"…How much longer will it take to finish this entirely?"

"…It's hard to say right now. It'll probably still take a while…"

"Can't we delay a few days? Doing this in Konoha is too risky. If we're caught by Konoha's shinobi, we're done for. If we wait another week, the goods I ordered will arrive, and we won't have to keep taking these chances."

"…It's impossible to stop. If we stop now, all our efforts will be wasted, and we risk angering the Evil God, which could lead to sudden death. It's all documented in the materials, and you've seen it yourself."

"…Damn it…"

Late at night, deep in the underground chambers of the embassy, tension filled a spacious, hidden room. Kiyotsugu Hiramiya, the daimyo's emissary to Konoha, glared angrily at his head guard, Uemon Ogata. Uemon, for his part, showed no fear, matching his lord's gaze without hesitation.

The tension stemmed from a disagreement over their shared secret. Kiyotsugu was growing uneasy after a warning from a man named Hama, feeling fearful that their ongoing secret ritual, nearly a year in progress, might go awry. He wanted to pause the ritual, but Uemon, the one who had taught him this forbidden practice, insisted it wasn't possible.

The ritual? Its nature was clear from the scene in the underground chamber: pale, emaciated corpses were piled haphazardly in a corner, their bodies shriveled as if drained of blood. At the room's center stood a round stone altar. In its middle was a triangular pit, roughly thirty centimeters deep, with each side about two and a half meters long. Around the triangle lay a shallow groove forming an unbroken circle.

An outer circle and inner triangle formed a symbol—a symbol of the Evil God, representing the cult altar and serving as a place where followers could receive the god's blessing.

Above this symbol hung a steel hook holding an inverted man, his wrists slashed so that blood trickled down into the triangular pit. The ritual involved offering fresh blood to the Evil God, who, in turn, granted followers an immortal body and endless life.

But—

The ritual couldn't be completed in a single night. It required patience and continual devotion. Even Uemon, who had stolen the ritual information, didn't know exactly how long it would take.

Uemon Ogata was a large man, towering over six feet, with a fierce appearance and wolf-like eyes that exuded ruthlessness. Originally a warrior from the Land of Iron, he had fled after killing someone in a drunken rage. Later, he wandered into the Land of Hot Water, where he unwittingly joined the Evil God Cult. His impressive combat skills and brutal past earned him favor within the cult, allowing him to witness their ultimate secret.

The cult was researching the "immortal body." Uemon had witnessed a young fanatic named Hidan successfully achieve it, remaining alive even after suffering fatal injuries.

Uemon coveted this power but didn't want to wait years within the cult, where many craved immortality. So he stole the experiment's materials and fled to the Land of Fire. There, he met Kiyotsugu Hiramiya, an official in his sixties nearing the end of his life, who eagerly supported him.

The experiment required substantial manpower and resources. Even the large Evil God Cult had to resort to disguising members as thieves or kidnappers to sustain the experiment.

Kiyotsugu's status and influence allowed him to avoid suspicion, even when large numbers of bodies were moved from his estate. In the daimyo's city, the elite cared little for the lives of the lower classes. Instead, they'd idly ask if he was up to new tricks, which Kiyotsugu could brush off.

But—

Unforeseen events in Konoha changed everything. After the Third Hokage retired and died, and with further conflicts involving the Mist and Cloud villages, Konoha's power structure had shifted. The Sarutobi, Mitokado, and Utatane clans, once influential, had dwindled, while the Uchiha clan had risen again.

The upheaval affected the daimyo's court as well. Kiyotsugu's predecessor, a close ally of the Third Hokage, retired, and Kiyotsugu was quickly appointed as the new emissary, due to his family's control over the largest medicinal supplier in the Land of Fire and its business ties to the Nara clan of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio in Konoha.

The appointment came swiftly, leaving Kiyotsugu little time to gather "materials" for the ritual. Uemon's instructions from the cult stated that the ritual had to continue daily, uninterrupted until completion.

"That should do it. Who's first tonight?" Uemon asked, eyeing the blood pooled in the triangular pit.

"I'll go first," Kiyotsugu said, his face grim.

Uemon shrugged. With enough "material," it didn't matter who went first. In a nearby cage, six captives sat, hungry and bound, numb from days of captivity and terrified by the horrors before them.

"Hama's just trying to scare us!" Uemon sneered. "You're the daimyo's emissary—Konoha wouldn't touch you over a few worthless commoners. You should worry more about Hama than Konoha. That guy looks at you like he wants you dead. We should strike first, kill Hama, and make him the scapegoat."

Uemon had clashed with Hama and bore a grudge after losing a minor confrontation.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Kiyotsugu barked. "Hama is the daimyo's trusted bodyguard. Killing him would be impossible to explain to the daimyo."

