Chapter 492: The Evil God
After arranging the training for the three members of Squad 7, most of the girls on Kurotsuchi and Yi Mizunashi's sides had left. Even Neji had slipped away at some point.
However, Shion was still there. But she hadn't stayed for Ishiro; she was busy playing with the two little Tailed Beasts. Little Saiken and Little Chōmei still remembered her, and she had an impression of the two little ones. The three of them were catching up.
Ishiro walked over. "Little Shion, when did you come to Iwagakure?"
Shion looked up at this Tsuchikage she barely remembered. "I came when the academy started."
"Where are you living now?"
This time, before Shion could answer, Sakura spoke for her. "Shion is living in the exchange student dormitory. The exchange students from the other branches all live there."
Ishiro was surprised. "Shion is an exchange student? How long will you be staying?"
Shion shook her head. "I'm not an exchange student. My mother told me to study here directly and not to go back to the Land of Demons until I graduate."
Ishiro nodded. "I see. If you have any difficulties, you can come and find me. My house is near Sakura's. You can also find me at the Tsuchikage Tower."
"Okay. My mother also said I can find Lord Tsuchikage if I have any problems," Shion said honestly.
Ishiro: ...
Very good. As one of the biggest nepotism cases in the Iwagakure Ninja Academy, it's normal for you to have such awareness.
Sakura, standing on the side, was a little surprised. She hadn't expected this new friend and classmate of hers to have a connection with Lord Tsuchikage.
Just as Ishiro was about to leave, Shion said, "Lord Tsuchikage, I have a need right now."
"What do you need, Little Princess Shion?"
"I want Little Saiken and Little Chōmei to play with me," Shion said, pointing at the two Tailed Beasts.
"I've seen them before. Back then, my mother said they would come and play with me, but they never did."
Hearing this, Sakura's guard went up instantly.
Externally, "Outer Sakura" just shot a hostile look at Shion. Internally, "Inner Sakura" had already started cursing.
Ishiro looked at the two little Tailed Beasts, then at Shion and Sakura. How did he end up in the same predicament as Haku?
He thought for a moment. "Little Saiken and Little Chōmei are currently supervising Sakura's studies. If you also want them to supervise your studies, then I'll have them go and play with you often."
Sakura had been a little unhappy; her new best friend was trying to steal her pets. While Outer Sakura hadn't said anything, Inner Sakura was already letting loose a string of curses. But hearing Ishiro use the two little Tailed Beasts to set a trap for Shion, both Inner and Outer Sakura unanimously kept quiet, watching Shion walk right into it.
Sakura now had to read a large number of medical ninjutsu books after school every day. Whenever she wanted to slack off, the two little Tailed Beasts would urge her on. Every day was a struggle, with Inner Sakura's constant cursing being the only thing that got Outer Sakura through it.
Sakura felt that if Shion also had to learn a lot of extra things like she did, she could accept sharing the two little Tailed Beasts.
Shion was still young, after all, and was easily tricked by Ishiro into agreeing to the extra training and study tasks. However, her training was different from that of an ordinary person. He would have to write to her mother to ask for the specifics.
Using the opportunity, Ishiro also checked on Sakura's learning progress.
Then, he left Iwagakure.
Ishiro didn't go directly to the Land of Hot Water but first made a trip to the branch in the Land of Bears.
Looking at the nearly completed new branch, he nodded slightly.
He entered and first summoned the person in charge to inquire about the situation.
The branch head reported, "Lord Tsuchikage, most of the construction is complete. We're just finishing up. It won't be long before we can arrange for civilians to move in."
"During this time, under the attacks of the village's Anbu and the newly graduated genin, the rogue ninja in the Land of Bears and the surrounding small countries, including the Land of Birds, have been mostly eliminated."
"The ones who weren't wiped out have been driven away. Some went to the Land of Rain and joined the Akatsuki, some entered the Land of Wind. The rest crossed the Land of Rain into the Land of Grass."
"Before long, the entire region north of the Land of Wind will be cleared of rogue ninja."
Ishiro nodded. He was more or less aware of these matters from the backlogged official documents he processed.
