Trouble rises between the church in Mbanta and the clan when three converts go into the village and say that all of the Igbo gods are false. They announce their intention to burn all the shrines. Furious, the clanspeople beat the three men severely. Disturbing stories are also making their way to Mbanto. Rumor says that where the white man's religion goes, the white man's government follows.
Churches arrive first, and soon after the targeted village is forced to bow under white authority.
Controversy rises in the young church over the question of admitting the osu , a caste of outcasts who are set aside in dedication to the gods. They are not allowed to use razors, and their dead are buried in the evil forest. Mr. Kiaga demands that the outcasts be accepted. The osu shave their heads, at Mr. Kiaga's encouragement, and they soon become the most faithful followers of the new faith. More trouble arises when one of these osu converts kills a python, which is a sacred animal and the emanation of the god of water.