Just as Black Zetsu sank into the ground, Asuna's figure already darted to the location. When she appeared, she saw only one man in a black robe and slightly frowned.
Although Black Zetsu's existence was somewhat unique, he had just appeared outside. Asuna's Sage Mode vaguely detected a trace of his aura, but now she only saw one person, which made her a little curious.
However, there was no time to ponder, because the black-robed man opposite had already started to move. Although his black robe concealed him, Asuna could see that his skin, initially a bizarre black with white patterns, was slowly returning to a normal complexion, though still marked with strange vein-like protrusions.
—This guy is a bit strange!
Asuna immediately confirmed this. She could feel some ominous chakra, and at the same time, she didn't overlook the strange blood-drawn ritual array. Although she didn't know its purpose yet, her intuition told her it was related to the lord's bizarre death.
The Cultist of Jashin had already pulled the black spear from his heart, and with the bizarre regenerative power of his immortal body, no more blood was gushing from his chest. Asuna didn't notice this immediately.
At this moment, the Cultist of Jashin dragged the black spear with one hand and summoned a red scythe with the other. Asuna didn't attack immediately; she was still observing silently.
In his letter to her, Fumori masaki had mentioned the Cultist of Jashin. He specifically pointed out that the Cultist might possess some special, bizarre abilities. Based on the information gathered so far, the Cultists generally don't use ninjutsu, primarily relying on taijutsu. Their special abilities might also be related to taijutsu—their dedicated taijutsu training must have a purpose, perhaps connected to the Cultist of Jashin's strange powers.
Relying on his past life experience, Fumori masaki knew what the Cultist of Jashin's secret technique was. Although his conjecture was somewhat biased, his statement was correct, and Asuna remembered it, feeling that it was always better to be cautious.
At this moment, the Cultist of Jashin opposite had already raised his head. Asuna was surprised to notice that his eyes were somewhat hollow. While she was still wondering, he had already charged forward.
The Cultist of Jashin was very fast, clearly strong-boned and incredibly energetic, comparable to a Jonin. However, in Asuna's Sage Mode, he was still too slow.
Asuna advanced instead of retreating. Although she closed the distance, she wasn't planning a close-quarters battle. The opponent's eagerness to charge forward showed that her father's belief about the special significance of the Cultist of Jashin's taijutsu combat was correct. Therefore, Asuna had other plans.
Just as the distance between them reached a certain point, Asuna raised her hand and swung it towards the Cultist of Jashin. Normally, this wouldn't hit the opponent, but the Cultist of Jashin was struck by some invisible force, quickly flying backward and crashing heavily into a tree.
With a bang, the tree was actually broken by the Cultist of Jashin's body, falling to the side, while the Cultist of Jashin lay slumped, seemingly unable to get up.
"...So that's all there is to it," Asuna muttered. The battle ended so quickly, but it wasn't that unbelievable.
In Sage Mode, a normal person's abilities are greatly enhanced. Asuna's physical capabilities already surpassed the Cultist of Jashin's, and more importantly, the method Asuna just used was to attack with natural energy that ordinary people couldn't perceive.
Such attacks are traceless. Unless one is extremely powerful, experienced, or capable of sensing natural energy, being caught off guard in a first encounter is a very normal phenomenon.
The impact of natural energy is incredibly powerful. Although Asuna couldn't add nature transformation abilities to natural energy like her father, she could achieve basic shape transformation. For an ordinary person, it would be like being struck by a very heavy hammer without any defense.
Asuna didn't intend to take the Cultist of Jashin's life, as she still needed to learn some things from him. Just as she was about to step forward, she suddenly stopped, a hint of surprise on her face.
In her estimation, the Cultist of Jashin should have been knocked unconscious. The Cultist of Jashin, who was sent flying and broke a tree, clearly sustained a powerful impact.
But now, the Cultist of Jashin got up again, his movements seemingly unaffected. As he stood, Asuna couldn't help but gasp, because the Cultist of Jashin's body movements were abnormal. She immediately realized that he must have broken bones.
This was within Asuna's expectations, but Asuna hadn't expected someone with broken bones to be able to stand up and move unhindered.
At this moment, Asuna recalled a rumor about the Cultist of Jashin, which said that some of them possessed immortal bodies, but there had never been concrete evidence. In the Leaf Village's attack on the Cultist village, no such Cultist of Jashin had been seen.
Now it seemed the rumors were true. Asuna had a person right in front of her who fit the description perfectly, and from his appearance, he seemed to have even lost the sensation of pain.
Asuna said nothing, raising her hand and throwing a kunai. With Asuna's immense power, the kunai flew incredibly fast, instantly piercing the Cultist of Jashin's shoulder. A tag was tied to the end of the kunai—
Boom!
Although the Cultist of Jashin quickly pulled out and threw away the kunai, the explosive flames still engulfed him, tearing half of his black robe and blasting a bone-deep gash in his shoulder. Blood immediately gushed out, but stopped shortly after.
Asuna's cheek twitched slightly. To be honest, the Cultist of Jashin now looked truly indescribably terrifying, but Asuna had, after all, experienced the Shinobi World War and wasn't about to be completely intimidated.
After a brief consideration, Asuna decided that if this guy really had an immortal body, she would break all his bones. That way, she wouldn't have to worry about him using any strange tricks.
Action followed thought. Asuna quickly darted out. To be safe, she performed hand seals to summon a shadow clone. The shadow clone engaged in close combat, while her main body provided support.
Even if it was just a shadow clone, it was in Sage Mode. Even if its power was halved, it was still superior to this Cultist of Jashin. The drawn kunai suppressed the Cultist of Jashin's scythe, severing his black spear. Then, with a kick, the Cultist of Jashin's weapon flew out of his hand, and he himself was sent flying.
