Seeing Raiga Kurosuki, who had been so arrogant and powerful moments before, suddenly pinned dead to the wall, Obito's eyes widened in shock. "That is amazing! Setsuna Big Brother is the best!"
Kakashi was also stunned. That was one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist—a big shot in the entire shinobi world—yet he died so... messily.
Hizashi, however, remained calm. Setsuna rescuing Minato from the Cloud Village forces was much more shocking than taking out one of the Seven Swordsmen.
Hearing Obito's exclamation, Setsuna shook his head slightly. The main factor, he knew, was the "first-sight kill." If the opponent had known his ability and hadn't chosen to cut the flying knife with his sword, he might not have survived, but he wouldn't have died such a ridiculous death.
Setsuna stepped forward to retrieve the Lightning Blade (Kiba) and the Thunder God Sword (Raijin no Ken). "Genuine goods, alright. They can take my 'flying knife' and come out completely intact."
The Thunder God Sword currently stored in the Leaf Village would later be cracked by a Chidori from Sasuke (while he was still a Genin) and completely destroyed by a Rasengan from Naruto. Its quality was utterly inferior.
While examining the legendary sword, Setsuna asked, "By the way, what exactly happened here? Why are so many people dead?"
"I'm not sure either. These samurai and ninja suddenly popped out and started slaughtering everyone. We intervened because we couldn't stand it, but we didn't expect one of them to be someone as tough as a Ninja Swordsman of the Mist."
As Obito spoke, he suddenly realized something and pointed to the side: "Wait! That guy over there was giving orders to the Swordsman just now. He probably knows what's going on!"
Setsuna looked in the direction Obito pointed and saw a person trying to sneakily escape. It was Kazu.
Kazu's face was pale. He hadn't dared to warn Raiga just now for fear of being noticed by Setsuna.
After all, he had personally witnessed how Setsuna single-handedly crushed the Cloud Village forces. Raiga Kurosuki stood absolutely no chance against him.
'Wait, I changed my body! They shouldn't recognize me,' Kazu tried to reassure himself.
Setsuna clenched his right hand in the air, pulling Kazu over from a distance.
"I'm asking you, this is..."
Before Setsuna could even start the interrogation, Kazu frantically interrupted: "This was all the plan of the Jashin Cult's leader, Kazu! He wants to kill everyone in the Village Hidden in Hot Water and sacrifice them to Jashin!"
Setsuna frowned slightly, feeling a sense of familiarity with the person in front of him, but he couldn't quite place where the feeling came from.
Kazu urgently pleaded, "I can report all the Jashin Cult's hideouts, and I know I must die. I only ask that you esteemed ninja adults allow me one last prayer, so that these poor civilians may rest in peace."
Guy scratched his head, confused. "Is this guy actually a good person?"
Kakashi rolled his eyes. Guy was far too gullible.
Seeing Setsuna remain silent, Kazu grew desperate, sobbing, "Please, let me go pray first! You can guard me, I absolutely won't run away."
He couldn't afford to wait. His body was on the verge of collapsing.
Although he couldn't perform a large-scale blood ritual right now, many people in the village had died, so he could definitely perform a small blood ritual to temporarily stabilize his body.
Seeing the man's urgent distress, Setsuna frowned slightly. 'Is this guy a junkie? Do they have that kind of thing in the Shinobi World?'
Even though he didn't know what was going on, the more desperate the man became, the tighter his grip would be.
"No rush. Prayer can be done anytime. I ask you: does your Jashin Cult have any ninjutsu that grants the body immortality?" Setsuna asked.
"Immortality Jutsu?" Kazu's heart seized up. This was his biggest secret; how did this guy know?
"I don't know," Kazu said, trying hard to calm himself down.
Setsuna said calmly, "But your heartbeat suggests otherwise."
Unless a person's inner will was strong enough to completely suppress their physical instincts, Setsuna could tell if they were lying based solely on their physical reaction.
"Alright, fine. Indeed, Kazu wanted to create this slaughter so Jashin would grant him immortality," Kazu spoke rapidly.
