The True Faith Society's Buddha hall had no electric lights. Instead, rows of ever-burning lamps had been set up inside. Candle flames danced, light and shadow interwoven, making the Buddhas and evil spirits in the murals look hideously fierce, as though they were alive and about to leap out to devour someone.
Wind and rain darkened the sky. A muffled clap of thunder sounded, and a flash of lightning illuminated the face of the clay Wisdom King statue enshrined in the hall.
Half its face remained a solemn clay visage, its eyes wide with wrath. The other half was a savage face of flesh and blood, with a fist-sized, eerie green eye looking down over the hall.
The uncanny, terrifying sight had all the ominous atmosphere of a ghost story before a storm broke.
"Evil Body! Evil Body, come save me!" the cult leader shouted, slapping the lotus pedestal.
"Got it!"
A deep, muffled voice came from the fleshy half of the Wisdom King's face. Its eerie green eye rolled toward the cult leader.
"Kill this heretical fiend! No, capture him! I'll deliver divine punishment myself!"
The cult leader's face lit up with the wild joy of surviving disaster, followed by intense hatred. He turned around, presenting the three rolls of fat at the back of his head to the statue, and spat through gritted teeth.
This heretical fiend actually injured my precious Buddha body! He deserves ten thousand deaths. Only torturing him with my own hands will satisfy my hatred.
"Got it!"
Chunks of clay fell from the Wisdom King statue. A massive arm swept down, seized the cult leader, and lifted him up.
"Evil Body... what are you doing?!"
The cult leader's face turned purple-red. Cold sweat from the pain covered his bald forehead as he screamed shrilly.
"Evil Body? You actually believed that bullshit doctrine of yours? You're nothing but a weak, useless human!"
The enormous hand raised the cult leader to eye level. The clay covering the face peeled away completely, revealing a blue face with protruding fangs.
"You're useless now. The Metropolitan Police Department's snoops have tracked us here, which means word has gotten out. You and the True Faith Society are both useless. I was planning to kill you to keep you quiet anyway." The monster's voice grew increasingly terrifying.
"...Evil god..."
Clutched in that hand, the bloated cult leader had digestive fluids and blood squeezed out of his abdomen. They gushed endlessly from his mouth and nose, drenching his face and body in blood as he mumbled indistinctly.
"More importantly, how dare you secretly pocket the money I was offering to Teacher! Why do you think I played along with your little make-believe game? It was all to raise funds for Teacher's great undertaking. With that much money missing from the books, did you think monsters couldn't count? You even dared steal a monster's money. Humans really have no fear of death!"
The monster hidden inside the statue roared. Its four fingers, each thicker than an ordinary person's arm, tightened, and the cult leader's innards burst out like those of a frog run over on the road.
Then the enormous hand hurled what remained of his body to the ground, spreading cult-leader paste across the floor.
Chunks of stone and clay clattered to the ground from the Wisdom King statue. Dust rose as the monster climbed all the way out.
It was a massive monster over ten feet tall, broad-shouldered and thick-waisted like a sumo wrestler, with a hugely protruding belly.
It had a blue face, protruding fangs, and two fist-sized green eyes. Its skin was lacquer-black, covered in blue markings, and a string of skull prayer beads hung around its neck. It looked like an oni from Japanese folktales, or an ogre from Western legends.
Uchiha Naruto calmly watched the monster and the cult leader turn on each other. Only after it was over did he press his palms together in a Buddhist greeting:
"Amitabha. Are you the true Twin-Body Buddha?"
Uchiha Naruto had long known that the cult leader's supposed supernatural powers were merely a double act with the monster behind the scenes. From beginning to end, every supernatural phenomenon had been this monster's handiwork.
"Twin-Body Buddha? Sure, let's call it that."
The monster-no, the Twin-Body Buddha-stared fixedly at Uchiha Naruto.
"The flames outside, and that old face... Bald bastard, you're the human with supernatural powers Teacher told us to watch for in his message, aren't you? Looks like I've found a gift to bring Teacher. My luck isn't bad."
"This humble monk also feels quite fortunate. You've given me an unexpected surprise, Twin-Body Buddha."
Before coming to the True Faith Society, Uchiha Naruto had thought its leader was most likely just a charlatan. He had never expected him to actually be colluding with a monster to fake divine manifestations, using its power to establish the True Faith Society and draw in a large number of believers in such a short time.
More importantly, this Twin-Body Buddha monster seemed to have ties to the mysterious Tokyo King of Monsters.
"You're scheming against me?"
"I merely wish to discuss Buddhist teachings. Since you are the Twin-Body Buddha, your understanding should surpass that of the True Faith Society's leader. Nothing pleases this humble monk more than discussing Buddhist teachings."
"Hmph, Buddhist teachings! The Peacock King swallowed the World-Honored One. You can listen to Buddhist teachings inside my belly too." The Twin-Body Buddha sneered and charged, his enormous body barreling forward like a truck, his footsteps shaking the entire Buddha hall.
From the staff-wielding monk at the True Faith Society's entrance, to dozens of blade-wielding monks, and then a squad of gun-wielding monks, it had been like clearing one stage after another in a Japanese RPG. At last, the Mount Bukō-True Faith Society dungeon was reaching its boss battle.
"Amitabha!"
At that moment, Uchiha Naruto shouted, and a red gleam flashed in his left eye.
The Buddha hall's side door suddenly burst open. Five or six monks carrying hunting shotguns swarmed out, raised their weapons, and fired at the Twin-Body Buddha!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Boom!
Great sprays of sparks erupted from the shotgun muzzles. Countless lead pellets, propelled by gunpowder, tore the Twin-Body Buddha's fat belly into a bloody mess. Some buckshot blasted fist-sized craters into his body!
These hunting shotguns could kill wild boars and brown bears. As long as a body was still flesh and blood, bullets treated it just like any other-it would bleed!
"Aaargh!"
The Twin-Body Buddha howled in pain. He clenched his fist and swung, sending a golden fist projection smashing into two men and knocking them away.
The remaining monks, their faces expressionless and their eyes vacant, fearlessly pressed forward to fire more shots.
Controlled by Uchiha Naruto's Sharingan, the monks had no consciousness of their own and could not perform very precise movements. Their shooting accuracy had fallen dramatically, but their hunting guns were all shotguns, and the Twin-Body Buddha's enormous body made a perfect target. They could hit him without even aiming.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The patter of rain dripping from the eaves could not drown out the fierce, relentless gunfire!
One monk rushed right up to the Twin-Body Buddha and fired his double-barreled shotgun into the monster's face at point-blank range. A mass of lead pellets erupted from the weapon, pockmarking the already ugly face and leaving blood streaming down it.
"That hurts! Die!"
The enraged Twin-Body Buddha immediately tore the monk to pieces. Then he roared, and a ring of golden Buddhist light suddenly surged from his body, enveloping him completely!
No matter how much the other monks fired, their lead pellets bounced off that golden light. The Twin-Body Buddha raised a palm and slapped down, and a golden palm of light smashed the remaining monks into pulp.
"Those were the True Faith Society's baldies. Were they here to avenge their leader?"
Covered in blood and panting heavily, the Twin-Body Buddha picked up a shotgun from the ground. It looked like a chopstick in his enormous hand. He examined it closely, then unleashed a stream of curses:
"A Franchi SPAS-12? Those useless drunks at the Metropolitan Police Department actually let that fat pig get his hands on a gun like this! The Firearms and Swords Control Law is a load of shit!"
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