While Zankoku could endure the pain, it wasn't the case with the common people. Unfortunately, the pain didn't allow ordinary people to stay unconscious for long. They screamed until they could no more and merely waited for their eventual death.
The ritual continued for three days straight! By then, all the 800 people had died. The blood in the canals and the pool had been absorbed into Zankoku's body. All the hearts were missing as well. Zankoku was now sitting at the bottom of the empty pool. The pain he was experiencing had now subsided. Or perhaps he had gotten used to it as his body still felt itchy.
He opened his eyes and observed his body. Strange tattoos covered his entire body. However, Zankoku didn't mind. Instead, his focus was entirely on the power he was feeling coursing through his veins. In merely three days, his chakra reserves had tripled. In addition, he could feel a strange power in his blood, though he wasn't aware of what it was.
Suddenly, he heard a voice. "Lord Ketsueki, are you alright?"
He turned his head and noticed that Bishop Ketsueki had collapsed. He quickly approached him. Ketsueki was thoroughly exhausted. Though no blood was drawn from his body, his condition wasn't much better than the 800 people who had died. Zankoku was shocked to see his state.
Despite being in a terrible state, Ketsueki wasn't concerned. Instead, a twisted smile could be seen on his face. He exclaimed, "I succeeded! I succeeded! I succeeded! Hahahaha!"
Ketsueki's state surprised his followers and Zankoku. None of them had ever seen Ketsueki lose his composure before. Ketsueki looked at Zankoku and said, "I lied earlier. This isn't my first time performing this ritual. Instead, it is my 9th time!
Unfortunately, the eight that preceded you didn't have sufficient faith in Lord Jashin and failed during the ritual. As a result, all of them died!"
Zankoku was shocked to learn that. He understood that the risk he had taken was far greater than what he had imagined it would be. However, he had already performed the ritual and succeeded.
Ketsueki continued, "By completing this ritual, you are now a Grand Priest. You have the right and the duty to propagate Lord Jashin's name and convert others to Jashin. Take my followers and lead them. The people you convert will also become your followers. Try to build a huge force and always follow the teachings of Jashin."
Ketsueki's passionate speed confused everyone. Zankoku asked, "What do you mean?"
Ketsueki replied, "For the ritual to be successful, a Bishop has to supply his life force. Since you succeeded, I will die in a few minutes. However, I have successfully performed my duty and followed Lord Jashin's words and instructions.
According to Lord Jashin's divine message, you will gain the power to control your blood. You will be able to use it to attack, defend and heal yourself. In terms of healing, you will be superior to any ninja currently alive. In terms of power, you will be an elite as well.
However, I should warn you. Don't let the power go into your head. There are several ninjas who can still easily defeat you. Especially the Kages and the Elite Jounins. Don't challenge the major villages. Stay hidden and grow your strength and your army in the dark."
Zankoku nodded and said, "I will remember your instructions."
Ketsueki smiled and said, "Good. I have completed my duty. I will finally unite with Lord Jashin again."
Ketsueki closed his eyes. A second later, he died peacefully unlike the 800 civilians he had just condemned to death!
With Ketsueki's death, Zankoku took command of his followers. He immediately began planning his revenge. However, he was well aware that he couldn't destroy the Hidden Eagle Village alone.
For the following year, he targeted individual squads from the Hidden Eagle Village that were out for missions, slowly whittling down their strength. The Hidden Eagle Village tried to find who was attacking them but never succeeded.
A year later, the Second Great Ninja War finally broke out. During the opening stages of the war, the neighboring Land of Birds invaded the Land of Eagles and annihilated their armies.
At the same time, the Hidden Eagle Village was attacked by Zankoku and his followers. He took advantage of the fact that most of its ninjas were out of the village to fight the war and reduced it to the same state as his own village. Irrespective of their age, gender and ability, every single person in the village was killed.
Just like the Land of Bats, the Land of Eagles was also lost in the long river of History. Both the countries were incorporated into the Land of Birds.
Zankoku went into hiding after the destruction of the Land of Eagles. He took advantage of the war and tried to spread Jashin's word to the affected people, increasing his followers.
Over the duration of the two wars, Zankoku focused on increasing his strength and his followers. The number of Priests under him rose from 1 to 7. His nature and morals changed vastly as well, leaving no resemblance with the Zankoku who had just become a Grand Priest.
His own strength became very formidable among Elite Jounins. Unfortunately, no matter what he did, his strength never rose past that rank. He never became a rank S ninja. As a result, he tried to replicate Ketsueki's ritual to increase his strength further. Unfortunately for him, he was discovered and eliminated by Fujin's squad.
Fujin finally took his palm off Zankoku's head. He had read several important memories from Zankoku's life which had the highest impact on Zankoku. The conversation with his father, the conversation with Ketsueki, the fall of his village, the ritual, his revenge, a few bouts of madness and his final fight with the Uchihas were his most impactful memories. Fujin could read them clearly. The rest was very difficult to read and Fujin didn't have much hope of succeeding in doing that. Regardless, he was satisfied with the information he gained.
Fujin analyzed, 'So his name was Zankoku, huh? Looks like he led a rather eventful life. He was lucky to be born as the son of the Village Leader and be quite talented. If everything had been peaceful, he would have succeeded his father and led the village.
Unfortunately, this world is anything but peaceful. His father was too pacifist and didn't listen to his suggestions. As a result, the entire village was wiped out, leaving him as the lone survivor. However, everything might not be as straightforward as it seems. After all, these memories just show things from Zankoku's perspective.
For starters, why did that Ketsueki guy approach Zankoku? And, how did Ketsueki know that the Hidden Eagle Village would invade in the future? Did he just guess the trends of the world or did he work behind the scenes to make that invasion happen? Or is there really someone called Jashin who conveys messages like this?
But, who could be such an entity? More importantly, what would he gain by creating a few Grand Priests? Hmm, is there another being like Kaguya who is sealed on this planet and trying to get out? Only in that case would it make any sense. But who is it and who sealed him?'
Fujin thought for a bit. However, he didn't have any information to make any guesses. Fujin decided to stop thinking about it. He analyzed further, 'There is just too little information. Ketsueki mentioned several times that Jashin instructed him and he heard Jashin's voice. However, Zankoku doesn't have any memory of any such voice guiding him. Other than feeling a sense of compulsion, there was nothing unusual in his life.
So, it is impossible to say whether Ketsueki was telling the truth or whether he just made it all up for some reason. Oh well, no point in thinking about such an entity. Even if I find it, it won't help me unless I get a lot stronger and can subdue it.
Rather than thinking about such an entity, the Jashin cult is worth paying more attention to. This Ketsueki fellow had the rank of a Bishop. The members of Jashin are generally divided into four ranks, that is, the Grand Priest, the Priest, the Devotees and the Servants, with the Grand Priest having the highest authority and the servants having the least.
As for the Bishop, Zankoku never met another in his life. It seems like the Bishops perform the rituals which can create a Grand Priest. Most likely, they all die on creating a Grand Priest. This way, the Grand Priest's knowledge will be limited to what the Bishop passed down to him. He won't be able to threaten the place or organization from where the Bishop came.
If I assume that this is the case, then there is perhaps a secret sect or a secret cult of Jashin somewhere in this world.'