"Lord Tsuchikage, there is one matter we haven't been able to resolve," the branch head continued.
"When we annexed the Land of Bears, we disbanded their Star Ninja Village. However, according to subsequent intelligence, some ninja had already left before we dealt with the village."
"Not many left, but they took the village's treasure, the 'Star,' with them."
"I've been investigating this matter within the Land of Bears, but I've found nothing."
"The Star?" The name rang a bell for Ishiro. He vaguely remembered some things related to it from the original story.
After some thought, he said, "Keep an eye on it, but don't actively search. If you press too hard, they won't show themselves. Relax the search, and perhaps they will come out on their own."
"Yes, sir," the man replied.
"How have Tenbin Chūkō, Chiga, and Sasagawa Ayumi been performing recently?" Ishiro asked.
Although the branch was not yet complete, many of its functions were already in use. For example, it served as a rest and resupply point for all ninja on missions nearby. They even received their missions from here.
All three members of Squad 6 were on missions in this area. Since they were his disciples, the branch head would surely be paying special attention.
Sure enough, the man smiled. "They are performing well. Chūkō's strength is very high. He has been performing brilliantly in the recent confrontations with Suna."
"It's just that he..."
Ishiro smiled and finished his sentence for him. "His individual strength is good, but his experience in commanding a squad is still lacking, right?"
The man gave an awkward smile, thinking: So Lord Tsuchikage knows. I heard he has another disciple named Riori Uzumaki who is the same type of ninja.
Could it be that Lord Tsuchikage is deliberately teaching these children he kidnaps from other villages to have only strength and no brains? The thought crossed his mind, but he didn't dare pursue it. A matter for the high command was something a mere branch head was better off pretending not to know.
He, of course, knew that Sōkai was an Uchiha. Besides him, Sōkai's Anbu squad leader and the commander of that squad's unit also knew. That was why he was thinking along these lines. It wasn't that he was overthinking it, but besides these two children stolen from other villages, Ishiro's other disciples were all intelligent. He had even heard that many of them were research geniuses in certain fields.
With Lord Tsuchikage's teaching ability, he could raise their strength to the jonin or even elite jonin level. It was impossible that he couldn't teach them how to lead a squad.
There was only one conclusion: Ishiro was doing it on purpose.
Ishiro didn't know about the complex drama playing out in the man's head. If he did, he might have rewarded him with a Light Release blast.
Seeing the man hadn't replied, he asked, "What about Sasagawa Ayumi?"
"Sasagawa Ayumi is at the branch. He said a while ago that he received a scroll you sent him, and he's been in closed-door training ever since."
"Chiga's squad is on a mission. They should be back tomorrow."
"The two of them are much weaker than Chūkō, but they are still top-tier among their peers. Especially Sasagawa Ayumi. His Super Beast Scroll is very versatile, with offense, defense, and sealing capabilities. He is a very rare talent."
Ishiro nodded. "I'll be staying at the branch for one night. I'll take Chiga with me tomorrow. Make arrangements for the rest of her squad."
"Yes." Seeing Ishiro had nothing else to say, the man left.
Ishiro first went to find Sasagawa Ayumi. With his panoramic perception, he didn't need to ask for directions and quickly located him.
Ayumi had been studying the Super Beast Scroll notes Ishiro had sent him. He had developed many new methods from the scroll.
For example, when Ishiro walked into his temporary courtyard, he saw it was filled with small animals created by the Super Beast Scroll. Under Ayumi's control, they were arranged in neat formations, practicing group combat.
Ishiro found it interesting and used his Porcelain Release to test the strength of this small animal army.
When Ayumi saw Ishiro, he was about to greet him but then saw the porcelain. His eyes lit up. He knew Ishiro was guiding him, so he immediately began to control the animals to attack.
Although they were in animal form, they did not fight like animals. They advanced in a neat, human-like battle formation.
When they reached the mud, they uniformly met the porcelain with their less important body parts.
Seeing this, Ishiro's eyes lit up. Not bad. This level of precise control shows he's made great progress.
He didn't use any complex attacks, just probed Ayumi's various tactics. After a few rounds, he was very satisfied. "Not bad, not bad. Did you learn all this from that scroll?"
