Inside the Tenebrous World, on his throne, Jugo was lost in thought.

  The process for the next step forward was already underway, his actions only needed to wait a few months to bear fruit again, but to advance, he needed to complete the ritual.

  Establish a cult following, cultivate at least a thousand followers, so that they can understand your perspective, comprehend your thoughts, implement your ideals, act in the most appropriate way according to your will and say the words you want to say.

  In the world of LOTM this could be a problem, after all, mortals had already been divided by churches long ago, followers were a form of commodity in high numbers, but in the world of Naruto? Even if there were cults, they would hardly be a problem.

  Converting people to his religion all over the world was perfectly possible.

  But the problem Jugo faced was different, he didn't quite know how to achieve the desired effect.

  Jugo had no grand ideals, no desire to rule, his greatest desire was simply personal power itself. So how could he make his followers act as he wished if he didn't even know what he wanted himself?

  So he had to change his perspective, perhaps the ritual didn't need copies of him, but rather he could use it as a basis to create a "Code" for life, something that was completely aligned with his interests and morality.

  Jugo picked up a blank book with a black leather cover and a quill pen with red ink.

  What he was about to do was create a bible. To let his will be transmitted in this way, he believed he could achieve his intended effect.

  It wasn't exactly a bible yet, he would leave that to the "faithful" werewolves to work on. Instead, he began writing commandments.

  He wrote the most common commandments about loving family, helping neighbors, not using his name in vain, having no other gods besides him, being honest and upright and not sacrificing innocents to him.

  As for prohibiting sacrifice or any kind of extreme retaliation? He's not Klein, he's a Devil. Some things will certainly be different with a doctrine more focused on acting differently depending on who you are dealing with. Treat well those who treat you well, but retaliate against your “enemies”.

  So the main commandment was: “Demons hide in the depths of all beings, but you must not let your demons control you, but rather restrain them within yourself and release them against who deserves it.”

  In the end, he had written a draft that he felt connected to him, something he himself would follow, not out of some kind of divine atonement, but because that was who he was, that should be enough, that satisfied him.

  //-//

  In Otogakure, Jugo began working soon after. The followers designated for the ritual likely numbered around a thousand mortal believers, but in terms of strength, Jugo considered that a few dozen werewolves would be sufficient for the ritual.

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  He went to the prison and began choosing the strongest, whether they were villains captured by the village or spies from other villages, the only requirement was strength.

  First he used the power of the curse to strengthen them, those who survived were transformed into werewolves. In the end, 52 werewolves stood before him, all with pitying looks.

  Jugo indoctrinated them into his new religion and chose the most pious among them, found through the connection to the Tenebrous World.

  It only took a few days for Jugo to feel his connection with them strengthening.

  After that, Jugo moved on to the next stage, he allowed them to create a complete bible for him, not just commandments, but stories to illustrate them, as well as an ultimate goal, a place of eternal rest.

  That wasn't a lie, Jugo created him in the Tenebrous World, based on Hades' Underworld.

  The Fields of Asphodel, for ordinary souls, Elysium, for heroes and virtuous men and Tartarus, the prison for sinners.

  Unfortunately, his control over the Tenebrous World still left much to be desired, so these places held souls under a sort of simulation Genjutsu, real things would have to wait until he progressed far enough.

  The souls of his believers would end up in those places, the first two would not face severe corruption from the Tenebrous World, but he was curious if he could create demons, so he allowed the souls of Tartarus to suffer direct corruption.

  In any case, Jugo did not intend to become a god on earth, this religion would be approved by him to be preached in Otogakure and probably in the Land of Sound, but it would have no direct connection with Jugo.

  The words: "Lord of the Abyss, Chained Curse, Father of Devils." would finally be spread.

  Jugo chose to build a large church in the center of the village, much to Guren's confusion, but he himself built a wooden building as large as its tower in Gothic, Baroque and Classical styles.

  No one quite understood Jugo's intention, but seeing the leader approve of the religion left most curious.

  Some were drawn by curiosity, others by the promise of free medical treatment and lower taxes, but the church itself was surrounded by the aura of the Tenebrous World, making mortals easily influenced by it.

  A combination of factors meant that within three months, most of Otogakure had become believers in the Father of Devils.

  Not only that, but the werewolves began to spread, with clones of Jugo Wood building cathedrals throughout the Sound Territory and the Daimyo himself became a believer.

  Jugo was receiving more and more followers, he could feel the connection through the Tenebrous World. He didn't think another Puppet would have as much ease as he did in completing the ritual.

  This world had a lower power level, but in certain ways it was very useful for Jugo's advancement.

  The religion itself was a success and even began to spread to other countries, not because Jugo wanted it, but because those who were converted and moved preached on their own.

  Totems of chained goats began to appear even without Jugo spreading them.

  Jugo would sometimes answer some prayers, increasing faith, and overall, the religion spread rapidly.

  Of course, the other countries were not satisfied, most of them nipped it in the bud, the land of earth and fire were the first, purging anyone who spoke positively about the Father of Devils, the Daimyo of Sound even received warnings to control this group or there would be war.

  Although Jugo didn't care much, he still forbade the spread of the Cult outside the Land of Sound, he didn't want to start the war sooner because of some misunderstanding. He even answered the prayers of those who were going outside the Land of Sound, forbidding them from preaching outside the territory.

  Only then did everything finally calm down. Jugo never really wanted to create a cult, it was all to aid his advancement ritual. Now that he had enough, there was no point in continuing.

  By this point, six months had passed and the world continued to turn.

  But for a certain former jinchuriki, his life returned to the same situation as months before, he was captured, this time by the Kirigakure.