Encountering Hidan (Part 1)

Ye Wuji studied the map, thinking that for once, he'd actually been clever. He'd gotten a fairly detailed map from Mai. It wasn't a map of the entire world, but it marked the general locations of several major nations, so he wouldn't get lost again.

His destination this time was a place called Zhu Town in the Land of Hot Springs. There was a village there called Zhu Village—the place where Shennong lived, and where Angkor Fortress was hidden.

To get from Takigakure to the Land of Hot Springs, he had to pass through the Land of Fields. Ye Wuji seemed to remember that Orochimaru later established Otogakure there. As he traveled through the Land of Fields, he took a careful look around. The country was in a state of considerable disorder. It had not only wandering samurai, but also bounty hunters, and from time to time he spotted rogue ninja. Most were low-level nobodies, but there were some skilled ones among them.

Ye Wuji didn't stay long in the Land of Fields, and he didn't see any ninja wearing Sound Ninja Forehead Protectors. It seemed Orochimaru hadn't yet considered betraying Konoha. That made sense. At this point, Orochimaru probably hadn't even started thinking about researching forbidden techniques. Even if he had, he'd likely only be studying the white-scaled snake skin he'd discovered. Besides, he was already one of the Konoha Sannin and held considerable power, so he had no reason to betray the village.

Ye Wuji had only looked around out of idle curiosity. He had to travel through the Land of Fields anyway, and with someone like Orochimaru, there was no telling whether he might set pieces in motion early.

Only after setting foot in the Land of Hot Springs did Ye Wuji realize how beautiful the country was. There were no great mountains in its outskirts; most of the land was flat, and flowers of every color grew across the plains. When the wind blew, the flowers swayed and danced in a truly beautiful display. So Konoha wasn't the only place in the world with lovely scenery. Ye Wuji hadn't visited the other major nations, but the places he had seen so far—Takigakure and the Yugakure where he now stood—were both beautiful. He wondered what Konoha looked like.

There was one place in Konoha that Ye Wuji was determined to visit: the cherry grove where the Fourth Hokage, Minato, had gazed into his wife's eyes. How could he pass up seeing such a vast cherry grove?

The large gate not far ahead marked the entrance to Rose Street, the most famous street in the Land of Hot Springs. Everyone on the street loved growing roses. The windows and doorways of their homes were always surrounded by them. When the wind blew, rose petals drifted through the air. Rose Street was also famous for its many hot springs. No one knew why there were so many, but the Land of Hot Springs had built a great number of inns there. It was the place people from other countries most liked to visit. The country sometimes added large quantities of rose petals to its hot springs, and since it produced roses in abundance, it could afford to use them so lavishly. This attracted wealthy and influential noblewomen, young ladies, and the wives of daimyo from across the nations. Bathing with rose petals was said to have many benefits, including improving a woman's skin. More importantly, bathing this way left a rose fragrance on the body. For women, that was practically irresistible.

Mai had also told him that the Land of Hot Springs once had a ninja village, Yugakure, which had been active during the First Shinobi World War. Unfortunately, its elite ninja had steadily died, and no new recruits had risen to replace them, so the village gradually fell into decline. It hadn't even taken part in the Second Shinobi World War. Yugakure had probably ceased to exist in all but name, with at most a handful of ninja left to protect the Land of Hot Springs' Daimyo. Fortunately, the country had some fine specialties: it had many hot springs and produced roses in abundance. Thanks to those two things, its people generally lived prosperous lives.

The Land of Hot Springs was also in no strategically important location, and it had nothing that ninja needed, so no one came to bother it. As a result, its Daimyo had no desire to rebuild Yugakure. Besides, the country shared a border with the Land of Fire. Whenever trouble arose, he could simply pay Konoha's ninja to deal with it. Konoha Ninja were renowned throughout the Shinobi World for their reliability.

Konoha's ninja missions were a little expensive, but there was no helping that. Hiring ninja from the Five Great Nations generally cost about the same. Ninja from smaller countries might be cheaper, but they weren't as capable, and there were frequent cases of ninja from those countries harming their employers. Hiring ninja from a great nation had one advantage: once you paid, they would take care of everything. And when the mission was done, Konoha's ninja would leave at once without causing you any further trouble.

That was far better than building a ninja village yourself. You'd need to train ninja, establish a base, acquire weapons, and secure funding—in short, you'd need everything. And the most important thing, the ninja, would have to come from your own village. You could recruit people from other countries, but they'd only ever make up a small number. Besides, being a ninja always came with danger.

