The full moon was like a silver platter.
Yōkō had waited for the new night of the full moon.
He left the pursuit team and secretly returned to the capital of the Land of Hot Water.
Inside Tenshu Castle, at the underground palace door of the main hall, four servants on each side used iron chains to pull open the heavy stone door.
The Daimyō, holding his son's hand, walked into the stone door.
"Father, it's so dark. I'm a little scared. What if a ninja is hiding in the darkness?"
The Daimyō tightened his grip on his son's hand.
The Konoha ninja said that the Kumo-nin, enraged by their retreat, killed indiscriminately, and all of the Daimyō's close relatives were killed, leaving only this youngest son.
He would believe that for now, only because it was the Konoha ninja who said it.
The Daimyō said, "Don't be afraid, son. It's safe here. This is my secret base."
In the darkness, the Daimyō's eyes were bloodshot, like a starving wolf.
How he wanted to kill all the ninja...
The two, one large and one small, reached the end of the passageway and entered the underground palace.
It was a circular underground palace.
In the center was a triangular altar.
On the altar stood a statue completely covered in blood.
Blood continuously welled up from the top of the statue, flowing down into the triangular blood pool at its feet.
The Evil God's divine power allowed the Daimyō to fear no injury, allowing him to survive several ninja assassination attempts.
The ability he possessed was the legendary immortal body.
Today, he would perform a ritual to grant his son an immortal body as well.
Without an immortal body, Konoha or Kumogakure could send just any Jōnin to kill them.
The Daimyō walked to the side of a cage and dragged Hidan out.
Hidan was very weak; held by the ankle by the Daimyō, he was like a chick.
Hidan's face dragged along the ground, his eyes full of terror and helplessness.
Having been locked up here for over a month, Hidan was long since weakened beyond human recognition.
He stretched out a frail hand, wanting to grip the floor, but found his fingers weak and powerless.
Sacrifice... Hidan had watched several companions be sacrificed, the bloody ritual leaving the ground covered in blood.
The Daimyō admired Hidan's struggle and said to his son:
"This filthy farm slave dying for you is his honor."
"Don't be afraid, son. After tonight, you will be like me, unafraid of ninja assassinations."
The Daimyō's son looked very expectant, glacing now at the Evil God's statue, now at the chick-like Hidan.
"Once you obtain the immortal body, I will prepare many sacrifices for you to consolidate your ability," the Daimyō said.
"Son, first drink a mouthful of the blood from the pool."
"This blood contains the Evil God's divine power; it is the key to you becoming his follower."
The Daimyō's son knelt by the triangular blood pool, suppressing his nausea, and drank a mouthful of the blood.
The bloody taste was exceptionally strong, reeking of foulness.
After swallowing the mouthful of blood, the veins on the Daimyō's son's skin bulged violently, arteries and veins clearly visible, protruding from his flesh as if the blood inside was about to burst out.
"Don't be afraid, son. It's a bit uncomfortable. I will help you complete the sacrifice immediately."
The Daimyō lifted Hidan, forcing him to kneel before the Evil God.
He pressed his knee against Hidan's back, grabbed his hair, and forced his throat towards the statue.
Hidan pleaded, "No! Don't kill me..."
The Daimyō, disgusted by Hidan's noise, drew a dagger inlaid with gems and smashed its hilt hard against Hidan's mouth.
Over a dozen of Hidan's teeth were knocked out, some falling into his throat, making him cough incessantly, even convulse.
The Daimyō's face was full of excitement.
"Yes! Yes, yes! Struggle like that! The more you suffer, the more pleased the Evil God will be!"
The Daimyō's dagger cut open Hidan's forehead, drawing blood on the blade.
He brought the dagger to his son's mouth and said, "Come, son, enjoy the fresh sweetness of this blood!"
The Daimyō's son stretched out his tongue and licked Hidan's blood.
"No! Lick it generously! Don't leave a single drop!"
Hearing this, the Daimyō's son carefully licked Hidan's blood, even cleaning the blood from the back of the blade thoroughly.
The Daimyō cut open the wrists of both Hidan and his son, causing blood to spurt from their wrists.
The Daimyō's son said in surprise, "Father, why do I feel so comfortable even though I'm spraying out so much blood?"
His blood vessels were no longer swollen.
The Daimyō said, "Remember, only blood and pain can please the Evil God!"
Using their blood, the Daimyō drew a ritual array—a circle with an inner triangle.
Then, holding the sharp dagger, he came behind his son.
"Son, I'm beginning!"
He swung the dagger fiercely, slitting his son's throat!
The Daimyō's son struggled in terror but was pressed down firmly by the Daimyō.
The Daimyō turned his head to stare at Hidan, satisfied to see Hidan's throat split open identically.
Blood from Hidan's carotid artery sprayed towards the Evil God's statue.
The Evil God's statue moved!
The blood flowed even more vigorously. Clearly, the Evil God liked the blood offered in sacrifice.
The Daimyō's eyes were full of excitement!
His son's immortal body was about to be achieved!
At that moment, a figure suddenly burst forth from the wall!
"Who's there!"
The Daimyō hurriedly looked to the side.
Pampered since childhood and without systematic training, how could he see clearly who it was? He could only see a black shadow.
Yōkō Body flickered in front of the statue and threw a fierce punch at the statue's head.
The punch scattered the blood, and Yōkō saw the statue's true face.
Beneath the blood was no statue of the Evil God, but a mass of brilliantly colored red light.
The blood flowed faster, quickly covering the light again.
Yōkō's fist, stained with the blood, suddenly softened, his flesh and bone melting into fresh blood!
What ability was this?
Why could it directly melt his flesh and bone into blood?
In his mental world, a terrifying impact force charged straight towards Yōkō's soul!
