Land of Hot Water. The Jashin cult's nest.
Chaos erupted inside the cavern. Cultists spun in every direction, completely lost as to what had just happened.
"What the hell was that?!"
"Earthquake?!"
"Enemy attack! We're under attack!!"
Screams, shouts, and the shrill wail of alarms shattered the base's dead silence in an instant!
Through the swirling dust and smoke, Taiichi's figure rose slowly from the collapsed rock and earth like a demon returning from hell. Icy killing intent swept across the entire field like a tsunami!
No offers of surrender. No wasted words. Against these things that had already discarded their humanity, there was only slaughter.
Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves!
Hands flying through seals, several razor-sharp vacuum wind blades shot from Taiichi's mouth! They scythed through the air like Death's own reaping hooks, instantly bisecting the first few gray-robed cultists who rushed forward! Blood and internal organs sprayed across the cold rock walls!
Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!
A massive fireball roared out, swallowing several more cultists along with whatever jutsu they had been preparing. Their agonized screams cut off abruptly inside the flames. The extreme heat left not even ashes behind.
Taiichi moved like a ghost. His power was absolute. Ordinary cultists in front of him were nothing more than lambs waiting for the butcher's knife.
Every swing of his hand, every flicker of his body, harvested another life.
He controlled the range and force of every technique with perfect precision, carefully avoiding the cages that still held the broken remnants of "sacrifices." Their chances of survival were already near zero, but at least he could spare them further collateral damage.
"Stop him! Deploy the Immortal Warriors!" a cultist who seemed to be a mid-level leader shrieked.
Heavy footsteps and the scrape of metal answered from deeper in the base.
More than a dozen figures charged out of the tunnels and planted themselves in front of Taiichi. These were nothing like the ordinary cultists!
They stood abnormally tall and burly. Their skin was a sickly grayish-white, like corpses. Their eyes were empty and numb, completely devoid of light—only absolute obedience to kill orders remained.
"Kill him! Hurry! Immortal Warriors—attack!"
The leader hid farther back, voice twisted by pure terror, shrieking through the smoke.
So these were the "immortal army" the Jashin cult relied on?
Taiichi's icy gaze swept over the monsters. Their life force was abundant, yet their chakra felt filthy and turbulent—clearly external power forced into them rather than anything belonging to the hosts themselves.
"ROAR!"
The lead Immortal Warrior unleashed a beast-like bellow. Its massive blade screamed through the air as it chopped down toward Taiichi's head with enough force to split mountains and shatter stone!
Taiichi's figure blurred the instant the blade reached him.
Whoosh!
Only a faint afterimage remained. The blade smashed into the ground, carving a deep trench through solid rock as easily as tofu. Shattered stone flew in every direction.
Taiichi had already appeared like a ghost at the giant's side. In the same instant his short blade left its sheath, a cold silver arc flashed!
Pfft!
The edge sank into the giant's thick neck without the slightest resistance. Grayish-white skin and tough muscle parted like rotten leather before the wind-chakra-enhanced blade.
The sword cut through more than half the neck, leaving only a thin strip of flesh connecting the head.
Then the bizarre happened.
Black blood sprayed. The massive, nearly decapitated body did not fall. It did not even pause. The giant hand still gripping the blade reversed with even greater speed and savagery, sweeping horizontally!
The bone blade tore through the air, aiming straight for Taiichi's waist and abdomen—faster and fiercer than when it still had a head!
Taiichi's pupils contracted slightly. He tapped the ground with one toe and floated backward as if weightless. The blade skimmed past the hem of his clothes, the wind pressure stinging his cheek.
At the same time three more Immortal Warriors closed in from different directions! An iron spear stabbed toward his heart like a viper. A heavy stone hammer smashed toward his left shoulder. Another opened its arms and lunged with a reek of rot, trying to crush him in a bear hug!
As for the first giant, the neck wound had already stopped bleeding. Taiichi could see flesh buds writhing and knitting themselves back together.
"So these are the Immortal Warriors?"
