Nao solemnly took the scroll and held it tightly in her arms.
Then, he solemnly instructed, "Remember, as soon as my clone disappears, open the scroll immediately. Inside is my Chakra clone, and he will teach you what to do then."
This was a trump card he had specially prepared, referencing how Minato Namikaze left a Chakra consciousness body within Naruto in the original story that could manifest at critical moments, following the rapid progress of his Sealing Technique during this period.
Whether he would encounter Jashin this time and how strong Jashin's power was remained a mystery, so Aoki Yoru specifically arranged two trump cards.
Nao nodded solemnly. "Don't worry, Brother Yoru, I understand. You must come back safely!"
At this moment, the clone walked over. "Don't worry, original body, I will keep a good eye on Nao."
Afterward, Aoki Yoru instructed Yatagarasu to take good care of Nao and to always pay attention to his commands. Then, he jumped off the bird's back and rushed toward Mt. Liangjie.
The reason Aoki Yoru was going to Mt. Liangjie this time wasn't because he was overflowing with saintly compassion; he was a most cautious person, so how could he put himself in danger for the sake of outsiders?
It was mainly to see if he could meet Jashin.
His strength had already reached a plateau; he could now use spiritual energy to trigger Natural Energy, but a person's spiritual energy is limited.
His body's autonomous absorption was still very slow and practically useless. Although he could store Natural Energy in his body using Sealing Techniques, it was also limited and would be completely exhausted after one ultimate move.
His research on White Zetsu had also hit a bottleneck due to the destruction of his laboratory.
But according to his calculations, even if he developed his spiritual energy to the limit, maximized his Natural Energy absorption efficiency, and made a complete breakthrough in his White Zetsu research, by the time the Fourth Ninja World War arrived, he would at most reach the level of Senju Hashirama.
Reaching the Six Paths level was simply a pipe dream; the Six Paths level and the Super Kage level were not even in the same dimension.
If a commoner with god-given talent could barely squeeze into the Super Kage level after numerous hardships, then looking at a Six Paths level powerhouse would be like a mayfly gazing at the moon.
Throughout history, those who could reach the Six Paths level all possessed the bloodline of the Ōtsutsuki Clan, and with extremely high bloodline concentration at that—the furthest being the biological sons of the Sage of Six Paths.
Among others, only Might Guy had briefly reached it by relying on the Eight Gates, radiating his own brilliance.
But that was just a dying state and a desperate gamble; Aoki Yoru didn't want to sacrifice himself for others.
This was how Aoki Yoru felt now—a deep sense of despair. With his comprehension and spiritual energy, he couldn't deduce a path to the Six Paths level, not even a glimmer of possibility.
Therefore, he turned his attention to Jashin.
According to his understanding, the Six Paths level was essentially about touching the power of the Divine Tree and the source of Chakra. A commoner like him without Ōtsutsuki blood would never be able to reach that threshold in a lifetime relying solely on Chakra.
Chakra is the Divine Tree seed of the Ōtsutsuki Clan, which absorbs the vitality of the Ninja World to grow the Divine Tree, which then condenses the Chakra Fruit; it is essentially nurtured by the rules of the Ninja World.
Meanwhile, beings like Jashin and the Shinigami have lived for an unknown amount of time; they have existed since the era of myth.
Coupled with various strange rule-based abilities, they are practically products of the Ninja World's rules, or perhaps a higher dimension of life.
Therefore, Aoki Yoru wanted to see it for himself, to analyze it, and to comprehend its essence to see if he could gain any inspiration or touch the power of the rules.
He also knew that such beings were not to be trifled with, so he prepared two trump cards.
If his clone disappeared, it would mean he couldn't even maintain the ability to keep a clone active, and he would likely be in grave danger. At that point, he could only pray that the trump card in Nao's hand would work.
Soon, Aoki Yoru reached the foot of Mt. Liangjie. Going all out, his spiritual energy spread in all directions, quickly enveloping the entire mountain.
"Found them."
In a massive, naturally formed karst cave, he discovered the figures of the Jashin Cult.
But Aoki Yoru felt no joy; instead, his face was grim. There were only about a hundred living people inside, and judging by their clothes, they were all subordinates of the Jashin Cult and the Daimyo.
Before them was a massive blood pool, and the bloody stench emanating from it could be smelled by Aoki Yoru even at the foot of the mountain.
At the bottom of the rift valley behind the cave, he saw densely packed corpses; those at the bottom had already turned into white bones, while those at the top even had heat radiating from their bodies.
There were men, women, young, and old, all sharing the common trait of being deathly pale and devoid of blood; they had clearly been drained of all the blood in their bodies.
Even for Aoki Yoru, who had experienced war and seen mountains of corpses and seas of blood, this scene made his stomach churn.
Killing intent rose in his eyes; these people all deserved to die. What did they take human lives for?
However, he didn't act immediately. He had just heard the leading priest say that at eight o'clock tonight, the day of the Blood Moon, there would be a blood sacrifice to summon Jashin, and the Daimyo would also come then.
There were still three hours until eight o'clock, so Aoki Yoru sat on the branch of a large tree, leaning against the trunk, and waited quietly.
The night sky was like ink, with a Chiyue hanging in the heavens, its eerie red moonlight silently pouring down.
At this time, a luxurious carriage escorted by guards slowly drove over from the distance and, under Aoki Yoru's gaze, entered the cave.
Inside the cave, a richly dressed old man stepped out of the carriage, and the goatee-wearing priest of the Jashin Cult went up to meet him.
"Respected Lord Daimyo, welcome to the place of sacrifice. Tonight, we shall witness the appearance of the great Lord Jashin."
"Humph!"
The Daimyo snorted coldly, his face clearly showing dissatisfaction. "Mingdu, this is the fifth time you've told me this. The northern part of the Land of Hot Springs has already been emptied by you. Even the Daimyos of the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning have sent secret letters asking what happened and if help is needed."
The Daimyo then narrowed his eyes, coldly sizing up the priest. "This is your last chance. If you can't summon Jashin again, there will be no need for your Jashin Cult to exist."
"Hahaha! Rest assured, Lord Daimyo. After several failures, I have found the reason. This time will definitely be a success."
The priest laughed as he looked at the Daimyo, a flash of ruthlessness crossing his eyes. "We have succeeded once before. Didn't you see that Hidan last time? No matter how he was attacked, he couldn't be killed. It's just a pity he escaped."
"You'd better be right. If I hadn't seen that guy truly obtain an Immortal Body, do you think I would support you stray dogs who hide your heads and show your tails?"
The Daimyo looked down at him as if looking at an ant, his face full of disdain, then turned and went back into the carriage.
Watching the Daimyo's figure, the flattery on the priest's face instantly vanished, replaced by a surge of sinister killing intent in his eyes. His fingertips gripped the Bone Staff at his waist tightly, his knuckles turning white.
"Enjoy your pride for a while longer; you won't be laughing in a moment," the priest sneered in a low voice.