What the samurai of the Land of Iron encountered was no isolated case. Once Evil Spirit truly cut loose, the entire Land of Lightning was immediately plunged into chaos.
Because he had released all the people of Kusagakure he had taken into the Box of Ultimate Bliss earlier. After such a long period of transformation, no matter what their original identities had been—ninja or civilians—they had now been completely turned into Evil Spirit's loyal believers.
They might not necessarily have been all that strong individually, but they were proficient in the Emotion Guidance Technique. Often, a single one of them could easily throw an entire village into utter chaos, harvesting the four emotions Evil Spirit needed.
Taking advantage of the transition between Raikage and Kumogakure's brief gap in response, Evil Spirit had now successfully condensed three of the four spirits of joy, anger, sorrow, and fear, and his strength had advanced tremendously.
After stabilizing the situation in the village, the Fourth Raikage had also sent people to subjugate them, but they failed again and again, leading to the situation as it stood now.
And the Land of Lightning's situation was likewise no exception among the Five Great Nations.
In the Land of Earth, the Yomi Cult ran rampant. Although its momentum was not as great as Evil Spirit's, it likewise could not be underestimated.
The same was true of the Jashin Cult in the Land of Wind. Therefore, when the newly appointed Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, proposed that they had reached a deal with Konoha and intended to take in the Shrine Maiden Miroku, it drew opposition from nearly every high-ranking attendee.
"Lord Kazekage, Jashin Cultists are currently running rampant within the country, and we are already exhausted dealing with them. The Shrine Maiden is a target that Moryo is determined