Chapter 443: Zankoku's Tragedy!

Despite it being several years, the body of the Grand Priest was in the same condition as it was when he died. Though the Uchihas tried to study him, they didn't have sufficient time to devote resources and manpower to do so. So, they took great care to maintain the state of the dead body to study it deeply after the coup. As for Fujin, he never once removed the body from the scroll to ensure that the body didn't degrade and stayed in optimal condition.

Having already experienced a backlash while trying to read the memories of the Root ninja, Fujin didn't recklessly try to read his mind and instead observed and studied the dead body carefully. While Danzo and Orochimaru were very weird, Jashin took the crown when it came to being the weirdest in the Naruto World. Being aware of that fact, Fujin was very careful.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Fujin didn't find any seals on his body. Fujin wondered, 'Did his body have no seal or did the Uchiha remove any seals on him? Tough to say. Oh well, I hope that his memories are still well preserved.

From what Fumito said, memories start disappearing after the person dies. If their head isn't preserved in a storage scroll where time barely moves, then almost all their memories will dissipate in a few days and only some important events still stay stored. But even that becomes very difficult to find. If the brain is damaged due to the passage of time, then all the memories will be lost. So, I should try to learn as much from him as I can quickly.'

Fujin placed his palm on the Grand Priest's head. As usual, two Shadow Clones kept a watch in case something unusual occurred. Fujin inserted his Yin chakra into his brain and began reading his memories one by one.

A long time ago, in the Land of Bats there existed a small hidden village. The village was called the Hidden Bat Village. It was the sole ninja village in the Land of Bats. The village was covered in greenery and had traditional Japanese-style houses. Despite it being day, several bats could be seen flying in the village.

A young handsome man walked into the central house in the village. As he did, a few servants greeted him respectfully by bowing slightly. He smiled in response and continued on his way and entered one of the rooms.

An older man looked up and noticed the young man walking in. In terms of facial features, the young man looked very similar to the old man. If the old man didn't have some wrinkles and a head full of grey hair, they would look very similar.

The young man greeted respectfully, "Father."

A serious look could be seen on his face. The old man nodded and asked, "Is something the matter, Zankoku?"

Zankoku nodded and said, "Father, I received reports from the spies I planted in the neighboring Land of Eagles. They are rapidly building up their military. If we don't act soon, then we will be in grave danger."

The old man sighed and muttered in a tired voice, "This again?"

Zankoku pressed on, "Father, according to my reports, their hidden village has promoted 6 Chunins to the Jounin rank. Their total number of Jounins is now 28. That is twice the number of Jounins we have.

Not to mention, their number of Genins and Chunins is increasing rapidly too. Though you are stronger than any ninja in that village, we don't have any chance if a war breaks out.

Let us start training our ninjas as well. And, let me lead a squad to hunt their Elites one by one to buy our village some time. In time, our strengths will achieve parity once again."

Even though Zankoku's words had some logic to them, his father shook his head and said, "We have experienced peace for a long time now. No war has happened for more than a decade and a half. It is unlikely that anyone would want to disrupt this peace.

Taking action against the Land of Eagles will force them to attack us. Even if we win, your actions will spell doom for our village. As for training more ninjas, we can't divert any more resources. If we do, then the common people will have to face the pinch. A Village won't be able to survive for long in that case."

Zankoku wasn't convinced. He tried arguing but couldn't change the decision of his father, who was also the leader of that small hidden village.

Zankoku left the house in a gloomy mood while thinking, 'Though there are no wars, there are too many undercurrents in the world. All the villages are busy strengthening themselves. If we don't act, then our demise is set in stone!'

He quickly left the village and entered a cave that was some distance away. The number of bats in the cave was very high. However, they didn't attack Zankoku and let him pass through.

After walking for a bit, Zankoku arrived in front of a person. The person in front of him was wearing a religious robe and had several strange tattoos on his body. The person asked, "Did you convince your father?"

Zankoku replied, "I failed, Lord Ketsueki. My father is as stubborn as ever. The chances of him changing his ways are very low."

Ketsueki said, "In that case, your village will be destroyed. Your only way of survival is to worship Lord Jashin and perform the ritual."

Zankoku had a complex expression on his face. A struggle could be seen happening inside him. He sighed and replied, "If I perform the ritual, it will be no different than destroying the village."

Ketsueki shook his head and said, "You are wrong. You won't be killing them. You will be sacrificing them to Lord Jashin. They will merely be freed from their mortal bodies and find peace with Lord Jashin. And with the help of Lord Jashin, you can destroy anyone who has or will wrong you."

Zankoku sighed once again and asked, "Is there any way to gain Lord Jashin's help without sacrificing everyone in my village?"

Ketsueki answered, "No. If you can't even make a sacrifice for Lord Jashin, then Lord Jashin won't help you. Your faith in Lord Jashin isn't enough. Leave for now. In the future, when you see the truth, come and find me."

Zankoku took his leave. He had encountered Ketsueki who introduced himself as a Bishop who worshipped Lord Jashin. Zankoku was immediately captivated by Jashin and accepted Ketsueki's teachings. However, he was unwilling to perform the ritual as it needed a lot of sacrifices from the people who were close to him.

Not to mention, even if he wanted to, he couldn't do so. His father was much stronger than him. In addition, there were 3-4 more ninjas who were stronger than Zankoku. So, sacrificing all of them wasn't something he could accomplish by himself.

Life continued as usual for the people in the Land of Bats and three years passed. However, the rest of the world slowly became uneasy. Several hidden conflicts happened on a daily basis. The major as well as the minor villages began preparing for a war.

The Land of Bats was unable to stay separated from this conflict. Zankoku's father began preparing for war too late. As a result, the Hidden Bat Village was attacked by the Hidden Eagle Village.

The attack was swift. The Hidden Bat Village was almost entirely annihilated. Rivers of blood flowed inside the village. Only a few Jounins had managed to hold on, but they were outnumbered as well.

In one such battle, Zankoku was facing three enemies Jounins. His body was riddled with injuries and he was on his last legs. Just when one of the enemies was about to land the killing blow, a figure appeared on the battlefield and killed all three Jounins in a perfect sneak attack. He quickly grabbed Zankoku and disappeared from the battlefield.

Not long after, everyone else in the village was killed and the Hidden Bat Village became one of the many villages that disappeared in the long river of history!