Deep in the mountains of the Land of Rivers, at the Jashin Religion headquarters.
This place, which had originally been abandoned, welcomed guests once again.
Following a tremor in the ground, a massive ghost snake covered in black Koukaku burst forth from the earth. It opened its wide maw, vomiting out a large quantity of experimental subjects and data.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Rie Uzumaki coughed while surveying the scene before her.
"Is this the Jashin Religion headquarters?"
The area before her was desolate. Many of the houses where the believers once lived had collapsed during that past battle. The ground and walls were stained with bloodstains that several rounds of rain had failed to wash away, serving as a grim testament to the evils that had occurred here.
The Evil-Faced Ghost Snake, its eyes flickering with flame-like light, brought everything into the temple.
The massive faceless statue looked down upon all living things with indifference. Beneath its gaze, a deep crimson Blood Pool emitted an eerie aura.
This, of course, was not Simu's main body, but the Blood Pool Clone he had just created.
"Caw, caw, caw! It seems a newcomer has arrived."
A noisy crow appeared out of nowhere and landed on the shoulder of Rie Uzumaki, who was arriving for the first time. The sudden movement gave the young girl a start.
"Ah? Who are you?"
Rie Uzumaki's body instinctively shifted into a defensive stance.
Seeing this, the crow spread its wings and explained, "I am a common believer under the great Lord Jashin, and the one temporarily helping Mr. Kamizuki manage the temple..."
"Oh, wait. Not a person—a crow!"
Rie Uzumaki looked the crow up and down, clicking her tongue in wonder. "As expected of Mr. Kamizuki's Jashin Religion. Even the crows can talk."
Hearing this, Mr. Crow raised a feather like a human wagging a finger. "First, I am a Raven, not a common crow."
"Second, while Mr. Kamizuki is indeed powerful, the Jashin Religion does not belong to him. It belongs to the great Lord Jashin!"
Simu was certainly not willing to shoulder the sins left behind by Jashin, even though those sins mostly had nothing to do with the actual deity.
"I think I understand."
Rie Uzumaki nodded. She was no fool like Hidan and quickly grasped the relationship. Regardless, in her heart, Mr. Kamizuki was the greatest!
Seeing Rie Uzumaki's understanding look, Mr. Crow nodded slightly. At least she wasn't a brain-dead idiot like Hidan.
"It's good that you understand. Next, you should know what kind of fate you must accept, right?"
As Mr. Crow spoke these words in his raspy voice, a trace of horror inexplicably filled the air.
Rie Uzumaki nodded with a resolute gaze. "I know. I must cooperate with Mr. Kamizuki's experiments and become stronger. Only then can I stay by his side forever!"
"Very good. You certainly have resolve."
Mr. Crow narrowed his eyes with satisfaction and cackled. "In that case, enter this Blood Pool."
"Nani? Enter this Blood Pool?"
Rie Uzumaki's cute face was filled with confusion. Wasn't she supposed to become Mr. Kamizuki's experimental subject?
Mr. Crow lightly adjusted his glasses and explained, "This Blood Pool is a part of Mr. Kamizuki's body. Through it, he can perform a thorough examination of your physique. However, the process might be a bit painful."
"This is... a part of Mr. Kamizuki's body?"
The Raven saw the girl's eyes light up.
As expected, the people of this world don't seem mentally stable.
"Then if I soak in here, doesn't that mean I am entering Mr. Kamizuki's body?"
Rie Uzumaki's face flushed bright red. Her legs rubbed together restlessly. Then, under Mr. Crow's shocked gaze, she actually threw off her trench coat. Her snowy white body carved a beautiful arc through the air as she leaped into the Blood Pool.
"So warm!"
Entering Mr. Kamizuki's body...
No, Rie Uzumaki, having entered the Blood Pool, felt her entire being wrapped in Mr. Kamizuki's warmth.
Every inch of her body, every patch of skin, and every pore opened wide to welcome the entry of this blood.
Mr. Crow looked away, only to hear a pulse-pounding gasp.
Indeed, this world is beyond saving!
Even though Simu was no longer human, this scene still gave him a small "Shinobi World shock," causing his human clone to short-circuit for a second.
Seeing Simu suddenly freeze, Hidan asked suspiciously, "What's wrong with you?"
Simu finally snapped out of it and said somewhat unnaturally, "Nothing."
"Nothing?"
Hidan stared at his face and thought for a while. Then, he got hard.
His fists got hard!
He tightly gripped his Three-bladed blood scythe. A strange intuition made him question Simu. "Is that woman from the Uzumaki Clan doing something?"
Simu raised an eyebrow and looked at Hidan.
"You haven't been possessed, have you? How did your IQ suddenly skyrocket?"
Hidan ignored the mockery in Simu's words and just said through gritted teeth, "It really is that woman. I'm going to go sacrifice her to Lord Jashin right now!"
Simu was stunned again. Wait, why are we suddenly going to hack someone?
In less than half a day, Simu, whose spiritual power far exceeded that of ordinary men, had crashed twice.
Ultimately, he relied on the "decapitation method" to calm Hidan down. Based on Simu's knowledge of Hidan, there was nothing a good decapitation couldn't solve. If once wasn't enough, then twice or three times would eventually do the trick.
Back at the headquarters, Mr. Crow took a deep breath. Although the alluring scene before him was blood-pumping, the work still had to be done.
After throwing the other experimental subjects into the pool together, the blood inside began to dissolve Rie Uzumaki's surface cells.
On one hand, this allowed for the genetic analysis of these cells. On the other, it allowed for testing the recovery capabilities of the Uzumaki Clan's special constitution.
Under this testing, Rie Uzumaki's gasps quickly turned into muffled groans of pain.
To prevent her from having issues due to excessive physical exhaustion, four tentacles condensed at the bottom of the Blood Pool and pierced into her body, providing a continuous supply of energy.
Thus, in a state of endless replenishment and consumption, injury and recovery, Rie Uzumaki officially began the experiment.
Relying on his immense computing power, the Blood Pool also began experimenting on and analyzing the other subjects and subordinates scavenged from Orochimaru.
A vast amount of genes were dissolved, reorganized, transplanted, and then collapsed...
It was amidst this painful experimentation that a woman opened her eyes within the sea of blood.
She was a former subordinate of Orochimaru and the person in charge of the first stronghold—the ninja, Shana.