Ayumi said, "Teacher Ishiro, most of it was taught in the scroll, but I also came up with many things myself."
Ishiro was very satisfied with Ayumi's ability to learn independently. He hadn't received much direct guidance from Ishiro; Ishiro had just helped him find things that played to his strengths. Ayumi had always trained on his own and was used to thinking for himself.
The two of them discussed how to train with the Super Beast Scroll for a long time. Finally, after offering a few more words of encouragement, Ishiro left.
The next day, Chiga returned to the branch with her squad leader after completing a mission.
Her squad had originally planned to rest for two days before their next mission, but Chiga was temporarily taken away by Ishiro. The branch head arranged other missions for the other three members of her squad.
As they flew, Ishiro explained the purpose of their trip.
After hearing him out, Chiga asked excitedly, "Teacher Ishiro, you're saying the Cult of Jashin in the Land of Hot Water can also use blood?"
Ishiro said, "That's right. And their method is even more direct than yours. After obtaining an enemy's blood, they can easily kill them. So be extra careful this time. Don't let your own blood be taken."
"Yes, I understand, Teacher Ishiro."
"The main purpose of taking you this time is to see if we can learn from their methods. Your blood perception ability has not had a qualitative change and is still far from my expectations. I hope we can gain something this time."
"Okay, okay." Chiga was also very much looking forward to the trip.
Last time, Ishiro had traded for some blood-related research data from Kirigakure. But honestly, it hadn't been of much help to Chiga. Her ability hadn't improved.
At this moment, Ishiro thought of a new method.
He would have Chiga try to ingest the blood of a ninja with a Kekkei Genkai and see if there was any difference.
But he didn't tell her this idea yet. A Kekkei Genkai was a major matter for any village or clan. Blood contained the hereditary secrets of a Kekkei Genkai user; he couldn't just casually ask them to hand it over. Iwagakure had many Kekkei Genkai users, but he would need to communicate with them and get their consent.
For now, Ishiro listened to Chiga talk about her experiences after joining the Anbu as they flew quickly toward the Land of Hot Water.
High above the Land of Hot Water.
Ishiro and Chiga looked down from the porcelain platform. Even without going down, they could see that the situation was not right.
The country was in chaos. The bustling sight of tourists everywhere was gone. Few people were doing any proper work; followers of the Cult of Jashin were active everywhere. They all wore special uniforms and were easy to identify.
"No wonder the Daimyo would rather let Iwagakure establish a branch than let this continue," Ishiro thought. "If this goes on, the country might be torn apart by these lunatics."
The two of them landed about twenty kilometers from the former Yugakure.
The cult's headquarters was in the old village. To be cautious, Ishiro decided to scout first.
He had already entered Sage Mode. From twenty kilometers away, he scanned the cult's defenses with his Mind's Eye.
A moment later, he opened his eyes, his mouth twitching.
He felt he had overestimated them. The headquarters had practically no defenses. Not only that, but perhaps because most of their members were out proselytizing and recruiting, there weren't many people in the village at all.
There were no ordinary civilians, and the number of cult members was far smaller than he had imagined. And these few members weren't even on patrol.
Are they overconfident, or did they get arrogant after easily defeating Yugakure?
He felt the latter was more likely.
"Let's go directly to the village," Ishiro said. "These lunatics have no idea they're in danger. There are only a few hundred people in the entire village, with almost no defenses. That's not even enough for me to kill in one round with my porcelain."
Chiga: ...
She thought: Teacher Ishiro, is it okay for you to say that? It makes it seem like the hard work we ordinary ninja do on our missions is meaningless.
The two quickly approached the village.
As the distance closed, the situation became clearer in Ishiro's perception. The few hundred cult members were no problem; he had never taken them seriously.
But in the center of the village, there was a hidden but vaguely dangerous source of energy.
This energy made Ishiro wary again.
So, after arriving at the village, he didn't show himself directly. He first created a large amount of porcelain mud, then split it into several hundred streams that quickly shot into the village.
The mud scattered, heading for the cult members Ishiro had already located.
