Uchiha Ci's plan was simple.
Get up, blend in, switch sides, mash the A button to death, then lie down and get carried out.
Against such an evil force, there was no need for tolerance, indulgence, mercy, or pity.
He only needed to use a little cleverness, disguise himself slightly, deceive the Evil God Cult's followers, and have them take him to the Evil God Cult Headquarters.
When the time came, Uchiha Ci only needed to flex his mighty body and break free of his restraints.
Then shout:
Don't move, I'm Police!
Naturally, hundreds of Evil God Cult followers with blades would start beating the hell out of him!
Before getting chopped to death, he could even dramatically open his Sharingan and roar:
What, you want to dance too?
He could fulfill his childhood dream of showing off in front of a crowd, return home with an enormous insurance payout, and what could possibly be better than that?
Just thinking about it made Uchiha Ci unable to contain his excitement. Twin beams of light shot from his eyes, as if he had discovered a new continent.
That gleam was even more dazzling than the one in Hidan's eyes beside him!
It completely threw Hidan off.
He stared at Uchiha Ci in a daze. Just moments ago, he had been considering whether to give Uchiha Ci another ideological pep talk.
After all, he was going to be sacrificed to the Great Evil God.
If it worked, he would become Lord Evil God's devout follower, a Walking Human.
If it failed, he would die directly on the sacrificial altar.
Because of this, Hidan had approached several people already, but they had been utterly uncooperative. All he could do was shake his head, sigh over their failure to seize the opportunity, kick them hard to vent his frustration, then let them go.
In the end, he had seen the trick of "repaying kindness with enmity" in a book, cried out that he had learned something, then picked up Uchiha Ci and immediately put it into practice.
Th-this... was this the power of knowledge?!
Hidan suddenly felt a faint itch on his scalp and could not help scratching it.
Riding that thought, he suddenly widened his eyes slightly as something terrifying occurred to him.
Ci was being so cooperative...
Could it be that he wanted to compete with him for Lord Evil God's favor?
At that thought, Hidan's gaze toward Uchiha Ci unconsciously became more guarded.
Just then—
"Everyone, come out."
A detached voice sounded from outside the door.
Hidan heard the voice and immediately straightened up. Like an office worker about to attend an interview, he adjusted his collar and strode outside looking full of vigor.
If there had been a mirror in front of him, he probably would have fussed with himself for quite a while.
Uchiha Ci narrowed his eyes slightly, tucked the scroll containing the S-Rank Forbidden Jutsu into his leg wrap, and followed him outside.
#
Refugees emerged in twos and threes from every corner of the dilapidated village,
gradually gathering in the open space at its center.
However,
what surprised Uchiha Ci was that these people were in far better condition than ordinary displaced refugees.
The villagers might not have had rosy complexions,
but at the very least, Ci did not see any gaunt refugees with sickly faces, starved down to skin and bones.
That was clearly abnormal.
Because of the war, the only places in the Land of Hot Water that could still be considered orderly were a few noble territories wealthy enough to hire ninja protection.
Although this place was not far from Yuren City, the Capital of Land of Hot Water, it was clearly not within the protection range of the Yugakure Ninja.
Logically, these villagers should not have had such favorable living conditions.
At that moment,
among the crowd,
three sinister-looking people stood in the center, dressed in high-collared, cinched-waist black robes, leather scripture boxes strapped to their forearms.
At their feet stood two large barrels.
The leader had straight black hair, deeply sunken eye sockets, a shadowed gaze, and a blank expression.
He swept his gaze around, turned his head slightly, and coldly said to the Evil God Cult subordinate beside him:
"Begin."
The two subordinates nodded and immediately removed the lids from the barrels.
Inside were bowl after bowl of cooked meat.
At the sight of the steaming, fragrant meat, the villagers beside them immediately revealed excited expressions.
The two Evil God Cult subordinates did not waste any time and immediately began handing out the meat with the barrels in hand.
Even Uchiha Ci, a complete stranger, had a bowl stuffed into his hands.
They were remarkably generous.
The Evil God Cult Leader pulled several handwritten scriptures from his leather scripture box, faced the crowd, and raised one hand slightly.