Setsuna mused inwardly. 'So, the future Hidan was the beneficiary of this blood sacrifice. But Hidan's personality doesn't seem much like Kazu's. Did Kazu try to experiment on the kid first, only to be killed by Hidan instead?'
Setsuna decided not to dwell on it. Either way, he had probably helped Asuma avoid a future disaster.
Seeing Setsuna lost in thought again, Kazu urgently asked, "Esteemed ninja adult, could you please let me down first? I'm feeling uneasy. Just let me find a small room to pray in."
Setsuna said calmly, "No rush. I'm going to continue asking you..."
"Ask your mother!" Kazu finally exploded, his body painfully contorting. Pieces of flesh dropped to the ground, as if he were being slowly sliced up. He let out desperate wails that were horrific to witness; the sight was too much even for ninja who were used to seeing death.
"Huh? Did he just die of guilt?" Guy was stunned.
"Idiot, that's clearly the result of the Jashin Cult's ninjutsu," Kakashi sneered, analyzing the situation seriously. "He was so desperate just now because he likely needed to perform the Jashin Cult's evil blood ritual. Although we don't know his identity, he was definitely no good person. There's no need to feel sorry for trash like that."
Setsuna wiped his hands. When the man gave his final scream, he thought he sensed Kazu's true essence, but he couldn't be sure.
After a moment of thought, Setsuna shrugged. It didn't matter. After this ordeal, there was no way the Village Hidden in Hot Water would dare to say they hadn't completed the mission.
Sure enough, after they finished dealing with the remaining samurai and ninja, the Village Chief of the Hidden Hot Water came out, profusely thanking them and holding their hands, unwilling to let go.
The Village Chief then highly praised the Leaf Village's leadership in world affairs, stating that they would follow the Leaf Village's footsteps closely from now on, steadfastly supporting the Leaf Village's core interests and path of development, deepening comprehensive strategic cooperation, and jointly safeguarding regional stability and prosperity.
On the way back, Obito was still dazed. "What exactly was the Village Chief of the Hidden Hot Water talking about just now?"
Kakashi stated concisely, "Idiot, he wants to be the Leaf Village's subordinate."
"Grown-ups talk in such a complicated way. Can't they just be direct?" Obito sighed helplessly, then suddenly realized something. "Wait, Setsuna Big Brother, Minato-sensei, how did you two actually escape in the end?"
"Escape?" Minato was silent for a moment, then gave a helpless smile. "You defeat all your enemies, and naturally, you can leave."
"Defeated all of them?!" Even Hizashi, who had the most faith in Setsuna, couldn't help but be shocked. He had assumed the enemies simply couldn't catch up to Setsuna.
Minato nodded, full of emotion. "Over a hundred ninja, including top-tier combatants like the Raikage Candidate and the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki, were all defeated by Setsuna alone. If the Third Raikage hadn't shown up, not a single one of them might have survived."
Everyone looked at Setsuna with astonished gazes. They knew Setsuna was strong, but they never imagined he could be this powerful.
Setsuna smiled. "Minato-senpai, you're giving me too much credit. Without the intimidation of your Flying Thunder God Technique, I might not have beaten them either."
"I didn't help much at all," Minato said with a wry shake of his head. "By the way, stop calling me 'Senpai.' It sounds too formal."
"You're right. We've been through a life-or-death situation together."
Just then, Kakashi suddenly thought of a question: "Setsuna-senpai, you're not a Chunin yet, are you?"
"Idiot Kakashi, you don't even know if Setsuna Big Brother is a Chunin! We haven't even taken the Chunin Exams yet," Obito seized on Kakashi's slip-up and laughed loudly.
Kakashi rolled his eyes at him and sneered, "Then start praying, praying that you don't get matched up against Setsuna-senpai in the Chunin Exams."
Hearing Kakashi's words, everyone suddenly realized: they were going to have to compete against Setsuna in the Chunin Exams. Could that even be possible?