Fumori Masaki stood silently, his figure blurred in the night, as if merging with it.
He sensed the positions of the ninjas and then slowly walked towards them, making no sound, using the complex, undeveloped terrain of the Ninja Sect's old site to close the distance.
The perception brought by the Sage realm was very convenient; he was like a true sensory ninja, able to detect other people or objects, with a level of observation so subtle it could even rival the insight of the Sharingan.
However, he still couldn't hear sounds, so Fumori Masaki still had to get closer to hear these people's conversations to identify them.
Admittedly, going forward and capturing them all, then interrogating them one by one, would be the fastest way.
However, Fumori Masaki didn't know the specific intelligence of the enemy, so such an action would be somewhat reckless.
Even with his strength, he might still stumble if he was careless.
Fumori Masaki always kept Tobirama's teachings in mind: as an excellent ninja, one must never make the mistake of underestimating the enemy and always be cautious to maximize one's chances of survival.
As he got closer, Fumori Masaki could vaguely hear these people's conversations.
They didn't talk much; most of the time, they remained silent, only speaking a few words to liven the atmosphere when they seemed bored.
Most of what these people talked about were trivial matters, with no reference value.
However, from their accents, Fumori Masaki knew where they came from.
Not long ago, Fumori Masaki and his group had passed through that very place.
— The Land of Hot Water.
The true identities of these people were ninjas from the Land of Hot Water.
Fumori Masaki was somewhat puzzled.
Why were ninjas from the Land of Hot Water secretly appearing here and keeping people from the Land of Demons away?
His intuition told him this wasn't an action by the Hot Water Ninja Village.
In the current ninja world situation, even great nations dared not take any external actions, let alone a small country.
While he couldn't rule out the possibility that the Hot Water Ninja Village had lost its mind, it was more likely that these were actions taken by individual ninjas.
From the fragmented words of these people, Fumori Masaki confirmed this guess.
Among these ninjas wearing Hot Water Ninja Village headbands, there was a strong disdain for the Hot Water Ninja Village, as if they didn't care about it at all.
If it were an operation initiated by the ninja village, its members would be far too disrespectful.
Because of this, Fumori Masaki became even more curious about the purpose of these ninjas.
After confirming their skills, he felt he should capture them.
Just as he was about to make his move, he suddenly heard a familiar name.
— Jashin… Fumori Masaki never expected that these ninjas appearing here were actually followers of the religion Hidan worshipped.
Thinking about it carefully, Hidan himself was from the Hot Water Ninja Village, and when he came here with Hyuga Hideaki before, he had seen people proselytizing.
It seemed Jashin had a very large market in the Land of Hot Water.
Regarding Jashin's identity, both Fumori Masaki and readers from another world were very curious.
However, the original author never truly revealed Jashin's true face; one could only glimpse it through its follower, Hidan.
A body that would never die as long as it received nourishment, and a curse that allowed shared life and death using others' blood.
If one were to face it for the first time, they would most likely fall victim to it.
Thus, Fumori Masaki could vaguely guess the purpose of these ninjas appearing here: it was very likely that the followers were attempting to hold some kind of ritual to gain the same power as Hidan.
If he remembered correctly, Hidan should be the only successful one among many followers.
Since he was the only one, in other words, many rituals must have been performed before, and this might be one of them.
Unlike the Ninja Sect, which desired peace and tranquility, the Jashin cult desired chaos.
They never truly valued life; offering life was their creed.
The two were like opposing existences.
And the Jashin cult actually holding a ritual at the old site of the Ninja Sect seemed like a mockery of the Ninja Sect.
Fumori Masaki didn't know if the Jashin cult had other reasons, but perhaps a part of it was indeed for this reason.
After all, the people of the Jashin cult seemed mentally unstable and dismissive of other beliefs.
Such a group posed a very great threat to the Ninja Sect revival movement Fumori Masaki was undertaking.
Because they never cared about anything, once a conflict of beliefs occurred between the two sides, anything could happen.