That was why Yugakure had gradually disappeared. Other than the Daimyo Mansion, it was hard to find ninja anywhere else.

For all those reasons, the Land of Hot Springs' Daimyo had no plans to rebuild Yugakure. It might seem foolish to people nowadays, but that was simply how the world of Naruto worked. And why limit it to the world of Naruto? Even back on the Earth Ye Wuji came from, there were countries like that. Some were pitifully small, yet they were still sovereign nations. When necessary, they could approach a great nation and speak with its highest leaders. That was simply what the world required.

Ye Wuji found a fairly quiet hot spring inn with few guests. He ate something and planned to soak in the hot springs afterward. It was a luxury he'd never even imagined enjoying before. Just then, he heard loud shouting from the street, followed by the sound of something breaking.

"Hey, innkeeper, what's going on? I thought the Land of Hot Springs was safe," Ye Wuji asked the old man behind the counter. He'd told the man he'd come to the Land of Hot Springs to visit relatives. His parents had died in the war, while his relatives had moved to the Land of Hot Springs long ago. It was a pretty flimsy story, but he had to admit it was the best excuse he could come up with.

"It's nothing, just some kids causing trouble. They're orphans who want to build their own ninja village and don't like the Daimyo's way of doing things. So they keep making a scene in the street, hoping the Daimyo will rebuild the village. But they don't think it through. If the village is rebuilt, then when war breaks out, they'll inevitably have to fight. Kids these days... Still, no one talked about it after the First Hot Spring Shadow died. I don't know what's gotten into these youngsters, making such a fuss about it. They've been at it for years, ever since they were little. Everyone's let them get away with it because they're still young. In a few more years, once they've grown up, no one will put up with them. They'll probably all end up locked in the Daimyo's dungeons." The old innkeeper must not have had anyone to talk to in a long time; he rambled on and on.

When he heard that they were afraid of being dragged into war, Ye Wuji's thoughts stirred. That's probably what ordinary people think. They believe a peaceful, uneventful life is a blessing and don't think any further than that. You could say they lack education or awareness, but you couldn't blame them. Most people feel the same way. Those who can't stand an ordinary life are the minority.

"Come to think of it, I don't know what's going on either. Lately, more and more kids have been lured in and joined that weird cult. They want to rebuild the ninja village." The old man was about to continue when three figures appeared in the doorway. Thinking they were customers, he hurriedly stopped talking. But the moment he saw the three fourteen- or fifteen-year-old boys, his face darkened.

"Hidan, Da Ye, Nakano! Have you been causing trouble again?" The old man glared at the three in the doorway and shouted.

"Hidan?" Hearing the familiar name, Ye Wuji quickly looked up at the three. He immediately forgot the other two and focused on the boy in front. Silver-gray hair, slicked back. He's a little young, but I can already see Hidan in him.

"Old Man Gu, you'd better watch what you say, or Lord Jashin will punish you. And who's this guy?" Hidan spoke with great arrogance. His two lackeys behind him only nodded along.

"He's an outsider who came to visit relatives. It has nothing to do with you." Old Man Gu started to answer, then seemed to notice something. He rounded on the three boys and shouted, "You actually joined that evil cult? Didn't I tell you not to go fooling around with them? You're going to be the death of me!"

"Old Man Gu, I know you raised us, but if you show disrespect to Lord Jashin, don't blame me for what happens. Lord Jashin is the only one who must never be blasphemed. Anyone who blasphemes him will be punished!" Hidan looked at Old Man Gu and spoke arrogantly.

"What Jashin? It's just a scam. All these years, who's ever been punished by him? The three of you are going without dinner tonight. If you don't leave that cult, I'll give you a proper thrashing!"

"Hahaha, Old Man Gu, Jashin is about to descend! You'd better join the Sacred Cult, or when Jashin comes, everyone who doesn't believe in him will be punished by Lord Jashin!" Hidan kept shouting.

Ye Wuji listened with a helpless look. Hidan really was a clown. His immortality was probably some kind of Kekkei Genkai, yet he was always going on about Jashin. To be honest, when Ye Wuji saw Hidan, he couldn't help wondering if something was wrong with him. Why was he always talking about Jashin? If Hidan weren't like this and instead hid in the shadows to ambush people, who knew how many powerful ninja he could take down? Now it seemed that joining this Jashin Cult had simply made a habit of it.