Experimental Subject

After the meal, Simu carried Hidan into the laboratory.

When our Cult Leader saw Hidan being carried in like a sack, he rubbed the bridge of his nose with a weary expression.

"I'm telling you, Simu, even though Hidan possesses an immortal body, you can't just—"

Before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by Hidan.

"Cut the crap, why did you call us here, old man?"

The Cult Leader glanced at Hidan, his words of admonition stuck in his throat.

Originally, he had felt that although Hidan's personality had been wretched since childhood, he was at least someone he had raised with his own hands, right?

That was surely better than Simu, this God Child who had popped out of nowhere?

But now, the Cult Leader wished he could just tell Simu to chop him into a few more pieces.

Even Simu was a bit curious about how Hidan had managed to survive until now, especially since he hadn't possessed an immortal body before.

"Ahem!"

The Cult Leader was, after all, the head of a sect; he was better at controlling his emotions than some people who liked to chop off others' heads the moment they got annoyed.

He looked at the two Chosen of God before him, a flicker of imperceptible jealousy and resentment flashing in his eyes.

"I called you two here this time because I want to know what abilities you both obtained from Lord Jashin."

Seemingly to maintain his persona as the Jashin Cult leader, he added, "After all, Lord Jashin wields thousands of authorities, and I wish to see what blessings you have received."

In truth, he should have asked this yesterday, but he had been too bewildered by Hidan's antics—damn it, that cat was thirty-seven years old!

Upon hearing this question, brother Hidan immediately perked up. He tilted his head with an arrogant flourish, only for it to roll off the table and drop onto the floor.

Uh.

After an awkward silence that lasted for about three seconds, Hidan's face turned bright red as he roared, "You bastard Simu, pick me up right now!"

Simu hesitated for a moment before extending two fingers, carefully pinching Hidan's hair to drag him back onto the table.

Having lost all face after his failed attempt to look cool, Hidan gritted his teeth, enduring the unpleasant sensation of having his hair yanked.

"Ahem!"

Hidan cleared his throat and resumed his imposing demeanor. "As Lord Jashin's most beloved apostle, I have inherited Lord Jashin's immortality and Curse Power."

"No matter what kind of damage I sustain, I will not die. Not only that, but my Jashin Ritual allows me to synchronize the damage I receive onto my enemies!"

As he said this, Hidan's eyes grew dangerous and manic.

He couldn't help but lick his lips with his tongue: "As long as I can get a drop of the target's blood, I could kill even the Sage of Six Paths for you to see!"

Having said that, he looked at Simu and threatened, "You bastard Simu, you'd better be careful, or else once I get your blood, nothing but endless agony awaits you!"

Simu adjusted his glasses, completely unfazed by Hidan's threat.

Admittedly, Hidan's ability was quite troublesome. If he kept his operations discreet, he could silently finish off enemies from thousands of miles away.

After all, who would ever suspect that a single drop of blood left behind on a battlefield could become the blade that takes their life?

It was a highly strategic and practical skill.

However.

Simu glanced sideways at the slicked-back head on the table; he didn't look like the type to kill in the shadows.

If this guy really wanted to kill someone, he would probably charge at the enemy, waving his weapon around while shouting "Long live Lord Jashin" at the top of his lungs, right?

This was exactly why our Cult Leader felt so unbalanced.

Why would Lord Jashin bestow blessings upon a Hidan who only knew how to hack and slash, rather than upon his own loyal self?

He was the one who had been here first!

It was just a pity that, according to Simu's observations, that Lord Jashin didn't seem to have much of a choice.

After learning of Hidan's abilities, the Cult Leader nodded slightly.

The Jashin Cult could certainly develop some new services through this trait of Hidan's, such as long-distance curse-killing or the like.

"Since that is the case, show me your ability."

The Cult Leader slowly stood up and had people bring in Hidan's body, then strapped it to a cross.

"Hey, hey, doing experiments is one thing, but watching you guys experiment on my own body is just too weird, isn't it?!"

Hidan complained with great dissatisfaction.

This couldn't be blamed on Hidan; any normal person would find such an experiment unacceptable.

However, Simu was not a normal person.

"Simu, give him a few hits."

"Understood."

Hearing the Cult Leader's command, Simu didn't hesitate to use his Koukaku: Mantis to slash Hidan twice.

"Ah~~"

Hidan suddenly let out a sound that was impossible to describe.

The expression on the face of the Cult Leader turned unnatural for a brief moment, as if he were struggling to restrain himself, and it was only after a few seconds that he leaned in toward Hidan's wound.

"As expected, this self-healing ability is truly exaggerated."

The Cult Leader couldn't help but exclaim, because in just a few short seconds, Hidan's wound had already healed completely.

"Since there are no issues with your self-healing ability, let's test another one of your powers."

The Cult Leader clapped his hands, and his subordinates immediately dragged over a slave.

"Simu, help him recover."

"Understood."

Only then did Simu place Hidan's head back onto his neck.

"You bastard Simu, you put it on backward again!" Hidan roared, his face now pointing toward his own back.

"My apologies."

Simu adjusted his glasses and used one hand to rotate Hidan's head one hundred and eighty degrees.

"That should do it."

A smile appeared on his face as two appendages sprouted from his back. They danced rapidly around the severed neck, spitting out spider silk that quickly bonded Hidan's head and body back together.

"I, the great Hidan, have finally returned!"

Hidan spread his arms as if reborn. He looked at Simu and, after a moment of thought, decided not to hold a grudge against him for the time being.

Once he could catch him off guard and obtain his blood...

Hehehe!

Then Simu would be at his mercy. If he told him to go east, he wouldn't dare go west; he could make him do whatever he wanted.

Simu looked at the grinning Hidan and frowned, saying, "Did your brains leak out along with that pork cutlet earlier? What are you giggling about?"

"What did you say?"

Hidan glared viciously at Simu.

"Enough!"

The Cult Leader called a halt to the two of them, feeling somewhat weary.

"Hurry up and demonstrate your ability for me to see."

"Fine, I'll let you all get a good look at what the true power of Jashin is!"

Hidan's expression turned incredibly wicked. He looked at the bandit brought in by the cultists and, amidst the man's terrified gaze, cleanly and decisively pierced his skin.

The bandit let out a heavy sigh of relief, as if he were a deflating balloon; he had truly thought he was going to die just a moment ago!

"Have you ever felt despair?"

Hidan brought the blood-stained black spear to his lips and extended his pink tongue to lick it.

"Truly... delicious!"

Following Hidan's somewhat perverted actions, the skin all over his body transformed into a black-and-white pattern.

He used the spear to slice open his own arm, letting the blood spill wantonly onto the ground, and then used his toe to scrape against the floor, sketching out the Jashin symbol of a triangle inside a circle.

"Are you ready to welcome despair?"