Taiichi sneered coldly inside. His body completed three impossible direction changes inside the narrow space in the blink of an eye. He slipped past the bone spear, twisted away from the stone hammer, and the moment the hugging giant's arms closed he slipped out under its armpit like a fish, appearing behind it.
Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!
A highly compressed ball of chakra shot from Taiichi's mouth and slammed precisely into the hugger's back!
Boom!
A heavy explosion tore a massive bloody hole through the Immortal Warrior's chest. Shattered ribs and dark organ fragments sprayed backward. The impact hurled its huge body into the opposite rock wall hard enough to crack the stone in a spiderweb pattern.
It only staggered. Flesh buds inside its chest cavity writhed and tangled at a speed visible to the naked eye, desperately trying to seal the horrific wound.
It struggled, braced its remaining half-arm against the wall, and actually swayed back to its feet, empty eye sockets "looking" toward Taiichi!
"Hyper-regeneration?"
Taiichi's brows furrowed slightly. This healing rate far surpassed ordinary medical ninjutsu and carried a disgusting, unnatural vitality.
"Hahahaha! Useless! Leaf shinobi!"
From deeper in the tunnel, a figure in a crimson robe and crow mask appeared, surrounded by several cultists. It was the cult leader himself—Blood Raven.
His night-owl laugh was filled with twisted pride and fanaticism.
"Do you see it now? This is the grace bestowed by Our Lord! The power of immortality! Your mortal blades and ninjutsu are nothing more than tickles to Our Lord's warriors! Seize him! Offer him on the altar!"
Receiving their master's command, the remaining Immortal Warriors went completely berserk. They ignored wounds, ignored pain, and charged like tireless killing machines, swinging heavy weapons in a death-defying assault!
Their massive bodies packed the narrow tunnel. Iron spears, stone hammers, and bone claws wove a net of death.
Taiichi's eyes turned sharp. The testing phase was over. No more holding back.
Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet.
He formed seals. Chakra surged through his chest. A ferocious roaring fire dragon appeared out of thin air. Scorching heat instantly evaporated every drop of moisture in the tunnel and warped the air!
The fire dragon opened its maw and swallowed the three Immortal Warriors charging at the front with world-burning force!
"ROAR!"
Their agonized screams were drowned by the dragon's roar. The stench of burning flesh instantly overpowered the blood.
Inside the flames, three massive skeletons burned and carbonized with sharp crackling sounds before completely disintegrating into piles of charred bone!
"Th-that's Fire Style?"
One of the watching cultists farther back couldn't help crying out. Living things feared fire. Immortal Warriors naturally feared it too—but since they were called "immortal," ordinary Fire Style should have been something they could endure!
Yet Taiichi's Fire Style…
Looking at the rock walls that had melted into lava, everyone present couldn't help swallowing hard.
Still, the Immortal Warriors possessed almost no reason. Even though Taiichi's fire had been largely blocked by the first three, the ones behind them—bodies already charred black—still charged straight through the remaining flames!
The flesh on the ones in front had carbonized and peeled away in large patches, exposing equally blackened bone. Their movements never slowed. Burning finger bones, like claws reaching out of hell, carried waves of searing heat as they raked toward Taiichi's face!
Taiichi snorted coldly. Instead of retreating he advanced, forming seals and stomping the ground.
Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld.
The solid rock floor instantly softened into a muddy swamp. The brainless Immortal Warriors didn't even think of dodging and charged straight in without hesitation.
Taiichi seized the opening. Wind-nature chakra poured into his short blade, making it even sharper—yet he still wasn't satisfied. He poured even more chakra until a nearly one-foot chakra blade extended from the edge.
A short blade meant for close-range ambushes had now become a long sword capable of wide, sweeping cuts.
The change in weapon naturally matched a change in tactics. Since their regeneration was so strong, he would simply see if they could still regenerate after being completely chopped apart.
The small figure of Taiichi darted alone among giants all over two meters tall. Relying on pure agility he narrowly avoided every chop and claw swipe.
Though the scene looked dangerous in the extreme, Taiichi handled it with ease. Every swing of his blade sent a limb flying.
Severed arms. Missing legs. Waist cuts. Diagonal slashes.