However, what he said was interesting. The focus wasn't really on whether to kill Hema, but rather how to explain things to the daimyo. Hiramiya Shikyo had disliked Hema for some time as well. Hema, being a trusted personal guard of the daimyo, often behaved arrogantly and even took a lecturing tone with him.

Ogasawara Uemon, sensing an opportunity, revealed a cruel smile. "To protect the daimyo's reputation… how about that as an excuse? We could say Hema went on a rampage in Konoha, pillaging and hurting the villagers, and that Konoha's ninja have come to investigate. To protect the daimyo's reputation from that idiot's actions, we had no choice but to silence him."

"Hmph! Killing Hema won't be so easy," Hiramiya Shikyo admitted, but he had to concede it was a decent excuse.

Ogasawara Uemon might look like a brute who only relies on force, but anyone who underestimated him would regret it. He had managed to evade the Iron Country's samurai and colluded with nobles like Hiramiya Shikyo—he wasn't a simple-minded fool.

"If you're willing to think it through, there's always a way."

Ogasawara Uemon didn't think killing was particularly difficult; the real challenge was handling the aftermath without issues. He'd had to flee Iron Country because he hadn't been able to clean up after himself when he killed someone there.

"Let's see you come up with a feasible plan first," Hiramiya Shikyo replied.

By then, he had undressed, stepped onto the stone platform, and slowly lay down in the pool of blood.

In the Special Envoy's Mansion, Hiramiya Shikyo's study:

By the desk near the window, a one-eyed man in a black robe and mask sat in Hiramiya Shikyo's chair, reading a stack of documents printed with the symbol of a triangle encircled by a circle in the moonlight streaming through the window.

"An immortal body, huh? This is interesting."

"Too bad… does one need to worship an evil god?"

As he muttered to himself, a black and white pitcher plant-like figure emerged from the floor. Zetsu glanced at the masked man, and the white half of Zetsu said, "Madara, aren't you curious to go down and have a look? It's quite interesting!"

"See what? Those experiments by the Cult of Jashin? I have no interest in that."

Uchiha Obito, still using the guise of Uchiha Madara, shook his head.

"One must wholeheartedly worship the evil god to receive his favor… this is useless to me. However, I found an interesting target in these files. If luck favors us, perhaps we can add a new member to our organization."

"You don't mean that Hema guy?"

"No, it's a Jashin cultist named Hidan. According to these records, he possesses an immortal body and some strange abilities."

"Hidan? Never heard of him."

"It's natural you haven't. According to these files, Hidan's immortality has only been recent, and he's still a young man, so he probably hasn't made a name for himself. But he seems worth recruiting."

"That does sound like a good target," Black Zetsu remarked. White Zetsu chimed in excitedly, "Madara, where can I find this immortal body? Is he really unkillable?"

"There's no specific location, but... these files say Hidan is a fanatic who eagerly spreads the faith of Jashin, so maybe we can start from there. As for how unkillable he really is, I wouldn't know without seeing it myself," Uchiha Obito replied, looking toward the window and murmuring, "Mr. Hema, you've been eavesdropping for quite a while. Isn't it time to come out and say hello?"

Two seconds later,

Hema slowly rose from the ground outside the window. Standing there, he looked through the open window at Uchiha Obito and asked, "When did you notice me?"

"From the moment you arrived."

The casual response made Hema's face twitch, and he subconsciously clenched his fist.

What an annoying show-off!

"Who are you… who are you people, really? Why have you snuck into the Special Envoy's Mansion?" Hema demanded.

"You'll know once you join us."

Uchiha Obito toyed with him, dangling the information just out of reach.

Hema frowned, scrutinizing Uchiha Obito and Zetsu. After a few moments of hesitation, he said, "I don't care who you are, just leave. This is the Special Envoy's Mansion, not a public restroom for you to wander in and out of as you please." Had he been confident in defeating them, he would have skipped the threats and acted instead.

"We'll be leaving shortly."

Uchiha Obito had reached the last few pages of the documents, and in the blink of an eye, his three-tomoe Sharingan scanned through the final pages. He placed the documents back precisely as they were and said to Hema, "Until next time, Mr. Hema."

With that, Uchiha Obito and Zetsu each used their techniques to vanish under Hema's watchful gaze. Hema finally confirmed that this so-called "Madara" likely used some sort of time-space jutsu, but as for how the pitcher plant-like creature left, he couldn't figure it out.

His mind replayed fragments of their conversation as he tried piecing together what he had overheard.

Then—

"Madara… Sharingan, Uchiha… could it be… no, that's impossible. That man's been dead for decades."

Under the moonlight, Hema's expression was so dark it was as if it could drip water. His own speculations had left him shaken.

Support me by leaving a comment, voting, and visiting myPatr-eon at belamy20