Memories flooded Shigeki's brain as he recalled the answer to Kanji's question. He had prepared himself for an extremely difficult battle when he and Fujin were moving towards Tanigakure. In fact, he was surprised when Fujin claimed that he could help take revenge with just the two of them despite seeing a portion of his strength. They would have to pass through several layers of defenses to reach Kanji.
For the first time in his life, Shigeki discovered how convenient it was to work alongside a Fuinjutsu Grandmaster. Is the wall around the village covered with seals and a barrier? Not an issue. Fujin created a small hole in the barrier which went undetected. He freely manipulated the seals on the wall and the two of them entered the hidden village without any obstacle!
From there, reaching Kanji's palace was a walk in the park. Of course, the palace had some defenders. They were mostly ninjas from Kanji's family who patrolled occasionally. Needless to say, every single one of them was killed. Their bodies were pinned to the walls of the palace with their own weapons. Thanks to Fujin, no one else heard a single thing.
Shigeki answered, "That's not something you should worry about. Instead, you should think about the disgusting and vile acts you and your son committed all these years."
He began walking forward while saying, "Karma has finally caught up with you. I'll let the two of you feel the pain I felt since that accursed day!"
Kanji snorted and prepared himself for a battle. He said, "You have grown very cocky. Do you think that you can defeat me? Actually, I am glad that you have appeared here yourself. I'll shred you to pieces with my own hands!"
Kanji wasn't afraid of Shigeki. His attention was instead on the mysterious masked ninja next to him. If Kanji and Shigeki had fought 3 years ago, Kanji would have easily won. After all, his strength was the reason that he could become an elder in a hidden village. Even if he was placed in a major village, he could be considered a Jounin. It was one of the main reasons why Shigeki listened to Fujin and didn't try to get his revenge instantly.
Even now, though Shigeki had grown a lot stronger, defeating and killing Kanji would still take some time. The commotion it would cause would make the other ninjas in the village rush over there. As a result, if Shigeki had come by himself, he would have lost and been captured instead. Thankfully, he had a very strong ally.
Kanji and the medical ninjas began grabbing their weapons. However, even before Kanji could take out his kunai, Fujin's left hand clutched his throat. Kanji's eyes widened in horror as he realized, 'So fast! Who is he? And is this Swift Release?'
Before he could figure anything out, Fujin lifted him and slammed Kanji's entire body into the ground, creating cracks in the floor. Kanji's back and spine were severely damaged due to the impact. He still tried to attack, but various symbols appeared on his body. Fujin had used the Self-Cursing Seal to restrain him.
The medical ninjas and Itsuki were shocked by the sudden development. They looked at Fujin who was staring back at them instead of paying attention to Kanji. Before either of them could react, two shurikens pierced through the necks of the two Medical ninjas. Both died on the spot, leaving only the Father-Son duo alive.
Seeing his father and the two medical ninjas on the ground, Itsuki was horrified. He walked backwards while asking, "Who are you?"
Terror could be heard in his voice. Unfortunately, there would be no mercy as Shigeki flickered behind him and knocked him out. Kanji wanted to speak but couldn't move his mouth. Fujin knocked him out as well and asked, "Do you still want to torture them?"
Shigeki nodded. Fujin said, "Alright, carry their bodies. We need to leave this village first before someone discovers something odd."
Shigeki nodded. He carried the both of them as they left the village as silently as they arrived. A few kilometers from the village, they entered a cave. Fujin inscribed a few seals on the cave as well as on Kanji and Itsuki and said, "No one should be able to detect you in this cave. No one will be able to hear any screams from the cave either. I'll leave them to you. But, don't spend too much time here. Find the ones you want to recruit and return to the base within ten days."
Shigeki nodded. Before Fujin left, he bowed and said, "Shiden, thank you for helping me get revenge. I will forever be in your debt."
Fujin continued walking away as he said, "Don't worry about it. Just give your all to the Phantom Haven Society. It's the only thing I would ask from you."