Asuna, as the main body, crossed her hands in front of her, then quickly spread them apart. A faintly blurred crescent-shaped wind blade appeared between her open hands. This was a secret technique Asuna had developed based on her father Fumori masaki's Eight-Point Wind Wheel. Its firing speed was even faster than the Eight-Point Wind Wheel, and its destructive power was even greater!
The difference from the Eight-Point Wind Wheel might be that the chakra was too concentrated, so it could only be released in one go, unable to be freely controlled and extended into a series of application techniques like the Eight-Point Wind Wheel.
But as a one-shot ultimate technique, the Vertical Slice Blade was powerful enough.
"Sage Art: Wind Release: Vertical Slice Blade!"
The Cultist of Jashin above was immediately swept by the Vertical Slice Blade. After a brief pause, his body was diagonally cut into two, falling from the sky.
Asuna's shadow clone quickly moved forward, using a kunai to sever the Cultist of Jashin's arms and legs. Now, the Cultist of Jashin was like disassembled parts, unable to move at all, let alone use any other means.
And in this state, the Cultist of Jashin was still alive. There was no excess blood seeping from the cut surfaces of his wounds. Was this what it meant to have an immortal body?
Although an immortal body is powerful to a certain extent, if the disparity in strength between the two sides is too great, one can only be slaughtered, unable to live or die.
Of course, Asuna wasn't someone with such hobbies. Although she had chopped the Cultist of Jashin into pieces, it was out of necessity.
Moreover, the Cultist of Jashin didn't seem to feel any pain. Against such a guy, being a bit ruthless was fine. His appearance was indeed quite gruesome, but he probably didn't feel anything himself.
Ordinary people would show weaknesses due to pain, but those without pain would not. Theoretically, as long as their bodies could endure, they could continue fighting until their bodies were completely unable to move.
And this kind of enemy is terrifying to a certain extent. Asuna's choice to completely dismember the opponent was out of necessity.
Asuna let out a slight breath, looked at the Cultist of Jashin lying on the ground, and decided to wait for the others to arrive, not fearing that this guy would die from excessive blood loss.
Just as Asuna was about to rest, she suddenly turned around and looked in one direction. A man in a black robe had appeared there sometime.
If not for Asuna's powerful sensory abilities in Sage Mode, that guy might have been able to ambush her from behind without her noticing.
"Indeed, this guy couldn't defeat you. Sage Mode... even if it's just imitating the realm of a Sage, it's not something ordinary humans can touch," the black-robed man said quietly.
"Who are you?" Asuna replied cautiously. Without knowing the enemy's abilities, she didn't intend to attack carelessly. The black-robed man gave her a different feeling than the Cultist of Jashin on the ground.
"It's meaningless to tell your name to a dead person, but before you die, I can fulfill your wish, because for the dead, revealing myself is harmless," the black-robed man said with a seemingly contradictory statement.
"Are you with this guy?" Asuna asked, staring at every move of the black-robed man.
"Ah, to some extent, yes," the black-robed man flicked his hand, and a black spear appeared in his hand, identical to the Cultist of Jashin's black spear.
She hadn't expected to encounter another enemy, and this person was different from the Cultist of Jashin on the ground. He could speak, while the Cultist of Jashin on the ground, for some reason, seemed to have lost his intelligence, appearing somewhat dazed.
In other words, this enemy in front of her would be more troublesome than the Cultist of Jashin on the ground. A person with intelligence, even if less powerful, would appear more dangerous.
Otherwise, how could the Tailed Beasts, whose power far exceeded that of most humans, be sealed by people weaker than them? It was by relying on human intelligence.
In the Shinobi World, there's a clear point: the way to fully unleash a Tailed Beast's power is for the Tailed Beast and its Jinchuriki to be one in mind and body. Otherwise, a Tailed Beast alone cannot fully exert its own power.
—When will Sakumo and the others arrive? Although my speed is quite fast, Sakumo should be here by now, no matter what?
Asuna wasn't afraid of the black-robed man in front of her; she simply believed there was no need to fight alone when she had companions. But now, her companions were late in arriving.
Asuna didn't know that Hatake Sakumo and the others were tied up by certain events, and the instigator was the black-robed man in front of her.
The black-robed man was Uchiha Kokuya himself. This time, he specifically set up such a scheme not only to deal with the lord and conveniently smear the Leaf Village, but also to use this opportunity to eliminate those he was dissatisfied with, namely Asuna and Mizuki.
Uchiha Kokuya didn't know how they would act, but as long as they entered this forest, he had a way to split their formation and then find his specific targets.
And conveniently, Asuna, due to using Sage Mode, was faster than the others, leaving them far behind. This made it easier for Uchiha Kokuya to deal with her.
Earlier, Uchiha Kokuya had said, "But if you rush too fast, you often can't stop," and that's what he meant. Now Asuna was alone, and the others were currently being held back by two other immortal Cultists of Jashin and Black Zetsu.
Those two Cultists of Jashin possessed Jonin-level combat abilities, and while Black Zetsu had no frontal combat capabilities, he had supportive means, especially in a forest environment like this, where Black Zetsu could employ more tricks.
To be honest, Uchiha Kokuya didn't know at first that Black Zetsu could even use Wood Release! That was Senju Hashirama's unique skill. Now, it was only rumored that Senju Hashirama's grandson might use Wood Release, but it was just a rumor, and no one had truly seen it.
But holding back Hatake Sakumo and the others for a while was no problem, and Uchiha Kokuya intended to eliminate Asuna during that time.
Uchiha Kokuya stared at Asuna, his eyes faintly glowing with a bloody light, already in the form of the Mangekyo Sharingan, and his figure began to distort slightly, as if double images were appearing.