Things like assassinating important figures in the revival movement or attacking towns influenced by the Ninja Sect's doctrines.
Fumori Masaki felt these people were entirely capable of such things.
Fumori Masaki's breathing became slightly heavier.
If these people were truly thorough Jashin followers, then he wouldn't need to worry about anything and could simply eliminate them all.
Fumori Masaki listened to these people's conversations, hoping to hear some valuable information.
At this moment, he felt other people approaching.
He concealed himself and continued to observe from the shadows, seeing another group of people appear and exchange some words with the ninjas already there.
It sounded like they were changing the guard.
Fumori Masaki's heart stirred slightly.
He circled around to the other side, coming behind those who were being replaced.
He hoped to impersonate one of them.
The Transformation Jutsu, as one of the three basic ninja techniques, had very high practical value, but just like the Substitution Jutsu, it had no deceptive effect on experts.
Of course, it could be used like Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke in high-paced battles for substitution, but if one were to disguise themselves as someone else, they would be immediately discovered.
Because experts could subtly sense chakra, even if they weren't sensory ninjas.
Fumori Masaki dared to perform a substitution and disguise here, naturally confident that there would be no experts in the Hot Water Ninja Village.
According to Konoha's intelligence, there had never been any information about experts from the Hot Water Ninja Village.
It was known that the possibility of concealing oneself in a ninja world war was extremely slim.
Just as Fumori Masaki was about to act, his pupils suddenly constricted slightly.
In his unique sensory vision, a special ripple, completely different from ordinary people, appeared.
Almost without even thinking, Fumori Masaki disappeared from his spot.
Those ninjas didn't sense anything, but the person Fumori Masaki had sensed suddenly quickened his pace and rushed to the location.
It was a tall man, draped in a wide black robe, his head covered with cloth, revealing only a pair of dark green eyes.
His gaze was very cold, seemingly carrying a chill when he stared at others.
This man silently watched the ninjas in front of him, frowning slightly, as if puzzled by something.
At this moment, others spoke up.
"Kakuzu, why are you in such a hurry? Is something wrong?" a ninja, who seemed to be the leader, asked.
"Nothing, just sensed a strange aura," the man called Kakuzu silently gazed at everyone, then his voice emerged from beneath the cloth, sounding deep.
"What strange aura? It couldn't be some secret technique left over from ancient times, could it?" This person laughed, seemingly to lighten the mood, "Just kidding.
How could there be any powerful secret techniques left in a place like this?
Just like those people from the Land of Demons, what the Ninja Sect left behind isn't presentable and can't compare at all to the power of Lord Jashin."
"Alright, alright, maybe it's my illusion.
You guys go on your way, don't talk about Jashin here.
I'm not interested in that kind of thing," Kakuzu said impatiently.
"Hey, you should show proper respect to Lord Jashin!" someone said angrily.
The leader raised his hand to stop him, smiling, "After all, he's not a follower of Lord Jashin, so it's natural for him not to understand its greatness.
What do you think, Kakuzu, do you want to learn about Lord Jashin? I can personally explain it to you."
"No need.
My only task is to ensure your damned rituals proceed smoothly.
Nothing else concerns me, as long as the money is in place," Kakuzu said.
Seeing this, the leader showed no surprise.
Kakuzu had expressed this attitude more than once before, so he didn't elaborate but watched Kakuzu leave.
Hearing his subordinates complain about Kakuzu behind him, the leader felt a bit helpless.
As a devout follower, Kakuzu's attitude was truly somewhat unappreciative, but who could blame him when the man was so powerful?
In the past, Kakuzu not only survived after assassinating the First Hokage but also managed to return to his village, Takigakure.
When Takigakure, worried about Konoha's retaliation, planned to secretly betray Kakuzu, he preemptively eliminated all the high-ranking officials, plundered their secret techniques, and escaped.
Such a ruthless and intelligent character truly couldn't be easily turned against.
It was precisely because they admired Kakuzu's strength that they secretly hired him as a guard.
