Shintaro immediately jumped out of the hot spring, standing naked amidst the mist. He grabbed yukata, put it on, and prepared to leap over the wall to reach the women's hot spring.
The men's and women's hot springs at this location were separated by a considerable distance, likely to prevent peeking or because they were two distinct hot springs.
However, this distance was still within the range of the Six Eyes perception.
At this moment, Shintaro sensed a malevolent aura approaching the women's hot spring where Kurenai was.
Shintaro was in such a hurry that he didn't even have time to tie his yukata belt.
Climbing the wall barefoot, his bathrobe flapped in the wind behind him, making him feel like he was walking under the moonlight.
However, soon after, Shintaro slowed down and finally remembered he was taking a stroll, lowered his head, and tied his belt.
It was fine to be barefoot. There were no limits to his soles. It seemed like his feet were touching the ground, but in reality, not even ants were crushed.
Shintaro arrived at the women's hot spring and climbed over the wall to enter.
He saw Kurenai wearing a yukata standing beside the women's hot spring, and in front of her was a man in a black robe standing still.
By the wall, two girls in yukatas were cowering in the corner, trembling, clearly terrified.
"Are you alright, Kurenai?" Shintaro asked knowingly.
In fact, on his way over, he knew that Kurenai had instantly subdued the man in the black robe in front of her.
Although this man had chakra in his body, he wasn't even as strong as a typical Konoha Genin. How could he be a match for Kurenai, a trained Chunin from Konoha?
Kurenai forced a smile and said she was fine, but as a woman, she must have been scared when a strange man broke in while she was soaking in the hot spring.
The man in the black robe was clearly under Genjutsu, standing motionless in place.
Shintaro approached the man, opened his two Sharingan, and cast another layer of Genjutsu on him.
"Ahhhh!!! Don't kill me!!! No!!! Evil God, save me!!!"
The man immediately squealed like a pig, as if he had just seen something extremely terrifying.
This Genjutsu made people see the deepest fears in their hearts. It was obvious that this man was afraid of death.
Facing his fear and unable to move, the man almost fainted instantly. Shintaro weakened the Genjutsu's effect so that the man wouldn't pass out directly but would remain terrified.
"Who are you, and what are you doing here? Tell me everything, or you will see something even more terrifying."
Shintaro was very concerned about the evil god mentioned by the man and had a vague feeling that the man's origin was not simple, and he was not just a common pervert or gangster.
"I... My name is Kotaro. I'm here to find sacrifices for the evil god. Beautiful girls are the best sacrifices..."
Kurenai and Shintaro exchanged glances, both understanding that this matter was not simple.
"What is the Evil God?" Shintaro continued to ask.
"The Evil God... is the belief of our Cult of the Evil God! He is the greatest god!!!" Kotaro became extremely excited when the Evil God was mentioned.
"What are the teachings of the Cult of the Evil God?" Since it involved religion, Shintaro asked about its teachings.
The teachings are the most distinctive feature of a religion.
Although he had a premonition after hearing the name, he was still shocked when the other party explained the teachings.
"Kill! The teaching of the evil god is for us believers to kill everyone around us!"
Kotaro shouted this extremely wicked doctrine almost frenziedly.
Kurenai frowned, clearly not expecting the pervert she thought was actually a fanatic killer believer.
"What do you think?" Shintaro turned and asked.
Kurenai immediately said, "This cult is too dangerous. If left unchecked, it will definitely cause great trouble."
"Then let's destroy it." Shintaro said confidently, "Let's do it for the people."
Kurenai asked worriedly, "Is it dangerous?"
"Don't worry, I am very strong." Shintaro said, comforting her gently.
Kurenai didn't know why, but she always believed in Shintaro, so she unconsciously nodded.
Shintaro then continued to ask for detailed information about the Cult of the Evil God: "Where is the headquarters of the Cult of the Evil God? How many ninjas do you have? What are your methods?"
"No... I can't tell you... Otherwise, the leader will punish me..."
Kotaro refused with trembling lips.
Shintaro smiled slightly and enhanced the effect of the Genjutsu.
"Ah!!!!!!"
"I don't know where the headquarters is! Because every time I go there, my eyes are covered and I'm taken there by the cadres!"
Shintaro increased the Genjutsu's effect.
"Ah!!!!!!!"
"I'll tell! I'll tell!"
"Although my eyes were covered, I could hear the last part of the road was very close to a waterfall, and there was an echo. It must be a cave!"
Shintaro asked for more details: "What about the distance?"
"About an hour's walk!"
Shintaro noted down the information and continued to ask: "Also the numbers and methods."
Kotaro answered in panic, "There are more than fifty ordinary believers like me... There are six cadres... and the leader... The ordinary believers are almost the same strength as me, and some are even weaker than me..."
"I don't know the strength of the cadres and the leader... But they once captured a Jonin from Yugakure to sacrifice to the evil god... It seems to be a curse using blood as the medium..."
"A curse?!" Shintaro repeated the word with a surprised look on his face.
Kotaro panicked and shouted, "Yes! A curse!"
Shintaro understood all the information clearly, so he increased the effect of the Genjutsu to frighten Kotaro until he fainted, and at the same time used Gentle Fist to block the meridians all over his body.
Shintaro looked at Kurenai and said, "I'll go alone this time. If what he said is true, this operation is still a bit dangerous."
But Kurenai stubbornly replied, "As a ninja, which mission isn't dangerous? I'll protect myself. At worst, I can handle the ordinary believers."
Seeing her insistence, Shintaro could only say, "Alright, let's go together."
For him, this operation was necessary either to eliminate harm for the people or to understand the so-called "curse." so it was natural for him to decide to go to the headquarters of the Cult of the Evil God to investigate.
Kurenai went to comfort the two girls who had just bathed together.
"Both of you, it's okay. We are ninjas from Konoha Village. We just caught a bad guy from the Cult of the Evil God here. Please report to the officials and have someone arrest him."
The two girls nodded, put on their bathrobes, and ran out. Shintaro opened the hot spring curtain, twisted it into a rope, and tied Kotaro tightly to the door post.
Then he bit his finger and formed a seal to channel a large group of crows.
"Hikaru, take them to a cave near a waterfall, about an hour's walk from here." Shintaro instructed.
"Caw Caw!" Hikaru cried twice energetically, and then a large group of crows scattered to search.
Shintaro then said, "Let's go back to the hotel to get our equipment."
The two of them set off back to the hotel, put on their respective ninja outfits, gathered their gear, and then returned to the hot spring.