Hokage: Ryo's Path

Chapter 397, Inside Jashin.

“What? It’s a child?” Jiraiya looked at the little boy he caught, surprised. The boy looked like eleven-ish years old. His eyes were shut, he didn’t even wake up after being caught by Jiraiya.

After a while, the little boy finally awake, furious, he glared at Jiraiya, “Hey! Who are you, old man? Why are you disturbing my sleep?”

Hearing the boy’s words, Jiraiya was shocked, “Old man? Listen, brat, do I look like an old man?”

Glancing at Jiraiya, the boy murmured, “Your hair’s all grey, aren’t you an old man now?”

“You little-“

“Alright, Uncle Jiraiya, don’t get mad! Let me handle this.” Yamanaka Ryo smiled and greeted the boy, “Hi, kid!”

“Hmph?! Don’t get close to me! Who are you? Why did you grab me?”

Ryo laughed and spoke without having the intention to conceal his purpose, “We’re here to investigate Jashin.”

The little boy spoke with disdain, “Investigate Jashin? With just the three of you? Forget it! Jashin had thousands of believers! You’re on a suicide mission!” Jiraiya saw the kid’s dignity, and he exchanged glances with Ryo. With a solemn expression, he asked, “Thousands of believers? Are you sure?”

The little boy replied, “Why should I lie? That’s exactly what those Jashin people said to us when they spread it in our village.”

Hearing this, Ryo’s expression was also solemn, “Uncle, it seems that your worry is not without reason. This Jashin is truly as bad as you described... It’s only been about two weeks since I heard the news of their return, and they actually managed to gather thousands of believers.”

Ryo nodded and asked the boy again, “Kid, do you know anything else about the Jashin?”

The little boy rolled his eyes and said, “I can tell you where they are, but you have to do something for me in return.” Frowning, Ryo put his hand on the little boy’s forehead.

Hearing his words, Jiraiya said, “Ryo! It’s not a good idea.”

“Uncle, I don’t have time to waste with small matters.” Ryo used Spiritual Strength and entered the kid’s brain to read his memory.

From the boy’s memory, he learned that the boy was a Yugakure commoner. His father was a Chunn, that’s why he had Chakra. But because their village was in peace, their Ninja number dwindled, and the village transformed into an ordinary village. It was at that time that Jashin returned. Later on, they couldn’t restrain Jashin’s progress because of their weakness, which made Jashin advance even further. In the end, Yugakure sent the only Ninja they had to drive the Jashin down to the countryside. It was a mission that claimed the boy’s father’s life.

After losing his father, he wanted to get revenge on Jashin. Unfortunately, he was weak. Alone, he had no chance to defeat the giant Jashin. He could only observe from afar and did what he could to do small meaningless attacks.

Jashin headquarters were located on the mountain in the distance. Just now, the little boy wanted Ryo to sneak inside their base. Knowing their location, Ryo asked Jiraiya to let the boy go.

The boy wasn’t a Ninja. He passed out as soon as Ryo used Spiritual Strength on him.

Ryo summoned Xiaoyin and asked her to watch over the little boy while the three were gone.

“Uncle, Pakura, I sensed there are probably around 600 or 700 people with Chakra inside. From their size, there’s only a few people we need to be extremely careful with. Let’s just head in.”

Jiraiya and Pakura nodded, and they went inside the base. As soon as they entered, Jashin’s followers tried to stop them. Unfortunately, they were no match for the three Ninjas.

Soon, they reached the center of the base where the leader ‘greeted’ them.

“Hmph! You three stupid pagans dared to break into our altar. Lord Jashin will punish you without mercy.”

Ryo smirked and teleported behind the leader, his sword severed the leader’s throat. To his surprise, the wounds on the leader’s neck healed within seconds. Both Jiraiya and Pakura were also stunned at the scene.

“I never expected that the Immortal Body actually existed!” Jiraiya spoke in surprise.

“I didn’t believe it too, but now that I’ve seen it with my own eyes, I believe it. But... what was that? A surgery? Or is there any way for him to have the Immortal Body?” Pakura asked with excitement.

“I’m afraid we have to ask directly to the guy directly.” Jiraiya pointed to the Jashin leader.

Ryo looked at Jashin’s intact neck and said, “Aside from Hidan, Jashin actually had another person with an Immortal Body. amazing...”

“Lord Jashin will give Immortal Body to his most loyal followers. Now, those who believe in Lord Jashin will be forgiven for your weakness, and Lord Jashin will accept you whole.”

Hearing this, Ryo laughed. Right now, the Jashin leader was actually trying to pull him into his religion, and he was really dedicated about it.

“It seems like the heathens aren’t interested in joining us. It’s alright, Lord Jashin will punish you sooner or later.”

Ryo didn’t want to listen to this nonsense anymore. He opened his Sharingan and used Genjutsu on the enemy. The leader’s words came to an abrupt halt, his eyes lost its focus. Ryo put his hand on the leader’s head and began to read his memories.

As soon as he entered the leader’s mind, he found abnormalities. The leader’s brain only released a one-sentence signal. It was “Long live, Lord Jashin.”

Frowning, Ryo masked the information with his Spiritual Strength and started reading the leader’s memory. His enemy’s memories were in disarray. It took him all of his energy to search for useful information. From the leader’s memory, Ryo achieved his goals. He understood what exactly Jashin was and how to achieve the Immortal Body.