The land of demons and the land of bears were neighbors, not far from Ryūchi Cave, one of the three great Sage Lands.
However, compared to the land of bears, located in the gap between the lands of wind and earth, the land of demons was more remote in the ninja world.
Orochimaru was stepping foot into this small country, sealed with the legendary demon Kyōmu, for the first time.
Not long after entering the border of the land of demons, Kushina, who had been hopping along the way, suddenly quieted down.
Minato Namikaze, who had been guarding her, was puzzled and couldn't help but lean in and ask.
"Captain Kushina, is there any special situation?"
Kushina frowned, her expression somewhat unpleasant.
"I'm not quite sure!"
"Kurama told me..."
"There's a strong residual resentment ahead, there..."
"Many people must have died!"
Minato's heart startled. He reached into his ninja pouch and took out the magnet release kunai that Orochimaru had given him, and looked ahead warily.
Orochimaru walked up to the two of them. The green Sage Mode chakra light around him flashed and disappeared. Then, like Kushina, he also frowned.
"There's a fluctuation of chakra reaction, yet no life force. This feeling..."
"It's as if humans were made into puppets after death."
"Has Kyōmu's power permeated to this extent?"
"Who exactly killed so many people in the land of demons?"
"Even rogue ninjas, I've never heard of any who like to slaughter indiscriminately..."
After pondering for a while, Orochimaru thought of Black Zetsu and the Evil God Cult in the Land of Hot Water, but eventually rejected his guesses one by one.
Black Zetsu was probably shuttling between the Land of Iron and the Land of Rain, taking care of the aging Madara Uchiha and monitoring Nagato's growth. He likely wouldn't have the time to come to a remote small country like the land of demons to cause trouble.
Such a small country, with no strength and no resources, wouldn't cause much of a stir in the ninja world no matter how much it was stirred up.
As for the Evil God Cult in the Land of Hot Water, although its origin was unknown, it was currently just an obscure small organization. It hadn't even fully covered its own country's influence, so how could it have crossed several countries to come to the land of demons to collect sacrifices for your evil god?
Moreover, the intelligence from the land of demons stated that there was only one rogue ninja. The speed and scale of the Evil God Cult's sacrifices were clearly not enough to alarm the Yin Nine-Tails within Kushina.
"Which faction's ninja is it?"
...
"Earth Style - Earth Dragon Bullet Technique!"
Rosshi, enveloped in astonishing killing intent, placed his hands on the ground and frowned as he looked at the 'monster' that shattered and then reformed its body under the onslaught of rock bullets from the earth dragons, feeling extremely annoyed.
He couldn't understand why these people could stand up and move even after he had killed them more than once. Moreover, they were even stronger than when they were alive.
The powerful firepower of Lava Release could completely incinerate these living corpses, but Rosshi's current identity was a bloodthirsty rogue ninja, and the distinctive power of Lava Release could not be exposed to the ninja world.
Because of his selfishness that pushed the Hidden Stone Village to face the entire ninja world, he couldn't atone for his sins no matter how many times he died.
After many days of killing, Rosshi's gray robes, originally used for disguise, had been completely stained black and red by dried blood. A faint stench emanated from him that was nauseating if one got too close.
But Rosshi didn't care!
Since he had already killed people, why would he be bothered by the blood on him?
Besides, these ordinary people and the ninjas of small countries could help him break the seal on the Four-Tails. Shouldn't they consider it an honor?
That's right, the rogue ninja who was solely responsible for the deaths of nearly a thousand ninjas and ordinary civilians in the land of demons was precisely Rosshi, who, following the advice of the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, used the resentment brought about by slaughter to try to awaken the Four-Tails' ferocity, combining external and internal efforts to break through the Five Elements Seal.
As for why he chose the land of demons...
The Land of Snow in the north was covered in ice and snow. Besides Lava Release, Rosshi only excelled in Earth Style and Fire Style, which were clearly unsuitable. As for the Land of Bears, he couldn't guarantee that the Leaf ninja named Kōchin had left, and if he fell into his hands again...
As for the Land of Rain, which bordered the Land of Earth, with the notorious "Half-God of the Ninja" residing there, Rosshi didn't dare to easily provoke him.
After careful consideration, only the land of demons, which he was relatively familiar with, was a viable option.
Where there were people, how many ninjas and what kind of forces there were – over the years of his wandering, Rosshi had a clear understanding of the distribution of power in the land of demons.
At first, he had hesitated when he raised his hand against ordinary people.
Was the sacrifice of civilians and ninjas from these small countries worth it to awaken the power of the Four-Tails?
It was easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality!
As a powerful ninja in the Hidden Stone Village, second only to the Third Tsuchikage in strength and status, Rosshi had long been accustomed to a sense of superiority, even if he didn't say it out loud.
Weighing the pros and cons, compared to the impact on his own village due to the loss of the tailed beast's power, it was better to just kill these people from small countries!
