Unfortunately, Hidan was now under Uchiha Madara's command, otherwise Yuto would have been quite interested in studying Hidan's so-called immortality.
Looking at the cave before him, Yuto raised his foot and walked inside.
Following behind Yuto, Neji didn't hesitate in the slightest and walked in as well.
Surveying the cave overgrown with weeds and filled with dust everywhere, Yuto couldn't help but raise an eyebrow slightly.
Clearly, no one had come to this cave in a very long time.
"Is Lord Yuto looking for something in particular?"
Upon entering the cave, Neji immediately activated his Byakugan and began scanning his surroundings.
"Since this was once the Jashin cult's place, there should be a statue of Jashin. Help me find it."
Yuto spoke calmly.
Since the Jashin cult had been destroyed for so long, even if there were anything valuable, it would have been taken away long ago.
But something like a Jashin statue, presumably, no one would take.
Hearing Yuto's words, Neji quickly nodded.
For the Hyuga clan's Byakugan, places like caves that normally obstructed vision were no hindrance at all.
From the nearly two-meter-high cave entrance, one could tell that the cave's interior was quite spacious.
As Yuto and Neji ventured deeper, the light from the entrance grew increasingly dim.
Whoosh!
A ball of flame suddenly ignited from Yuto's palm, instantly illuminating the somewhat dark cave.
With the light produced by the flame, Yuto could now see clearly that there were densely packed special curse marks carved into the surrounding cave walls.
In the centermost position of these curse marks, there were also triangles of varying sizes.
"Interesting. These curse marks aren't something an emerging religion could possess. It seems my guess was correct."
Yuto's gaze swept across the special curse marks on the cave walls, and the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
Although most of the curse marks carved on the walls had been destroyed, Yuto could still feel a sense of familiarity.
The feeling these curse marks gave Yuto was very similar to a certain clan!
The Uzumaki clan from the already-destroyed Land of Whirlpools, and the power they possessed.
Of course, mere similarity didn't prove that the Jashin cult before him had any connection to the Uzumaki clan.
But this at least proved that this Jashin cult's history definitely predates the Warring States Period.
Just as Yuto was contemplating this, Neji, who was searching for the Jashin statue, suddenly froze and hurriedly spoke to Yuto.
"Lord Yuto, I found it. It's in the deepest part of this cave."
A smile flashed across Yuto's face as both of them headed toward the depths of the cave.
As the two ventured deeper, Neji, who had been expressionless, couldn't help but furrow his brow.
Despite so much time having passed, this cave still emitted a faint scent of blood.
On the ground beneath the cave walls, one could occasionally see human bones.
"How many people did this Jashin cult actually kill back then?"
Though the bloody scent was faint, Neji still couldn't help but feel a chill rise in his heart.
"The Jashin cult's doctrine is to kill everyone around them."
"But compared to an actual war, this much blood is nothing."
Yuto glanced at Neji's unsettled expression, his own face remaining calm.
War?
Hearing these two words, Neji's mind instantly recalled the scene when the four great ninja villages attacked Konoha.
Compared to a battlefield like that, the people killed by the Jashin cult was indeed nothing.
Soon, Yuto and Neji arrived at the deepest part of the cave.
A massive stone statue, five or six meters tall with a fierce appearance, stood at the very back of the cave.
Looking at the massive Jashin statue before him, Yuto narrowed his eyes slightly.
On top of this Jashin statue's head, there were two tall protrusions, resembling two horns.
Seeing this, a cold smile appeared on Yuto's lips.
A horned Jashin.
Come to think of it, in this ninja world, anything connected to gods almost always had two horns.
Yuto's gaze moved from the top of the statue down to its feet.
There, at the feet of the Jashin statue, was a massive pattern composed of a circle and a triangle, with the Jashin statue positioned in the center of this triangle.
The scene before him bore a striking resemblance to the ritual for performing curses.
However, unlike the simple circle and triangle pattern beneath Hidan's feet, surrounding this special pattern were ten mysterious designs spreading outward from the Jashin statue in all directions.
And at the ends of these mysterious designs were deeply carved grooves.
A gleam of light flashed through Yuto's eyes. His feet moved, and he vanished from his spot.
When Yuto's figure reappeared, he was standing at one of the grooves connected to the mysterious designs.
Sniffing the bloody scent permeating the air, Yuto raised the flame in his hand to illuminate the groove below.
Dried, ancient blood appeared before Yuto's eyes.
As expected, these ten grooves connected to the mysterious designs were specifically meant to hold blood.
"Truly worthy of being the Jashin cult."
Yuto frowned slightly, his voice low.
Was this Jashin statue simply absorbing power from blood?
Thinking this, Yuto extended his finger and lightly cut his palm.
Removing the enhancement of black and yellow power, with just his finger's strength, a wound easily opened on Yuto's palm.
A stream of blood instantly dripped from Yuto's palm toward the blood groove below.
Yuto's gaze fixed intently on the mysterious design connected to the blood groove. After a long while, there was no special reaction.
Seeing this, a look of interest flashed through Yuto's eyes. With a thought, chakra quickly surged from his palm, rapidly healing the wound.
Pure blood apparently had no effect. So was it some special energy within the blood that this Jashin statue required?
If it only needed energy?
Yuto's eyes flashed with a gleam of light. He raised his palm toward the mysterious design before him, and a powerful chakra aura instantly rose from Yuto's body.
This chakra rapidly poured from Yuto's palm into the mysterious design before him.
"It doesn't absorb chakra energy? Or perhaps not ordinary chakra?"
Seeing his own chakra having no effect on the mysterious design before him, a look of surprise crossed Yuto's eyes.
Thinking this, Yuto didn't stop his hand's movement—he simply converted what had been ordinary chakra into Sage chakra.
Hey everyone,
I need to tell you what's actually happening.
I just got hit with mass cancellations. On top of being buried in academics until the 9th. I'm in deep financial trouble right now—like, genuinely don't-know-how-I-cover-next-month trouble.
I want to do more for you. I have another Naruto fic ready to drop the moment this academic hell ends. But I can't keep creating if I can't survive.
I'm not powerless about the work—I know I can deliver for you. But I'm powerless to stop the bleeding alone.
If you've ever thought about supporting, this is the moment. Not "someday." Now.
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