Fujin, Akihiko and Masaru had moved very quickly and silently. The 7 chunins who had left the tent didn't hear anything suspicious from the tent. They did hear some noise when the 4 chunins fell to the ground, but it didn't alert them much as they guessed that their leaders were frustrated by the difficulty of the next mission.
Inside the tent, Akihiko looked at Datsuron and asked, "Who are you?"
Datsuron answered, "I am Datsuron, a follower of Lord Jashin."
Akihiko asked, "Who is lord Jashin?"
As Datsuron answered, pride could be felt in his voice, "He is the god who we worship. He will save humanity!"
His reply surprised the Konoha ninjas. They all looked at him like he was an idiot!
Mieko asked, "Is he being serious?"
Shunko exclaimed, "Did he kidnap hundreds of children for a fake god?"
Akihiko sighed and said, "There are lunatics like him all over the world."
He asked, "Tell me how many people you have with you and their power levels."
Datsuron said, "We are led by Zankoku. He is the Grand Priest and is organizing a ritual for Lord Jashin. He has 7 Priests under him including me. Each Priest has 3 to 7 devotees under them and every devotee has 3 to 7 servants serving them.
A Priest is as powerful as a Jounin, a Devotee is as powerful as a Chunin whereas Servants can go up against Genins.
In total, we have 37 devotees and 140 servants."
The number alarmed the Konoha ninjas. Masaru muttered, "7 Jounins, 36 Chunins and 140 Genins. They are as strong as a normal ninja clan."
The others nodded. This mission could no longer be classified as a rank A mission.
Fujin thought, 'Two consecutive missions getting upgraded to the next rank. I wonder if this one would result in casualties as well. I need to be on guard.'
Akihiko asked, "How strong is the Grand Priest?"
Datsuron said, "I am not aware of his strength."
Akihiko frowned. Fujin said, "If we assume that he is as strong as an Elite Jounin, then this mission would be very difficult."
For once, Mieko and Shunto didn't disagree with Fujin.
Akihiko sighed and said, "If I knew that this mission would be so difficult, I wouldn't have brought you kids along. Sadly, we have no choice but to act. Stay on guard."
He looked at Fujin, Mieko and Shunko and said, "You are still very young. So you aren't aware of how the Uchiha clan operates in the missions. See how the events play out carefully. Especially Mieko and Shunko. In the future, you will have to lead Uchiha squads into missions."
Both nodded obediently. Fujin too heard carefully and thought, 'I am intrigued. I hope he puts up a good show.'
Akihiko asked Datsuron, "Are the children you kidnapped still alive?"
He answered, "Yes."
Akihiko asked, "Where are they?"
Datsuron answered, "They have been imprisoned in the cave."
Akihiko asked, "Why did you kidnap them?"
Datsuron answered, "Zankoku-sama is conducting a ritual. For this ritual to be successful, we have to offer young kids to Lord Jashin. If he is successful, he will receive the blessing of Lord Jashin."
His answer angered Mieko and Shunko. Masaru and Akihiko looked composed. Fujin analyzed, 'Blessings of Jashin? Is this ritual the one that granted Hidan his immortality? Did he also have to kill hundreds of young kids or did he use a different method?'
Akihiko continued asking, "When will the children be sacrificed?"
Datsuron answered, "Zankoku-sama still needs another 175 children as sacrifices for his ritual to be successful. All sacrifices will have to be done at the same time."
Hearing that, the Konoha ninjas sighed in relief. Fujin said, "That means that they won't hurt the children. Instead, they would do everything they can to keep them safe."
Akihiko nodded, "Yes. We have time. The only worry will be if this Zankoku realized our threat and decides to kill the children before escaping."
That possibility put some pressure on them again. However, with the knowledge that the children will be safe, they knew that they can proceed with the mission without taking undue pressure or risks.
Akihiko looked at Datsuron and commanded, "Leave the tent. Make your remaining 4 followers follow you into an empty tent. And make them sit next to each other with their eyes closed."
Datsuron followed his instructions and left.
Akihiko looked at Fujin and said, "Fujin, follow me."
He disappeared underground and followed Datsuron. Fujin followed him.
Datsuron left the cave and looked at his followers and said, "Follow me."
