This kind of summoning formula could only use a preset medium to release a summoning technique in place of the true contractor. To achieve the effect of making a person suddenly disappear, the only possibility was a reverse summoning formula.
However, reverse summoning required both sides to formally sign a blood contract. Otherwise, it would consume an extremely massive amount of chakra. A large-scale summoning like that was clearly not something a pre-prepared summoning scroll could activate.
While Mitsuki and Minato were passionately discussing the mechanics, Kakashi and the others were completely lost. Double-layered seals, formula models, and reverse summoning theories were simply too much for them to grasp.
Obito shook his dizzy head and asked, "Mitsuki, Minato-sensei, why don't we just make a Shadow Clone and try stamping it to see what happens?"
The suggestion was so reasonable that Mitsuki was momentarily speechless.
"What Obito says makes sense. I'll give it a try," Minato said with a light laugh, scratching the back of his head. He and Mitsuki really had been overthinking it. He formed the hand seals for the Shadow Clone Technique. With a puff of smoke, a clone appeared, took the scroll and stamp, and decisively pressed it down.
One second passed, then two. Nothing happened.
Mitsuki frowned slightly. "Looks like there's still some condition that hasn't been met." It couldn't be something like checking the age of the person holding the scroll; that would be far too intelligent and completely unscientific.
"Yeah, this is getting troublesome," Minato sighed softly. In that case, they would have to decode the formulas on the scroll line by line, a task that could not be done quickly. "Sorry, Mitsuki," Minato added apologetically. "You'll have to work overtime tonight."
Mitsuki shrugged indifferently. At this point, it felt like stopping halfway through a complex math problem. He was genuinely curious about the structure of the formula.
...
Early the next morning, Obito dragged Kakashi over to find Mitsuki and Minato. To avoid disturbing the analysis, the three of them had sensibly gone back to their own business the night before. Obito knocked on the door of the command center with dark circles under his eyes.
"Mitsuki! Minato-sensei! Did you figure it out?"
The door opened from the inside to reveal Inoichi. He had also pulled an all-nighter in the interrogation department and returned to the command center at dawn with crucial information.
"Yo, Obito, Kakashi," Mitsuki said, sitting at a chair by the round table and waving in greeting.
"So what happened, Mitsuki? What was all that weird stuff last night about?" Obito pulled over a chair without ceremony and sat down next to him.
Kakashi habitually glanced around and noticed that there were many more glass containers than there had been the night before. Inside them were various oddly shaped tentacles of different lengths. They looked similar to octopus limbs, but none of them had suckers.
After a night of analysis, Mitsuki and Minato had more or less pieced together the truth.
"An Evil God Cult?"
"An evil god?"
Kakashi and Obito exclaimed at the same time.
The incident had been orchestrated by an organization that had suddenly risen in the Land of Hot Water, calling itself the Jashin Cult. Even within Yugakure, quite a few ninja had been absorbed by the cult and had become accomplices in the kidnapping operation. According to the memories of the two Yugakure ninja, their orders came from someone referred to only as "that lord," likely the high priest or leader of the cult.
As for their goal, their slogan was to summon an evil god and destroy the world. Whether there was a real objective behind that remained unknown. Mitsuki guessed it was likely something like immortality or ruling the ninja world. It certainly wasn't about reviving a lost lover; that would be far too abstract.
Kakashi pointed at one of the glass containers. "Were these tentacles summoned using the formula on the scroll?"
"Exactly," Mitsuki nodded. "Minato and I have already deciphered the principle behind the formula."
"What is it?" Obito asked impatiently.
"Sight," Mitsuki said, pointing at his eyes. "Once the target voluntarily stamps the seal, as long as they are in a place where no one is watching, the summoning formula activates. A tentacle is summoned to pierce the skin of the palm, absorb blood to lock onto the target, and then activate reverse summoning to take the person away."
The precision of the method was not very high; even being seen in someone's peripheral vision could prevent it from triggering. That explained why so many parents had seen their children vanish in the blink of an eye when they turned away.
Obito suddenly remembered how close he had come to stamping it himself, and a chill ran down his spine. Just imagining being silently dragged away by an unknown tentacle into the dark shadows was enough to make his skin crawl.
"Then doesn't that mean those kids are in serious danger?" Obito shouted.
"Yes," Mitsuki closed his eyes and affirmed the thought. "In the worst case, those children might have already been lost the moment they were reverse summoned."
Mitsuki did not finish the sentence, but Kakashi and Obito could guess the rest. Obito slammed his fist hard against the table. "Damn it, going after ordinary kids like this."
"Mitsuki, can we…" Obito started to speak but then lowered his head and gave up. Kakashi had told him the night before that this might be an internal Yugakure matter. As an allied village, Konoha had no justification to intervene.
"Oi, you two didn't notice that Minato- isn't here, did you?" Mitsuki said with a soft sigh.
Inoichi explained, "Before you arrived, the leader of Yugakure came personally. He's in the meeting room talking with Minato right now. It should be about this matter."
Kakashi's eyes instantly lit up. "So that means the higher-ups of Yugakure were not aware of this kidnapping incident."
That matched what Mitsuki had suspected. The ninja who had joined the Jashin Cult had secretly replaced the normal ink and scrolls without the village's knowledge.
"That's great!" Obito pumped his fist excitedly. "If that's the case, then Konoha has a legitimate reason to take action!"