shinji was stunned by the sight and quickly exclaimed, "Whoa, whoa! Don't just shove anything into your mouth! Aren't you afraid of a stomachache?!"
"Meow."
Before he finished speaking, Mimi transformed back into his cat form.
Hearing Shinji's words, he looked at him with a hint of exasperation, saying, "Do you have some misunderstanding about daiyōkais?"
"Uh, well, this thing just looks… eerie." Shinji saw that the entire blood pool had dried up and could only spread his hands.
Mimi said proudly, "Don't worry, my stomach is a different dimension. Let alone a blood pool like this, even the so-called avatar of that Jashin, once it enters, it won't be leaving."
"Oh, right, it's time to go down." Mimi turned and left.
Just as Shinji was about to ask what was wrong, the entire altar began to shake.
He turned to look at the now empty blood pool behind him. So, the entire altar was maintained by this blood pool?
Below the altar, Muta and the others, who were with Haru and preparing to find a way up, suddenly felt like the altar was dropping stones.
Looking up, they saw the entire altar cracking from the middle.
Shinji jumped down from the top of the altar and saw his team members staring at it with bewildered expressions. He spoke as soon as he landed, "Why are you still staring? Retreat first!"
"Captain! Are you alright?" Yushu asked.
While they were dealing with the high-level cultists and blood beasts, those cultists and blood beasts suddenly all fell to the ground, showing no signs of life.
When they arrived at the altar, they heard that their captain had gone up to the altar early.
Thinking something had happened to Shinji, the few of them were trying to figure out a way to go up.
"I'm fine. Let's go, this altar is about to collapse." Shinji nodded, then took the lead to leave.
Hearing this, Yushu and the others exchanged glances, then quickly led Haru away from the area.
—
"That concludes the full report on the Yugakure mission."
Inside the Hokage Office, Shinji stood before Hiruzen's desk, meticulously recounting the mission brief. Then, he stepped back, lining up with Muta and the others.
Hiruzen exhaled smoke, looking at the mission report laid out before him. Then he looked up at Shinji and his team members, smiling as he said, "This mission, based on the village's assessment and a written report from the former elder of Yugakure, now the Yukage of Yugakure, has been upgraded from A-rank to S-rank. This will be updated in each of your respective files."
"Thank you, Hokage-sama." Muta and the others bowed in joyful gratitude to Hiruzen upon hearing this.
After all, with an S-rank mission under their belts, when they later applied to become Special Jonin, this record would serve as a shining stepping stone, making their path to becoming Special Jonin much easier.
"Mm, you all must be tired. Go rest first." Hiruzen nodded with a smile.
Muta and the others didn't hesitate, bowing gracefully to Hiruzen before retreating.
Shinji saw the office door close, then relaxed his posture and walked towards the sofa, plopping down onto it.
Hiruzen didn't mind Shinji's actions. Instead, he rose with a chuckle and sat on the sofa nearby.
"Shinji, have the loose ends in Yugakure been dealt with?"
Shinji recalled how, after completing the mission, he had personally destroyed all of Takase's ancient texts in front of the current Yukage, Haru.
He nodded and said, "Sensei, everything has been handled."
"Before returning, I also personally used genjutsu to confirm that Yugakure no longer has any copies of those ancient texts."
Hiruzen nodded. "Good, that's good."
This kind of so-called immortality experiment, whether for Konoha or any other ninja village, was not a good thing. Therefore, Hiruzen had told Shinji to destroy everything before his return.
The Ninja World had developed to this point, and it didn't need these so-called cults to exist.
The historical Ninshu had gradually vanished under such circumstances.
"Oh, right, sensei, this is what the Yukage asked me to give you." Shinji pulled out a scroll and handed it to Hiruzen.
He had already confirmed that the scroll was just a normal alliance agreement, with no hidden tricks.
Hiruzen reached out and took it. After unfolding it and reading, a smile appeared on his face.
Overall, this mission was not a loss. Not only did it resolve an ancient cult, but it also led a Yugakure, which had undergone a major purge and now had only one voice, to propose an alliance with Konoha.
Although such a relationship was merely a piece of paper, the benefits that the two villages could gain from their cooperation during this period were enough to make Konoha incredibly prosperous. Konoha's finances could also breathe a huge sigh of relief because of this. For Hiruzen, this was a good thing.
Hiruzen said to Shinji with a smile, "Shinji, go rest. I won't be assigning you any missions for a while."
His disciple had brought him great credit this time. He deserved a good rest.
"Thank you, sensei." Shinji stood up upon hearing this. It had been a long time since he had seen his disciples.