Naruto: I, Uchiha, Just Want to Die

Chapter 28: The Holy Feast and the Shout

Uchiha Ci's plan was quite simple.

Stand up, blend in, turn against them, spam the A button, and then be carried out while lying down.

Faced with such an evil force, there was no need for any leniency or mercy.

All he had to do was come up with a clever plan, disguise himself a little, and trick the cultists of the evil god into taking him to their headquarters.

By then, all Uchiha Ci would need to do is shake his body like a tiger and break free from his restraints.

Shouting loudly: "Freeze, I'm the police!" Naturally, hundreds of evil god cultists would charge at him with knives!

Before getting hacked to death, he could even dramatically open his Sharingan and arrogantly declare: "What? You want to dance too?"

Not only would he fulfill his childhood dream of showing off in front of a crowd, but he would also go home with a huge insurance payout. Could there be anything more wonderful than this?

Just thinking about it made Uchiha Ci so excited that lasers almost shot out of his eyes, as if he had discovered a new continent.

That light was even more dazzling than the one in Hidan's eyes beside him!

This left Hidan utterly confused.

He looked at Uchiha Ci, somewhat dazed. Just a moment ago, he had been wondering whether he should give Uchiha Ci another pep talk.

After all, this was a sacrifice to the great evil god.

If successful, he would become a devout believer of the evil god, walking among humans.

If unsuccessful, well, he'd just die on the sacrificial altar.

Hidan had already tried to convince several people about this, but none of them cooperated. Frustrated, he could only shake his head in pity for those who didn't seize the opportunity and then kick them in frustration before letting them go.

Eventually, he learned this trick of "repaying kindness with betrayal" from a book and immediately thought it was genius. That's how he ended up using Uchiha Ci as his guinea pig.

Was this the power of knowledge?!

Suddenly, Hidan felt a slight itch on his scalp and scratched it.

Taking advantage of this momentum, he widened his eyes slightly and thought of something terrifying.

This guy, Ci, was cooperating so much...

Could it be that he wanted to steal the favor of the evil god from me?

At that thought, Hidan's gaze toward Uchiha Ci became subconsciously cautious.

Just then—

"Everyone, come out."

A cold voice came from outside the door.

Hidan, hearing this, immediately straightened up, tidied his collar like an office worker about to attend an interview, and walked out with a sprightly look.

If there were a mirror in front of him, he might have fussed over his appearance for a while.

Uchiha Ci, meanwhile, squinted slightly, tucked the scroll with the S-rank forbidden technique into his leg bindings, and followed him out the door.

Refugees, scattered in twos and threes, emerged from the various corners of the dilapidated village.

Gradually, they gathered in the open space in the village center.

However,

What surprised Uchiha Ci was that this group of people seemed far better off than typical refugees.

Though the villagers didn't look particularly healthy, At least Ci didn't see anyone with sunken cheeks or emaciated bodies from hunger.

This was clearly abnormal.

Because of the war, the Land of Hot Water was still somewhat orderly, but only in noble territories that could afford to hire ninjas for protection.

Even though this place was near the capital, it was clearly outside the protection scope of the Hot Water Ninjas.

Logically speaking, these villagers shouldn't have such good living conditions.

At this moment,

In the crowd, Three men dressed in high-collared, waist-bound black robes, with a leather scripture box strapped to their forearms, stood in the center, their expressions sinister.

At their feet were two large barrels.

The leader, with neatly tied black hair, deep eye sockets, and a cold expression, glanced around the area. He turned slightly to his subordinate beside him and said indifferently:

"Begin."

The two subordinates nodded, immediately lifting the lids off the barrels.

Inside were bowls of cooked meat, steaming and fragrant.

Seeing the meat, the nearby villagers immediately showed looks of excitement.

The two cultists wasted no time and began distributing the meat.

Even the unfamiliar face of Uchiha Ci was handed a bowl.

They were very generous.

The cult leader pulled out a few handwritten scriptures from his scripture box, raised his hand slightly, and the crowd fell silent.

Holding the scriptures, he coughed twice and began reciting loudly: "A god is a god for a reason."

"Before discussing this, I want to talk about how the upper echelons of the Land of Hot Water fall short compared to a god."

"First, the arrogant nobles. Then, the lazy ninjas. And the wrathful Cloud Ninjas..."

The cult leader spoke at length, listing the seven deadly sins of the nobles and ninjas of the five great nations and the Land of Hot Water in nearly a thousand words. He even detailed how many mistresses the Daimyo of the Land of Hot Water had, all in meticulous detail.

As the leader preached, Uchiha Ci was nearly lulled to sleep. Meanwhile, Hidan and the villagers were roused with fervor, filled with righteous indignation, ready to storm and replace the Daimyo's head by night.

After a long while,

Finishing his last sentence, the cult leader, throat dry, coughed twice.

One of his subordinates immediately offered him a cup of water.

The cult leader took a sip, casually handed the cup back, and coldly said: "Bring forward the offerings, and then you may begin the holy feast."

The villagers, upon hearing this, were overjoyed. They threw themselves to the ground, pressing their foreheads to the dirt, and reverently chanted: "Thank you, messenger of the gods."

Immediately after, a woman stood up, her face filled with excitement and fanaticism, leading a young girl forward quickly.

"Yuko, go, follow the men of the cult."

"Then, we'll have endless meat at home."

The girl, called Yuko, however, had a blank expression. It wasn't until her body was being dragged toward the cultists that she suddenly opened her eyes wide and grabbed the woman's kimono sleeve.

"No, no, no!"

Her face drained of color, pale as if blood had been drained from her, her wide eyes filled with terror.

"Mom, no!"

"Save me, save me!"

"I really don't want to be eaten! I don't want to die! Mom, Mom, please look at me, Mom!"

At that moment, the woman's mask fell off.

Her face filled with fear, tears glistening at the corners of her eyes, she yanked her sleeve fiercely, almost hysterically shouting:

"Let go! Yuko, let go!"

"What do you think you're doing?!"

"Are you trying to ruin our family?!"

Yuko clung tightly to the woman's sleeve, refusing to let go, her face full of terror. Trembling, she said:

"Mom, Mom, can't you see?"

"Can't you really see?"

"In the bowl, in the bowl, there's brother, there's brother in it!"

"Mom..."

Whoosh! The cult leader's face changed drastically when he heard Yuko mention 'brother.'

He immediately pulled a sharp, pitch-black spear from the sleeve of his robe.

This was a weapon unique to the evil god cult, similar to a retractable spear. In its normal state, it was about 20 centimeters long, small enough to be hidden in a sleeve. When extended, it could reach 120 centimeters, its tip and sides razor-sharp, typically used as a concealed weapon or in the cult's blood sacrifice rituals.

At this moment, the cult leader's expression turned cold as he took two steps forward, viciously thrusting the spear toward the little girl Yuko's back.

Seeing this, hearing the conversation, Uchiha Ci's face darkened as he glanced at the bowl of meat in his hand.

His expression grim, he abandoned all previous plans without hesitation!

Forget infiltrating the cult headquarters, forget spamming A, forget showing off or playing dead,

At this moment, everything was thrown to the wind.

A flame of rage ignited in his heart, surging through his body in an instant.

His eyes turned blood-red in a flash! Uchiha Ci slammed the bowl of meat onto the ground! He strode forward with righteous fury! "Stop right there!"