Seeing that Kasumi Kyōbu had stopped moving, the monster raised one foot high into the air, preparing to deliver a fatal blow to the tiny insect before it.
Once that foot came down, no matter how powerful Kasumi Kyōbu’s body was, he would be no different from those fragile insects. He would simply be crushed into dust.
Clearly, in the eyes of the Evil God, Kasumi Kyōbu was nothing more than a slightly larger insect.
The burly man had overestimated himself.
He had thought that he could resist a god, but borrowing the power of a god and confronting the god itself were two completely different things!
Especially when Kasumi Kyōbu’s god did not seem particularly reliable.
The monster’s foot was about to descend.
Kasumi Kyōbu was about to meet his end.
He was not afraid of death.
What filled him with regret was that he would not be able to accompany his lord to the pinnacle of the world.
"My lord, after I die, I shall not enter the Pure Land. I shall become a demon god and continue serving the Uchiha!"
These were Kasumi Kyōbu’s final words.
Just as Kasumi Kyōbu fell into despair, a lotus flower suddenly rose into the air.
The surrounding scenery instantly changed.
The scorched, devastated battlefield that had been ravaged by the Evil God was replaced by a lush forest filled with fragrant grass and towering trees.
When Kasumi Kyōbu blinked again, he was already standing beside Granny Gen.
"Reverse Summoning Technique?"
The burly man, having narrowly escaped death, scratched his head and asked in disbelief.
This was the power of a god.
Yet Granny Gen had used it far too effortlessly.
Granny Gen did not answer. She merely nodded.
After receiving her confirmation, Kasumi Kyōbu felt even more depressed.
They were both human, so how could the difference between them be this enormous?!
"Granny, are you really this powerful? This is divine power! You can actually manipulate it so casually!"
Kasumi Kyōbu needed to perform a large-scale ritual before he could borrow divine power.
Granny Gen, on the other hand, seemed to need nothing more than a snap of her fingers.
The burly man could not even imagine how devout Granny Gen must be toward the gods.
If she was already this powerful with nothing more than a snap of her fingers, then what would happen if she actually performed a full ritual and summoned a god?
Perhaps she could summon a true god.
That would be worlds apart from the divine projection he had summoned earlier!
Granny Gen, however, had no interest in discussing this with Kasumi Kyōbu, who had just escaped death.
Instead, she began lecturing her subordinate.
"Kasumi Kyōbu, you’re too eager to prove yourself."
"Is showing Lord Kei how powerful you are really that important? Your recklessness could delay many of our lord’s plans!"
Kasumi Kyōbu did not see it that way.
His lord was his idol.
If he could worship Lord Kei with the same devotion with which he worshipped a god, perhaps he too could reach Granny Gen’s level.
Faced with his leader’s reprimand, Kasumi Kyōbu refused to admit that he was wrong.
"Of course it is! What’s wrong with letting Lord Kei see what I’m capable of?"
"I, Kasumi Kyōbu, intend to become the most capable subordinate at the side of the great lord!"
Granny Gen clearly disagreed with his viewpoint.
"Completing whatever task our lord assigns by whatever means necessary—that is what a subordinate should do."
"Your behavior is merely vanity. You have placed your own honor and humiliation above our lord’s cause."
"That is false worship!"
Unfortunately, the burly man was stubborn by nature.
He refused to listen and continued defending himself.
"If my god hadn’t suddenly malfunctioned, I would have already killed that monster!"
Kasumi Kyōbu believed that if he had killed the monster, then he would not have delayed his lord’s plans.
He would still have been placing his lord’s interests above his own personal honor.
Granny Gen no longer wanted to argue with the burly man.
He was simply too single-minded.
If Lord Kei himself did not care, then she might as well leave him to his ways.
However, when Kasumi Kyōbu began blaming his own god, Granny Gen had to defend the deity.
"You fool. Your god has already given you the means to defeat the monster. You simply failed to understand it!"
Kasumi Kyōbu, however, thought that failing to understand was perfectly normal.
Have you ever seen a warrior put points into Intelligence?
Have you ever seen a top laner build ability power?
Of course Kasumi Kyōbu wouldn’t understand!
"What does it mean?"
