Konoha's Sword Saint [79]

Hoshiyomi now realized who these people were. Their constant talk of the "Evil God" instantly reminded him of Hidan. This "Kaga Cult" they mentioned was likely the precursor to the Jashin Cult. What puzzled him was why these lunatics had targeted him.

Not that it mattered. He had no interest in getting involved with a bunch of fanatics. All that mattered was escaping this blood-red cage. As long as he got out, his Transparent Escape Technique would make catching him impossible.

Kiru didn't react to being called insane. He continued in that slow, priestly tone:

"It's fine. Resistance is normal at first. But once you join us, you'll see the Evil God's true charm."

Hoshiyomi's answer came in the form of an attack.

As he charged, Kiru dropped his calm act. He drew a dagger from his sleeve and slashed his palm. As blood flowed, dark markings spread across his body—just like Hidan's.

"Curse Art: Blood Arrow."

The blood from Kiru's hand didn't fall but floated unnaturally, forming three crossbow-like projectiles. With a flick of his finger, the blood bolts flew at Hoshiyomi.

As they came at him, Hoshiyomi abandoned his attack. He rolled forward, then flicked two shuriken toward the cultists setting up the formation in the distance. He instinctively knew whatever they were building couldn't be good. And judging by how the cage moved with them, they were likely the core of the barrier—just like the Four Violet Flames Formation. If he could take them out, he might be able to break free.

He didn't stop after dodging. The blood arrows behind him curved mid-air and came after him again.

From the shuriken's direction came two screams. Hoshiyomi glanced back—one cultist had taken a shuriken to the throat and died instantly; another was hit in the thigh and went down screaming.

Seeing that, Hoshiyomi's eyes lit up.

He'd assumed everyone in this Kaga Cult would be as dangerous as Hidan. But clearly, they weren't. His shuriken hadn't even been that fast—any alert genin should've dodged them. These guys didn't even react.

So weak… now I'm not worried.

With that, he ignored Kiru and the homing blood arrows entirely, drew his blade, and charged at the rest of the formation team.

The cultists panicked. At their core, they were just ordinary civilians—only made stronger through Kiru's Curse Art enhancements. But they had no combat experience. They could intimidate defenseless girls or kids—but not a ninja.

Seeing two of their comrades die instantly, the others broke. They began chanting "Evil God, grant me strength!"—as if that would help.

It didn't.

Hoshiyomi's first strike took off a head.

He flung the corpse behind him to block the incoming blood arrows, then flashed a wicked grin at the remaining five cultists and rushed in again.

Three of the eight were now dead. The blood-red cage dimmed, its shape shifting from an octagon to a pentagon.

The remaining cultists saw Hoshiyomi's grin and fled, abandoning the formation entirely.

Kiru, still standing, was stunned. His flawless plan—how had it fallen apart so quickly?

The truth was, Kiru's plan would've worked—if he'd targeted an ordinary genin or chunin. First trap them in a blood cage, then delay them while extracting their blood. Once the "Curse Art: Blood Puppet Grand Formation" was complete, the target's blood would be used to forge a mindless blood puppet.

But they had picked the worst possible target—Gekkō Hoshiyomi, the strongest contender in the entire Chūnin Exams.

Failure was inevitable.

Realizing the situation was out of control, Kiru abandoned his original plan. The goal of capturing a ninja was now irrelevant—he had to kill Hoshiyomi and erase any evidence of their existence.

That's when it hit him: he'd been tricked. What he thought was a promising but weak rookie was actually a monster in disguise. Hoshiyomi might be Konoha's ultimate hidden card, with the so-called Uchiha and Hyūga prodigies acting as his cover.

But it was too late for regrets.

He still had plenty of curse arts. If used right, they might be enough to kill Hoshiyomi.

His eyes swept over the blood-soaked battlefield, the five fleeing cultists, and finally the burning corpse.

An idea struck.

While Hoshiyomi was distracted chasing the others, Kiru rushed to the corpse. He dripped his own blood onto it and quickly began carving a new array around it.

Once the formation was complete, Kiru gritted his teeth and clenched his fist.

Boom.

The five fleeing cultists exploded—literally.

Mid-run, their bodies burst apart, blood and flesh scattering everywhere. Combined with the blood vials strapped to them, the explosion drenched the entire cage floor in red.

It was a backup curse Kiru had embedded in them from the start—an insurance policy in case of betrayal. He hadn't needed to use it before, but now, he needed more blood.