Holy Divine Church

Seeing this, Kurokawa Yasumasa tactfully dropped the subject, his tone softening slightly.

"Elder Takahashi, I've already made inquiries. The reward those villagers scraped together would, at best, be rated a C-Rank in Konoha's mission system. By Konoha's conventions, such tasks are usually assigned to Genin, with at most one Chunin leading them. These people are limited in ability—nothing to worry about as opponents—but they represent Konoha."

He deliberately slowed his pace, letting his words carry more weight:

"We don't need to clash with them and invite unnecessary risk. Since they want to complete the mission, we'll let them complete their so-called mission. Afterwards, they'll return to Konoha to report, and we'll have no further ties to it."

The Elder Takahashi in the shadows was silent for a moment, his hood shifting slightly as his cold voice emerged: "If that's the case, when you meet with the Konoha ninja, I must also be present to observe."

Kurokawa Yasumasa frowned briefly, quickly weighing the options, then nodded in agreement: "Fine. At that time, you'll pose as my steward, standing by. But don't act rashly! Everything follows my arrangements."

"The end is nigh; only by converting to our god. The Saint Son descends, blessing all living beings."

Elder Takahashi said nothing, only quietly reciting a line from the church's doctrine, before his figure slowly melted into the shadows behind him and vanished.

The secret room fell silent again.

Kurokawa Yasumasa's lips curled into an undisguised sneer.

A bunch of brainwashed fools!

He hadn't refrained from flipping through that so-called Holy Gospel. It was no different from any other pretentious cult scripture, filled with drivel like "Decades hence, the apocalypse will come," and "Only by devout faith in the Holy God, awaiting the birth of the Saint Son, so that our god's true form may descend, can the faithful be led through the calamity to a new world."

Decades later, the apocalypse?

Utter nonsense!

Even if there were a grain of truth in that pack of lies, and some damn apocalypse really came decades later.

So what?

His body, gnawed day and night by disease, probably wouldn't last two years.

Calamity? New world? What did that have to do with him?

The reason he tacitly allowed the church to operate here, even half-heartedly becoming one of them, was brutally pragmatic:

What they gave—that blood-red liquid, said to be a "gift from the Holy God"—could indeed suppress the bone cancer pain that made life worse than death, slowing the deterioration.

And... deep in his heart, that faint, fragile hope that it might truly cure this terminal illness.

Three days later, at the edge of a dense forest near the northeastern border of the Land of Fire.

Two figures emerged one after another, stepping out from the soft, decaying soil of the woods.

The view opened up before them, revealing a gently sloping hilly region. In the distance, the outlines of cooking smoke and field ridges were already visible.

"That's Nakimachi ahead," said Maruboshi Kosuke, walking in front and stopping, his tone calm as he explained. "This place is on the northeastern edge of the Land of Fire. The climate's a bit cooler than in the village, lots of mountains and forests. The farmland isn't fertile, but the minerals and timber are decent. The locals... are a bit tougher than inland folk, given it's near the border."

He turned sideways, letting Shinichi see the view more clearly, and continued, "Northeast of Nakimachi, past those low border mountains, is the Land of Hot Water. That's a fascinating country—scenic, especially with hot springs all over. They call it the land of health, and even the country's name comes from it. Many nobles and wealthy merchants go there for recuperation and vacations."

Throughout the journey, Maruboshi Kosuke hadn't just taught Shinichi essential ninja skills like mission reconnaissance, tracking, and wilderness survival.

Everywhere they passed, he would rattle off local geography, customs, and even bits of folklore and anecdotes.

These seemingly trivial pieces of knowledge were actually the intuitive accumulation of an experienced old ninja's understanding of the ninja world, now being passed down without reservation to the young man behind him, subtly broadening his horizons.

Shinichi followed his gaze to the distant border mountains shrouded in mist.

The Land of Hot Water...

Not only was it Jiraiya's favorite haunt for "research material," but in the original timeline, it also seemed to be the birthplace of that Akatsuki member, Hidan.

A guy who worshipped an evil god, had an immortal body, and wielded a bizarre curse-killing ability.

But judging by the timeline, Hidan probably hadn't been born yet. (Note)

As for the Evil God Cult and the evil god he mentioned, Shinichi had no idea what their origins were.

He withdrew his distant gaze, pulling his thoughts back to the present.

"Senior, when we arrive, should we go see the client first, or head to Nakimachi's security office to exchange information with the local guards about what they know?"

Maruboshi Kosuke pondered for a moment, then spoke: "The clients are scattered in villages outside the city, while the security office is inside. Since it's on the way, let's enter the city first. Official records and on-site investigation details are sometimes clearer than the anxious villagers' accounts, and it saves us a return trip."

Without further delay, the two quickened their pace and soon reached the entrance of Nakimachi.

This border town's walls weren't tall, but the guards' inspections were notably strict.

Maruboshi Kosuke stepped forward, calmly presenting Konoha's mission credentials.

The gate guard captain examined them carefully, then glanced at their headbands. He turned and muttered a few words to a subordinate before addressing them politely: "So you're the Konoha ninja investigating the child disappearance case? The City Lord has given orders—if you arrive, you must be invited to the mansion for a discussion. Please follow me."

Maruboshi Kosuke and Shinichi exchanged a quick glance, both catching the confusion in each other's eyes.

Konohagakure's status in the Land of Fire was indeed transcendent, and the Hokage was nominally the highest military commander of the Land of Fire.

But when it came to local affairs, especially investigations into civil cases, Konoha ninja had no clear hierarchical relationship with local administrative officials.

The usual procedure was for ninja to directly contact the mission client or collaborate with local security agencies for intelligence. The highest local official rarely intervened or initiated contact directly—unless the case involved a very high level.

Moreover, their status was merely that of Genin.

A City Lord governing an entire city, of no low rank, extending such a prompt and formal invitation to two low-level ninja to visit his mansion, was, by all logic, somewhat... overly courteous.

Their original plan was simply to go to the security office, review the case files, question the handling officers, obtain the official preliminary leads, and then leave.

"Please, lead the way." Maruboshi Kosuke revealed a calm, even somewhat rustic smile, as if he were merely an ordinary old ninja accepting a kind invitation, showing not the slightest hint of anything unusual.

He turned slightly, gesturing for Shinichi to follow.

Shinichi nodded and silently fell into step half a pace behind and to the side of Maruboshi Kosuke. The two of them followed the guard, their pace steady as they passed through the city gate and headed toward the most conspicuous mansion in the city.