"I couldn't find his body."
Sasori and Deidara were reporting on their mission to hunt down Orochimaru.
Although they went with confidence, they ultimately returned in defeat.
From their mission report, they encountered Orochimaru in the Land of Wind. During the battle with Sasori, Orochimaru summonedd the deceased Third Kazekage to fight against the puppet of the same Kazekage. The battle ended in a stalemate.
In the end, due to Orochimaru's jutsu being seemingly incomplete, and with Deidara's art destroying his hideout, they speculated that he had survived.
Orochimaru's choice of the Land of Wind must have a purpose. What is it? Itachi thought about the Sannin's motives for fleeing there.
"Do you have any idea what jutsu it was, Itachi?"
"I believe it was the Impure World Reincarnation jutsu. It revives the dead and allows the user to control them. It can only be stopped by sealing or overpowering the revived."
"Can't we just kill Orochimaru?" Deidara asked.
"Even if you kill him, the reincarnated bodies won't stop."
"What?!"
Itachi's explanation prompted Pain to issue an order: "Keep an eye on Orochimaru's movements. As long as he's alive, he will make more moves."
This order was essentially letting Orochimaru off the hook for now, since Pain's original reason for inviting Orochimaru to join Akatsuki had already been achieved.
Now that the Sannin possessed such a troublesome jutsu, rather than wasting manpower to help Konoha hunt down a rogue ninja, it made more sense to continue with the next phase of their plan.
"Speaking of immortality, there's another one."
The only female member of Akatsuki spoke, shifting the topic.
"It's a commission from the Land of Hot Water. They say a cult has recently emerged with a large number of murderous fanatics, and they want Akatsuki to eliminate them."
"Aren't there ninjas from the Hidden Hot Water Village there?" Kakuzu asked.
"Most of the cult members are actually ninjas from the Hidden Hot Water Village. They've apparently mastered some strange jutsu, which is why the village can't handle them."
"Strange jutsu? Immortality?"
In response to Itachi's question, Konan shook her head. "Only one of them possesses immortality, but all of them use some bizarre sacrificial jutsu."
"The information from the Land of Hot Water suggests avoiding fighting them at night."
---
When the trio of Itachi, Kakuzu, and Konan arrived in the Land of Hot Water, they found a corpse by the roadside in the forest during the day.
It was a passing civilian, with all personal belongings intact, and no signs of assault on the body—except for a hole in the top of the head. Upon looking inside, the brain had been completely drained.
Next to the body, a strange symbol drawn in blood caught Itachi's attention.
It was a peculiar symbol with three tentacles, formed from simple dots and lines, exuding an aura of heresy through its irregular extensions.
"If it were for money, I could understand."
"But to kill for neither money nor revenge, just for the sake of killing, it's definitely a cult."
As Kakuzu analyzed, he bent down to search the corpse's clothes, finally pulling out a few small bills after some time, which he then pocketed.
"Isn't that wrong?"
Seeing this, Konan frowned slightly, disapproving of Kakuzu's habit of taking money from the dead.
"What's the problem? Money is money, even from a dead person. It can still be spent."
"I manage all Akatsuki's finances, you know. If it weren't for someone like me, the organization would have long fallen into a financial crisis."
"Am I right?"
"..."
As Kakuzu and Konan, Akatsuki's money maker and spender, bickered, Itachi pointed to the ground beside them, changing the subject.
"Look, this symbol must be the cult's emblem. There are only two reasons to leave a mark like this in such a place."
"One is to make people aware of their presence, creating a sense of fear."
"The other could be related to sacrificial rituals. If it's a ritual, there should be more sacrificial marks left on the ground."
"And the method of opening the skull and removing the brain—it's too specific for mere killing. So, this unusual killing method is likely related to the sacrifice."
He calmly analyzed the situation, causing Kakuzu to glare at him in mild irritation.
"You really get on my nerves."
"So, are you here to keep an eye on me, afraid I'll kill Itachi?"
Konan shook her head. "This mission is just a probe, not a direct battle with the cult, which is why I'm here as bait."
"Bait?"
On a quiet mountain road, Konan walked with her eyes closed. Though her lip piercings and violet eyes stood out in the otherwise simple Land of Hot Water, her natural beauty was still hard to ignore.
Perhaps that's why Pain chose her as the bait—she was the only one in Akatsuki who looked like a normal person inside and out.
As she walked, a young man sitting on a roadside stump suddenly called out to her.
"Yo, aunty!"
Konan opened her eyes and looked at the boy. He was about Itachi's age but seemed unusually energetic.
The fanaticism in his eyes was the exact opposite of Uchiha's usual cold demeanor. The spirited young man jumped down from the stump, holding a bloody scythe, and stood in front of Konan.
"Want to join the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign?"
Brotherhood.
Konan's expression soured. Being called 'aunty' was bad enough, but being invited to join a brotherhood was even worse.
"I'm a woman."
She replied with a dark face, her displeasure growing to the point that even Nagato wouldn't dare look her in the eye.
But the naive, zealous youth didn't seem to notice her irritation and continued to enthusiastically explain.
"It doesn't matter! Our lord doesn't discriminate by gender."
"Whether male or female, anyone can join the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign. As long as you make sacrifices, he will reward you!"
"What do you think? Pretty good doctrine, right?"
"Want to join our Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign?"
"No."
