The next morning at Divine Hot Water City
Before sunrise, tens of thousands of people had already gathered in the central square of Divine Hot Water City, surrounding the area with complex expressions and varying emotions; some were worried, while others were excited.
In the center of the square stood a large cauldron with a diameter of twenty meters. Jashin Cult members dressed in black were constantly pouring oil into the cauldron, while a large amount of dry firewood was piled up under it.
Around the pot, a group of cultists were praying, while simultaneously piercing their own palms and drawing curse circles with their blood, creating an extremely eerie scene.
The crowd watched silently, no one daring to utter a sound.
"Tap tap tap"
An hour later, as the first rays of sunlight shone on the square, footsteps came from the makeshift stands in the distance. Three people walked up; they were the three men from the Land of Hot Water, each wearing a Great Bathrobe and carrying a torch.
By this time, the pot was full of oil, the curse circle was drawn, and the three were very satisfied, their eyes filled with fanaticism.
"May the glory of the Lord Jashin shine forever upon the world!"
The men in their Great Bathrobe offered a prayer in unison, then threw out their torches, igniting the dry wood.
Then, the Iō Orochi in the center spread its arms. "Children of the evil god, please stand in the square and begin to pray to the Lord Jashin, adding the power to cleanse sins to the hot oil in the pot."
Suddenly, the crowd began to stir, and nearly a thousand people walked out and headed towards the center of the square. Although they were not wearing black clothes, they all wore necklaces of evil gods around their necks.
Without anyone giving instructions, each person chose their own spot, held the necklace in their right hand, and began reciting prayers.
Hearing the strange language spreading through the air, the remaining residents couldn't help but feel fear and took a few steps back.
The Iō Orochi looked towards another street in the square. "Bring all those who blasphemed the Lord Jashin here; prepare for baptism!"
As soon as he finished speaking, hundreds of cultists, armed with weapons, escorted over a large number of people dressed in prison uniforms. These were the remnants of the Water Ball Clan and the Carbonic Acid Clan.
The members of both tribes were listless and emaciated, clearly suffering from both mental and physical torment, and were on the verge of collapse.
The two clan leaders walked at the forefront. Suikyū Nanashō sighed, "Clan Leader Tansan Shizuka, I'm sorry to have implicated you as well."
Tansan Shizuka, over seventy years old, with disheveled hair and dried blood on her face, said, "I didn't expect the Jashin Cult to spread so quickly. If only we had asked Konoha for help back then."
They initially believed that the five major families were peace-loving entities and had not taken the correct action against the emerging Jashin Cult. However, by the time they realized what was happening, the other three families had already become followers of the Jashin Cult and had turned against them.
Suikyū Nanashō said, "Their containment work was too good. All the reinforcements we sent out were killed. It's fate."
Looking at the numb residents around her, Tansan Shizuka shook her head helplessly. "Peace has lasted too long. People have become numb. Hopefully, our deaths can awaken them."
As they talked, the prisoner procession reached the bottom of the wooden ladder beside the large cauldron. The oil in the cauldron had begun to boil, and the scorching heat seemed capable of burning a person. However, their spirits had been tormented to the point of near collapse, and their faces remained numb.
The Iō Orochi laughed heartily, "This is the consequence of defying the Lord Jashin! Suikyū Nanashō, Tansan Shizuka, I'm giving you one last chance: throw yourselves into the Lord Jashin's embrace, join us, and I guarantee I'll release you and all your people."
Upon hearing this, all the believers stopped praying, wanting the surrounding crowd to hear the two clan leaders' reply clearly.
Suikyū Nanashō straightened up with difficulty, took a deep breath. " Iō Orochi! You fool! How could you be bewitched by such a stupid religion? Residents, the Jashin Cult is an extremely evil entity. Even if my entire Water Ball Clan is wiped out, we will never stand with evil!"
Tansan Shizuka straightened up. "I believe that someone will come to save the Land of Hot Water. Evil and heresy can never stand in the midst of justice!"
The Iō Orochi's face darkened. "You're truly stubborn! Even on your deathbed, you dare insult the Lord Jashin! Guards, wash away their sins!"
