Just as the Evil God Cult Genin was utterly bewildered, the ground beneath his feet instantly cracked open, and a massive, stretched-to-the-limit maw, as thick as a bucket, instantly swallowed his feet, threatening to devour his entire body the next moment.
At that very instant, the Evil God Cult follower reacted quickly, his feet colliding sharply just as they were about to be swallowed, using the recoil to retreat to the side.
Pop!
In the darkness, a sound like a fish blowing bubbles echoed, and the Earth Dragon Beast ate nothing but air.
Pfft!
It shook its head, spitting out the air stuck in its "throat," and looked at Shangguan Mo with a wronged expression.
The next moment, the Evil God Cult follower's figure appeared nearby; he looked at the Earth Dragon Beast with lingering fear, his face still showing signs of being startled.
If he had truly been swallowed by that ugly creature, he dared not imagine what his fate would have been.
"Brat! You've successfully angered me. Don't think that just because you somehow signed a contract with a mutated earthworm to act as a Summoning Beast, you have the confidence to oppose me. Prepare to face my wrath…"
"Ah ah ah ah! Shut up! Blah blah blah! Are you f*cking annoying?! I can't take it anymore! Little Thorn, shoot him dead for me!"
Shangguan Mo covered his ears in agony, roaring up at the sky.
As soon as he finished speaking, countless iron thorns, reflecting faint cold light, instantly burst forth from behind the Evil God Cult follower, covering the entire five-meter radius around him.
Thud thud thud thud…
Hiss hiss hiss…
Sounds of sharp objects hitting the ground rang out, interspersed with barely perceptible sounds of a dozen or so blades piercing flesh.
Dense iron thorns pierced the area like needles, making it impenetrable, and a figure in the middle, riddled with holes like a hedgehog, slowly collapsed to the ground.
"Little Thorn, you have a new brother."
Shangguan Mo looked at the Evil God Cult follower, whose body was virtually covered in holes, feeling a slight relief and amusement, and teased the Iron Hedgehog.
"Squeak squeak squeak…"
The Iron Hedgehog made a displeased sound.
"You mean this guy is full of sin? You can sense such things?"
Listening to the meaning conveyed by the Iron Hedgehog in his mind, Shangguan Mo became curious.
He hadn't expected his Summoning Beast to be able to vaguely sense the differences in a person's aura, and even distinguish good from evil based on that.
Pursing his lips, Shangguan Mo motioned for the Earth Dragon Beast to carry the Evil God Cult follower on its back, then turned and walked towards the room where Inoshita Riya and the others were staying.
On the way back, he was summing up the gains and losses of this battle.
"My battle plan was correct. Aside from the Earth Beetle I prepared not being used, the other arrangements were correct.
I first feigned the fear a child of this age should have, letting this guy lower his guard, which allowed my Summoning Beast to sneak and flank him…"
Thinking of this, Shangguan Mo couldn't help but feel proud of his quick wit, but then he thought that he had to expend so much effort just to kill an ordinary Ninja, which was simply an embarrassment to the vast number of Hokage transmigrators.
"Others start with Mangekyo, signing in and clocking out, while I start by being chased, having to risk my life to fight a Genin…"
However, he still felt that his approach was correct. With his current strength facing Ninja, it was never wrong to have as many backup plans and preparations as possible.
"If it weren't for Little Dragon and Little Thorn suddenly appearing one after another and catching that guy off guard this time, I definitely wouldn't have been able to kill him! The best outcome would have been for him to escape. That guy only used one Substitution Technique and didn't even have a chance to release other Ninjutsu before I ambushed him to death…
Aside from being somewhat disgusted by that guy's talk-no-jutsu, everything else was within my expectations…"
After confirming his future combat style in his mind, Shangguan Mo returned to Inoshita Riya and the others' room.
Bang!
Ignoring the astonished gazes of everyone, he threw the Evil God Cult follower he was carrying onto the ground.
"Riya-sensei, this is the guy."
He said indifferently.
Inoshita Riya's face lit up, then he suddenly remembered something and quickly asked.
"What about Kawashita and the other two children?"
Shangguan Mo's expression dimmed slightly.
"According to this guy, they were all bled dry and died…"
"What?"
"How cruel!"
"Is this the Evil God Cult?"
The surrounding classmates all looked terrified, instinctively retreating a few steps, wanting only to stay away from this evil guy.
Inoshita Riya's expression was somewhat sad. Then he pulled off the large scythe from the Evil God Cult follower's back, and facing Shangguan Mo's confused gaze, he gently explained.
"The two students cannot die in vain. Take this item back to the Village as proof of your killing an Evil God Cult Ninja; it can secure more compensation for them, and you will also have a considerable merit."
Shangguan Mo just nodded silently, not speaking.
With the danger gone, Inoshita Riya had the students form teams to search for the bodies of Kawashita and the other two students nearby.
These students were all top students in the class, having refined Chakra, so there was no need to worry too much about their safety against any potential ordinary Evil God Cult members.
Inoshita Riya himself stared at the Evil God Cult follower's corpse, looking at it again and again, finally tearing off the Ghost face mask (ghost face mask) from his head, revealing the blood-stained face of a middle-aged man.
"This should just be one of their lower-ranking followers; his status within the Evil God Cult is only slightly higher than ordinary people. But even facing such an ordinary cult member, I felt powerless. I am old after all…"
After a sigh, Inoshita Riya turned to look at Shangguan Mo again.
"It seems the Village's choice back then was not wrong. Looking at his injuries, he should have died from being impaled by the back spines of some kind of beast. It must have been your Summoning Beast, right? That large earthworm from back then gave me quite a fright…"
Saying this, he patted Shangguan Mo's shoulder and said earnestly.
"That large earthworm from before definitely wouldn't have such an ability, which means you must have signed contracts with other Summoning Beasts. To be able to do such a thing, you must possess some special ability, perhaps some kind of Bloodline Limit…"
Shangguan Mo's expression changed slightly, and he looked at him with some surprise.
Inoshita Riya, however, smiled gently and said softly.
"Teacher has no other meaning; I just want to say that although our Tang Yin Village is small, it's hard to guarantee that there won't be people with ill intentions towards your ability. In the future, try to hide your abilities as much as possible…"
"Yes, I will. Thank you for your concern, Riya-sensei."
Looking at the mature-looking half-grown boy in front of him, Inoshita Riya felt a mix of emotions.
He was happy that such a talented child had appeared in the Village, but also sad for his own mediocrity and failure.
Looking at Shangguan Mo's youthful face, he couldn't help but think to himself.
"Perhaps in more than ten years, this Village will have to rely on you to support it…
The Leader has been struggling alone for many years and has endured who knows how much frustration from the Daimyo of the Land of Hot Water…"
…