All the blood in Yōkō's body suddenly ran cold.
His blood seemed no longer under his control.
His consciousness vanished, appearing in a vast, boundless sea of blood.
Underfoot was sticky, boiling blood.
In the center of the blood sea was a statue slowly approaching him, growing larger and larger in size.
This statue was the same as the one the Daimyō sacrificed to, covered in crystalline streams of blood. One could vaguely see the form of a seated figure beneath the blood flow, like a figure made of blood colored glaze.
Was this the Evil God?
An ancient god born by chance within a blood pool.
The Evil God's history could be traced back to before the appearance of chakra.
Later, the Evil God was discovered and severely injured by the traveling Sage of Six Paths.
The Evil God seemed to reach the heavens and the earth, hundreds of meters tall, slowly lowering its head to look at the uninvited guest in the blood pool.
The Evil God raised its hand and pointed at Yōkō.
Waterfall-like streams of sticky blood hung from its arm.
With just a point of its finger, Yōkō's body began to melt.
His skin cracked, the blood vessels underneath were ruptured, and blood emerged from his body.
Experiencing it firsthand, Yōkō understood: the Evil God was a deity of some kind that used blood as a medium.
The Evil God could control the blood of others.
Sacrificing to the Evil God meant offering blood that the Evil God favored.
Attached to the blood was some extremely terrifying spiritual power.
Using blood to connect the Evil God and the sacrifice was similar to faith power or sacrificial power.
This faith power far exceeds the spiritual energy of ordinary ninja.
Yōkō grew even more excited.
What they lacked against the Ōtsutsuki clan were precisely these kinds of special abilities.
Before his body completely collapsed into blood, Yōkō clasped his hands together, forming the Buddhist wrathful Scythe Seal.
Three Worlds Vidyārāja Form!
Around Yōkō, a semi-transparent crimson dharma form appeared.
This dharma form had three heads and six arms, all three Buddhist faces showing intimidating, wrathful expressions.
The Three Worlds Vidyārāja Form was as tall as the Evil God and equally imposing.
More crucially, the Vidyārāja Form was not ordinary spiritual energy either, but represented Yōkō's subjugation of his past, present, and future lives, achieved through experiencing death over 50 times.
Crimson Buddhist light shone forth, isolating the Evil God's power. The collapse of Yōkō's body quickly stopped.
Wounds stopped bleeding; blood vessels healed.
The fist of the Trailokyavijaya Vidyārāja slammed towards the Evil God.
A punch landed on the Evil God's head, scattering it into blood.
Yōkō thought there was a chance; the Three Worlds Vidyārāja Form could seriously injure the Evil God.
However, blood surged from the Evil God's neck, forming a new head.
After a shrill, indescribable howl, the entire space underwent a drastic change.
Yōkō quickly looked down.
In the churning blood, fleeting blood-human heads appeared and vanished.
Each blood-human head had once been a sacrifice offered to the Evil God.
As long as this blood pool composed of sacrifices remained undispersed, the Evil God could never be killed.
The Three Worlds Vidyārāja Form continuously threw punches, each fist capable of smashing a large mass of plasma.
However, the Evil God moved steadily towards the Vidyārāja.
Gradually, after the plasma was smashed, it stuck to the Vidyārāja's head, shoulders, chest, and back.
After the final punch was thrown, the Evil God completely disintegrated, the plasma thoroughly enveloping the Three Worlds Vidyārāja.
Yōkō turned his head uneasily. The Vidyārāja was enveloped and permeated by the plasma.
He suddenly felt a warmth on his head.
Yōkō looked up; inside the Vidyārāja Form, a rain of blood fell.
The blood poured onto his head, his scalp instantly melted, and his hair fell out with the melting scalp.
This is sinister... This Evil God has some tricks.
Yōkō's body slowly melted, becoming part of the blood pool.
[Detected that the host has died. The Mochizuki's Arc system is starting...]
Yōkō's vision changed. He found himself on the road to the capital of the Land of Hot Water, two days prior.
Standing on the hill, Yōkō calmed his breathing.
The Evil God was tricky. If he didn't draw a good ability, he couldn't defeat it.
[Mochizuki's Arc Activated!
The host has only one resurrection opportunity per month, reviving on the previous full moon night after death.
Reward: One draw opportunity:
1- Secret Technique: Immortal Body;
2- Secret Technique: Death Controlling Possessed Blood;
3- Sacrifice: Blood Mastery to Godhood.]
The first two secret techniques were powerful, but for Yōkō, who possessed power surpassing that of a Kage, they were useless.
Yōkō's current strength was practically no different from having an immortal body.
Death Controlling Possessed Blood, a method that used ritual and self-mutilation to kill enemies, was also of little use.
It was the third ability that shocked Yōkō.
Godhood?
Blood Mastery to Godhood?
Yōkō chose the third option.
Yōkō obtained a ritual—a ceremony to guide others to sacrifice to him, allowing him to become the Evil God.
Blood Mastery: to dominate blood, to coagulate blood into godhood.
With this ritual, Yōkō could retrace the Evil God's path and become the second Evil God.
A perfect candidate immediately flashed in Yōkō's mind.
Hidan!
In the original story, Hidan luckily survived the Jashinism sacrificial ritual and became a follower of the Evil God.
Hidan had an extremely high talent for sacrifice; with a little guidance, he would become an extremely devout and excellent follower.
Yōkō couldn't bear to let Hidan be sacrificed by the Daimyō.
What Yōkō's version of Jashinism lacked most was talent!
He would intercept Hidan, make Hidan sacrifice to him. Yōkō would be Hidan's Evil God.
Who one worshiped didn't really matter.
***
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(End of Chapter)