_________ POV Ken_________
Before leaving the scene, I collected my traps and burned all the bodies in a large pile to make things harder to track whoever might be looking for these cultists.
The traps ended up going unused, but that can't be helped. I didn't think the madmen would completely forget about their initial objective and focus on me...
Regardless, after burning the bodies till they were not distinguishable from firewood, I started my journey. It's already been an entire day.
The best thing about travelling alone is the peace and quiet you get.
The wind buzzing in your ears as you jump from tree to tree, speeding alongside breathtaking masterpieces of nature has become one of my favourite past times.
Sometimes I wish I could see them as well, but at this point, I've gotten used to my lack of sight. It actually makes my life a bit more enjoyable.
Enjoyable as in, I can feel everything else a lot more vividly thanks to my lack of vision. I feel more... Alive? I guess that would be the word.
Unfortunately, having enhanced hearing can turn into a downside at times.
"Oi! PUT ME DOWN YOU HEATHEN!"
Sometimes, the chain I used to cover the mouth of my backpack slipped off.
My backpack must be a new model, it's quite intelligent and extremely loud, kind of like an alarm clock.
I tried knocking this guy out a few dozen times at this point, but it seems he just won't stay unconscious...
My guess is that being unconscious for him is basically like dying since his body doesn't function like that of a normal human.
So whatever is making him immortal is inadvertently making him impossible to knock out...
"Why do you always have to be so loud?" My quiet voice sounds more like a frustrated teacher at this point.
This ingrate that I am carrying on my back must be in the top 5 most annoying lifeforms alive... Well, alive is a strong word for him.
"Lord Jashin will never forgive such transgression against his disciples! You shall get divine retribution for this madness!"
His speech is always soo grating on the ears. As if being loud wasn't enough, he must also be annoying.
"I don't see Lord Jashin coming to your rescue now..." Not that I would be able to see him at all.
"Hmph! It's just a matter of time before the main branch investigates this! Undoubtedly, they will find you and your associates! You shall make perfect offerings to appease Lord Jashin's rage..."
... In all honesty, I think this idiot does make a decent point.
Even after burning the bodies, they will still logically conclude that they belonged to their cultists.
His superiors will 100% trace him down after they realize something is wrong.
And I doubt the villagers that made the initial request will keep quiet when questioned and tortured by madmen.
This whole operation turned out to be a bit more trouble than it's worth by the looks of it... I might have to pay a visit to their headquarters myself.
I wouldn't have any problems with them coming after me, but my recruits aren't quite ready to fight against some immortal lunatics.
Saburo and Tosho would fend for themselves quite well, but if an army of cultists descends upon us, then protecting the children would be quite hard...
What was that old saying? To remove weeds you need to pluck out the roots as well? Something along those lines.
I didn't bother talking to my backpack anymore though, I just stuck a piece of cloth in his mouth and tied a chain tightly around his face again.
"So much better..."
Dealing with the Cult of Jashin will certainly be dangerous, especially if they have more people like Kyumuro here... Well, I now know the gist of how their abilities work, I just need to prepare properly.
As for any other abilities that may appear... I'll deal with them as I go. The fact that I almost died does make me a bit wary of going directly to them. But I have plenty of time to make a decision.
I should continue going to base first, I'll have to talk a bit with Saburo, and maybe send him on a bit of a scouting mission to this Mt. Shimatama.
We'll need to first look into it and see where exactly it's located... So much work.
_________ POV Narration _________
"An undying man?!" Akira immediately perked up, walking over to Ken as soon as he reported the situation a bit.
"Yes, also really loud and annoying." Ken nodded, and Kyumuro looked at everyone in the room with absolute resentment.
They were currently in Ken's office. The Blind Assassin had placed the branch leader on the table as if he was a display piece.
Around them were three masked people, each having a number of lines on the middle of their masks.
His mouth was still stuffed, as Ken had had his fill of the immortal man's voice throughout the trip.
"He does look to be immortal..." Tosho muttered as he took the man's heart and inspected it with a curious gaze.
"..." Saburo looked down on the immortal branch cult leader. Both metaphorically and physically.
'Immortal, yet still ended up on our leader's table... I guess that's to be expected.'
The researcher had already started with his projects regarding Genjutsu.
But now another opportunity presented itself if Ken granted him the right to experiment on their new prisoner.
Research into both the source of that immortality and the techniques he was using was something that Saburo wanted to look into dearly.
Before he could even open his mouth to ask for permission, Ken turned his head towards him.
"I know what you must be thinking... And you don't just have my permission. I ask you to place this task on the highest priority, and get started as soon as possible."
Saburo smiled immediately underneath his mask, nodding his head as his mood skyrocketed.
The Blind Swordsman slowly turned around and placed his mask on the table, right beside the raving cultist.
Kyumuro'e eyes widened immediately, both while trying to understand what the people around him were talking about, and when finally seeing Ken's true face.
But he didn't have much time to process it, as the second he saw it, two masked men entered the room, placed a black sack over his head and dragged him, and his body parts, away to the laboratory that was hidden underground.
Then, another masked man entered the room and walked up to Tosho, who just nodded and nodded and handed over the cultist's heart.
"Thank you, Leader... I'll look into him and come back to you as shortly as I can." Saburo immediately bowed as he spoke.
