Somewhere between the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Frost, there was an ordinary-looking village. The village was remote and rarely visited. Most of the people who occasionally came near the village were travelers who had lost their way.
When these outsiders arrived at the village, they would witness the villagers working diligently and showing warm hospitality. Although the village was not large, the villagers lived optimistically. Anyone would think that these were simple and honest villagers.
However, first-time visitors would never imagine that these people had another side to them. On weekdays, they were warm, hospitable, and hardworking villagers, but at a different time, they would transform into fanatics clad in black robes and wielding sharp blades.
These people were the long-lost followers of the Evil God. After the national religious purge years ago, the remaining followers of the Evil God were forced to flee into the deep mountains and forests, hiding for a very long time until the commotion died down, before re-emeremerging.
However, at that time, it was no longer suitable to openly preach their faith. As soon as anyone started promoting the Evil God again, ninjas would come knocking. These remaining followers of the Evil God could only choose to change their names and find a remote place to live as farmers.
But they did not abandon their faith; instead, they disguised it. Even if outsiders occasionally came to their village, they wouldn't notice anything amiss. The Evil God followers would actively spread their ideology, and if they found someone particularly devout, they would consider recruiting them into the village.
If they couldn't persuade someone to join, as long as there weren't any major issues, they would let those people leave. The Evil God followers didn't want to draw too much attention. However, if these outsiders accidentally discovered their true identity, they would not hesitate to use them as sacrifices for the Evil God.
For a long time, these Evil God followers lived peacefully. Although they occasionally recruited new members, due to the village's isolation, its size and population did not increase much.
That changed with the arrival of a certain person: Uchiha Kokuya. Uchiha Kokuya, with the help of Black Zetsu, found these remaining Evil God followers and began to support them.
The secret medicine Uchiha Kokuya gave to the Evil God followers had the effect of strengthening their bodies, increasing their power, and aiding in chakra training. This caused the hearts of the Evil God followers to swell with pride, especially when they learned that Uchiha Kokuya planned to take revenge on Konoha Village. Long-dormant hatred rose within their hearts.
The reason the Evil God followers' actions were severely suppressed years ago, forcing them to lie dormant here, was because of the Hokage of Konoha Village. Since Uchiha Kokuya planned to take revenge on Konoha Village and provided them with such great help, these Evil God followers had no reason to refuse.
Moreover, Uchiha Kokuya seemed to understand the faith of the Evil God very well, which made the Evil God followers identify with him even more. Due to Uchiha Kokuya's immense power, they even elected him as the new leader.
Uchiha Kokuya naturally agreed to this, but because he had to go to the daimyo's side, he left Black Zetsu behind, claiming that he was his clone. Because Black Zetsu was completely black and did not look like a normal human, his bizarre existence made the Evil God followers believe that Black Zetsu was indeed Uchiha Kokuya's clone, and they became even more reverent and worshipful of Uchiha Kokuya.
And due to Uchiha Kokuya's needs, the village where the Evil God followers resided immediately changed its former isolated lifestyle, beginning to limitedly spread their modified Evil God faith to the outside world. The focus was not on whether people would believe it, but on getting outsiders to enter the village.
These outsiders, tricked into coming, initially found the village quite normal, but as time passed, they would sense the eerie atmosphere of the village. By then, it was too late for them to leave.
Either they integrated into the village and became one of its members, or they would become sacrifices for the Evil God. Compared to the past, the Evil God followers had undoubtedly become more fanatical and aggressive.
Among the secret medicines given by Uchiha Kokuya, there were also subtly modified drugs that had the effect of confusing and controlling people's minds. This made it easier for the Evil God followers to recruit new members. Of course, some people could withstand the drugs, and these people, without exception, became sacrifices for the rituals.
This was also what Uchiha Kokuya hoped for. Those who could withstand the drugs must have strong wills, and the souls of such people were relatively powerful, which was exactly what Uchiha Kokuya needed.
Besides these, the Evil God followers would also go out to hunt down ninjas on wanted posters. These individuals were basically used as sacrificial offerings. Uchiha Kokuya didn't need these people; weren't these powerful individuals better used as his "supplements"? Why would he want them as subordinates he would eventually abandon?
And with Uchiha Kokuya's help, some of the Evil God followers finally achieved the immortality they had longed for, though their numbers were very small. These individuals also became pawns for Uchiha Kokuya to control the Evil God organization.
Several years passed, and the village still maintained its outward appearance. To outsiders, it simply seemed to have grown larger. Unsuspecting outsiders were often tricked into entering, facing two choices they had to make.
As time went on, some of the village's abnormalities gradually became known to outsiders. Besides a few disbelievers and the brave, few people went there. The Evil God followers also adopted more aggressive methods; in addition to deceiving people, they began to abduct people.
Even though the Evil God followers were good at concealing their actions, some rumors eventually leaked out. These were detected by the investigators dispatched by Fumori masaki. After a step-by-step in-depth investigation, the true face of the village was revealed to the people of Konoha Village's Intelligence Department.
Through the investigation by ANBU members, the village's location, distribution, and population situation gradually became clear. Multiple long-distance investigations by sensory ninjas, along with some of the Evil God followers' underground strongholds, were all thoroughly mapped out.
Although the Evil God followers retained some ninja traditions, they mainly focused on jutsu, and some traditional techniques gradually fell into disuse. For the Evil God followers, perhaps these were unnecessary; they were warriors at the foot of the Evil God, not ninjas, and having the power of chakra was enough.
After collecting detailed information, the Konoha Administrative Department officially issued an order, instructing the Air Combat Unit to carry out the mission of eradicating the Evil God remnants, to protect the stability of allied nations, eliminate improper beliefs, and uphold the orthodox status of the Ninshu doctrine.
Thus, Minato Namikaze and the other members of the Air Combat Unit, fully armed and with the gathered intelligence, immediately headed towards the Land of Hot Water. There, ANBU and Intelligence Department members would rendezvous with them, primarily providing intelligence support. The actual planning and execution of the combat would be carried out by them. In addition to eliminating these Evil God followers, they also received orders from above to gather as many clues as possible to find out if there were any other accomplices.