The 4 devotees that had arrived out of the cave with him followed him. One of them asked, "Where are we going? And what happened to th…"
However, Datsuron harshly said, "Just follow me!"
His tone surprised the devotees. They thought, 'Normally he is very cordial with us. Did he get into an argument with Yasuhiro-sama for his mood to become so bad?'
Not wanting to upset him, they followed him silently. Datsuron soon entered an empty tent. His 4 devotees followed. Datsuron looked at them and said, "Sit down in a meditative position. Close your eyes and listen to what I have to say."
They nodded and followed his instructions. As soon as they sat and closed their eyes, Fujin launched Air bullets at everyone's hearts and brains. Not expecting any such attack, all 4 were hit. They all died without making a sound.
Fujin and Akihiko appeared from under the ground. Akihiko made a hand sign that buried all the dead bodies.
Fujin looked at Akihiko. His thoughts became heavy as he thought, 'His tactic… Don't tell me…'
Elsewhere, Masaru looked at Yasuhiro and instructed him the same. He followed Yasuhiro along with Mieko and Shunko through the ground. They used the same tactic. However, since Fujin wasn't with them, they had to cut their heads off from behind. They were able to do it successfully.
Akihiko looked at Fujin and said, "Transform into one of the devotees."
Fujin nodded and transformed. Akihiko checked his transformation and transformed into another devotee.
He looked at Datsuron and said, 'Lead us into the tents of others.'
Datsuron obeyed and left the tent as Fujin and Akihiko followed him.
Masaru too used the same tactic. In no time, all the remaining 11 people in various tents were dead. The two teams met. Masaru said, "Now we just have to deal with those 20 who are patrolling."
Akihiko nodded and asked Datsuron, "Can you call them back a few at a time?"
Datsuron replied, "No. Yasuhiro is responsible for Patrol teams."
Masaru asked Yasuhiro. He said, "Our patrol teams move in pairs. I can call them all back one by one."
Masaru said, "Do it."
Yasuhiro immediately began recalling the patrol teams one by one. The patrol teams were made exclusively of servants. They were all very weak. The Konoha ninjas killed them all without giving them any chance to alert anyone.
With all but the two Priests dead, they moved towards Sora who was analyzing the seals. Sora noticed them coming. Despite the disguise, he could recognize their chakra easily. He left the underground. Haru and Genji also followed him.
Sora said, "The cave has 120 seals inscribed in it. I will need some time to disarm them one by one without alerting their SealMaster."
Akihiko said, "We have these two under our control and they are ranked very high. So it may be better to just disguise as their followers and go in."
However, Sora shook his head and said, "No, one of the seals is an identification seal. The tattoos on their body act as an identity card for the seal. We won't be able to replicate it with the Transformation jutsu. Also, some of the seals are inscribed in a combination. So entering without disarming them could be lethal."
Akihiko frowned. He asked Datsuron, "How frequently do you guys travel in and out of the cave?"
He answered, "Everyone inside the cave is very busy with the ritual. So they don't come out frequently. I and Yasuhiro were responsible for deciding our targets and making the necessary preparations. Tomorrow, two more Priests, their Devotees and their Servants would leave the cave. One of them is responsible for combat, while the other specializes in reverse summoning. We would have left tomorrow for the next round of kidnapping."
Akihiko looked at Sora. Sora said, "That should be enough time. It's already evening. So we can assume that we would have around 10 hours at the very least. It should be more than enough for me to get rid of the seals."
Akihiko nodded and said, "Alright. We are already in enemy territory. So we can't rest. In case they decide to come out in large numbers for some reason, we will be in a tough spot if half of us are sleeping. So eat your food pills. We will stay up until the children are secured."
Everyone nodded and ate their food pills. Fujin asked Sora, "Can I observe you while you deal with the seals?"
Sora was surprised by the request. He asked, "Are you interested in Fuinjutsu?"
Fujin nodded. Sora said, "Alright. You can follow me."
Akihiko said, "In that case, we will leave the task of protecting Sora from any sneak attacks to you Fujin. The rest of us will keep an eye on the cave entrance."
[A/N : Additional chapter on Sunday if the fic gets 1000 Power Stones.]
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