The next day, the Four Great Ninja Villages all moved in unison.
"Whoosh—"
Nara Shikamaru and his group appeared on the outskirts of the east gate of Jashin City. The Four Great Ninja Villages had tacitly agreed to split up and act separately.
Even the Hidden Sand Village did so. Although Gaara had instructed them that they could rendezvous with Konoha, they believed the strength of the Evil God Cult was nothing special and hadn't reached the point where they needed to seek protection from Konoha.
Nara Shikamaru looked at the wide-open city gate from afar, a trace of doubt on his face. "Is this an Empty Fort Strategy?"
"Hyuga Neji, Hyuga Hinata!"
"Byakugan!"
Hyuga Neji and Hyuga Hinata's veins bulged around their eyes. The penetrating power of their Byakugan easily pierced through obstacles, allowing them to see the situation inside clearly.
Immediately, both of them exclaimed in unison, showing expressions of shock, "How is this possible?"
"What's wrong? Is there a problem inside?"
Hyuga Neji said with a serious expression, "There is a guy inside with an incredibly exaggerated amount of Chakra, but it's not the person we detected yesterday. The Chakra feels different."
"Is that so!"
Nara Shikamaru pondered for a moment, "Regardless, prepare for battle."
Nara Shikamaru was not surprised by this turn of events. He didn't believe the Evil God Cult, which could unify the Land of Birds, would have such limited strength, not to mention the mastermind behind the scenes.
At this moment, Hyuga Hinata warned, "Be careful, the people inside are coming out."
As soon as she finished speaking, a burst of fanatical shouting erupted from inside the city gate.
Three or four hundred cultists, draped in Evil God Cult cloaks and wearing black robes, poured out of the city gate like a tide. They were a dark mass that instantly filled the open space in front of the gate.
With crazed expressions on their faces, they roared and charged towards Nara Shikamaru's group.
Before Nara Shikamaru could assign combat tasks, Uzumaki Naruto had already charged forward.
"That idiot!"
Nara Shikamaru helplessly slapped his own face. All the hard work he put into arranging the battle deployment last night had gone to waste.
The others also looked at Uzumaki Naruto speechlessly. He hadn't listened to a single word of the arrangements from last night.
Uzumaki Naruto showed a confident expression, eager to try, and couldn't wait to show off his training results in front of everyone.
"Yosh! When it comes to numbers, I, Uzumaki Naruto, will not lose."
Uzumaki Naruto joined the index and middle fingers of both hands, finally forming a cross.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
"Poof!!!"
Thousands of Uzumaki Naruto clones suddenly appeared on the field, shouting and charging towards the Evil God Cultists.
Those Evil God Cultists, seeing the Uzumaki Naruto clones surrounding them, showed no fear and charged up with fanatical expressions.
Those Evil God Cultists had been brainwashed; all they could think about was that after they died, they would be able to serve by the side of the Evil God Lord. The faster they died, the more loyal they were.
The field instantly descended into chaos.
The Evil God Cultists clutched short blades and wooden spears, pouncing on the Uzumaki Naruto clones like madmen. Beyond slashing and stabbing, when they got close, they would bite with their teeth, scratch with their nails, and even hug the clones and slam them into the ground.
Although most of them were just civilians who didn't know any Ninjutsu, this suicidal fighting style still caused some of Uzumaki Naruto's clones to dissipate.
Do not underestimate this. In the Ninja World, the gap in strength between civilians and Ninja is huge. Civilians have no ability to fight back against a Ninja unless they use things like Explosive Tags.
However, these Evil God Cultists were actually able to cause damage to the Uzumaki Naruto Shadow Clones, which shocked Nara Shikamaru and the others watching from the rear.
"They really are some crazy guys."
Nara Shikamaru had to admire the brainwashing ability of the Evil God Cult. Even after having their legs broken by Uzumaki Naruto, they didn't retreat a single step; instead, they crawled forward like madmen, using their last breath to try and hold onto a Shadow Clone.
