Although over the past three years Ranshōmon had grown rapidly, its headquarters was still hidden inside the same inconspicuous, run-down building. Compared to other branches, it barely had a proper resting place.
But one mustn't underestimate it—beneath this shabby structure lay an underground complex like a hidden palace.
Hyūga Shigeo appeared there with Hōrin, handing him over to his subordinates.
"Your body should be fine now," Shigeo said quietly. "From now on, if there's any information about the Divine Guardian Sect, report directly to me. Don't investigate on your own. Understood?"
"Yes, sir…" Hōrin lowered his head. This mission had cost him six men, and he himself had nearly died on Yūmeitō. Now that his lord had given an order, he dared not disobey.
Shigeo left and returned to his home in Nanmo Ninja Village. From his pack he took out the notebook he had retrieved from Yūmeitō and studied it carefully.
At last, based on the notes and Hōrin's report, he pieced together the truth about this so-called Divine Guardian Sect.
The sect wasn't large, but its traces were scattered across the shinobi world. Their stated purpose was simple: they claimed to have been entrusted by an ancient "Divine Lord" to fulfill a mission of "protecting the peace of the shinobi world."
Of course, though this "Divine Guardian Sect" had existed for centuries, it had never once intervened to prevent any of the great ninja wars. In fact, through all three Shinobi Wars, they were nowhere to be found.
Their recent surge of activity all revolved around Hyūga Shigeo.
He was the first person in the world to host seven tailed beasts within one body. That reminded them of Jūshō Tenten—the "Ten-Elephant Heaven Rotation." They feared he was the vessel for the Divine Tree, the harbinger of chaos to the world, and thus resolved to eliminate him.
But during their secret investigation of Nanmo Nation, they were noticed by the agents of Ranshōmon.
Before obtaining concrete proof, First Gate Hōrin hadn't reported the matter to Shigeo and instead continued his covert inquiry.
After three months of tracking, they discovered the hidden base—Yūmeitō. Hōrin decided to lead a team there himself.
The result was predictable: several subordinates lost their lives, and Hōrin barely survived. If not for the summoning tag Shigeo had left him earlier, he would have perished on that drifting ghost island.
According to the notebook, the Divine Guardian Sect was headed by a figure venerated as the "Divine Lord." This man possessed the innate ability to absorb natural chakra, said to carry the power of a deity. His two chief lieutenants were the Yūmeiden Lord of Yūmeitō and the Henshinden Lord at another secret base.
The exact locations of their bases were not recorded.
But one thing was certain: the curse marks used by the cultists on Yūmeitō originated from their Divine Lord himself.
The Yūmeiden Lord specialized in living human puppets; the Henshinden Lord, in puppets made from corpses.
That was all the notebook revealed. After reading it, Shigeo recalled the ancient bamboo codex and felt a storm of questions.
The codex described the legend of the Divine Tree, how to create a Ten-Tails without the Gedō Mazō (Outer Path Statue), and the disasters such a beast would bring—but it said nothing about how to actually cultivate the secret art Jūshō Tenten.
From what was written, the essential part of the technique must have been in the missing second half.
The notebook gave no hint where that volume was located. It seemed the only path forward was to find the Divine Guardian Sect itself.
Although Shigeo's mirror system could theoretically synthesize a Ten-Tails on its own, whether that Ten-Tails would possess the same abilities as Jūshō Tenten remained unknown.
For the next month, there was no news of the sect—from Itachi, from Ranshōmon, or even from the Nanmo secret division.
Then, a month later, Hōrin suddenly brought urgent news: the Divine Guardian Sect had invited Hyūga Shigeo to meet in the western seas of the Land of Hot Water.
At the same time, Itachi approached Shigeo. Only then did Shigeo learn that Itachi had originally planned to handle the sect alone, but once the invitation was sent directly to Shigeo, Itachi couldn't refuse it—and called him to join.
This time, Kisame Hoshigaki wasn't present; he was on another mission.
From the western coast of the Land of Fire, the voyage took less than three days. They arrived in the Land of Hot Water—a quiet, peaceful country. But the farther west they traveled, the stranger things became. They often met passionate preachers on the roads.
The cult these fanatics belonged to was none other than the Jashin Sect.
The longer they journeyed through the region, the clearer it became to Shigeo and Itachi that something was off.
The Jashin Sect sought not peace but purpose—declaring that life's worth came only from struggle. Even if it meant spilling every last drop of blood, they would fight against a meaningless existence.
A creed that practically begged for chaos.
But how others lived wasn't their concern; they had their own matters to resolve.
Upon reaching the western coast, Shigeo and Itachi halted and took out a map to examine the local terrain.
"This time, they've summoned you to an island called Kigyōtō—Ghost Elephant Island," Itachi explained. "I've already asked around. That place is infamous for its horrors. According to Akatsuki intel, the Divine Guardian Sect recently tried to recruit the five great villages to unite against you, but none of the Kage cared. So they've decided to act on their own. They've gathered every bit of power they have to take you down. Whatever awaits you on that island, we don't know—but I'm sure they've staked everything on this."
Finishing his explanation, Itachi folded the map, gazed at the endless sea, and turned to see Shigeo absent-mindedly munching on edamame. He reached over and rapped him on the head.
"Can you be serious for once?"
"Fine, fine." Shigeo smirked. He had originally planned to head straight to Ghost Elephant Island, but Itachi insisted on a detour through the Land of Hot Water to gather intelligence on the sect before moving in.
"Are you Hyūga Shigeo?"
While they stood watching the sunset over the sea, a small boat drifted to shore. A man in a black cloak stood upon it. His entire body—hair and face alike—was concealed within the hood, leaving only two hollow eyeholes staring outward.
His voice was flat and lifeless, his posture rigid like a corpse propped upright.
"Itachi," Shigeo whispered, "you know, the Divine Guardian Lord has two lieutenants—one was that Yūmeiden Lord we met two months ago, the other is the Henshinden Lord. The Henshinden one works with corpses. So I'd guess this guy's a dead man too."
Itachi frowned slightly. "How do you even know their internal hierarchy?"
(End of Chapter)
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