Could it be they'd sacrifice their lives to frame you?

Audacious!

Truly, utterly audacious!

Everyone present gasped, their hearts screaming in shock.

Although those few phrases strung together were somewhat baffling, to dare speak to the Pope in such a manner was nothing short of a death wish!

Slowly putting away the incriminating letter, Chrysanthemum Douluo clasped his hands behind his back, turned his head, and cast a downward glance at the branch bishop kneeling behind him with a cold sneer on his lips.

"Speak! Who is this audacious little thief?"

The lowly branch bishop prostrated himself, his body trembling like a sieve, and spilled everything he knew.

Once he finished explaining the sequence of events.

Chrysanthemum Douluo frowned, his voice sharp and feminine.

"You don't even know the other party's identity? Doesn't that mean you've told me nothing at all?"

"This subordinate deserves death! I failed to see through their disguise!"

The branch bishop wept and snot-nosed, kowtowing frantically to beg for his life.

Having held no expectations to begin with, Chrysanthemum Douluo pressed a finger to his forehead, sighed and shook his head, then waved him away. The branch bishop thanked him profusely, scrambling out of the hall on his hands and knees.

"So, the trail is cold?"

Ghost Douluo withdrew his gaze.

With only the high-ranking members of Spirit Hall remaining, the conversation became much more unrestrained.

"Who exactly leaked the existence of this Pope Decree, or was it the handiwork of one of our own colleagues?"

After careful deliberation, several Red Cardinals frowned and asked in confusion, "Although this Pope Decree was forged, the content of the letter is true. Tang Hao was indeed in Nuoding City and was almost caught by us."

"Otherwise? Old Ghost and I were supposed to arrive tonight; it was only because we received your message midway that we increased our speed," Yue Guan said irritably, a hint of regret hidden in his words.

If they had been moving at full speed from the start, Tang Hao might already be a corpse.

Seeing this, the others helplessly withdrew their gazes and began to chatter among themselves.

"Could the other party be an enemy of Tang Hao?"

"Any clues?"

"Tang Hao has offended so many people, who knows who it is?"

Platinum Bishop Salas narrowed his eyes and stroked his beard as he spoke, "We can still find some clues. Before clashing with us, Tang Hao was searching for something around Nuoding City; many merchant caravans leaving the city encountered him."

The crowd asked further, "Searching for what?"

Salas shook his head; he had only received the report a short while ago. "It is unclear, but it must be a person. Tang Hao used his spiritual power to scan the guards of these merchant caravans and even the rogue Spirit Masters around Nuoding City several times over."

"About seventy people couldn't stand the insult and spoke out of turn, only to be killed on the spot by the enraged Tang Hao."

"And when we ran into Tang Hao on the road, he was preparing to slaughter a village. It seems he even committed lewd acts against the young men and women in the village!"

As he reached the end, Salas's brows furrowed tighter and tighter. He even doubted these memories himself, yet he had seen it with his own eyes; it could not be false.

Surely, these villagers wouldn't sacrifice their lives just to frame Tang Hao?

"Men and women?"

The Star Luo Bishops who arrived later wore strange expressions, whispering to the Tiandou Bishops beside them to confirm.

Upon receiving an affirmative reply, the group was first stunned, then, as if remembering something, their faces froze and changed drastically.

The room suddenly fell silent, the atmosphere becoming incredibly awkward. Everyone stood stiffly in place, their cautious gazes stealing glances at the two figures of Chrysanthemum and Ghost.

The habit of the "cut sleeve" was truly rare and frowned upon on the continent.

But one couldn't help the fact that the two people in front of them...

Were Title Douluos!

Ghost Douluo, still capable of feeling embarrassment, turned his head slightly, his face dark as he remained silent. Beside him, Chrysanthemum Douluo covered his mouth, laughing until he trembled. "Oh my! Old Ghost! He's hungry!"

This laughter did not ease the atmosphere; instead, it made it even more awkward.

Hoping to end the topic quickly, Bishop Anderson of Star Luo waved his hand and slammed the table to make a decision. "Forget the rest. Just spread the word like that. Roughly how many people were slaughtered?"

Salas also regained his composure and followed the thread of the conversation. "Unclear. There was no record of that village in Nuoding City, but it looks like there were thousands of people. Under the attack of the Haotian True Body, not even their corpses remained."

"A crime compounded!"

Anderson set the verdict, and Chrysanthemum and Ghost Douluo nodded in silent agreement.

While the Red Cardinals nodded, they frowned once more.

"However, doesn't that mean the trail is cold again?"

Just as they were all looking troubled, Ghost Leopard, who couldn't be bothered to use his brain, finally lost his patience and slapped the table in front of him.

"Why talk about all this?"

"It's not like we leaked the secret, and this little thief has nothing to do with us anyway!"

"Who is he? What's his goal? Does he have a grudge against Tang Hao? Let the subordinates below investigate slowly; why should we bother? Let's just focus on catching Tang Hao!"

After speaking, Ghost Leopard curled his lip and leaned back directly into his seat, clearly intending to ignore the matter entirely.

The surrounding bishops all widened their eyes as it dawned on them. That's right! He was just a mere Spirit King-level thief; why were they, a group of Spirit Sages and Spirit Douluos, worrying about it? They could just delegate the task!

After a brief moment of thought, Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo also nodded slightly. Compared to Tang Hao's head, this audacious brat was truly insignificant.

Besides...

How far could the heavily injured Tang Hao possibly run?

Chrysanthemum Douluo narrowed his eyes slightly and exchanged a look with Ghost Douluo.

Countless Spirit Hall elites were rushing toward Nuoding City from all directions. The confirmation of Tang Hao's identity had turned the fake order into a real one; Tang Hao had nowhere to run!

And the ones to reap the final rewards...

Would naturally be them!

The next half-month in Fasinuo Province was the most turbulent period in hundreds of years.

The gathering of Spirit Hall forces caused great panic and shock to the Tiandou royal family. Of course, these matters had nothing to do with the vast majority of the residents, nor did they have anything to do with Naruto.

In a dark, gloomy cave, Water droplets seeping from the rock ceiling dripped onto Naruto's forehead. Under this cold stimulation, Naruto slowly regained consciousness.

Opening his eyes, his hungry stomach, dizzy brain, and aching body all churned together. Lying on the stone slab, Naruto couldn't help but furrow his brows, grit his teeth, and struggle to prop himself up and roll over.

His body could still move.

The problem shouldn't be too big.

Having just woken up, Naruto, who had been flooded with a massive amount of memories, could only manage such simple logical thinking.

Adapting to the dimness of the cave, Naruto tried hard to identify his current surroundings. The Shadow Clones that had been guarding him had long since reached their time limit and vanished helplessly.

However, There was still one piece of good news.

Bibi Dong's familiar voice rang in his ears.

"Kid, it's a miracle you're not dead!"

"No, to be more precise, it's a miracle that your body could withstand my full spirit power for an instant without exploding into a firework."

Bibi Dong's words were full of mockery.

As she spoke, her mental energy reached out, rapidly scanning Naruto's entire body along his meridians.

As the examination went deeper, Bibi Dong secretly breathed a sigh of relief. The worry between her brows dissipated a little, replaced by a certain kind of confusion.

Completely unaware of this, Naruto felt at ease upon hearing the familiar voice. Feeling secretly fortunate, he rolled over and lay flat on the stone slab in a sprawl, laughing as he spoke.

"I'll... just take that... as Pope-sama praising me... for having extraordinary talent..."