If Kakuzu hadn't betrayed his village and become an outcast in the ninja world, they might not have been able to hire such a powerful expert.
Although Kakuzu was somewhat unappreciative, compared to those heretics, it wasn't a very great sin, so it could be tolerated for now.
The most important thing now was the ritual.
Preventing the ritual from being completed would be the greatest disrespect to Jashin.
However, once the ritual was successful, they should consider whether to offer Kakuzu as a sacrifice to Jashin.
Regardless, a disrespectful attitude was always evident on Kakuzu's face, and for that alone, Kakuzu deserved to die.
Kakuzu had long understood the thoughts of these followers.
If he didn't possess keen insight that could discern psychology, he would never have survived until now.
Back then, he would have been sent to Konoha by those bastard high-ranking officials, to be dealt with by the First Hokage.
But those scoundrels just didn't know that he had seen through their intention to discard him after he had served his purpose, so he acted first and saved his own life.
Over the years, the people of Takigakure hadn't given up on him, the rogue ninja.
Those ANBU ninjas, established in imitation of Senju Tobirama's ideas, had always pursued his tracks.
Kakuzu could only live cautiously.
Although with his strength, he didn't need to abide by any rules, he didn't want to cause a commotion, as that would only attract ANBU ninjas.
So, over the years, he had followed ninja contracts, working for others or hunting down wanted criminals, minimizing unnecessary impact.
Because of this, Kakuzu lived safely, mostly avoiding those ANBU ninjas.
Even if he occasionally encountered them, he could eliminate them, destroy the bodies, and leave no clues.
Although the followers had other ideas, Kakuzu was not afraid.
If they really turned against him, Kakuzu guaranteed that they would be the ones to die.
He never believed that Jashin was a real entity, just the delusion of a group of mentally disturbed people.
He only participated in this matter because the other party was willing to pay.
Kakuzu had always thought this was an easy job, but just now, he felt an aura.
The aura was fleeting, and he even suspected it was his imagination.
However, years of experience told him it was not an illusion, which made him secretly vigilant.
This cautious attitude was his guarantee for survival until now.
And Fumori Masaki had the same thoughts as Kakuzu.
He hadn't expected this person to appear in this place.
Although he hadn't truly seen Kakuzu's true face, the ripples from his sensory vision allowed Fumori Masaki to confirm the other party's true identity.
Unlike ordinary sensory abilities, what Fumori Masaki perceived was not chakra, but more like the response of objects to natural forces.
Therefore, Fumori Masaki could feel those real substances, and so, he saw that the suddenly appearing man had five hearts and complex meridians within his body.
According to the information Fumori Masaki knew, only one person matched this characteristic: Kakuzu, who, along with Hidan, was called immortal.
This ninja, who once assassinated the First Hokage and lived until the Shippuden era, was the oldest person in the entire ninja world at that time.
He possessed formidable strength and overwhelming experience.
His defeat by Uzumaki Naruto truly involved a large proportion of luck.
For a character like this, Fumori Masaki himself had to treat him seriously.
He originally thought the appearance of ninjas was the limit, but then an expert like Kakuzu appeared.
Recalling his thoughts before coming here, Fumori Masaki felt he had truly set himself up, and now retribution had come.
Regardless of the subsequent impact of Jashin or the importance of the Ninja Sect's old site, this group of Jashin followers had to be eliminated.
Thus, he had to face Kakuzu.
There was no need to fear the other Jashin followers; only Kakuzu needed to be taken seriously.
In other words, he was effectively tied down.
As for the others, could Tsunade and the rest handle them?
Although Fumori Masaki felt that Tsunade and the others might not lose to these Jashin followers in terms of strength, battles weren't always won by the stronger side, especially in the ninja profession, which didn't emphasize fairness but rather victory itself.
These older, experienced ninjas still shouldn't be underestimated by Tsunade and her team.
This mission was really troublesome, Fumori Masaki thought to himself as he rushed towards the shrine.