"Hahaha, I did it! I did it!"
In Blood Boiling Valley, above a massive altar, crimson steam billows, while beneath the altar, an abandoned hot spring hisses, releasing sulfurous gases.
The strong stench of blood made the surroundings feel like an evil realm.
On the altar, a middle-aged man dressed in a loose black robe laughed maniacally, holding a dagger in his right hand, stained with blood that dripped continuously.
Below the dagger was a young man with gray hair and closed eyes.
His clothes were open, revealing horrific wounds inflicted by a dagger, with internal organs vaguely visible, yet Hidan's breathing remained steady.
Several high-ranking believers were looking at the young man lying on the ground with burning desire.
The middle-aged man was none other than Takase, whom Izumi had mentioned. After laughing heartily, he stood up with a gloomy expression.
She lifted her foot and stomped directly on the young man, whose eyes were still tightly closed, saying in a jealous tone, "You got off easy."
After so long, Takase finally completed his first experiment on the so-called 'immortality'.
However, it wasn't used on himself.
"However, you do have your uses."
Thinking of this, a look of madness appeared on Takase's face, and he opened his arms as if to embrace.
"You shall be the chief sacrifice, helping me become the earthly representative of the Lord Jashin!"
"Pain is faith! Blood is eternity! Praise!"
As Takase finished speaking, the high-ranking believers surrounding them clasped their hands together in front of their chests and chanted softly.
Boom--
A loud bang shattered the mesmerizing atmosphere on the altar.
Interrupted, Takase, his face dark with displeasure, spoke to the surrounding high-ranking believers.
"Go, see who it is! Capture them and bring them here as sacrifices!"
"Yes!" Several senior believers bowed slightly in response, and then headed towards the direction of the voice.
"Hmph, so your name is Hidan, huh?" Takase turned to look at Hidan lying on the ground and said with great disdain.
"We've sped things up, otherwise the troublemakers will come."
After saying that, Takase picked up the Bloody Triple-Bladed Scythe that was standing upright to the side.
Sizzle--
The sound of a scythe piercing flesh rang out Hidan Hidan's entire body was hooked up by Takase's Bloody Triple-Bladed Scythe and slowly walked towards the altar behind him.
--
"It seems Muta and his team succeeded."
Blood Boiling Valley, Hagoromo, who was stealthily moving, looked up in the direction from which the loud noise came and murmured to herself.
Quan, standing beside him, looked around nervously, fearing that the Blood Beast might suddenly rush out.
"Don't worry, those things don't exist in this valley."
Hagoromo Yi glanced at the spring and spoke.
"Hmm, but what can the two of us do coming in alone?" Quan took a deep breath and nodded.
Then, somewhat puzzled, he asked.
After all, she had assumed that the Konoha in front of her Jonin wait for reinforcements to arrive before taking action.
"Destroying the altar means the Hot Spring Festival, as you said, will begin tomorrow."
Hagoromo hid behind a boulder, looked around, and whispered.
"Just the two of us?!" Quan asked in disbelief.
Why send your teammates to distract and lure away the worshippers inside the valley, and then bring her, who has no combat ability, to destroy the altar?
"No, you only said that because you don't want to be a burden to Muta and the others."
"The task of destroying the altar was carried out by Sansan and me together."
Hagoromo said without turning her head, "To be honest, if the woman behind me wasn't also there to guide us..."
Hagoromo would definitely let her leave directly, so as not to cause any trouble.
Upon hearing this, Izumi looked at the Cat San San on Hagoromo's shoulder with a suspicious expression.
She didn't think this chubby cat, which looked like Dafu, could do anything.
"Hey woman, what inappropriate thing are you thinking!"
The Cat San San, twitched its ears and bared its teeth at Quan.
"Quiet--"
As if she had noticed something, Hagoromo immediately spoke up to stop her.
She then strode forward, turned the corner around the Hagoromo, and stopped.
"Here..."
Izumi wondered why the Konoha Jonin had suddenly stopped, and looked in the direction Hagoromo was pointing.
His eyes widened involuntarily, and his pupils contracted sharply.
Snap--
The Cat San San simply raised its tail and swept it across, stopping Quan who was about to open his mouth.
Then, with a leap, it slowly walked forward.
"Hagoromo, that repulsive aura here is even stronger."
The Cat San San circled around once and spoke to Hagoromo.
"Hmm." Hagoromo frowned, for before him lay a mountain of remains.
"These are people who failed to transform into Blood Beasts and were directly sacrificed."
With her right cheek flushed red, Quan stepped forward and nodded Cat San San.
If it weren't for the Cat San San's intervention, she might have actually disturbed Takase in this valley.
Or perhaps, he will be dealt with by this Konoha Jonin front of him.
Hagoromo glanced at the mummy-like remains, ignored them, and turned to walk away in one direction.
"Let's go, this kind of person must be completely eliminated at the physical level!"
--
"Um?"
Having just roughly stitched up Hidan's wound and placed it in the blood pool at the center of the altar, Takase seemed to sense something and turned to look.
"What?! A rat even got in!"
Thud--
Inserting the Bloody Triple-Bladed Scythe into the hollow beside the blood pool, Takase closed his eyes and raised his hand to form a hand seal.
Outside Blood Boiling Valley, Aburame Muta, who was attracting high-ranking believers and dozens of Blood Beasts to leave, suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong, Muta!"
Seeing this, the speeding Yamanaka Kokone stopped and looked at Aburame Muta, asking a question.
"They're retreating!" Aburame Muta turned to look behind her. The high-ranking followers and Blood Beasts who were about to catch up with them suddenly stopped.
They then began to retreat frantically.
"Stop them!" Without hesitation, the Yutoshi untied a huge scroll behind him.
Thud--
As the smoke cleared, several giant Shuriken were hurled, embedding themselves deeply in the ground in front of the retreating high-ranking believers.
"Secret Technique: Kikaichū!" Aburame Muta raised both hands high and then swung them down sharply.
Countless black insects instantly spewed out from the cuffs and the large jars behind him, heading towards the high-ranking believers and Blood Beasts.
The Yamanaka Kokone is to raise both hands and make a mudra in front of the chest.
"Ninja Technique: Mind Body Disturbance Technique!"
One of the high-ranking followers, who was already struggling to deal with the Kikaichū, suddenly seemed to have his mind taken away.
He was taken aback at first, then launched a frenzied attack on the Blood Beast and high-level believer in front of him.
What's going on?!
"Stop it!"
The high-ranking follower, betrayed by his own comrade, shouted loudly at the person controlled by the Yamanaka Kokone.
The next instant, Aburame Muta seized the opportunity and dealt with him.
"Although medical-nin should never be on the front lines of battle, I became a medical-nin after becoming Special Jōnin!"
Swish--
The Yutoshi, wielding a long sword, charged into the crowd, swiftly slashing down at any target within his reach.