The burly man actually had the nerve to ask.
Granny Gen shifted a step to the side, as though she were afraid that stupidity might be contagious.
"’The deluded are lost in enlightenment; the enlightened are enlightened by delusion. Delusion and enlightenment share one essence. Only the enlightened can understand.’"
"Your god possesses great wisdom. What a pity that it ended up with someone like you!"
"What a pity. What a pity!"
Granny Gen was practically calling Kasumi Kyōbu an idiot to his face.
But Kasumi Kyōbu did not care.
"Yes, I know that this is the solution my god gave me. But I don’t understand what it means!"
Granny Gen was speechless.
Sure enough, the difference between people was greater than the difference between people and dogs.
"The god’s meaning is this: the Pure Land is born with enlightenment, moves with enlightenment, and ends with enlightenment."
"Enter the state of Wu—and you will be able to defeat Wu."
"And clearly, you have yet to attain enlightenment!"
Kasumi Kyōbu still did not understand.
"Granny, explain it more clearly!"
Granny Gen was helpless.
When speaking to an idiot, it was better not to beat around the bush.
Otherwise, they really would walk themselves into a dead end.
She pointed toward the box constructed around the four emotions of joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness.
That was the box that had originally sealed Wu.
"Do not allow joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness to enter your heart."
"Do not become excessively elated, nor sink into overwhelming grief. Do not become consumed by despair, nor fly into a rage from humiliation."
"Have no selfish thoughts or distracting desires."
"Become free of emotion and desire."
"In essence, it is a state of tranquility and serenity."
"That is Wu."
This time, Kasumi Kyōbu finally understood what Wu meant.
But he still did not understand what use it was.
"So what? What’s the point?"
Granny Gen finally gave up.
There was no point speaking indirectly to an idiot.
Otherwise, they would truly end up trapped in a dead end.
"So, when fighting Wu, you must have no emotions whatsoever."
"Only then can you defeat Wu."
"Kasumi Kyōbu, your emotions are far too fanatical. That is precisely why you allowed the monster to become this powerful!"
Kasumi Kyōbu finally understood!
"Ohhh! So, Granny, you mean that as long as I don’t think about anything and just charge in and beat the hell out of it, I can defeat the monster, right?"
Granny Gen nodded.
"Yes."
"Good! Granny, watch my men. I’m going!"
With that, Kasumi Kyōbu prepared to charge into battle.
But Granny Gen grabbed him by the arm.
It seemed that she had another plan.
"No, Kasumi Kyōbu."
"Don’t fight it yourself."
"And don’t alter the monster’s current state."
"I want to fight the strongest possible form of a Six Paths creation!"
Kasumi Kyōbu was bewildered.
Was Granny stupid?
"Granny, what are you trying to do?"
"We already know the answer. Why deliberately solve the problem incorrectly? That’s not what a wise person would do!"
Granny Gen naturally understood that.
But after witnessing this level of power, she had developed a new idea.
"Lord Kei has been too cautious."
"He fears the power of the Six Paths."
"But I want to scout ahead for our lord and determine just how far the power of the Six Paths can actually reach."
"If we can defeat a Six Paths creation at its strongest, then perhaps when we eventually face the Six Paths themselves, we will at least have a point of reference!"
Granny Gen wanted to understand just how powerful Six Paths-level power truly was.
How much strength would it take to defeat it?
Only by determining that could they properly prepare themselves for the day they encountered the beings Lord Kei had spoken of—those who possessed Six Paths power.
Kasumi Kyōbu nodded.
Although he did not fully understand, he knew that he had to support his leader’s decision.
"Granny, are you confident you can do it?"
Granny Gen did not know.
"We won’t know unless we try."
"Gather the entire strength of the Iga Group."
"Let’s have a real battle!"
The leader of the Iga Group had issued her order.
That meant there was no room for argument.
"Understood!"
Following Granny Gen’s command, all the Iga shinobi began assembling.
Only Kōga Jōsuke remained behind in the Land of Grass to continue the rescue effort.
The battlefield was now filled with Uchiha.
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT
◇ 1 bonus Chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus Chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 70+ Chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/Sagamaster789