"Two useless fools!"
Seeing his two subordinates easily taken down by Hidan, Kikuchi Miura couldn't help but curse under his breath.
His plan to use them as distractions against Hidan had failed, and now he had no choice but to face the two freaks—Hidan and Shiki—directly.
Even so, as a seasoned warrior, Kikuchi Miura remained confident in his ability to deal with these two rookies.
To him, an immortal body wasn't invincible. All he needed was the right opportunity to restrain it.
Hidan grinned wildly, swinging his black spear haphazardly like some witch performing a ritual dance.
"I'll sacrifice you, a false believer, to Lord Jashin!"
With that, Hidan suddenly launched himself forward like a cannonball, charging straight at Kikuchi Miura.
His sheer arrogance deeply offended Miura.
"Just a brat. Don't think you're untouchable just because you've received Lord Jashin's blessing."
Miura swiftly moved his hands in front of his chest, forming a series of intricate hand signs.
Not far away, Shiki watched Kikuchi Miura's movements intently.
This was likely the preparatory stage for a ninjutsu—what they called hand seals.
This was the first time Shiki had seen an opponent use ninjutsu in actual combat, so he observed with great interest.
As Hidan closed in, Miura seemed to have successfully channeled the energy within his body through the hand seals.
A surge of chakra gathered in his mouth before transforming into a terrifying torrent of water that burst forth!
"Water Release: Surging Waves!"
It was hard to imagine how a single person's mouth could spew such an overwhelming flood.
But that was the wonder of ninjutsu—using chakra to manipulate reality. To Shiki, this was the conversion of energy into physical matter, with ninjutsu acting as the medium.
Regardless, the raging current demolished the shops on either side of the street, sweeping even Hidan off his feet.
"I'll kill—glug glug—!"
Hidan flailed helplessly in the violent rapids.
As the flood surged toward him, Shiki calmly adjusted his glasses. A massive centipede-like tail sprouted from his back, shielding him like a barrier.
By the time the water subsided, Shiki remained standing in place, his only casualty being the slightly dampened hem of his clothes.
Hidan, however, wasn't so lucky.
Swept away by the current, he crashed into a pile of rubble.
The surrounding buildings had been utterly destroyed, leaving countless casualties in their wake—screams and wails filled the air.
Of course, none of this mattered to Kikuchi Miura.
After all, they were the Jashin cult!
If it served their goals, the deaths of dozens—no, hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands—were insignificant.
"Cough cough! You bastard, you ruined my clothes!"
Hidan rose furiously from the wreckage, his carefully styled silver hair now a soggy mess clinging to his scalp.
"An immortal body… truly an enviable ability."
Kikuchi Miura couldn't hide the jealousy in his voice.
Like the cult leader, he couldn't understand why Lord Jashin would choose a fool like Hidan.
"Hah! A fake believer like you could never comprehend Lord Jashin's glory!"
Hidan lunged forward again.
The injuries that should have left him with shattered bones had already vanished without a trace.
Miura's expression hardened as he flung four kunai in rapid succession.
Each kunai had a paper tag tied to its ring, inscribed with dense, mystical script.
Hidan, as reckless as ever, charged straight through them.
The moment the kunai struck his body, the tags ignited—
BOOM!
A violent explosion erupted, blasting a crater into the street and shrouding the battlefield in thick black smoke.
"So these are explosive tags?"
Shiki remained unfazed, quietly analyzing the battle and the possible tactics ninja might employ.
At the center of the blast, Hidan's body was charred black, his skin completely carbonized.
With each movement, flakes of burnt flesh crumbled away.
The searing pain was unlike anything he'd ever experienced.
"Keh heh heh…"
"This feeling… it's amazing!"
Hidan burst into mad laughter.
"Yes! Only an opponent like this is worth judging—worth sacrificing to the great Lord Jashin!"
His laughter cut off abruptly as he leaped from the crater, black spear in hand, descending upon Miura like a vengeful spirit.
Amid the smoke, the attack was too sudden—even Miura failed to react in time.
The spear pierced straight through his chest.
"Done."
Hidan grinned savagely.
But then, the impaled Kikuchi Miura twisted his head and smiled eerily.
The next second—his body exploded into a torrent of water!
Hidan's eyes widened. He tried to retreat, but it was too late.
The surging liquid rapidly expanded into a massive water sphere, five meters in diameter, trapping Hidan inside!
"Glug glug glug!"
Hidan flailed wildly, but all that escaped were bubbles. Not that anyone needed to hear him to know what he was saying—undoubtedly another "I'll kill you!"
Shiki had heard enough of that over the past three months to last a lifetime.
What interested him more was—where was Kikuchi Miura now?
Sure enough, once Hidan was successfully restrained, Miura emerged from a nearby puddle.
He smirked at Hidan's helpless rage.
"What good is an immortal body if you're just a rabid dog trapped in a cage?"
Shiki rubbed his chin and nodded in agreement. "Well said, Senior Miura."
This only enraged Hidan further—until Miura placed a hand on the water sphere.
"Water Release: Water Prison Beheading Technique!"
A sharp current sliced through the sphere—right at Hidan's neck.
And so, once again, Hidan was decapitated!
Miura planted a foot on Hidan's head while keeping his body restrained in water.
"Even an immortal can't fight back without a head, can they?"