"Master, please sit here."
Haseo was led to the gathering site of the Shoe God Religion and quietly took a seat in an inconspicuous corner... Well, he was merely an audience member.
To start with, it was ridiculous that the meeting had been scheduled for the dead of night. To the general public, organizations that operated openly during the day were fundamentally different from those hiding in darkness...
Of course, this didn't necessarily mean groups active during daylight hours were good—just that they appeared respectable on the surface, making it hard for ordinary people to see through them.
Everyone wore identical hooded black robes, and their faces were hidden behind matching masks. If they'd each been holding torches, this place would look just like some classic angry lynch mob scene from old-timey movies.
But right now, the atmosphere was eerily silent.
Around one thousand five hundred to two thousand people had gathered here. Haseo didn't bother counting—he assumed all members of the shoe religion had assembled. According to previous explanations, he had sculpted a divine statue for the completion ceremony of a certain temple. However, the actual meeting location turned out to be a remote, abandoned village without even a trace of any temple structure.
If Haseo were an ordinary person who had been tricked into coming here, he definitely would've realized something wasn felt wrong and started thinking about escaping. Unfortunately, after considering his options, he'd probably realize there was no escape at all—he'd only end up as helpless prey.
This situation was way worse than accidentally falling into a pyramid scheme.
All these people seemed to blend perfectly into the night, silently staying put without uttering a single word. The only sound in the dark night came from the burning bonfire ahead, whose dim glow spread across the darkness, revealing a sickly pale hue...
Looking forward, Haseo noticed a large two-meter-high box beside the fire—it was undoubtedly the divine statue crafted by his own hands.
A faint smell of blood and decay hung in the air, making the whole place feel even more unsettling.
"So why did they invite me? You know, I clearly set my life goal when I was ten—I wanted nothing more than to live peacefully as Haseo Yu."
Thus, we see how difficult it is to achieve personal life goals.
Weirdness belonged to others, while Haseo's thoughts were quite straightforward—he was just preparing to watch the upcoming performance.
Soon enough, seven individuals appeared at the very front. One of them stepped forward, launching into a confusing, mystic-sounding speech... His words weren't worth mentioning, and his brainwashing attempts felt extremely forced—nothing like what Haseo considered skilled.
Real experts know how to spread ideas subtly—like the Will of Fire.
Still...
"Aren't these guys supposed to be Ninja?"
Haseo quickly sensed that at least those first seven individuals present were Ninja. In this world, if anyone intended to pull off some kind of trickery or complex plans, they inevitably involved professionals bearing the identity of "Ninja."
So when Haseo saw other shinobi like himself, he felt a wave of relief wash over him, though he couldn't help being a little disappointed—he'd really hoped to meet the legendary Shoedeity.
In fact, Haseo had already imagined how he would go head-to-head with the Shoedeity in a two-hundred-round showdown, only for reality to say there was no such thing as the Shoedeity at all.
Well then, he might as well enjoy the ninjas' performance.
For such a large-scale "Shoe Religion" to appear in such a small nation, they must have had some kind of plan.
Just as Haseo was lost in thought, that eerie statue was brought out—and instantly, the stench of blood became even stronger.
Because of its visual impact, gasps spread through the crowd. Then came silence—no, not just silence, but a deadly stillness, as if the statue had frozen everyone in terror.
No wonder Haseo had caught the scent of blood earlier—the source was this sculpture itself. Looks like they'd colored over Haseo's original masterpiece again, making the hues even more vivid this time around.
But that wasn't the main issue—the key point was…
[A wide-range illusion technique? No, probably nothing that advanced. It should be psychological suggestion combined with genjutsu.]
The moment the statue appeared, everyone gathered here instantly lost their focus. They were already under some kind of control.
Among these ninjas, there must be one especially skilled in illusion techniques. Even so, manipulating so many people at once using only genjutsu alone was extremely difficult—even if they were all ordinary civilians.
Hmm, Haseo needed to apologize for his shallow understanding before; apparently, what they had said previously wasn't meaningless chatter at all—it was essential foreplay: long-term brainwashing, verbal manipulation during the event, shocking visuals, and widespread use of genjutsu. Look at them! Ninjas sure knew how to get creative with their mind games.
So, what did this group plan to do?
Even if these controlled civilians were used merely as cannon fodder, it actually made a difference. The idea of ants bringing down an elephant isn't hard to grasp—there's real power in numbers.
Then, the group started taking action.
As for their objective, it wasn't hard to guess. As soon as Haseo thought about it, he figured it out—if this Shoe Religion wanted to take over the small nation of the Land of Hot Springs, the first step would naturally be eliminating the country's military force.
That is, the small ninja village called Yunagi Village.
Seven or eight ninjas controlling a thousand or so regular citizens attempting to attack a ninja village? If their target was Konoha, then it'd be sheer arrogance. But if their goal was a minor ninja village instead, the situation was completely different—this was entirely possible.
Moreover, these brainwashed commoners absolutely constituted significant assistance, since the combat strength and the number of active ninjas available at once in a small village like Yunagi were likely inferior to those of a minor organization like Kagenami.
As for comparisons regarding quality, well, those didn't even need mentioning.
If among these seven or eight ninjas there were several especially powerful ones, and if Yunagi Village also had infiltrators working for the enemy…
What had started as a peaceful gathering of the Shoe Religion quickly descended into chaos—now it was nothing but infighting. This whole thing had suddenly become incredibly boring.
This wasn't a battle worth watching — what was about to unfold over there would probably be no different from a full-blown "Zombie Uprising" scenario.
The middle-aged man who had been in charge of contacting Haseo, arranging the divine statue commission, and inviting him to this gathering probably hadn't anticipated today turning out this way.
As an ordinary person, his greatest ambition was simply recovering that sum of money and squeezing every last drop from Haseo's household wealth. Such schemes were hardly even worth mentioning in front of any ninja.
So now he trudged along with the Large Squad like a soulless puppet, heading into the unknown.
At this moment, did Haseo still have the heart to watch all this unfold?
Absolutely not. He had stayed behind right where he was… How exceptional could these ninja really be? There was no way they could detect Haseo's movements.
As the silent, eerie crowd vanished into the distance, Haseo started combing through the abandoned village.
You lot can carry on with your little mission — I'll stay behind and rip your whole operation apart from the inside.
[Translated and published exclusively at EnglishNovelPlatform.com]
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