Suikyū Nanashō broke free from the grip of the two cultists. "Hmph, filthy creatures, I'll do it myself!"
Just as Suikyū Nanashō stepped onto the first step of the stairs, a shadow suddenly appeared on the ground, enveloping the entire square.
" Hongshi! Hongshi! There's a cauldron of oil down there!"
"Ha?"
"Thump!"
A huge white demonic dog descended from the sky and plunged straight into the oil cauldron, while several figures jumped off its body earlier.
Iō Orochi: "(°ー°)??? Did a dog just jump into the pot?"
Yamato and the others landed on a rooftop not far away. Because everyone's attention was focused on the demon dog, they were not noticed.
"Sizzle sizzle!"
The hot oil in the pot boiled even more violently because of the demon dog, and the air was filled with a burnt smell.
"Ouch! It's so hot!"
Xiao Daocao, overwhelmed with concern, wanted to rush down and rescue Hongshi, but Yamato held her back. " Hongshi will be fine at this level."
After a mysterious silence, the huge dog's head emerged from the oil, seemingly unaffected by the scorching heat.
The Iō Orochi winked at the surrounding cultists, then roared at the demon dog, "What kind of monster are you! How dare you disrupt the Lord Jashin's purification ritual!"
"An evil god?" The demonic hound's voice was deep and authoritative. "What is he? Even if the Lord God came, I would still crush him."
Lord God: "What did you say?"
"Cough cough."
The Lord God: "That's absolutely right!"
Another moment of awkward silence...
The dog demon spoke again, "So you're the Iō Orochi?"
"It was me. I'll make the move!"
The Iō Orochi roared, and a large number of chained scythes flew from afar, attacking the demon hound.
"Ding ding ding!"
The sound was like striking steel, but the Iō Orochi noticed the bloodstains on the scythe and chuckled, "Since you also insult the Lord Jashin, then feel the power of the Lord Jashin!"
The cultists quickly sheathed their scythes, licked the blood off them, and then, their entire bodies turning black, just like Hidan, they stepped into the giant cursed circle they had just drawn, "The ritual begins! Long live the Lord Jashin!"
The dog demon chuckled, "Stab! Stab as hard as you can!"
All the cultists who entered the state of being Death Controlling Possessed Blood sensed that they had established a connection with the demon hound, plunged their scythes into their chests, and gushed out large amounts of blood, while they revealed an expression of "ink stains".
Meanwhile, from the distant forests of the Land of the Moon, the painful roars of wild boars echoed, startling the hunters who had come to hunt.
To counter the Death Controlling Possessed Blood, Hongshi collected the blood of hundreds of wild boars in the Land of the Moon's forests. Therefore, their self-mutilation was absorbed into the wild boars' bodies...
Yamato on the roof, clutched his head. "That was such a nasty move!"
Xiao Daocao: "Piglets are so cute, why would you hurt them?"
Hanabi Hyuga said, "Wild boars are the main culprits for destroying crops. Our Land of Fire has to clear them out many times every year."
Konohamaru said, "That's right. Naruto and I often get missions to clear out wild boars. And believe it or not, there are actually wild boars that are over three meters tall. How could ordinary villagers possibly stand a chance against them? So, clearing them out as soon as possible is the right thing to do."
Ahao nodded. "That's right, Konohamaru is right. But speaking of which, wild boar meat is really delicious."
"Mmm, talking about it makes me hungry."
"It seems I've forgotten something important."
The demon hound, having completely lost its temper with the Iō Orochi, roared to the sky, "You bunch of fools, Immobility?!"
Yamato and the others then realized, "Oh dear! We almost forgot about that, Hongshi is still soaking in the oil!"
As they approached the Divine Hot Water City, the group entered Sage Mode, conjured masks, and donned them. They felt an immense surge of Chakra flow into their bodies, an indescribable sense of power.
Then Yamato, carrying the three children, leaped high into the air. "Let's test Hongshi's Chakra first! Sage Art: Four-Pillar Prison Technique!"