All of them kept moving.
Until—
One massive head shot into the air. The headless giant twitched blankly for a moment, then crashed to the ground.
"So the head has to be completely severed to kill them in one blow."
Taiichi murmured the words, a cruel smile curling his lips.
Chakra exploded under his feet. With a clear target, his slaughter became terrifyingly efficient. These clumsy giants were like toddling beasts in front of him—clumsy enough to be laughable.
Blade light flashed. Head after head soared into the air. In only a dozen breaths, only two Immortal Warriors remained, standing guard beside the cult leader.
Taiichi flicked the sticky black blood from his blade. The edge gleamed with cold light under the dim fire. His icy gaze stabbed like physical ice picks toward the eyes hidden behind the crow mask at the end of the tunnel.
"Looks like I still need to burn them clean."
The stench of the black blood filled his nose. Taiichi's voice was low, yet it echoed through the dead-silent tunnel like the whisper of Death itself.
"N-no… impossible!"
For the first time, Blood Raven's voice lost its absolute arrogance. A faint tremor leaked through.
The Immortal Warriors he had carefully cultivated, the ones that had cost countless sacrifices to create, had been so easily dismantled once their weakness was found!
It overturned everything he understood about the power of "immortality" and shook his blind faith in the evil god's might.
The last two Immortal Warriors seemed to sense their master's shock and rage. They let out even more frenzied roars, abandoned all defense, and charged Taiichi from left and right with the madness of mutual destruction!
Taiichi's lips curved into a cold arc. Useless struggle was still just useless struggle.
Wind Release: Vacuum Wave.
He formed a single-handed seal. A crescent-shaped wind blade condensed to the absolute limit formed instantly, tore through the air, and sliced across both Immortal Warriors' necks with perfect accuracy.
With that, every Immortal Warrior had been wiped out by Taiichi.
"You… you… you forced me to this, Matsushita… Taiichi!"
Blood Raven jerked his head up. Hysterical madness exploded in his eyes. He no longer hesitated. His hands twisted into an extremely ancient, ominous hand seal that radiated pure malice!
"With my flesh and blood as the medium! With my soul as the bridge! I welcome Our Lord—descend into this world!"
He let out a piercing, inhuman scream filled with the fanaticism and agony of true sacrifice.
The moment the seal completed, a blinding, viscous blood-red light erupted around him!
This light was not chakra. Taiichi could feel it—there were faint traces of sage energy mixed inside.
"Cult Leader!"
The remaining cultists cried out in terror and fanaticism.
Blood Raven's body convulsed violently inside the red light. His skin cracked inch by inch. Blood sprayed like fountains.
What was truly horrifying was that the residual bodies of the Immortal Warriors Taiichi had just slain—those that still retained a spark of activity—were stained by the blood and seemed to answer an invisible summons. They melted into filthy torrents of flesh and bone that surged toward the transforming "Blood Raven" like rivers flowing into the sea!
Flesh fused. Bones restructured!
A terrifying giant nearly ten meters tall took shape, almost filling the entire tunnel. Its body was forged from countless twisted, writhing chunks of flesh and gray-white bone, covered in a dark-red keratin layer.
Its head still faintly retained the outline of Blood Raven's mask, but it had twisted beyond recognition. Two balls of ghostly green soul-fire burned where its eyes should have been.
A suffocating, terrifying pressure swept out like a tsunami!
"So it really is a divine consciousness of the Evil God…"
Taiichi's pupils contracted sharply. His heart pounded under the pure, higher-dimensional pressure—but instead of fear, an unprecedented blazing light exploded in his eyes!
"Mortal… ant… how dare you… slaughter… my servants…"
The giant spoke in a low, multi-layered roar, every syllable carrying crushing power.
It slowly raised a massive claw formed from countless fused arms and bone blades and brought it down toward Taiichi's head! The air itself exploded under the pressure!
Boom!
The claw smashed down. The tunnel floor collapsed like tofu! Dust and shattered rock blasted into the sky!
Yet a streak of blue light flashed through the smoke. Taiichi's figure appeared on the giant's shoulder! Wind-chakra poured into his short blade as he slashed viciously at the giant's neck!