It was surprisingly smooth. In a short time, Ishiro had silently dealt with all the scattered cult members.
After a while, confirming there was no movement from the center of the village, he shook his head. "I really don't know how Yugakure lost to such trash."
By now, most of the cult members had been sealed by his Sage Art: Porcelain Release. The process was completely silent and caused no commotion. He hadn't even killed anyone; he had just sealed a few hundred of them.
If it had been a few hundred ninja, it would have been impossible. He could have easily dealt with them with his porcelain, but it would have either caused a big stir or required him to kill most of them by sneak attack. Not like this, where he hadn't killed a single one.
After sealing them, Ishiro and Chiga continued toward the center of the village.
Soon, they arrived in front of a huge pool of blood.
Seeing this, both of them sucked in a breath of cold air.
Such a large pool, and judging by the surrounding scene, the liquid inside was likely human blood. It would have taken the blood of at least several thousand people to create something of this scale.
Although Ishiro had killed many people, he was still shaken by the sight.
Chiga, needless to say, cried out in alarm.
In front of them was a huge pool of blood. In the center was a small, island-like platform with an altar on it. Around the altar were a dozen or so pillars, covered in dried blood. Ropes were scattered at the base of the pillars, and grooves connected them to the pool. People had clearly been tied to these pillars and sacrificed to the "Evil God." Their blood had flowed into the pool.
There were a few dozen cult members in this area, the last ones in the village. Most of them were soaking in the pool. The blood, perhaps mixed with some special substance, was unnaturally vibrant. A few others were standing on the central altar, fiddling with something.
The entire area was very quiet, so Chiga's scream immediately drew everyone's attention.
Ishiro didn't care that they were looking at him; he hadn't planned to hide anyway. After scanning the scene, he was using his Mind's Eye to locate the source of the vague danger he felt.
Soon, he locked onto the target. The source was at the center of the altar.
But when he looked with his naked eye, there was nothing there.
Seeing the intruders, the cult members all became excited. Several of them jumped out of the pool and, like ninja walking on water, ran across the surface of the blood toward them. It seemed they were fighting over the two of them as prey.
But not everyone was excited. One person standing by the altar suddenly shouted, "Don't go! Summon Lord Jashin! You're no match for him! He's the Fourth Tsuchikage of Iwagakure!"
"Oh? Someone actually recognizes me. It seems the cult isn't completely arrogant," Ishiro said to Chiga.
The next moment, a large amount of porcelain mud materialized and shot toward the dozens of cult members.
The few hotheads who had charged forward were the first to be sealed. The dozens in the pool were also pulled out by the porcelain and sealed.
Only a few of them were an exception.
As he tried to seal them, a burst of energy, far exceeding their own, erupted from their bodies. The porcelain was instantly repelled.
These dozens of people were originally at the jonin level. Ishiro's Sage Art: Porcelain Release had been scaled to their strength. So, the ones with weak combat awareness were easily sealed.
But the few who had reacted quickly had their strength increased to the elite jonin level.
"Hm?" Ishiro was surprised.
But his gaze was not on them. It was on the center of the altar.
If before, the center had felt like a faintly glowing ember, now, in his Mind's Eye, it was like a bright torch.
His Mind's Eye told him something was there. To be precise, that location was connected to some unknown, powerful existence.
He analyzed it carefully and quickly came to a preliminary judgment: it was a spiritual body.
By now, Ishiro's knowledge was far beyond what it had been during his first encounter with the cult. His strength had also undergone a qualitative change, especially his Yin Release, which had reached the third stage.
He had a feeling that this existence, whose main body was somewhere else, was also at the third stage of Yin Release. But even at the same stage, it was much closer to the fourth, the Sage level. And in terms of sheer quantity of power, Ishiro felt this thing was no weaker than Mōryō.
Jashin! The Evil God!
Author's Note: I made a mistake about Hoshigakure (Star Ninja Village) before. I always thought it was just a small country's ninja village and didn't connect it with the Land of Bears. But the "Star" is useful later on, so I've changed the original plan and forcibly added it back in. Thank you to the reader who pointed it out.
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