Land of Hot Water, Crisis

The Land of Hot Water is known as the "Land of Forgotten War."

With its pleasant scenery and spring-like weather all year round, it is home to many natural hot springs and is a famous tourist destination.

Upon arriving in the Land of Hot Water, Genye's team escorted Jiraiya to the entrance of a bathhouse, successfully completing their mission.

"Alright, hurry back now. I have no intention of inviting you all to soak in the springs with me, hahahaha!"

Jiraiya waved at them, and without waiting for a response, he turned around and walked into the bathhouse with a loud laugh.

Sigh.

Asuma shook his head and sighed, "Carefree and unrestrained—he perfectly matches the image of a hero in my heart."

"It's just a pity he's such a pervert."

Yuhi Kurenai ignored Asuma's sentiment and leaned in toward Genye, looking somewhat uneasy. "Genye, you'd better not read those books Jiraiya gave you. You can tell they aren't anything decent just by looking at the covers."

"If they weren't indecent, who would read them?"

Genye tucked the books away and patted his chest. "Don't worry, Kurenai. Once we get back, I'll dispose of them. I promise I won't look."

"That's good then." Kurenai finally felt at ease.

With the mission complete, the group headed back to the Land of Fire along the same route.

While passing through a forest, Asuma casually snapped a small twig from a nearby tree and held it in his mouth. "See? I told you this mission would be easy. You didn't believe me, Genye, and kept spouting nonsense about how a C-rank mission might be more dangerous than a B-rank one."

"Tch." Genye rolled his eyes, too lazy to argue with someone who hadn't watched Naruto.

Asuma was about to tease him further when his expression suddenly changed. He spat out the twig and said, "Wait, there's something ahead! I smell blood!"

Asuma's sense of smell was incredibly sharp; in Obito's words, this guy's nose was even more sensitive than the ninja hounds Kakashi kept.

At his words, Kurenai and Genye instantly raised their guard and entered a state of high alert.

"Byakugan!"

Genye didn't hesitate to activate his Byakugan to scan the area ahead.

The sight revealed by his Byakugan made him gasp, and a wave of nausea immediately surged within him.

It wasn't that Genye had never seen a corpse before.

But this was his first time seeing a horrific scene where bodies had been dismembered into countless pieces and arranged into some kind of bizarre pattern!

A middle-aged man sat in the center of the bloody pattern, repeatedly smearing blood onto his own body, his eyes tightly shut as he muttered something under his breath.

"Asuma, Kurenai, we're retreating! We need to take a different route!" Genye suppressed the discomfort in his stomach and whispered to his two companions.

The man's chakra didn't seem particularly strong, but the scene before him brought a terrible possibility to mind.

Asuma and Kurenai didn't ask questions; the three of them lightened their footsteps and began to retreat slowly.

However, at that very moment, the middle-aged man suddenly opened his eyes and, to Genye's horror, locked gazes with him!

The man's mouth stretched almost to his ears, and he tilted his head as if listening to some secret instruction, revealing a sickly, deranged smile.

"...I understand. I'll go ask them right now if they're willing to become your loyal followers!"

The man sprang up from the ground, grabbed a machete from the pool of blood, and charged toward Genye and the others.

"Oh no, run!"

Following Genye's shout, the three of them stopped hiding their presence and fled at full speed.

"However..."

A few minutes later, Genye glanced at Asuma beside him while sprinting. The other man looked back with a grave expression and gave a slight shake of his head.

Genye's heart sank.

If it were just him and Asuma, they could easily shake off the man behind them, but Kurenai...

To accommodate Kurenai's speed, the distance between them and the man was closing, leaving no time to set up traps.

Explosive Tags and ninjutsu would, at best, only delay the man for a moment; they wouldn't buy enough time.

Thinking of this, Genye gritted his teeth. "Kurenai, try to see if you can use genjutsu to affect him! Asuma, let's get ready to fight!"

Kurenai's genjutsu could only be activated at close range; if she couldn't deceive him, they would have to try to hold him off.

"Right!" Asuma and Kurenai chose to trust Genye's judgment.

The three stopped in their tracks, and a moment later, the man wielding the machete appeared in their field of vision.

"Why do you run as soon as you see me?"

The man scratched his head with his blade, looking genuinely puzzled, but he soon began to dance around with excitement.

"Well, let me introduce myself. My name is Rinto. You three little ninjas, are you interested in learning about the Jashin Cult?"

The Jashin Cult!

Genye's heart sank; he had vaguely suspected it just moments ago, but he hadn't expected the opponent to truly belong to the Jashin Cult.

The Jashin Cult was an evil, twisted sect that took pleasure in slaughter and reveling in the suffering of others.

The infamous Hidan of the Land of Hot Water would later emerge from this very Jashin Cult.

This isn't looking good. This guy wouldn't happen to be immortal like Hidan, would he?

Cold sweat broke out on Genye's back; encountering a pervert like this was enough to make anyone's heart tremble.

Damn it, Asuma isn't going to die here, is he?

...Strange, why hasn't Kurenai used a genjutsu on this guy yet?

Genye looked toward Kurenai at his side and noticed her small face was flushed red, her internal chakra circulating frantically.

At this moment, the man named Rin-to curled his lip and said:

"Little girl over there, don't waste your effort. My devout faith in Lord Jashin is enough to make me ignore all illusions."

He rested his cleaver on his shoulder, pointed at the group with his other hand, and said impatiently:

"Alright, I'll give you two choices now."

"First, offer your souls to Lord Jashin voluntarily. Second, I'll help you offer your souls to Lord Jashin!"

The three of them didn't speak, exchanging a single glance.

The next moment, Yuhi Kurenai turned and ran.

"Hey, hey, hey! At least give me an answer! Why are you running again? You're making things very difficult for me! Baka yaro!"

While Rin-to was cursing and swearing, Asuma and Genye launched their attacks simultaneously.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!"

Boom!

Rin-to dodged, but not entirely, as the incoming flames grazed half of his body.

Oh my god, the Great Fireball Jutsu actually hit someone!

"It hit!"

Asuma felt a surge of joy, but the next moment, his smile froze on his face.

Rin-to, having been struck by the Great Fireball, not only failed to fall but continued to curse and swear.

"Damn brats, it seems you prefer the hard way!"

Half of Rin-to's face was charred, a gruesome sight where the skin hung off his muscles, trembling as he spoke.

The scene was so horrifying that Genye and Asuma felt their sanity plummet, their scalps tingling.

"All of you, become sacrifices for Lord Jashin!"

Rin-to raised the cleaver in his hand, looking like a demon crawling out of hell, and charged at the two of them like a madman.

"Asuma, this guy is immortal!"

Genye shouted at the stunned Asuma: "Be careful not to let him hurt you, don't let him get your blood!"

"Understood!" Asuma quickly snapped back to reality and shouted in response.

He didn't know how Genye knew these things, but he trusted him.

"Brat, it seems you know a thing or two about our cult. Let me send you to meet Lord Jashin right now!"

Rin-to was fast; before his voice had even faded, he appeared right in front of Genye.

The blood-stained cleaver descended like a red bolt of lightning, slashing fiercely toward Genye.