The atmosphere instantly turned awkward.
Finally, with a few shouts, they simultaneously threw off their black cloaks, revealing their true appearances.
On the side of the Cult Mechanicus, there were all kinds of cybernetic modifications, such as mechanical arms and mechanical legs.
However, since they weren't from Sunagakure, their builds were still relatively normal, not yet transformed into the muscular of their Sunagakure counterparts.
As for the Scientific Truth Society...
They were outfitted in standardized Chakra Armor, giving them a much more conventional aesthetic compared to the Cult Mechanicus.
When the two factions saw each other's equipment, their pupils shrank, followed by an overwhelming surge of excitement.
'That mechanical aesthetic?!'
'The armor teaching!?'
'There's actually another faith walking the same path as us!?'
'This... this is amazing!'
Just as tensions were about to escalate, both sides suddenly grinned in understanding and stepped forward to embrace each other warmly.
"Hahahaha! Who knew there was another faith in the Shinobi World that shares our ideals!"
"Kindred spirits! True kindred spirits!!"
Although it was the first time the two sides met, they acted like long-lost brothers.
At the same time, they also began to exchange their respective doctrines.
At first, the conversation grew more and more enthusiastic, but the Mechanicus suddenly shouted 'The machine spirit is pleased'...
When Scientific Truth Society's followers heard this, their expression froze instantly.
Scientific Truth Society's lead preacher looked at the other party in confusion, narrowed his eyes, and asked in confusion, "Machine spirit? Pleased?"
"What does this mean?"
A Mechanicus's follower slung an arm around his shoulder and explained incessantly.
He claimed the machine spirit was the supreme existence of this world, as it's capable of granting unique enhancements to machinery and even awakening consciousness within it.
However, due to humanity's past ignorance, they had mistakenly referred to the machine spirit as Chakra...
By the time he finished, the faces of the Scientific Truth Society's believers had turned as dark as a pot's bottom.
After all, Scientific Truth Society's core doctrine is that Chakra is the source of all evil.
Their goal was to eradicate Chakra, restore the world to its original appearance, and reshape it with the power of science.
And this Cult Mechanicus…
With their nonsense about the machine spirit being pleased...
This was basically taking a dump on the Scientific Truth Society's beliefs!!
Forget whether it was scientific or not, the so-called machine spirit that the other party were worshiping was the very thing the Scientific Truth Society sought to destroy!
'The Cult Mechanicus... was nothing but pure heresy!!!'
"Is that so?"
"That does sound... interesting..."
The leader of the Scientific Truth Society smiled faintly, while discreetly pulling out a compact Chakra pistol from his waist and pressing it against the other man's head before pulling the trigger.
Bang…
After a gunshot, blood splattered on the faces of people around.
This confused the people of the Cult Mechanicus.
'Why did you suddenly attacked us!?'
'Weren't we all as close as brothers just now?!'
"You…what are you doing!?"
"Why did you kill our leader!?"
After the Cult Mechanicus's followers came to their senses, they questioned angrily.
But the people from the Science Truth Society reacted swiftly. Everyone drew their weapons at the same time, opening fire while screaming hysterically.
"Heretics!"
"You damn heretics!!"
"Your machine spirit is the collection of all the evil thoughts in the world!!"
"Kill them all!!"
"The world belongs to our Scientific Truth Society!"
Bang, bang, bang…
Under the relentless gunfire, the Cult Mechanicus were quickly reduced to half their numbers.
However, no matter how stupid they are, they now realize the seriousness of the problem.
'The other party is not a good brother at all.'
'They denied the machine spirit itself!!!'
'Heretics!! Absolute heretics!!'
"Damn you, heathens!"
"Daring to deny our machine spirit!"
"I'll slaughter every last one of you!"
The remaining members of the Cult Mechanicus immediately organized a counterattack, while one of them pulled out a brick-sized communication device and frantically contacted their headquarters.
"Vice Cult Leader!!"
"We've encountered vile heretics in the Land of Grass!"
"We are suffering heavy losses... We urgently need reinforcements!!"
Seeing the Cult Mechanicus's members calling for reinforcements, the Science Truth Society suddenly burst into laughter.
"Good, good."
"You dare call for backup, huh?"
"Notify headquarters... send reinforcements immediately."
"We must eradicate this damn heresy!"
"We can't let their doctrines corrupt the world!"
As the two factions clashed, members of both cults began hunting each other down in the streets of Land of Grass's capital.
Each headquarters began to send a large number of reinforcements to the Land of Grass.
An unprecedented war is about to break out.
…
Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the Land of Grass, a devastating explosion occurred at Orochimaru's base.
Sasuke pulled Karin and escaped from the collapsing underground in a few jumps.
Both of them had horror written all over their faces.
Sasuke, in particular, looked even more frightened than he had on the night of the Uchiha Genocide.
Activating Three Thousand Lightning Movement at full power, he fled toward the Land of Grass without daring to look back.
Behind Sasuke...
Kimimaro, Kabuto and the rest of Orochimaru's men were also fleeing frantically.
They looked as if they had encountered some terrifying existence.
Boom…
There was another loud noise, and from the wreckage of the collapsed underground facility, humanoid and beast-like monsters began crawling out.
These creatures shared one common trait...
None of them had eyes.
…
Konoha Village.
Naruto was feeding Jiraiya a healing potion at this time, but before he finished feeding him, his hands suddenly paused.
A flood of memories from a shadow clone he had left with Sasuke surged into his mind.
In those memories, he and Sasuke had been discussing how to create a new Heavenly Flame.
But before they could reach any conclusions, Orochimaru's lab had erupted in a catastrophic explosion.
In order to protect Sasuke, the clone kicked him out of the explosion range.
After absorbing the memories, Naruto cursed in his heart.
'Damn it!'
'What the hell was Orochimaru doing?!'
'Can't you play above the ground when playing with explosions?'
'You're keeping things underground because you're afraid that everyone won't die, right?'
"You brat!! Hurry up!"
"Give it to your teacher first!"
When Jiraiya saw that Naruto was slow to move his hands, and was so anxious that he wanted to kick the boy.
"Old man, drink it yourself."
Naruto shoved the bottle into Jiraiya's mouth with one hand, then immediately walked away and opened a portal. He reached in and pulled hard.
But as he pulled, Naruto suddenly felt something was wrong...
'Strange…'
'Sasuke and Karin together weigh less than 200 pounds, right?'
'Why does the weight seem wrong when I pull it?'
Crash…
As Naruto pulled hard, several people were pulled out of the portal in an instant.
Sasuke and Karin were expected…
But there are also Kabuto, Kimimaro and Jugo being dragged along.
It was not difficult to tell from their tattered clothes that they had just been involved in a fierce battle.
At the same time, the fear on their faces had not yet dissipated.
Even the normally arrogant Sasuke looked frightened.
Naruto was baffled by this.
'Orochimaru just blew up his hideout, right?'
'Why do you all look like you've seen a ghost?'
Jiraiya's face expression darkened instantly when he saw the few guys that suddenly appeared.
He remembered that Kabuto, who appeared in the village with Orochimaru.
'What the hell is going on here?!'
Sasuke stood up and when he looked at Naruto, his eyes kept dodging.
After a long pause, he finally spoke, "Naruto..."
"I think... I messed up..."
Jiraiya: "!!!"
Naruto: "!!!"