"Compared to those branch members, these are more like cult members."
Before long, those cultists were dealt with by Uzumaki Naruto.
"Hahaha! See that? This is the strength of Uzumaki Naruto."
Uzumaki Naruto laughed proudly. His peers were at least Chunin, and he was the only Genin; he had been holding his breath this whole time.
At this moment, the other Konoha rookies didn't relax at all; instead, they looked at the city gate with solemn expressions. They knew the real experts were about to appear.
"Thud—"
A figure descended from the sky, slamming heavily onto the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.
A large man slowly walked out of the dust, his eyes filled with disdain as he looked at the rookies.
"Konoha Village only sent you brats? You dare to come and target the Evil God Cult with just you lot!"
"My name is Beidou, I am a Guardian of the Evil God Cult. Now, I will send you to repent to the Evil God Lord."
As Beidou said this, he twisted his neck, making a cracking sound.
After speaking, the red Chakra on Beidou's body erupted, instantly turning into a violent blood-red wave that engulfed him.
Subsequently, a layer of crimson Chakra wrapped around his body.
"Hahaha, see that? This is the power bestowed by the Evil God Lord. You heretics simply don't understand the greatness of the Lord."
Nara Shikamaru's expression darkened, and he ordered in a low voice, "Be careful, stick to the plan! Test him from a distance first, don't take his Chakra impact head-on, find out his background first!"
Asuma Sarutobi, in the distance, exclaimed upon seeing Beidou's state.
"What, this is impossible."
This Chakra and this state, he was very familiar with it. Sora had used this; it was clearly Tailed Beast Chakra. Could it be that there was a shadow of a Great Nation behind the Evil God Cult?
Or was it like Kazuma before, collecting leaked Chakra?
"Captain Aoki Yoru, what do you think?"
Among the people present, he was the only one who had truly fought against a Tailed Beast, and everyone wanted to know his opinion.
"It's not a Tailed Beast, it's just Tailed Beast Chakra."
Upon hearing this, they immediately felt relieved; as long as it wasn't a Tailed Beast, it would be fine.
"So, how will you deal with it?"
Aoki Yoru leaned against a tree trunk, watching the rookies, who were facing a formidable enemy, with interest.
"This is not just the Chakra of a single Tailed Beast, it is a collection of four Tailed Beast Chakras. How will you deal with it?"
These four Tailed Beasts were the Ichibi, the Seven-Tails, the Eight-Tails, and the Nine-Tailed.
Among them, the Eight-Tails Chakra was the horn given by Orochimaru, the Nine-Tailed Chakra was that Chakra from Sora, which he had secretly collected. As for the Ichibi and the Two-Tails, those were the Chakras of Gaara and Fu that Hoichi had absorbed during the Chunin Exams.
Originally, he had given it to his clone to enhance the strength of the Evil God Cult, but he hadn't expected it to be used here.
At this moment, Yagami Light, standing on the mountaintop, saw the various forces already engaged in battle and revealed a playful smile on his face.
This time, he divided the Chakra of the four Tailed Beasts into five parts, sealing them separately into five people, and even specially added the energy of the gelel stone as a harmonizer.
The power of the gelel stone perfectly balanced the four energies, allowing the Chakra of the Ichibi, Seven-Tails, Eight-Tails, and Nine-Tailed to not only avoid conflicting with each other but instead, like the mutual generation of the Five Elements, echo and amplify each other, forming a violent power far exceeding the sum of a single Tailed Beast's Chakra.
He originally intended for them to deal with the Five Great Ninja Villages, but the kind Kakuzu had helped him eliminate one group.
The reason he did this was because he knew that the spies of the Daimyo of the Five Great Nations were watching from the periphery, and he had to let them know that even if the Evil God Cult were wiped out, there was still stronger power behind it.
Making them afraid to act rashly and not dare to easily attack the Land of Birds.