Chapter 189: So Hidan Gave Up Thinking
If you became immortal, a lot of people would be interested.
But if your immortality looked like Hidan's, then death would become a luxury.
At least, looking at the despair in Hidan's eyes, Kenichi could tell the man had probably imagined dying countless times. Strangely enough, Kenichi even felt a trace of pity.
If Hidan could die, it might actually be a mercy.
But Hidan clearly could not die right now. His mouth had even been forcibly pried open, making it impossible for him to close it.
"Tsk. Looks like you're stubborn."
Kenichi could guess what had happened the moment he saw the setup.
Hidan must have tried to kill himself by biting his tongue.
That method showed up all the time in novels and movies, but later works used it less, because science had long since confirmed how unlikely it was.
For one thing, the tongue is packed with nerves. Biting down is agony. Without an iron will, it is extremely hard to bite it off. Even if you try, the pain triggers the brain's protective instinct, making the body stop on its own.
And even if someone managed to bite it off, it would usually only be a tiny piece. The human tongue is far longer than what people can see.
Most people can only bite the tip.
There are not many blood vessels at the very tip, so bleeding out is unlikely. Even if someone was ruthless enough to tear off their own tongue, the more likely cause of death would be suffocation, with blood and tissue blocking the airway.
That was how it worked in his previous life.
But the shinobi world was different.
Shinobi here could hate hard enough to do it for real. If Hidan truly went for it, he could absolutely bite it off. Whether he would actually die afterward was another matter entirely.
"…"
The moment Hidan saw Kenichi, he began struggling wildly. His mouth continuously filtered the nutrient solution, but he could not make a sound. The liquid flowed into his mouth, then slid back out through his throat.
At most, it was like the jar was brushing his teeth.
"So lively? You still have plenty of energy, huh?"
Kenichi chuckled and patted the large container. Even in this state, Hidan was clearly trying to curse him out.
In that case, he could stay inside and rest.
Kenichi turned and walked away.
The instant Hidan realized Kenichi was leaving, his struggles became even more violent. He tried to slam his head into the glass, but he was restrained too firmly to move the way he wanted.
In the end, all he could do was thrash uselessly.
When the door shut, Hidan's resistance finally began to break.
He kept struggling, as if trying to force words out of a throat that would not obey him, but nothing came. Eventually, he sank slowly into stillness, floating in the solution.
The laboratory lights went out.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Time stopped meaning anything.
Hidan lost all sense of how long it had been. His brain and ears were filled with those damned sounds and sensations that never changed. He did not eat, yet he remained alive.
And this life could continue forever.
"God… please let me be free."
Hidan had never wanted to die so badly. Death meant sleep. It meant an end to suffering like this.
But the god Hidan worshipped, Lord Jashin, gave no answer.
Then…
Hidan gave up thinking.
"I thought you were going to use him for some kind of experiment," Orochimaru said, watching from the side. When Kenichi stepped out, Orochimaru smiled faintly.
Kenichi shrugged.
He was not some pervert who enjoyed being insulted. For a hardheaded fanatic like Hidan, short pain would not bend him. Only time, and the slow grinding of despair, would force reality into his skull.
"He's still full of fight," Kenichi said calmly. "If you let him out, he'll just cause trouble."
Kenichi had been curious about Hidan before. Hidan was stuffed with secrets, and there was always the chance to dig up something shocking.
But now, Orochimaru had practically taken him apart piece by piece. Several research reports had already been produced.
It was obvious Orochimaru was deeply interested in him.
In that case, Kenichi had no need to run the experiments himself. He already had too many things to do, and not nearly enough time to spend on Hidan.
"But teacher," Kenichi said, glancing back toward the sealed lab, "won't an environment like that eventually crush him completely and turn him into a living corpse?"
He had seen Hidan's current situation clearly.
It was also a suggestion Kenichi had made earlier.
For some prisoners, physical pain stopped working. But what if you built a cell that deprived them of their five senses and even stripped away their concept of time?
No one came. No one spoke. Survival was not guaranteed day by day, only prolonged.
How long could anyone endure that kind of pressure?
Even Kenichi had not expected Orochimaru to use it on Hidan for amusement.
"That's fine," Orochimaru said, and his smile carried a quiet excitement. "I'm testing what happens to someone like Hidan, someone who cannot die, when placed in that kind of environment."
He had been interested in the answer for a long time.
He had tried similar experiments before, but very few people lasted. Those who failed either broke and confessed everything, or chose to end their own lives.
Of course, there were also those who endured.
Orochimaru lowered his eyes to the experimental records in his hand and flipped through them. Among a long list of names that had been crossed out, one remained untouched.
Nami Sarutobi.
"I've noticed the ones who endure always undergo significant mental changes," Orochimaru said, looking over his own summary. "I'm curious what kind of result will appear if the experiment continues long enough."
In truth, he had been imprisoning that person for nearly two years.
Among everyone under his control, only that one had persisted until now.
"And now," Orochimaru continued, gaze drifting toward the laboratory where Hidan's head was kept, "there's an even more special individual."
His tone grew thoughtful.
"In a certain sense, this test subject can support an even longer experiment."
Orochimaru intended to keep Hidan soaked like that for hundreds of years after he finished extracting the secret of his immortality, until he obtained the result he wanted.
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