Screech!
Sparks flew! The blade only left a shallow white scratch on the dark-red keratin! Flesh buds writhed madly and the wound sealed instantly!
"That's… a little cheap, isn't it?" Taiichi's brows locked tight. He retreated rapidly, dodging a reverse sweep of the giant's bone arm.
Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Technique. A ferocious fire dragon roared and slammed into the giant's chest, burning fiercely! But the flames only scorched the surface of the keratin for a moment before being swallowed and extinguished by the filthy dark-red energy coating the giant, leaving only a few burn marks!
"Even the energy tier… is higher than chakra."
Taiichi's expression grew heavier, yet the desire to capture and research this "Evil God consciousness" only burned hotter.
The giant seemed enraged by Taiichi's "harassment." Its ghost-green eyes locked onto the agile figure dodging through the air.
It opened its massive maw. A viscous black beam thick as ink, carrying the aura of absolute annihilation, blasted forth!
Taiichi's pupils shrank. Flying Thunder God activated in the same instant, letting him barely dodge the destructive blast.
The beam struck the rock wall behind him. Solid stone melted and collapsed soundlessly like ice under sunlight, leaving a massive, perfectly smooth crater of pure horror!
"If chakra-driven ninjutsu won't work—" Taiichi instantly understood, "then—"
He drew a deep breath. His eyes became utterly focused. Both hands slowly pressed together in front of his chest!
Sage Mode—activate!
Vmmmm!
Natural energy from heaven and earth answered the call and poured into Taiichi in a mad rush!
Deep within his eyes, golden light slowly rose. Sage chakra surged around his body, radiating a pressure that could actually stand against the giant's filthy divine might!
His sensory power instantly reached its absolute peak. He could clearly "see" that inside the giant's massive body, Blood Raven's ruined corpse was the core.
"Got you!" Taiichi's lips curved into a cold, sharp smile.
He formed seals. Vast sage chakra surged out of his body!
Sage Art: Adamantine Sealing Chains!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Several golden chains formed of pure chakra shot from behind Taiichi's back!
Under his precise control the chains moved like living serpents, coiling and wrapping, instantly locking down the giant's limbs and waist! Seal runes glowed along their length, radiating powerful sealing and suppression force!
"ROAR—!" The giant let out an earth-shaking bellow and struggled madly! Yet the chains only tightened further, completely unaffected, pinning it firmly in place!
"I'm not finished!" Taiichi's eyes turned razor-sharp. He formed seals again, drew a deep breath, and his chest swelled slightly under the massive amount of chakra he was condensing!
"Sage Art: Fire Style — Great Fire Annihilation!"
A wave of pure white fire instantly swallowed the giant locked by the Adamantine Sealing Chains!
"Sizzle—sizzle—sizzle!"
A bone-chilling sound of incineration rose! The giant's massive body—forged from the flesh of countless Immortal Warriors and dark-red keratin—melted away under the sage-art flames like snow under a blazing sun!
Filthy flesh evaporated. Tough bones burned to ash. The dark-red energy was purified by the sage chakra!
As the giant's flesh completely turned to flying ash inside the sage fire, the center of the chains finally revealed Blood Raven's own body—charred black.
Even so, the Evil God's power continued rapidly repairing the ruined husk.
And at the heart position of Blood Raven's remains, a violently struggling, ghost-green illusory light mass was tightly bound and entangled by several golden chains!
That was the wisp of divine consciousness the Evil God had projected into this world!
Sealing Technique: Four Symbols Seal!
Taiichi didn't hesitate for even a second. His hand seals changed again! Powerful sealing runes crawled out of the chains like living things, instantly covering the green light mass, forcibly compressing it, and yanking it free from Blood Raven's heart.
As the technique spun, Taiichi sealed that wisp of divine consciousness into a scroll.
The ghost-green light completely died. The heart-stopping divine pressure receded like a tide.
All that remained at the scene was a field of ash… and Blood Raven, still barely clinging to life.
This was the proof he needed to complete the mission—and the final request the Crown Prince had made.