The crowd fell silent, and the place abruptly became still.
Holding the scriptures, the Evil God Cult Leader coughed twice and recited loudly:
"God is God because..."
"Before discussing that question, I would first like to speak about how the upper ranks of the Land of Hot Water pale in comparison to God."
"First are the nobles, guilty of the sin of pride. Then come the Yugakure Ninja, guilty of sloth. Next is Kumogakure, guilty of wrath, and then..."
The Evil God Cult Leader rambled on for nearly a thousand words, listing the seven deadly sins of the Five Great Nations, the Land of Hot Water Noble, and the Yugakure Ninja. The contents were rather explosive; he even clearly listed how many concubines the Daimyo of the Land of Hot Water had.
The lengthy scripture reading made Uchiha Ci drowsy.
Hidan and the villagers beside him, however, were fired up and deeply moved, as though they could not wait to charge into Yuren City and replace the Daimyo's head overnight.
After a while,
having finished the last sentence, the Evil God Cult Leader's throat was dry, and he gave a couple of hoarse coughs.
A subordinate beside him immediately brought over a cup of water.
The Evil God Cult Leader took a sip, casually returned the cup to the subordinate, then clasped his hands behind his back and said coldly:
"Bring forth the offerings that should be presented, and then you may begin enjoying the sacrament."
The villagers were instantly overjoyed upon hearing this. They prostrated themselves fully on the ground, pressed their foreheads against the earth, and respectfully chanted:
"Thank you, Divine Messenger."
Immediately afterward, a woman rose to her feet. Her face was filled with excitement and fanaticism as she took a little girl by the hand and quickly walked forward.
"Yuko, go. Go with the great people of the Evil God Cult."
"Then our family will have more meat than we can ever eat."
But the little girl called Yuko wore a blank expression. Not until she was tugged forward and nearly handed over to the Evil God Cult members
did she suddenly widen her eyes and grab the woman's kimono sleeve.
"No, no, no!"
Her little face drained of color. Her ghastly white face looked as though all its blood had been sucked away, and her wide eyes were filled with terror.
"Mom, don't!"
"Save me, save me!"
"I really don't want to be eaten! I really don't want to die! Mom, Mom, look at me, Mom!"
At that moment, the woman also dropped her pretense.
Her face was full of fear, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. She yanked hard at her sleeve and nearly shrieked hysterically:
"Let go! Yuko, let go!"
"What are you trying to do?!"
"Are you trying to get our whole family killed?!"
Yuko clutched the woman's sleeve tightly and refused to let go. Her face filled with terror, she trembled as she said:
"Mom, Mom, can't you see?"
"Can you really not see?"
"In the bowl, in the bowl, there's Brother, Brother!"
"Mom."
Whoosh!
The Evil God Cult Leader's expression abruptly changed when he heard Yuko say the word "Brother."
With a flick of his hand, he whipped a sharp Pitch-Black Spear from the sleeve of his black robe.
This was a ninja tool unique to the Evil God Cult, similar to a collapsible baton.
In its normal state, it was about twenty centimeters long and could be concealed in a sleeve.
Once extended, it could reach one hundred and twenty centimeters, its tip and sides exceptionally sharp. It was generally used as a hidden weapon or for self-inflicted wounds when performing the Evil God Cult's unique curse techniques.
At that moment, the Evil God Cult Leader's face was dark and cold. He stepped forward twice and viciously swung the spear.
It shot straight toward little Yuko's back.
Seeing that scene and hearing those words, Uchiha Ci grimly glanced at the bowl of meat in his hand.
His expression sank as he abandoned every last part of his plan without hesitation!
What Infiltrate Evil God Cult Headquarters, what mashing the A button, what showing off, what dying—
all of it was thrown to the back of his mind at that moment.
A blaze of fury ignited in his heart and swept through his entire body in an instant.
His eyes turned scarlet in the blink of an eye!
Uchiha Ci viciously smashed the bowl of meat onto the ground!
He leaped out with the strides of justice!
"Stop right there!"
It was Tuesday today, and this is crucial for the trial release. I beg all you big shots to please read through to the end. There will be another chapter at five this afternoon.
Bang, bang, bang!
Before you continue