His figure disappeared. Shigeki finally raised his head. He was genuinely thankful to Fujin. Without him, this day would have never come. He entered the cave. Alone with the culprits who tortured and killed his family, Shigeki finally couldn't restrain his rage.
For nearly half a day, abominable screams were continuously heard in the cave! Thankfully, none of the screams could be heard outside the cave. Otherwise, if anyone were to stumble nearby, they would be horrified.
During this time, Tanigakure wasn't calm either. It didn't take very long to discover the dead bodies in Kanji's palace. The entire village became alert within minutes. One of their Elders was missing and many of his family members were dead and pinned to the walls of his palace!
Immediately, they began investigating. At the same time, the other families in the village raised their protection several times. Several ninjas were seen moving around the village to check if anyone was hiding. A few patrol teams searched outside the village as well. They even moved past the cave Shigeki was in but failed to detect anything strange about it.
After nine hours of non-stop torture, both Kanji and his son died. Shigeki remained in the cave for some more time, reminiscing about his family who he couldn't protect. He cried, he drank and stayed in the cave for a day.
Finally, he got up. As he walked out of the cave, he muttered, "I have finally got justice for my family. From now on, I'll dedicate my life to seeing Phantom Haven Society achieve its goal."
He left the cave and began moving towards the location of the rogue ninjas that he recalled.
Eight days later, a group of 12 ninjas were moving across the Land of Rivers. Needless to say, they were being led by Kasai Shigeki. They reached the valley that was chosen to be the base of Phantom Haven Society. As they stood on the edge, one of them asked, "Of all the places, you chose this freaky place? Will we even be able to sleep peacefully here?"
Another added while adjusting his spectacles, "Ignoring Mitsuo's concern, it's actually not a bad idea. No one will think that someone has built a base here. That said, making a safe base here is very difficult. How did you manage it?"
Shigeki himself wasn't aware of the answer. He just decided to trust a Fuinjutsu Grandmaster and said, "It is my benefactor who is building a base here, Hayato. You'll see soon, follow me."
He quickly moved towards the location of the mini base that Fujin had decided. Soon after they entered the valley, Fujin detected disturbances in his Space-Time field. He looked in their direction and thought, 'Looks like Shigeki has returned. I overestimated the amount of time I'd need to build a base. I managed to do it in just 4 days. Oh well, it's not like it was a loss. I did spend my days training…'
If one were to look in the valley, the place where Fujin was sitting at was quite normal if one didn't try to find any seals. However, a couple of kilometers away, the slopes were covered in hundreds of small craters! In fact, almost every animal had moved away from that location! It would be a long time before they dared to return back to that place.
Fujin disappeared from the base and moved towards the mini base as well. With Wind Instantaneous Body jutsu, he didn't require a long while to reach. A few minutes later, Shigeki's group arrived at the spot where the mini base was. However, confusion appeared on Shigeki's face as he stopped moving.
Hayato asked, "What happened? Why did you stop?"
Shigeki answered in an unsure tone, "The base was supposed to be here."
Everyone immediately looked around in confusion. After a few seconds, Hayato said, "There is nothing here."
Mitsuo sighed in disappointment and asked, "Shigeki, is your benefactor unreliable or has your memory gone bad in these last few years?"
Shigeki was confused. He wondered, 'Did something happen to the benefactor? Why else would there be nothing here? Should I go and check the main base? But, I can't take these guys there. There is no choice. I'll have to ask them to wait here while I go ahead and check.'
Shigeki was about to leave when suddenly everyone felt a killing intent. Before anyone could react, a voice was heard, "I wouldn't move if I was in your place."
[A/N : Bonus chapter on next Sunday if the fic gets 1000 Power Stones. Bonus chapter on next week's Saturday if the fic gets 2000 Power Stones.]
-----------------------------------
A/N : If you can, then please support me on P@treon.
Link - www.pat reon.com/DevilHex
(No space)
Can read up to 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.
Thank You Colin and Mark for supporting me on P@treon.