"Looks like I'll just have to sacrifice you!"
Hidan aimed his bloody scythe at Konan, but suddenly, two protectors rushed in from either side and stood guard by her.
"This must be one of those cult members, but I can't tell yet if he's the immortal one."
"Let me test if he really is immortal."
Kakuzu volunteered to test Hidan, but the boy remained utterly unfazed by the sudden appearance of the three individuals. He even started joking.
"Who are you guys? Wearing the same clothes, are you a band?"
"That gloomy guy over there must be the bassist, the girl in the middle is the lead vocalist."
"Wait, no, this guy must be the lead singer, right?"
His indifferent attitude further angered Kakuzu, who stepped forward darkly and said, "We're not a band. We're here to take your life."
Hidan's expression became a bit more serious after Kakuzu's intimidation.
"With a sacrifice like you, the lord will be pleased."
With that, he charged at Kakuzu with his scythe, while Konan and Itachi quickly leaped onto a nearby tree to observe the battle.
His combat style wasn't particularly complex; he just wielded his scythe, slashing horizontally and vertically as he chased Kakuzu.
"Hahaha!"
"What's the matter? Only know how to run? Don't think you can escape!"
Suddenly, he stomped the ground hard, leaping into the air and swinging his scythe toward his enemy.
Kakuzu, however, calmly raised his hand, and the black threads between his arm and fist quickly unraveled. His fist shot out like an extended tentacle, striking Hidan's unguarded body head-on.
Splat!
The power of Kakuzu's tentacle punch was immense, piercing his body with a clenched fist. Hidan's attack halted mid-air, and his body fell to the ground as Kakuzu retracted his tentacle.
"Is that it? Over already?"
"This cult member wasn't that tough after all."
"Looks like we'll need you to be bait again," Kakuzu said to Konan on the tree. Their mission had been to capture one of the cultists to interrogate them about the cult's numbers and sacrificial techniques.
Konan, however, frowned slightly. You intended to kill him from the start.
But just as Kakuzu thought the battle was over, Hidan slowly got back up.
"Damn it... That punch hurt like hell."
Seeing Hidan slowly rise, Kakuzu's eyes widened in surprise. He had aimed for the heart, with no intention of leaving him alive.
"I'll sacrifice you to the lord!"
He scraped the blood spilled from his wound onto the ground with his foot and skillfully drew a pattern. The design was a circle, with three twisted tendrils spiraling outwards, which looked hastily drawn.
But Itachi recognized it immediately—it was the same mark they'd found at a previous murder scene. What is this symbol?
Before Hidan could continue, Kakuzu's tentacle punched through his body again, but this time he didn't fall.
"It seems the rumors of immortality are true," Kakuzu noted, slightly shocked. But as he withdrew his tentacle, Hidan grabbed hold of it, drawing blood onto his hand.
"Alright..."
"The ritual begins."
A smile crept onto Hidan's face as he licked Kakuzu's blood off his hand. Suddenly, his skin turned into a pattern of black and white, resembling a grotesque skeletal figure.
But the most shocking thing wasn't just his transformation. Above Hidan's head, a massive black tentacle began to materialize, slowly rising.
The shadowy appendage, slightly distorted under the sunlight, seemed somewhat unreal.
"What is that thing?" Konan exclaimed in shock.
Hidan gleefully declared, "This is the great god we worship!"
"He is the ultimate evil god in this world!"
"The Great King in Yellow!"
"Hahahaha!"
"You will all become sacrifices for him!"
Hearing his crazed proclamation, Itachi couldn't help but recall another man who claimed the existence of evil gods—Kojiro.
Kojiro belonged to the Esoteric Order of Dagon, and this guy was from the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign. That madman also worshipped a god called the Great Cthulhu. Could Kojiro be connected to this cult?
The black tentacle above Hidan's head continued to rise and expand, growing as large as a towering tree.
This tentacle came from the Feaster from Afar, summoned through a blood ritual using both his and his victim's blood, along with the Yellow Sign. However, the entire being could only be summoned at night, so Hidan could only call forth this one tentacle during the day.
But even one tentacle was far more powerful than any ordinary summoned animals.
[Sacrifice] or [Follower]?
[Sacrifice] √
Upon judgment, the black tentacle shot towards the enemy's body, and before the shocked Kakuzu could dodge, the suction cup at the tip of the tentacle had already clamped onto his head.
"Sacrifice. Begins."
As he saw Hidan smirking from afar, he felt the cold, sharp sensation atop his head and quickly realized what was coming. Desperately, he formed hand seals.
"Earth Style: Iron Skin!"
The technique gave Kakuzu some comfort.
This jutsu hardened the skin using chakra, greatly increasing its defense and enhancing his physical strength. While it came with some mobility drawbacks, no physical attack, save for lightning techniques, had ever broken this defense.
Though he didn't know what kind of sacrificial technique Hidan was using, as long as the black tentacle couldn't penetrate his hardened skin, it couldn't hurt him.
But Kakuzu's momentary sense of relief was shattered by a faint cracking sound from above.
The sound was subtle, but due to bone conduction, it was incredibly clear.
Impossible! What is this tentacle?
As Kakuzu recalled the corpse they'd found with its skull cracked open and its brain sucked dry, fear gripped his heart.
For the first time since mastering the Earth Grudge Fear technique, he felt the presence of death.