"So then, would slashing its throat work?"
Namikaze Minato frowned. This was a tricky one. If ninjutsu didn't work, what about taijutsu?
"No use either," Uchiha Kagami shook his head. "Unless you sever the entire head, those strange creatures won't die. But their taijutsu is weak—only around average chunin level."
"As for their leader, I haven't seen them yet. But we shouldn't rule out the possibility that they're quite powerful."
That eerie immortality was the biggest headache. And even worse, they had that cursed secret technique. This was the most valuable intel Kagami had gathered over the last six months.
"And that's not even the worst of it," he added. "The worst part is the forbidden technique that comes with it. They can use your blood to curse you—any damage they take, you'll suffer as well."
"In short, if they get your blood, it becomes a mutual destruction scenario."
After all, even immortals die if their heart is crushed or their head is severed.
This was a hard-earned discovery—Kagami had tested it again and again.
"Other than the elusive High Priest, I've managed to dig up information on the two Deputy Priests. That curse technique? I learned it from one of them."
He remembered how he'd obtained that information and felt a rare sense of satisfaction with his cautious nature. If he hadn't grown so wary after being ambushed repeatedly, he might have been taken out long ago.
"I used a genjutsu to manipulate a rogue shinobi into scouting for me. That's when I learned about the curse."
"So, it's best we avoid close-quarters combat with them. If they get their hands on our blood, we need to retreat immediately. The curse technique likely has a limited range."
That was the safest countermeasure Kagami could come up with.
"With the Flying Thunder God Technique on our side, our chances of staying safe go up significantly."
"Yeah, sounds like a real pain to deal with..." Orochimaru muttered, deep in thought. He wondered if his latest experiment—the Serpent-style Body Replacement Technique—could bypass the curse.
He was tempted to test it but decided against it. Life only comes once. Better to wipe out the cultists and bring their technique back to Konoha for research.
"Right, long-range ninjutsu is the way to go. But the problem is... they can resist most ninjutsu to a ridiculous degree. That's what makes them so hard to handle."
Beating them was easy. Killing them was the hard part.
"I can handle that," Kaien said casually, unfazed.
Based on what Kagami described, this cult hadn't produced someone like Hidan—who could keep moving even after being decapitated and having his heart destroyed. That kind of case must be one-in-a-million.
Everything had strengths and weaknesses. This was still a chakra-based world, and chakra would always be the foundation.
A Fireball from a genin and one from a Kage weren't the same.
Immortality followed the same logic.
"If we already know how they operate, I should be able to wipe them out myself."
"After all... I can use ice. Just freeze them all solid, and it's game over."
It was a shame he couldn't show off with the Flying Thunder God Technique, but Kaien wasn't one to take unnecessary risks. If they really did get his blood, that would be annoying.
Better to steamroll them with his Mangekyō Sharingan instead.
"Besides, I've developed a new use for my eye technique."
After six months of honing it, Kaien had mastered most of his Mangekyō's abilities. At this point, even the third stage of Susanoo was within reach.
Unlike when he first awakened his Sharingan and could only form ice blades, Kaien now had a deep understanding of both elemental manipulation and form transformation across wind, water, and ice.
No ability came maxed out from the start. Mastery always required experience.
"Ice? Ice Release?" Kagami asked in surprise. He knew Kaien had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, but this was his first time witnessing its true potential.
"My dojutsu combines wind and water, so I can create Ice Release," Kaien explained simply.
Only he knew the full extent of what he could do with it.
"Smart approach," Kagami nodded. "But what about chakra drain?"
That was his biggest concern. Overuse of the Mangekyō could lead to permanent vision loss.
"Honestly? Doesn't feel like it uses much at all…"
Kaien wasn't lying. Thanks to the [Eternal Light] and [Alluring Gaze] traits, his ocular power not only regenerated—it increased over time.
Every day, his chakra and vision grew just a little bit stronger.
"Then we're good."
Kagami let out a relieved breath. Kaien didn't seem to be bluffing, so he nodded.
"Alright. Time to move."
Without further hesitation, the group acted. Kaien took control of two outer members and had them head toward the designated child delivery site.
...
Night had fallen.
Two fully masked outer cultists led a pair of children—no older than eleven or twelve—by rope toward a hidden cave in the mountains.
Once they reached the site, they stopped.
'Why is it always a cave?' Kaien couldn't help but mutter inwardly. You'd think with all that power, they'd go live it up somewhere nice.
Sure, the major villages had agreed not to target daimyō, but if you were already playing the villain role, why not just take over?
He recalled suggesting that exact thing to Uchiha Madara once. The man shut him down instantly and gave him a long-winded lecture.
"Enduring hardship is part of a shinobi's training," Madara had said.
"Then why are you drinking the health tea I brought you?"
"That's a shinobi's way of maintaining the body."
"You're an old man, what's left to maintain?"
"Silence!"
Even now, Kaien couldn't understand Madara's logic. If you're sipping health tea, why not enjoy servants too?
"We've arrived," one of the masked men said in a dull voice.
Their contact soon appeared, muttering, "You're later than usual tonight."
"These two kids were a bit more trouble than expected," one of the cultists replied mechanically—clearly their minds had been scrambled by Kaien's genjutsu.
"How much trouble could a couple of brats be?" the contact chuckled.
"A lot," came a cold voice—not from the cultists, but from Kaien himself.
The ropes snapped apart in an instant. Wind and water surged around Kaien, gathering at his back. A massive pair of ice wings formed in an instant.
The colossal wings launched him into the sky. The sheer force from one flap of his wings blew the cultist across the cave entrance.
The wings were so vast they blotted out the moonlight, casting a massive shadow across the land below—like a god descending from the heavens.
"And now... it's game time."
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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