Four hours later, inside a blood-red temple.
"Haha, die, all of you die!"
"Great Jashin, grant me power!"
"Blasphemers! You will die! I curse you from hell..."
Dozens of cultists, tied up with ropes, continued to shout threats despite their situation. Their pupils were blood-red, giving off an extremely frenzied aura.
"Are these guys all the members of the Jashin Cult? They seem so weak." Guy ignored the cultists' shouts, feeling surprised. Apart from their madness, they didn't seem much stronger than the bandits. It was hard to imagine this was the target of an A-Rank mission.
Hizashi frowned: "According to the intelligence provided by the village chief, there should be quite a few Ninjas within this Jashin Cult."
Guy rubbed his chin: "Could they have gotten wind of us and escaped in advance?"
Hizashi glanced at the still-cursing cultists and said gravely: "Judging by their level of fanaticism, they don't seem like the type to run away."
Just then, Setsuna and Shizune walked out of the temple. Shizune's face was pale, and her steps were unsteady.
"Shizune, did you encounter hidden enemies?" Guy asked urgently.
"No, Shizune was just... disgusted." Setsuna shook his head slightly and sighed. "Under the temple is a blood pool. There are dismembered limbs and corpses everywhere."
"These bastards are scum, the lowest of the low!" Shizune pressed a hand to her chest, cursing through gritted teeth.
She wasn't a trainee Ninja anymore and had seen her share of death, but that scene had still made her sick to her stomach. It was downright inhuman.
"They've lost even the most basic humanity." Hizashi looked at the cultists with disgust and made a decision. "Let's burn these scum along with this temple."
In the past, Shizune might have found burning people alive too cruel, but now she would only applaud it, even feeling that it was too merciful for such scum.
At that moment, a signal flare suddenly shot into the sky in the distance.
"That's Konoha's distress signal!" Hizashi recognized the flare immediately.
"Could it be Kakashi and the others are in danger?" Guy was worried.
"That's possible, but it could also be a trap set by the enemy to lure us in." Hizashi was very cautious. After all, none of the Jashin Cult's Ninjas who should have been at the temple had disappeared, forcing him to be suspicious.
After thinking for a moment, Hizashi looked at Setsuna: "Setsuna, what do you think?"
"Rescue them." Setsuna was concise.
The most likely encounter in this direction was with Kumogakure's Ninjas, and Kumogakure's Ninjas happened to be the enemies he feared the least.
Physical attacks? Few could break his defense. As for Lightning Release? It was just a minor stimulus for his body's cells.
"Alright, let's go rescue them." Hizashi nodded. With his and Setsuna's strength, as long as they didn't encounter a large force, ordinary Ninjas posed little threat.
"As expected of Hizashi-sensei, so decisive!" Guy had been worried that Hizashi might hesitate, but he made the decision so quickly.
After setting the temple on fire, the group set off immediately.
The Land of Hot Water was not small in area, but it was long and narrow. Its relationship with the Land of Frost was like the grip and barrel of a pistol.
The temple where Setsuna and the others were wasn't too far from the Land of Frost, and they soon crossed the border.
Meanwhile, in a forest in the Land of Frost, a fierce wind howled, creating a solemn and murderous atmosphere.
Over twenty Kumogakure's Ninjas walked through the forest. The leader sneered: "Little mice, not planning to run anymore? Hiding is useless. I have plenty of patience to find you. Come out now, and I might consider letting you live..."
His voice echoed through the forest, but no one responded. The leader didn't mind, instead, he seemed to enjoy the thrill of the hunt.
At that moment, in a temporary stone room dug underground using Earth Release, specially made glowing moss illuminated the room, revealing the grave expressions of Kakashi, Obito, and Rin.
Obito stood up as if having made a great resolution: "I'll lure them away! Kakashi, you must escape with Rin!"
His calves were trembling, but his tone was firm.
Kakashi looked at him as if seeing him for the first time, staring into his eyes.
Obito felt unnerved by his gaze and gritted his teeth: "Hurry up and go! It took a lot of courage for me to do this!"
Kakashi was silent for a moment, then shook his head: "You're too weak. You'd be killed the moment you go out. You wouldn't be able to lure the enemies away at all."
"I'm too weak?" Obito ground his teeth. "I'm even willing to sacrifice my life, and you, you bastard, not only aren't grateful but also make sarcastic remarks?"
Kakashi said coldly: "I'm just stating the facts. You going out would be meaningless except for getting yourself killed."
Obito retorted indignantly: "Then you go lure them away! I'll escape with Rin!"
Kakashi's tone was indifferent: "I cannot die."
Obito snorted disdainfully: "Coward who doesn't dare to sacrifice himself."
"Stop arguing, this isn't the time..." Rin stepped in to mediate, but suddenly realized something. "Huh? Why did the noise outside suddenly stop? Did they leave?"
Boom!
The ground collapsed. The sudden sunlight made the three of them squint. Through the haze, they saw a tall figure jump down.
Kakashi reacted extremely fast. Without even clearly seeing the enemy, he thrust forward with lightning crackling in his hand.
However, his sure-kill strike was caught bare-handed. Even the lightning had no effect.
Just as Kakashi's heart was sinking, a familiar, clear laugh came from the figure: "Your welcome greeting is a bit too enthusiastic."
"Senpai!" Even with Kakashi's cool personality, he was excited now.
Obito was even more so, crying tears of joy: "It's great! It's Setsuna-san and the others!"
While excited, Rin didn't forget to remind them: "Senpai, be careful of the Kumogakure's Ninjas! They might not be far. We should leave quickly!"
"Don't worry, they are no longer a threat." Setsuna smiled and jumped out of the stone room.
Kakashi and the others followed him out and indeed found all the Kumogakure's Ninjas knocked out. Guy was cleaning up the battlefield.
"So strong!" Kakashi was inwardly shocked. He hadn't heard any noise from underground, meaning these Ninjas were taken down almost instantly.
Setsuna asked: "What exactly happened? Where is Minato-senpai?"
"We were tricked!" Kakashi couldn't hide his anger, "That bastard Caz is actually the leader of the Jashin Cult! He conspired with Kumogakure to deliberately lead us into an ambush. Minato-sensei used all his power to get us out, but he stayed behind himself."
Hizashi walked over and asked: "What kind of ambush could trap even Minato, preventing him from escaping with the Flying Thunder God Technique?"
Kakashi continued: "It's a curse array Caz created using his followers. Within the area covered by the blood mist, sensory abilities are greatly weakened."
"Weakened senses?" Guy asked dumbfounded. "Wouldn't that make it hard for the Kumogakure's Ninjas themselves to sense Minato-senpai's location too?"
"They are restricting the Flying Thunder God Technique," Setsuna said gravely, "The Flying Thunder God Technique requires sensing the Flying Thunder God's mark to perform Space-Time movement. Weakened senses mean Minato-senpai can only perform short-range space-time jumps. Given enough time, once Minato-senpai's Chakra is depleted, he'll be at the mercy of Kumogakure."