The boss waited outside the door for nearly half an hour.
Thinking it was time, he opened the door again and asked, "Sir, how's the food? Are you satisfied?"
There was no answer. He peeked inside.
He saw that the food had barely been touched. Uchiha Sogetsu was slumped over the table with his eyes closed, looking like he was asleep. A fallen wine bottle lay next to him, and wine had spilled across the table.
"Hmph, I thought you were powerful, but it turns out ninjas are just like this."
The boss sighed with relief, straightened up, and looked at the sleeping Uchiha Sogetsu with a hint of sneer.
Having run the shop for many years and seen all kinds of people come and go, he had developed sharp instincts. With the war between the Land of Fire and Lightning looming, only ninjas would come to such a dangerous place—ordinary people wouldn't.
Putting these together, it was easy to guess.
The unfortunate person in front of him was probably a wandering or hired ninja.
The boss quickly searched him from head to toe. Apart from a few thousand taels of silver, he found nothing else of value. He curled his lips in disdain, muttering, "Tsk, what a poor guy. Looks like you're just a wandering ninja."
Since nothing valuable was found, the boss was in a bad mood.
He stretched his limbs, then bent down, grabbed Sogetsu's collar roughly, half-knelt, and lifted him onto his shoulders. "Hey, you're quite thin but heavy."
His face reddened from the weight, and he gasped for air. He gritted his teeth and said, "You're so heavy; you'll be trouble later!"
Carrying Sogetsu out of the room, he found a cart and threw him onto it. He dragged the cart through twists and turns until he reached a warehouse door.
The boss skillfully unlocked the warehouse door, moved the stacked goods, and revealed a tunnel.
He pushed the sleeping Uchiha Sogetsu on the cart into the tunnel. They walked for dozens of meters in the narrow, dark passage. Suddenly, the passage opened up into a large underground space, like a square, where dozens of people in black robes were working stealthily.
"Oh, so it's Izo."
The man in black robes at the door greeted the visitor warmly upon recognizing him. However, his eyes were cold as he stared at the person on the cart with a strange smile. "I thought you weren't coming. I was about to report to the leader."
"No, no, no, you've misunderstood. I never intended to betray the leader!"
Izo, the boss, quickly waved his hands, looking quite afraid of the leader. He shrank his neck and defensively explained, "There's been a war recently. Many people fled, and business hasn't been good. Today, a wandering ninja showed up, so I brought him here to present to the leader."
"A wandering ninja?"
The man seemed surprised and then bent down to sniff Uchiha Sogetsu.
After a moment, he looked surprised. "Yes, it's definitely a ninja. I can smell the chakra. Izo, you've done well this time. Hahahaha, the leader was just looking for another ninja, and now we have one right here!"
"No, no, it's my honor to help the leader!" Izo nodded and bowed, forcing a smile.
"Alright, stop flattering me."
The man waved his hand dismissively. "The ceremony is about to start. Leave this one to me."
The "ceremony" involved a group of men in black standing in a circle, chanting as if possessed, and then carrying corpses to the center one by one.
There were about twenty or thirty bodies in total. The last one pushed in was Uchiha Sogetsu, who was lying on the cart and still sound asleep.
The man whispered to a high-ranking black-robed figure. The latter grinned and said, "Well done, Chojiro. We were just short of a ninja. I'll give you credit for this!"
"It's my honor to help the leader," Chojiro said with a forced smile, similar to Izo's.
"Now, we can start the ceremony!"
The leader raised his arm and shouted, "I believe the sacrifice we've prepared will please the evil god!"
The people in black robes immediately got to work, cutting their wrists and dancing wildly.
As they danced, blood flowed onto the ground and into grooves that had been carved. As more blood was added, a pattern began to form.
In the center of the large circle was an isosceles triangle, created from two simple patterns to form a "ritual formation."
Soon, the black-robed figures stopped their frenetic dancing and stood around the outer circle. The twenty or thirty people who were the "sacrifices" stood inside the triangular area.
"The ceremony is starting—!"
The leader, holding a sharp dagger, stood in front of the unconscious ninja and thrust the dagger toward his heart.
Just as the dagger was about to stab him, the ninja suddenly opened his eyes. His pupils shimmered with powerful mental energy.
In an instant, the leader's mind and body were completely paralyzed, and his eyes went blank.
But it wasn't just the leader who was affected. All the cult members in the square froze in place, their eyes empty and blank, as if a pause button had been pressed on them.
"After all this commotion, it turns out this isn't a shady shop but a cult," Uchiha Sogetsu, who was lying on a cart, pushed himself up and stood slowly. "Should I be lucky or should you? I came here for a hot spring bath and ended up in the Evil God Cult?"
He had suspected something was off but thought it was just a suspicious place. Who would have thought it was the notorious 'Evil God Cult'?
Looking at the large ritual symbol on the ground, Uchiha Sogetsu rubbed his chin and glanced over the frozen cult members. His eyes finally settled on the leader.
An idea suddenly crossed his mind.
"Hm, 'Evil Cult' doesn't sound very pleasant."
Uchiha Sogetsu chuckled and addressed the cult members. "Why not rename yourselves the Aurora Order!"
It was the perfect opportunity to plan ahead.
With the Evil God Cult now in disarray, perhaps he could bring "Him" out ahead of time!
Translucent lines of text appeared before Uchiha Sogetsu's eyes, lined up in a string.
He studied them with amusement:
[Side Quest (Optional): Spreading Faith - Part 1]
[Establish a religious organization and spread the faith in the ninja world, with at least 100 followers]
[Reward: Hanged Man Path - Ten copies of Sequence 9~6 potion]
[Side Quest (Optional): Spreading Faith - Part 2]
[Establish a religious organization and spread the faith in the ninja world, with at least 1,000 followers]
[Reward: Hanged Man Path - Sequence 5~3 Potion]
[Side Quest (Optional): Spreading Faith - Part 3]
[Establish a religious organization and spread the faith in the ninja world, with at least 10,000 followers]
[Reward: Hanged Man Path - Sequence 2~1 Potion]
********
Hey Guys, due to lack of supporters I am planning to stop translating this fic. If you like this fic do consider supporting me.
Support me on my patreon and read upto 15 early chapters.
https://www.patreon.com/Unique_Writer