"Of course... It should be mentioned that the other branches of his cult might start looking for us after noticing he's gone...
So the sooner you find out more about him the better." Ken also smiled, showing his canines to the three Blades in front of him.
"Wait a moment leader! We aren't prepared to fight such an organization in our current state..." Tosho interjected immediately, sounding rather concerned underneath his mask.
Akira also nodded his head, seemingly agreeing with his fellow Blade.
"We are not going to wait for the cult to attack us directly. Their investigation might take a while anyway, so we have time to strategize..." Ken rubbed his chin, his deformed face morphing into a thoughtful expression(though it was hard to tell).
"Do we have any information on their location?" Saburo asked as he ran a hand through his black hair, swiping it backwards.
"They are located at Mt. Shimatama, that's what I managed to gather from the Immortal I brought in before capturing him." Ken nodded as he spoke, proceeding to sit on his chair and raise his legs on the wooden table.
"Mt. Shimatama..."Sabro immediately started brainstorming.
The elemental nations were a rather large continent, and they had a somewhat complex geography.
Thankfully, Saburo couldn't be called anything but well-studied.
"That is part of the Land of Lightning... If I remember correctly, somewhere off nearer to the sea than the mainland..."
The Land of Lightning was situated more as a peninsula, right near the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Frost.
Ken had been there before, but he didn't have absolute knowledge of the Land's geography.
"... That's a problem. I was going to ask you to send a clone or two to scout it out..." Ken instantly sighed when hearing where it was located.
"Yes... I wouldn't be able to stay here and research, I can't stretch out my clones that far..." Saburo also sighed, knowing that he would've likely been their best bet when it came to resisting the strange curse technique the Cult of Jashin were using.
After all, his clones didn't bleed, they weren't truly alive. And as long as they didn't touch his main body, his clones would be able to fight the Cultists endlessly.
"Finding out more about their immortality and cursed techniques should be a priority..." Ken shook his head, instantly prioritizing the research process first.
"... I can go and scout it out!"
The one to speak was the youngest among the blades, the third Blade, Akira.
"It's an extremely dangerous cult... I'm afraid they are beyond your capabilities." Tosho was immediately against the idea, finding that Akira was the only other agreeable member of the Blades. He didn't want to lose him, in short.
"..." Ken turned his head and 'stared' at Akira, weighing his options for a few moments. He could feel the Third Blade's determination.
"... Fine. You are to observe them from a safe distance." Ken ended up accepting, judging that Akira had already advanced enough in his technique to stay out of sight.
'At the very least, he's able to hide his presence for a few minutes... It should be good enough to help him escape if things sour.'
"Thank you for trusting me, leader! I will go right away!" Akira didn't wait any longer, Saburo simply handed him a map of the Land of Lighting on his way out.
"Be careful..." Saburo said, causing Akria to nod with a smile under his mask.
It felt nice, having people care about him. It was rather novel for him, as he had once been an orphan himself.
Unfortunately, Saburo's true thoughts were far from caring.
'We can't afford to lose such talented pawns in our current state... But if he can't handle this much then he's not even a pawn worth keeping'
As soon as Akira stepped out of the room, he turned into an afterimage and immediately left the compound, showcasing his speed, which was only rivalled/surpassed by Ken in the organization.
The Strawman observed the Third Blade leave through the eyes of his clones.
"Accounting for rest time, he should reach the mountain in two weeks' time if he keeps up this speed." Saburo immediately calculated the time it would take for him to arrive.
"Good... Let us continue with our work until then." Ken clapped his hands, and Tosho simply nodded and went back to training the children outside.
Saburo also bowed slightly and left the room, surely eager to finally start experimenting on an immortal subject.
Ken sighed after seeing them leave, he immediately started strategizing on a game plan.
'We can't face them head-on... You also can't quite assassinate an immortal opponent...'
Ken rubbed his chin for a few moments before remembering a rather crucial detail.
'Fire...'
Fire was something that even the immortal man he had captured seemed to be afraid of.
Otherwise, why would he have asked his disciples to block his fire-style Justu with their bodies?
And it did make sense as well. After all, they seemed immortal, but they had merely achieved some sort of semi-immortality.
They couldn't regenerate...
'So if we turn them to ashes... Then the fight is done.'
Even if they could still live as ashes, somehow, they would just be dust in the wind.
But there was also the problem of information.
Not knowing how many immortals there were was concerning. And Ken was sure he couldn't fight all of them if they were as strong as Kyumuro.
It was clear that assassinating them wouldn't be easy, especially since fire was relatively easy to notice.
'I need allies... Someone to call upon for aid...'
The first person that came to mind was the Land of Iron. The Daimyō did owe him a favour for saving the little princess that one time...
'But the Land of Iron would never agree to send its samurai to a foreign land... It would be akin to a declaration of war to the Land of Lightning... Simply not something I can ask for.'
That was the one glaring issue with the situation. No matter how much the Daimyō owed him, it would simply be unfair to ask so much of him, it would break any amicable relationship that they might've had.
'There's always... That... Well, I'll have to make a trip personally it seems.'
Ken sighed as he tapped his fingers on his mask.
'Better get to it quickly... I might even catch up to Akira along the way.'
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Hope you liked the chapter!
Some ppl might be able to guess where the mc is headed and what he's planning, not giving any spoilers tho
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