Hyuuga Nen soaked in the hot spring, his expression relaxed. "The hot springs in the Land of Hot Water really live up to their reputation."
Over the past few days, Hyuuga Nen had pretended to be an ordinary tourist, visiting various scenic spots in the Land of Hot Water. However, he hadn't gone out of his way to investigate the Jashin Cult. Instead, he'd waited for its members to approach him.
The reason Hyuuga Nen had stayed in the Land of Hot Water was that he was interested in this so-called Evil God and the information about Hidan.
Hyuuga Nen remembered that Hidan had gained immortality and the power of curses from the Evil God, making him extremely dangerous. Later, he had even joined the Akatsuki.
Although Hyuuga Nen knew who Hidan was, he had the vaguest impression of him among the Akatsuki members. If he encountered any of the others, he would recognize them. But he wasn't sure he'd recognize Hidan.
Getting involved with the so-called Jashin Cult might be dangerous, but as long as the danger stayed within certain limits, Hyuuga Nen could accept it. If things became uncontrollable, however, he would leave immediately.
"No one from the Jashin Cult has approached me these past few days. Should I leave now, or approach them myself?" Hyuuga Nen gazed at the sky, looking hesitant.
Just then, a series of footsteps came from the distance. Hyuuga Nen turned and saw that they belonged to shinobi from Yugakure, running across the rooftops.
"Quick, move faster!" the leading shinobi shouted as he ran.
Hyuuga Nen was soaking in an open-air hot spring, so he could clearly see the anxious expressions on the Yugakure shinobi's faces.
"Could their mission have something to do with the Jashin Cult?" Hyuuga Nen wondered. "I should follow them and take a look. If it has nothing to do with the Jashin Cult, I'll leave the Land of Hot Water." He made up his mind.
Hyuuga Nen caught up with the Yugakure shinobi and followed them carefully.
Before long, they arrived at an isolated warehouse. Hyuuga Nen watched as they entered its basement.
Hyuuga Nen left a Shadow Clone outside to keep watch, then entered the warehouse.
Even without going down to the basement, Hyuuga Nen could make out sounds coming from below.
"Damn Jashin Cultists!"
"There's a trap! Retreat first—ah!"
Explosions, screams, and the sounds of fighting came from the basement. Hyuuga Nen waited for a while, until the commotion gradually died down.
Through his sensory abilities, Hyuuga Nen detected nearly ten chakra signatures at first. In the end, only one remained, and that person was running up from the basement.
Hyuuga Nen jumped onto the wall and used chakra to cling to it. From this position, anyone coming up from the basement would be in his blind spot. Unless they looked back, they wouldn't spot him.
A few seconds later, someone rushed up from the basement. Hyuuga Nen used the Body Flicker Technique to appear behind him and struck the back of his head before he could react. The blow knocked him unconscious at once.
Hyuuga Nen turned the man over and saw a Yugakure Forehead Protector on his brow, marked with a long slash. He was a missing-nin from Yugakure.
Hyuuga Nen pried open his eyelids and began casting a genjutsu. When it was complete, the missing-nin's gaze had turned vacant.
"Are you a member of the Jashin Cult?" Hyuuga Nen asked.
"Yes. I worship the great Evil God. I'm his faithful servant," the missing-nin answered vacantly.
"Why did you fight the Yugakure shinobi?" Hyuuga Nen pressed.
"They found out we were kidnapping children, so they came after us."
"Kidnapping children? What are you trying to accomplish?"
"It's for an experiment the organization is conducting. Once it's complete, we'll gain the power bestowed by the Evil God!"
Although the missing-nin was under a genjutsu, his face still took on a fervent expression as he spoke about the experiment.
Hearing his answer, Hyuuga Nen's expression turned angry. He furrowed his brow and continued questioning him about the Evil God and the experiment.
But the missing-nin clearly wasn't a high-ranking member of the Jashin Cult. He was just one of the people responsible for kidnapping children, and knew little about the cult or its experiment. He kept repeating the same few things about how great the Evil God was.
Seeing that he couldn't get anything useful out of him on that subject, Hyuuga Nen stopped pressing and asked about something else.
"Do you know Hidan?" Hyuuga Nen stared intently at the missing-nin.
"Hidan? I know him. His parents were shinobi from Yugakure, but he didn't inherit their backward pursuit of peace. He's the successor to the will of the great Evil God. Our organization has high hopes for him."
"Where is he now? What's he doing?" Hyuuga Nen asked.
"I heard he volunteered to take part in the Jashin Cult's experiment, but I don't know where he is now."
"How old is he?"
"About twelve, not quite thirteen."
"How old?"
"Somewhere around twelve or thirteen," the missing-nin repeated.
Hyuuga Nen suppressed his surprise and continued asking the missing-nin about Hidan's appearance.
After asking all his questions, Hyuuga Nen slit the missing-nin's throat, then used a kunai to destroy his brain.
Hyuuga Nen then went down to the basement and found the bodies of Yugakure shinobi and Jashin Cultists scattered everywhere. Several unconscious children lay in a corner.
Hyuuga Nen carried the unconscious children upstairs and examined them. They had only been knocked out with drugs, and would wake up soon once the effects wore off.
After finishing his examination, Hyuuga Nen's real body left immediately. He left behind a Shadow Clone, which took a signal flare from the body of one of the Yugakure shinobi.
After lighting the signal flare, the Shadow Clone waited at the warehouse. When it saw the Yugakure reinforcements approaching in the distance, it dispelled itself.
On the way back, Hyuuga Nen carefully erased all traces of his presence to avoid being tracked. By the time he returned to the inn, it was almost dawn. He checked out at once, intending to catch the earliest boat out of the Land of Hot Water.
As he sat aboard the boat, Hyuuga Nen saw no Yugakure shinobi pursuing him. Knowing they hadn't tracked him, he finally relaxed.
Hyuuga Nen was fairly satisfied with how the mission had gone. He hadn't learned much about the Evil God or the Jashin Cult, but that hadn't been his main objective. Although he was interested in the Evil God's power, he had no intention of seeking him out right now.
His main goal had been to learn about Hidan. I can't believe Hidan is so young—he's a few years younger than me. But now I know exactly what he looks like, so even if I meet him in the future, I won't fail to recognize him completely.
Hyuuga Nen thought of Hidan's bizarre abilities. If he didn't know about Hidan's immortality and curse, encountering him for the first time could be fatal.
Now Hyuuga Nen knew what Hidan looked like and what he could do. If they ever crossed paths, he wouldn't die without knowing why.
Before you continue