Passing by the large house from before, Nao suddenly stopped, her eyes reddened as she looked at the corpses lying on the ground.
"It's Grandpa Village Chief. Brother Yoru, can I bury the dead villagers? After my mother died, Grandpa Village Chief and the others always helped and took care of me."
Aoki Yoru looked at her reddened eyes, nodded after a moment of silence, and reached out to wipe away the moisture from the corners of her eyes. "Alright, let's bury them first."
He moved all the corpses in the village to an open space, found some nearby dead wood and stones, and used Ninjutsu to quickly dig a shallow pit to place the bodies inside.
Nao knelt to the side, looking at the small mounds of earth. She kowtowed heavily and sobbed in a low voice, "Thank you everyone for taking care of me all this time. Nao will live on well from now on."
Afterward, Aoki Yoru led Nao toward the Land of Moon. During the journey, Nao peeked at him from time to time, looking as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.
Aoki Yoru didn't call her out on it; he knew Nao wanted him to save the captured villagers.
But who knew if the Jashin Cult was a dragon's den or a tiger's lair? They could even produce a bug-level immortal like Hidan; rushing in blindly might cost him his life.
Suddenly, Aoki Yoru's footsteps came to a sharp halt as he looked straight into the depths of the forest.
Nao tightly grabbed the corner of his clothes, her small, thin body shrinking behind him, her voice trembling, "Brother Yoru, it's them. I recognize their scent."
At this moment, several figures wrapped in black robes walked out from the forest, twisted curse patterns carved on their faces, and the blades in their hands still stained with wet blood. The lead cultist with a scarred face spoke with a weird laugh:
"Oh? I didn't expect there to be living people nearby. Although the numbers are sufficient, the Priest will surely be satisfied with two more."
Looking at the clamoring people in front of him, Aoki Yoru comforted the frightened young girl, gently stroking her head, his voice becoming exceptionally soft, "Be good, Nao. Hide behind this tree. It'll be over soon."
After hiding Nao, he slowly drew his Ninja blade from his waist and looked at the several people in front of him.
"Swoosh—"
Aoki Yoru's figure disappeared from the spot, and when he reappeared, he was already behind them.
By the time the scarred cultist reacted, the others had already fallen to the ground clutching their necks, the lines of blood appearing exceptionally piercing under the sunlight.
"Lord Ninja, don't kill me, don't kill me! I'll do anything!"
The scarred cultist immediately knew the person before him was a Ninja and that he was no match, so he immediately knelt and begged for mercy.
Aoki Yoru walked up to him, placed the blade against his neck, and looked at him coldly. "Was the village in the northern Land of Hot Springs your doing? What is your purpose? Tell me and I'll spare your life."
"Yes, yes, yes, I will tell you everything I know!" Hearing there was a chance to live, he immediately nodded frantically and confessed what he knew.
"The villagers from the northern Land of Hot Springs were indeed captured by us. The purpose is to sacrifice them to summon the Great Lord Jashin."
"Jashin? Have you seen Jashin?" Aoki Yoru asked with a face full of curiosity. Jashin and the Shinigami in Naruto remained unsolved mysteries.
How were they born? Were they life forms or higher-dimensional existences? Kishimoto might never fill this plot hole in his lifetime.
"No, how could we be qualified to see Lord Jashin? But the Priest said Lord Jashin appeared a few years ago and even granted one of the cultists immortality."
As he spoke, a look of longing appeared on the scarred face. "Even the Daimyo asked the Priest how to become immortal."
Hearing this, Aoki Yoru understood why no one cared about the incident in the northern Land of Hot Springs; it turned out the Daimyo was also involved.
Hearing him say someone had achieved immortality, Aoki Yoru knew who it was—
The Three of Akatsuki, Immortal Hidan.
Looking at the scarred man's extreme worship of Jashin and his longing for immortality, Aoki Yoru interrupted his daydreaming. "Where is your hideout, and how is the security inside?"
"It's at the Mt. Liangjie on the border, 10 kilometers to the east. There's a naturally formed cave there that is now our base. Our cultists and the Ninja lords sent by the Daimyo are guarding it." The scarred cultist spilled everything without holding anything back.
Aoki Yoru wasn't very satisfied with this answer; he wanted to know if the Jashin Cult base had any trump cards.
With a stroke of yerun, a bloody gash appeared on the man's face, and blood slowly began to ooze out.
"Doesn't your base have any trump cards? Aren't you afraid of outsiders breaking in?"
The scarred cultist was immediately scared out of his wits, sweat pouring down his face, as he quickly replied:
"Lord Ninja, I'm not lying, there really aren't any! I heard the Priest say the original base had them, but then the person who achieved immortality went on a killing spree."
Only the Priest and a few others escaped and hid everywhere. This base was only established in the last two years."
"Oh? Is that so? Then what about the people you kidnapped? Have they all been killed?"
The scarred man immediately shook his head vigorously. "No, no, the villagers kidnapped recently are all alive. The Priest wants to perform a collective blood sacrifice on them to summon Jashin."
"We've tried to summon Lord Jashin four times this year, but all failed. This time we specially prepared ten thousand people to succeed in one go."
"Is that so! Thanks for the information."
Hearing this, the scarred man revealed a relieved smile, which suddenly froze as a bloodline appeared on his neck and warm blood gushed out.
The scarred man fell to the ground clutching his neck, his eyes full of resentment and malice. "You... you didn't keep... your promise."
Aoki Yoru expressionlessly flicked his short blade, and a bead of blood traced a cold arc in the air before splashing onto a blade of grass.
He looked at the corpse on the ground and said contemptuously, "I have never been a person who keeps his word."
"Nao, come out."
The little girl walked out from behind the tree. Not only was she unfazed by the four bodies on the scene, but she also looked at him with anticipation.
Aoki Yoru wasn't surprised by this. Nao had the Kagura Shingan and knew everything that had happened; now she was hoping he could rescue the villagers.
Aoki Yoru didn't say anything either; he just bit his finger and formed hand seals:
"Summoning Technique!"
Looking at the massive body of Yatagarasu, Nao was so startled by the overwhelming presence that she stepped back repeatedly.
Her small hands tightly covered her mouth, her round eyes wide enough to almost fall out, and she even forgot to breathe for a moment. After a long while, she choked out a sentence:
"Wh-what a big bird... It's even bigger than Grandpa Village Chief's house!"
Aoki Yoru picked her up, jumped onto Yatagarasu's back, and signaled it to fly.
"Ah! So amazing! It actually flew up!" On the bird's back, Nao, experiencing flight for the first time, jumped and skipped, full of novelty about flying.
Then, Aoki Yoru created a Shadow Clone. The two of them nodded, and then he took out a scroll and handed it to Nao.
"I'm going to check out the Jashin Cult base. If possible, I'll rescue the villagers."
Although he knew it might be dangerous, since Jashin had appeared, he couldn't miss this opportunity. It concerned his future plans.