As the slaughter continued, Rosshi accumulated more and more malevolent energy and resentment. Although these things were invisible and intangible, Rosshi could clearly feel that as the killings progressed, the power of the Four-Tails within him became increasingly restless.
Occasionally, during frenzied slaughter, Rosshi's chakra would even be affected by the Four-Tails' chaotic power, and he would inadvertently add the Four-Tails' Lava Release power to his Earth Style ninjutsu.
This discovery immediately delighted Rosshi. While marveling that Ōnoki truly deserved the title of "Scalemail," he became even more decisive and efficient in his killings.
However, after a while, Rosshi found that things were exceeding his understanding.
The power of the Four-Tails finally broke open a gap in the Five Elements Seal on his lower abdomen, but the power emanating from it made Rosshi feel extremely strange and fearful.
Chaos, brutality, slaughter...
It was completely unlike the docile characteristics that the Four-Tails had shown before!
Rosshi didn't dare to seek advice from others. After failing to communicate with the Four-Tails, he had to attribute the reason to the Four-Tails being tortured by the seal for too long and possibly having some mental problems.
But the return of power was always a good thing, at least proving that the sacrifices of these small country ninjas and civilians were worth it.
The land of demons was, after all, a small country with limited land and population.
The ordinary people and ninjas living on the periphery couldn't withstand the torment of a Kage-level ninja like Rosshi. Even though he hid his Lava Release power, in just over ten days, the entire border of the land of demons had become a dead zone.
With no one left to kill and still some way to go to completely break the seal, Rosshi immediately decided to move further into the land of demons to find more sacrifices to lift the seal.
But he never expected that these people killed closer to the center of the land of demons would inexplicably come back to life.
These living dead were like sharks smelling blood, no matter how far away he was, they could always accurately find his location and then charge at him in waves.
Looking at the large group of corpses that shattered under the Earth Dragon Bullet attack, then reformed, and then surrounded him again, Rosshi knew that he couldn't stay in this place any longer.
He couldn't expose Lava Release, and ordinary means couldn't completely deal with these corpses. If the battle continued for too long, and if some discerning ninjas were attracted and saw through his identity, then the Hidden Stone Village would be in great peril.
Unless...
His identity truly became that of a rogue ninja!
Rosshi shook his head, casting aside this terrifying thought.
A rogue jinchūriki carrying the Four-Tails, if encountered by anyone from a great ninja village, would likely suffer a fate worse than death.
...
"Swish swish!"
Nawaki flicked the chakra steel wires wrapped around his arms, crossed his hands, and pulled hard, instantly binding a group of surrounding living dead into a pile.
"Nonō, Teacher said these are just corpses turned into puppets after death. Don't have any psychological burdens, eliminate them!"
His arm muscles bulged, Nawaki maintained a serious expression, restraining over a dozen living dead, and sternly ordered the hesitant girl to attack.
Nonō's face was somewhat pale. She hadn't expected that these people, who looked exactly like living beings, would attack them without hesitation.
Even with Orochimaru's timely reminder, the kind-hearted girl couldn't bear to lay hands on these enemies who looked no different from ordinary people.
"Nawaki-kun... I..."
Nawaki frowned and tightened the steel wires in his hands again.
"Don't hesitate. If you don't have the courage to attack these living dead, how will you fight alongside me on the battlefield for the Leaf Village against other enemies in the future?"
"Attack!"
The young girl's heart warmed, and an unnatural blush appeared on her face. Burying her head in her chest, concentrated emerald green chakra light slowly appeared on her arms.
"I... I will work hard to keep up with Nawaki-kun's pace!"
Suddenly looking up, Nonō's eyes were filled with determination. With a delicate shout, she waved her arms, and the struggling living dead instantly fell like cut wheat, their heads rolling on the ground.
...
"Wind Style - Great Breakthrough!"
Minato Namikaze quickly formed three hand seals. A gust of wind swept out, and the three puppets rushing in front of him staggered backward.
"Hah!"
With a delicate shout, Kushina's red hair danced, and her body stood like a stabilizing needle in the wind of the Great Breakthrough. She aimed two punches at the flying puppets, "Bang bang!"
Before the remaining one could fly past Kushina's body, a crimson tail suddenly extended from Kushina's waist, wrapping around that puppet and smashing it to the ground.
Minato flashed beside Kushina and gave her a thumbs-up.
"Captain Kushina, well done!"
He swung his kunai, decapitating the puppet at his feet, and kicked it far aside.
Kushina's methods were even more sophisticated. After happily accepting Minato's praise, she moved her hands left and right, and with two "crackling" sounds, two powerful sealing jutsu were placed on the two puppets, completely cutting off the flow of chakra within them.
Orochimaru stood in the distance, watching his four disciples in close pairs, and couldn't help but stroke his chin, suddenly missing Tsunade.