Ren Uchiha exhaled and stood up. He surveyed the three teammates standing before him, ready to depart.
The situation was just absurd.
Mei Terumī, the Hidden Mist genius with dual Bloodline Limits, masquerading as 'Mei Tsukigami.' Shennong, the mastermind villain of the Sky Village, traveling the world as a doctor. And Hidan, the future Akatsuki member, currently in his "wild cub" stage as a Steam Ninja.
Looking at this lineup, Ren couldn't help but scratch his head. How on earth did we all end up together?
"Forget it. Let's move. Target: Jashin Cult Headquarters."
"Hidan, lead the way!"
Meanwhile, in the underground plaza of the Jashin Cult headquarters, not far from Yugakure.
The High Priest of the Jashin Cult watched the scene before him with cold indifference. He watched as cultists dragged terrified civilians from the Land of Steam, binding them to crosses. Under their feet, firewood was piled high. With cruel grins, the cultists picked out awls, flaying chains, and iron nails from racks filled with torture implements.
Everything was being prepared for the grand Jashin Ritual.
Suddenly feeling bored, the Priest turned and pulled a necklace with the Jashin symbol from his robes. He stared at it, dazed, until a black-robed cult leader knelt behind him, reporting anxiously:
"High Priest, the three elites we sent to bring back the child... they've been killed."
"Then let them be dead." The Priest's face remained emotionless, as if such occurrences were beneath his notice. He glanced at the subordinate with pale purple eyes and spoke calmly: "This country is like this—death is everywhere, chaos is everywhere. Steam Ninjas, Great Nation ninjas, samurai, civilians, nobles... even the Daimyo might be killed out of nowhere one day. Have you not recognized this miserable reality yet?"
"But, High Priest..." The leader looked up. "What about the child needed for the ritual?"
The Priest looked toward the darkness to the side. "Professional matters should be handled by professionals."
A bald, muscular man with a thick beard stepped out of the shadows, a smile on his face. "The Priest is right. Our Underground Exchange was born for exactly this. Kidnapping, blackmail, bounties, intelligence, assassination—even if you wanted to become a noble of this country tomorrow. As long as you pay the price, we are at your service."
The Priest closed his eyes. "How long to bring him?"
The bald man smiled sincerely. "Rest assured. We tortured the villagers of that town immediately. We already know the whereabouts of the child and the person who killed your members. This is a big deal; our most elite bounty hunters have already set out. At the latest, within half a day, we will bring the boy named 'Hidan' back."
"Good. Let it be so." The Priest waved him off, disinterested. "Kyoji, take him to get the deposit."
The cultist named Kyoji nodded, then hesitated. "High Priest, what if the person who took Hidan decides to attack us?"
The Priest pressed the necklace to his forehead. His void-like voice whispered, "Someone will handle it. Kyoji, we are just an ordinary church of believers. Do not always think of solving things with violence."
Just as he spoke, a cultist nearby grinned and jammed an iron nail into a captive's eye. A piercing scream rang out from the rows of crosses.
Even the bald man from the Underground Exchange—a man used to the darkest parts of the shinobi world—felt his smile freeze.
Ordinary church, my foot. What kind of "ordinary church" worships like this?!
"Whoa, you're saying this is the Jashin Cult headquarters?"
"Are you sure this isn't the palace of the Daimyo?"
Standing on a cliffside, Ren Uchiha looked down at the massive castle built into the foothills with shock. If Hidan hadn't told him, he would have thought it was a noble's estate.
"It's basically the same thing," Hidan explained, pointing at the fortress. "Our Steam Ninja village helped a noble build this. You know, we don't get good missions; we're basically the private soldiers for the nobles and the Daimyo. But," Hidan shook his head, "there's a difference."
Ren looked where he pointed. Outside the magnificent castle was a sprawling slum of shacks covering nearly ten miles. Thousands of refugees huddled there, shivering in the cold wind, unable to sleep. It was a massive refugee camp.
The night was heavy and lightless. The team had been traveling for three hours, and dawn should have been approaching, but the winter nights were long.
"What's the plan?" Hidan asked. "I came here once when the cult 'guided' me. Don't underestimate this place. The internal security is tight, especially the path leading to the underground caves. It's guarded every ten steps. Plus, they have samurai and refugees acting as spies. Sneaking in through the camp without being noticed is unrealistic. And we don't know how many ninjas they have."
Hidan wasn't even a Genin yet; he couldn't use sensory ninjutsu. To him, everyone looked like a normal person.
Ren nodded, rubbing his chin. Inside, he was thrilled. As a true 'Macho Man,' the bigger the commotion, the better! If I kill everyone I see, then no one will know I was there!
(Pushes up sunglasses, grins with a gold tooth.jpg)
Ren turned to them with a look of "resolve." "I'll draw the enemy's attention. You guys sneak in and open the gates. Then, we charge straight in! Kill the men, kill the gods! Once we're in the caves, I'll use a barrier to block their reinforcements. Perfect plan, right?"
The teammates did not agree.
"Are you an idiot?" Mei's hand slammed into Ren's forehead in a "chop" move. "We are ninjas! Ninjas! You think this is a stage performance?!"
She pointed from the cliff to the castle walls. "We can drop from this cliff onto the walls. It's high, but we can walk on trees and walls. Once we scout the guards, we climb down and avoid attention."
The other two agreed immediately.
But Ren shook his head. "You missed one important thing." He slapped Hidan's shoulder with a grin. "This kid probably doesn't know how to walk on walls or water yet, right?"
Ren glanced at Hidan, arching an eyebrow. "So, what now? Do we just leave him here?"