Jashin Cult

"Whoosh!"

Dozens of meters away in the snow, seeing the two men wielding knives killed in Shuichi, a figure suddenly darted out.

However, he did not target Inoue Danza and the caravan. Instead, he shouted "Retreat!" and ran back into the woods.

Shuichi squinted at him, and without any visible movement from his hands, three Shadow Clone appeared and shot out.

Judging from the methods of this Jashin Cult, the disappearance of the caravan was probably their doing. Falling into the hands of these perverts must have been a living hell, so we need to capture a few of them alive and interrogate them for information.

A moment earlier, Uchiha Itachi, while dodging the scythe attack, seized the opportunity to charge into the enemy ranks. He was surrounded by five people.

The leader, with a Kunai stuck in his abdomen, charged ahead as if undecided, his face filled with madness.

After pulling back his scythe, the man stared intently at the itachi's movement, and once he had the aim, he slashed down with a single blow, the whistling sound of the wind clearly audible.

Unexpectedly, this speed was not Itachi's full strength. He still had complete control over his body. When the two were close, he suddenly stopped. The blade flashed past his eyes like silver light, but because the distance was just right, it almost missed.

Snowflakes exploded beneath Itachi's feet as he raised his short sword and charged forward like an arrow, piercing his opponent's chest with a soft thud.

"Go to hell, you brat!"

The man with the pierced chest contorted in a ferocious grin, abandoned his scythe and lunged back, his arms like giant pincers, trying to grab the itachi.

Among the people nearby, a thin, skinny young man was the fastest, thrusting a sharp sword straight at Itachi's side, the tip still stained with an unidentified liquid.

"Something's wrong with their bodies; it seems we can't engage them in close combat anymore." Even while being surrounded, Itachi remained remarkably calm. He noticed the bleeding from his opponents' wounds was completely different from normal, and quickly deduced the cause of the anomaly.

At the same time, he used the Body Flicker Technique again to jump up, disappearing at the last second and landing steadily on a tree trunk more than ten meters away.

The five people below missed their target and immediately turned around in the direction of the sound. Before they could even turn around, they felt a wave of heat wash over their backs.

A massive fireball, 10 meters wide, slammed into the crowd, perfectly covering every single enemy. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

"Ugh..."

The flames continued to burn for a few seconds, and the snow on the ground had completely melted. The three people lay on the ground, their bodies charred black, while the one holding the scythe stood there as if he felt no pain, his face distorted by the burns.

The Great Fireball missed the agile, skinny young man, who was preparing to attack Itachi from the side when he heard the order to retreat from nearby.

Although he was somewhat unwilling, he abandoned his accomplices without hesitation and turned to leave, showing no trace of lingering affection.

"Heh, you seem like a normal person now, so we can't let you off so easily!"

A mocking hum rang in his ear, and the skinny young man's pupils contracted as he keenly sensed someone rapidly approaching from behind.

Before he could react, a tremendous force on his back felt like it was about to kick his internal organs out. He glided face-first to the ground for a distance, then rolled three and a half times before stopping.

Cough, cough!

As he was severely injured and coughing up blood, a foot stepped on his chest, silencing the sound.

Shuichi's Shadow Clone picked up the person and quickly returned to the scene of the battle.

The crazed man wielding the scythe was still standing. He had been stabbed three times by the weasel, yet the force of the blows hadn't diminished much, demonstrating that his body was indeed extraordinary.

"Behave yourself!"

A thick Senbon shot out from nowhere, followed closely by Shuichi appeared mid-air with one leg raised high, delivering a tomahawk-style kick that slammed his opponent into the ground with a loud "thud!"

Fine white sand flowed from Shuichi's sleeves, binding his limbs like a python as it floated up, and the surroundings quickly quieted down.

Itachi came over and examined the wounds with Shuichi. They discovered that his three fatal wounds were almost identical, mainly in terms of the amount of bleeding.

Somewhat surprised, he said, "I thought his heart was on the right side, but I didn't expect he's not a normal person at all. What's going on, teacher?"

"I don't know much about it yet; their bodies might have been modified," Shuichi replied. "Now that we've captured a few alive, let's interrogate them to get some information. We can deal with the rest after the mission is over."

Including the Scythe Samurai and the skinny youth, a total of four people were captured alive by Shuichi's squad, while the rest died on the spot.

However, judging from the enemy's behavior, the dead were just henchmen, while these few with strange physical conditions probably knew more.

After communicating with Inoue Danza, Shuichi and his two companions used various methods to torture the prisoners.

As expected, the skinny young man revealed that this force was a recently emerged Jashin Cult.

Even though the others were under the Genjutsu, they still shouted slogans such as "Lord Evil God," behaving like fanatics. Torture could not make them reveal any secrets.

Currently, the number of true believers in this Jashin Cult is small, but their deceptive methods are quite effective on ordinary people. They claim that physical modifications can greatly enhance one's strength, even giving ordinary people the ability to fight against ninjas.

For example, the skinny young man had his reflexes and muscle strength modified; many of the dead henchmen had their pain receptors removed or their organs enhanced.

These fanatics underwent even more extensive modifications; according to him, their vital organs may have even disappeared.

Shuichi estimated that if Hidan was the ultimate masterpiece in the future, these guys were at most minor masterpieces.

"That caravan was truly beyond saving. Perhaps many people survived, but they all became tools for the Jashin Cult's Human Experimentation."

Shuichi said to Inoue Danza, "You have extensive connections in the capital; please inform that small merchant guild when the time comes."

Although Danza had seen many storms, his expression was still somewhat unpleasant, because the Land of Hot Springs had always been peaceful and was a very important trading partner of the Land of Fire.

There's a group of lunatics causing destruction everywhere, and their methods are so cruel. This is not good news for those of us who make a living by trading.

"I understand, but I don't know about you Shuichi-kun..."

"Don't worry, I'll take care of their stronghold after the escort mission is complete," Shuichi deep voice. "You'll have to be extra careful in the future too."

After interrogating the attackers, Shuichi used Earth Release to create a large pit, and the returning workers, suppressing their nausea, threw the corpses into it.

He himself was too lazy to research Immortal Body, and besides, these guys weren't finished products. When he found that he couldn't kill them by cutting other vital points, Shuichi simply cut off their heads.

"He's really dead now. Looks like he wasn't quite at Hidan's level of freakishness." After a thorough examination of the head, Shuichi threw it into the crater.

He was curious whether cutting Hidan's head in the middle, or draining his blood and removing his brain, would kill him, but unfortunately, he couldn't test it out right now...

A week later, the caravan safely passed through the Land of Hot Springs and the Land of Frost and arrived at its destination.

Having completed their mission, Shuichi's squad didn't linger, quickly rushing back into the Land of Land of Hot Springs, and based on intelligence, ventured deep into Yamanaka.

Maintaining their Sensory Ninjutsu as they moved forward, they quickly hid in the bushes and looked towards the cave entrance. If nothing unexpected happened, this was the hidden stronghold of the Jashin Cult.