Chapter 36
"Besides the cultists Jonin Lanyu killed before he met his end, after I arrived three days ago, I found a large number of bodies in a cave ten li away...
"They died exactly the same way Jonin Lanyu did. Their eyes had been punctured, and their limbs and internal organs had extensive injuries. Judging by their clothing, they were all followers of the Jashin Cult too... I suspect that's another condition required for the curse to work."
Dan Katō explained this to Akaseki.
Akaseki's eyes lit up...
Just as he had suspected, only a portion of Jashin's power had leaked through the seal.
For these members of the Jashin Cult, killing a target with a curse was far more complicated than the "direct curse" the Hell Yama King had described.
Not only did they have to wait for the target to kill large numbers of cultists to mark the ninja responsible, but they also had to sacrifice many more cultists' lives when they cast the lethal curse!
Of course, that price had indeed allowed them to kill Jonin from both Konoha and Sunagakure in succession.
"Captain Kato, what did you mean by 'high-ranking cultists' earlier?" Akaseki asked with interest—after all, in situations like this, taking out the leaders first was often the most effective approach.
"I recently found a gathering place where they conduct their rituals. I discovered that they have an internal hierarchy. The person presiding over the ritual clearly held a higher rank. And... although they aren't ninja, they all have chakra."
Dan Katō's Spirit Transformation Technique was extraordinarily effective for reconnaissance.
Although their gathering place was hidden in a secluded cave, finding them was no challenge for Kato.
"They meet regularly?" Akaseki sounded puzzled—did these members of the Jashin Cult really love gathering that much?