"You bastard! Do you have any idea how much this hurts?! It hurts like hell... it hurts... ahhh, it feels amazing! So good! Hahahahaha!"
Hidan looked completely unhinged. One moment his face would twist in agony, and the next he'd be rolling his eyes in twisted pleasure. He didn't look human at all.
Seeing him like this, even the two Cloud ninjas were momentarily terrified and hesitated to move in.
"I've decided. I will offer you both as sacrifices to Lord Jashin! Time to prepare the ritual."
Blood was pouring freely from the wounds piercing his body. Hidan used his foot to smear the blood across the ground, drawing the ritual symbol of the Jashin religion.
Once finished, he raised the tip of his scythe to his mouth, lightly ran his tongue over the fresh blood coating the blade, and revealed a sick, deranged grin.
Leaning against a large tree and watching the spectacle, Shinji felt a wave of nausea wash over him!
No matter how many times he saw it, he just couldn't accept this sickening habit.
He made a solemn resolution: The day Hidan finally contracted AIDS, he was quitting the cult immediately, disbanding the "Immortal Duo," and never having anything to do with him ever again.
Shinji honestly found it a miracle that Hidan hadn't caught some deadly infectious disease yet after doing this for so long.
Maybe Hidan wasn't actually worshipping an Evil God at all, but the Goddess of Luck instead?
That was really the only logical explanation.
While Shinji was mentally scheduling a full medical checkup for Hidan, the man's aura changed completely as he entered the state of Curse of Shared Pain.
Throughout the whole process, the two Cloud ninjas were too confused by what he was doing to risk attacking rashly. They just stood there and watched him complete the preparations.
"The ritual begins."
Hidan put down his scythe and pulled out his black spear, ready to enjoy the sensation of death.
For no clear reason, Dark Skin #1 felt a growing sense of impending doom.
Unable to bear it any longer, he shouted, "He's just bluffing! No one survives wounds like that unless there's a trick! Attack together, now!"
"Right! Together!"
Cloud Style: Forward Slash!
Cloud Style: Reverse Slash!
The two charged simultaneously, one striking diagonally downwards from the front, the other sweeping diagonally upwards from behind.
Seeing them coming, Hidan just grinned wider.
He didn't move a muscle.
Thwack! Thwack!
Thwack! Thwack!
Hidan spread his arms wide as two deep, long cuts appeared across his chest and back, blood splashing everywhere.
But it wasn't Hidan who fell. It was Dark Skin #1! His eyes were wide with utter shock and disbelief.
Two identical, gruesome gashes had appeared on Dark Skin #1's own chest and back—so deep they exposed the bone beneath.
They had both attacked with killing intent, holding absolutely nothing back. Naturally, they had used their full power.
"Impossible...!"
Watching his comrade collapse into a pool of blood, eyes wide with unfulfilled rage, Dark Skin #2 was consumed by terror.
"Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!"
"You monster! Why won't you just die?!"
He slashed wildly at Hidan in a frenzy. In his blind rage, he accidentally struck his already dying teammate, finishing him off completely.
"Hey! Are you done yet?! It really hurts, you idiot!"
Hidan suddenly grabbed the man's wrist and drove his black spear straight through his shoulder.
"AHHH!"
With a bloodcurdling scream, the long sword clattered to the ground, and the man was on the verge of breaking down completely.
Hidan smiled cruelly, pulled the spear free, and aimed the tip directly at the man's eye, preparing to skewer it.
Cough!
Hidan suddenly froze. The tip was barely a centimeter from bursting the eyeball, but he stopped.
"So boring. Looks like the fun ends here."
Hidan grumbled in annoyance, kicked the man hard, sending him crashing against the tree, then hurled his spear.
Thwack!
Like a javelin, the black spear pierced cleanly through his other shoulder, pinning him firmly to the trunk.
"Boring. I'm done. He's all yours."
Hidan picked up his scythe and walked back over, completely ignoring the massive wounds covering his body.
Sasuke was staring, stunned. He hadn't been with them long enough to truly understand just how powerful Hidan and Tobi really were.
"Hey... is he going to be okay? With injuries that bad... you're supposed to die, right?"
Somehow, Tobi had crept up beside Sasuke. He leaned in, put an arm around his shoulder, and whispered mysteriously, "Don't worry~ Senior Hidan and Senior Shinji are men blessed with immortal bodies."
"Immortal bodies?" Sasuke's eyes went wide. No one had ever mentioned this to him before.
"Hmm? Nobody told you? Well, it means exactly what it sounds like. It's not just a fancy description. These two monsters won't die even if you cut off their heads or pierce their hearts~"
Sasuke was absolutely floored. He couldn't believe such an ability existed.
If Shinji, who was already so incredibly strong, also had an immortal body... didn't that make him invincible?!
Sasuke became even more certain that he had made the right choice!
Only by staying alongside truly powerful beings could he hope to grow stronger himself.
"And let me tell you a little secret... this immortality can actually be passed on! As long as you survive the special 'ritual' of the Jashin religion, you can gain the same power."
With Hidan's limited intelligence, getting information out of him was as easy as breathing for Tobi.
That was why he knew so many details about the cult.
There was no denying it... Sasuke was tempted!
After all, this was immortality! Who wouldn't want that?
But just then, Shinji—who was walking toward the captured Cloud ninja—casually chimed in, "You forgot to mention one thing. The success rate is roughly 2 in 30,000. And ever since Hidan and I survived, every single ritual performed afterwards has ended in failure."
2 out of 30,000?!
That absurdly low number terrified Sasuke instantly.
A horrifying thought struck him. "Then... what happened to all the ones who failed...?"
"They all died, of course!" Hidan stared intensely at Sasuke with a bone-chilling grin. "No one can survive gazing upon the true form of Lord Jashin unless they are personally chosen by him."
Sasuke immediately abandoned the idea without the slightest hesitation.
But at the same time, he developed a deep respect for Shinji and Hidan's strength. They hadn't just been given this power; they had won it by gambling with their very lives. That was why they were so formidable.
"Senior Shinji and Senior Hidan really have no sense of humor at all. Sasuke-kun was actually interested~" Tobi sighed theatrically, spreading his hands helplessly.
Sasuke looked at him with utter disdain.
Wait a minute... did this guy actually just try to get me killed? Is that what was going on?
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