Beyond this valley, several paths abruptly came to an end, tangled in thick jungle.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
When Junko Watanabe and the other two arrived at the fork in the road, Sakumo was already nowhere in sight. However, Junko casually picked up a black stone from the ground, glanced at it briefly, and then led the other two down one of the paths.
...
Deep inside the dense forest.
Brilliant blue light flared as Sakumo effortlessly sliced through several sharpened wooden stakes launched from different directions before coming to a stop. He had temporarily ceased pursuit.
"It seems they were prepared beforehand."
Sakumo narrowed his eyes. Since entering the forest, countless traps had been waiting for him. Although they weren't particularly sophisticated, they indeed hindered his chase.
He could, of course, continue advancing, but he didn't know how many more traps lay ahead. For the safety of Junko and the others, it would be better to wait on this path—where most of the traps had already been triggered by him.
Still, he wasn't worried. Considering Ryo Yagura's speed while carrying Tachiyama Shinsaburo, they wouldn't escape the forest quickly. Moreover, he hadn't found any sign of them along the way, so they must've gone into hiding.
At this point, blindly searching wasn't as effective as Junko's sensor abilities.
...
Somewhere beneath the surface of the dense forest, Ryo Yagura and Tachiyama Shinsaburo were hiding underground.
Well, 'underground' might be a slight exaggeration—it was actually a shelter created with Earth Release ninjutsu using the terrain as cover.
Clearly, this was a place Tachiyama Shinsaburo had prepared in advance.
"I will complete the ritual here," Tachiyama declared.
"At a time like this? Are you trying to die? That Konoha ninja has sensor abilities—you really think we'll stay hidden?"
Hearing that, Tachiyama scoffed coldly. "Of course I know. That's why I set numerous traps throughout the forest to buy time."
"Once I finish the ritual, we'll hunt down and kill every last one of our pursuers!"
Tachiyama's eyes burned with hatred. These past few days, he'd been cornered repeatedly by Sakumo and the other Konoha ninja.
Especially Sakumo Hatake—his life was definitely forfeit.
"Hmph, just you?" Ryo chuckled lightly. Sakumo Hatake was even stronger than himself, and earlier, Tachiyama couldn't even defeat Junko Watanabe.
He didn't believe that performing some broken ritual would grant Tachiyama enough strength to kill Sakumo Hatake.
"But aren't you also tired of being hunted like prey all the time?" Tachiyama smiled. "Four of your subordinates died here. Do you think returning empty-handed will be easy to explain to the Raikage?"
Upon hearing this, Ryo's eyes narrowed slightly. Two Chunin meant little, but Jonin weren't easily developed within Kumogakure either.
But who could've predicted their enemies would be ninja of Sakumo's and Fuu Akimoto's caliber? Even Jonin couldn't do anything but fall in battle.
"If we take Sakumo Hatake's life, then this price will have been worth it."
"Very well," said Tachiyama Shinsaburo. A flicker of calculation crossed Ryo Yagura's eyes. Indeed, what Tachiyama Shinsaburo said made sense.
Moreover, by virtue of his strength, even if things turned bad later, escaping unharmed wouldn't be difficult.
Seeing Ryo Yagura's silence as agreement, Tachiyama Shinsaburo wasted no more words. He immediately drew a kunai and sliced open his right artery without flinching.
In an instant, blood gushed violently from the wound. Yet he grinned cruelly as he let it drip to the ground.
From the sidelines, Ryo Yagura couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine. Earlier, during their first clash with Konoha ninjas, this guy had bled out extensively and endured multiple life-threatening injuries.
Yet in such a short time, not only had all his wounds completely healed, but even the seams where others' left arms, necks, and heads had been stitched onto his body were gone too.
Now here he was, letting blood flow like this—he was practically inhuman!
Tachiyama stepped on his own blood, shifting his feet to draw a circle just big enough for one person to stand within.
Then, inside that circle, he formed a triangle.
Thus completed, some kind of seal began forming. Instead of deepening in color as normal blood would, it instead emitted a sinister red glow.
What happened next caused even Ryo Yagura to subconsciously narrow his pupils.
The self-inflicted wound on Tachiyama's artery healed at an alarming rate, vanishing completely within moments.
But it didn't end there—his spilled blood on the ground was now being gradually absorbed into the seal beneath his feet, rising upward along the triangle from where he stood.
A strange flame encircled Tachiyama entirely while in his hand he held the Bloodthirsty Sickle of Three Moons. His pallid complexion began to flush with life again.
He chanted something under his breath in a deeply reverent tone.
At that moment, his icy gaze trembled ever so slightly before he cried out hoarsely: "Immortal Ritual, begin!"
...
Swish! Swish!
Meanwhile, deep in the woods, Junko Watanabe and her two companions finally reached Sakumo Hatake by following the cipher marks he had left behind.
"Where is he?" Junko asked directly.
Sakumo Hatake gave them a brief description of the situation within the forest, and they nodded—they had followed the path Sakumo created to reach here, though they had encountered several traps along the way.
Without delay, Junko Watanabe formed hand seals and began sensing chakra, though her range barely extended a dozen meters around her.
Even so, Junko Watanabe remained among the finest sensor-type ninjas within Anbu.
It wasn't easy to train in sensory skills—not to mention considering her young age.
"There's nothing here."
After Junko spoke, Sakumo led the group forward through the dense forest while Junko continuously tracked their surroundings from behind.
...
After some time passed, Ryo Yagura noticed that Tachiyama's hands had begun turning bright red, as though thoroughly soaked in blood. Yet after several minutes, the deep crimson color settled and turned pitch black.
Gradually, white markings started surfacing across those now-black palms.
Until the very end, his face was completely covered by this color, making him look truly like an Evil Deity.
Ryo Yagura possessed extraordinary knowledge, yet he had never heard of a [Secret Art] quite like this one.
His transformed body exuded a savage, bloodthirsty aura.
At this point, Tachiyama Shinsaburo slashed his fingertip with the Bloodthirsty Sickle of Three Moons, letting the blood smear across the blade before bringing it to his lips.
Then, in the next moment, he did something so utterly insane that even Ryo Yagura was shaken to his core.
He yanked a pitch-black spike from within his sleeve and plunged it through his own heart.
His gaze grew wild with madness, and then he shrieked in a distorted, eerie tone:
[Immortal Ritual: Evil Deity Sacrifice!]
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