While the clones were recording the Juinjutsu seals on the bodies of the corpses, one Shadow Clone placed his hand on the head of one of the corpses and inserted some of his Yin chakra into his brain.
After a couple of minutes, he withdrew his arm and analyzed, 'As I expected... I can't read the memories… The fast speed of decomposition of their bodies has also made it impossible to read their memories. All their memories have been lost to time. Sigh, I hope that Bishop's case isn't the same.'
After nearly an hour, Fujin's clones had recorded each and every seal in the large cave. Fujin's teammates, who were kept busy by the miscellaneous tasks he assigned them, had no idea that Fujin was recording all the seals in the cave under the guise of completing the mission.
Despite recording all the seals properly, Fujin wasn't very happy. Inside the cave, he had found the bodies of all the kidnapped people. However, he didn't find anyone wearing the outfit that Ketsueki wore in Zankoku's memories.
To make matters worse, in addition to the kidnapped people, there were 32 more dead bodies in the cave which were cremated long before Fujin's clone found the hideout. Fujin speculated that they were the Priests and servants under the Bishop.
He analyzed with a grim expression on his face, 'As I thought. Someone is indeed messing with me! I can understand not being able to read the memories of the sacrifices due to the nature of the ritual, but what was the need to cremate the followers of the Bishop?
This completely counters my ability to read memories and learn about the identity and appearance of the Bishop along with what exactly happened during the ritual.
Besides, why would they kill the followers of Jashin instead of having them follow Hidan? The situation is completely different from Zankoku. It looks like my only option is to capture Hidan and read his memories to find out more about the Bishop. But…'
A frown formed on Fujin's face again as he thought, 'But there are no leads on Hidan. How the hell am I supposed to find him in this vast country? Not to mention, he doesn't need to stay in this country.
Another obstacle is Akatsuki. I don't know when the Akatsuki will make a move to recruit him. Once they recruit him, I won't be able to deal with him for quite some time.
Though I'm confident in dealing with Hidan, Kakuzu is not someone I can defeat for sure right now. Even more so when Hidan is cooperating with him. I'll need to wait for some time for my strength to increase considerably and only then deal with both of them together.'
Fujin let out a sigh and looked at the cave in front of him. He thought, 'It looks like there are only two ways now. I can only study the seals and try to study Zankoku's body. I have some confidence in studying the seals, but Zankoku's body is another hopeless prospect.
Fortunately, Zankoku's memories were more or less intact. Even if I don't achieve any success in those two methods, I can learn more about this when I get my hands on the Edo Tensei jutsu.
But there is still the interference I am feeling… Hmm, I should move quickly and secure Ketsueki's corpse. It would suck big time if someone moves or destroys it. If there is indeed someone interfering, then they might try to attack me when I am holding Ketsueki's body. That would be a good way to draw out whoever is hiding.'
Fujin was left stuck once again. Despite feeling that he was very close, Fujin just barely missed gaining the secrets of the Jashin ritual. As such, he could only make plans for the future.
A long distance away from the mountain range Fujin was inspecting the Jashin hideout used for ritual, a figure could be in the forests. He was holding a bag and pouring some ashes on the ground, letting the wind spread it.
It was the person Yugakure was searching for. Hidan emptied the contents of his bag and complained, "That motherfucker! He asked me to cremate his body after his death and asked me to scatter his ashes all over the Land of Frost!
First, he hurried the ritual for some reason. Though those Yugakure cowards are incompetent, they still managed to catch us a couple of times. After completing the ritual, he burned the dead bodies of all of his followers and asked me to do the same to his body and even asked me to spread his ashes."
He wondered, 'Why did Lord Jashin ask Bishop Shikabane to do that?'
Of course, Hidan couldn't comprehend the reason. If Fujin were to learn of it, he would easily understand. Hidan cremating Shikabane's body ensured that Fujin wouldn't be able to read his memories. And, by spreading his ashes over long distances, all his ashes would be mixed with the earth and become impossible to find even if Fujin read Hidan's mind in the future. As such, Edo Tensei wouldn't work either!
However, even this knowledge would force Fujin to wonder a lot. After all, Shikabane began gathering people for the ritual even before Fujin attempted reading Zankoku's memories and having any intentions towards Shikabane and Hidan. Not to mention, Fujin had read Zankoku's memories in absolute secrecy! Unfortunately, Fujin had no way of knowing that his suspicions of someone messing with him were indeed the truth!
Unlike Fujin, Hidan didn't bother thinking much about such a complicated matter. He cursed a bit loudly, "Whatever, I just need to spread the word of Jashin. I will kill and sacrifice those bastards to Lord Jashin! Hmm?"
Hidan immediately jumped backwards. A few shurikens landed where he was standing. In front of him, 8 ninjas appeared. All staring at him. One of them wondered, 'Who is this guy? And why is he shouting about killing us in the middle of nowhere?'
Hidan frowned on seeing them and asked, "Kumo ninjas? What do you want?"
The leader among the 8 Kumo ninjas replied, "That is what I want to ask you. Kill and sacrifice us? Who do you think you are? Since when did rogue Yugakure ninjas become this arrogant?"
Hidan watched dumbfounded and thought to himself, 'I didn't even sense them. What a coincidence that they were here and heard what I was saying.'
He suddenly laughed out loudly and exclaimed, "Lord Jashin is mighty. He already brought me more sacrifices! Be proud of the fact that you would be the first ones I sacrifice to Lord Jashin."
The Kumo ninjas looked at him like he was a moron. Their leader said, "We need to meet up with Darui soon and head to the Land of Hot Water. Let's kill this clown and get on our way. We have rested enough."
Everyone nodded. In the Land of Frost, a few kilometers away from their border with the Land of Hot Water, 2 Kumo squads clashed with Hidan!
Back in the Land of Hot Water, Fujin was oblivious to these developments. Fujin's clones kept recording all the seals. It took them around 4 hours to record everything perfectly. At the same time, his remaining clones checked up on all the corpses, confirming that none of their memories could be read. His teammates scanned the mountain range and didn't find anything suspicious.
Fujin looked at the cave and wondered whether he should wipe out the seals left in the cave. After some time, he decided, 'I'll let them be in case I need to refer it at some point in the future. I have already left a Flying Thunder God marking in the cave. When I master it in the future, I can freely access this cave.
Even though doing this could allow other Grandmasters to observe this cave as well, it isn't an issue. In fact, it might even be better. After all, I am just one person. Now that I think about it, I should give information about these seals to Hiruzen as well.
If others work on it as well, the chances of someone succeeding in making sense of these new seals and symbols would be much higher. If it is someone from Konoha, other than Danzo, then getting my hands on it wouldn't be difficult.
Even if it is someone not from Konoha, as long as it is exposed, I can go and hunt that Grandmaster and read his memories. After all, once I master the Flying Thunder God jutsu, who can stop me from infiltrating and escaping?
Another possible aspect can be if the spread of this knowledge makes the Jashinists come out of their cave. That would make my life easier as well. Hmm, yeah, I'll do this. I'll give Hiruzen some of the new seals and symbols I discovered in this cave. As for the entire seal formation, I won't give it to him. Making it requires a lot of work. I won't be able to create another copy to give it to him in time. Let him send a squad and take the notes.'
Fujin immediately began acting on his plan. He created a few more Shadow Clones to copy some of the new seals and symbols in different scrolls which he would give to Hiruzen.
A couple of hours later, the Yugakure ninjas finally arrived.
