Hidan's Immortal Body

Kakuzu and Hidan, clad in black cloaks embroidered with red clouds, strolled leisurely along a dirt road.

"Hey, hey, Kakuzu, is this another money-making mission? Can I wipe out everyone in this godforsaken country? It's been so long since my last ritual. Lord Jashin will be angry, won't he? Hey, hey, don't you get bored staying silent all the time? If I don't talk for even a little while, I feel like I'm dying. Hey, why are you glaring at me? Want to kill me again? I don't really mind. You can't kill me anyway, though it hurts like hell. Could you at least make it quick and clean? Go on, kill me, kill me. No need to feel embarrassed. Sometimes, when I'm too bored, I kill myself for fun."

Being a chatterbox, Hidan kept talking to himself, completely ignoring Kakuzu's face, which had darkened like the bottom of a pot.

Hm?

Kakuzu suddenly raised his leg and kicked Hidan flying.

Hidan had been babbling away when, halfway through his sentence, he flew five or six meters through the air before rolling another three or four meters like a gourd.

"Ow, ow... Kakuzu, you bastard! Are you really trying to kill me?"

Hidan climbed to his feet and accused Kakuzu, only to notice a hole as wide as a bowl in Kakuzu's leg, black tendrils writhing within it.

"What a pity!" Hayato, who had used Overheat from afar, sighed inwardly.

He had aimed for Hidan's neck. If it had hit, the power of Overheat would have definitely severed Hidan's head from his body. It would not have killed Hidan, but it would have been enough to temporarily rob him of his combat ability.

"Ah, thanks, Kakuzu. I didn't expect there to be ninja in a backwater like this. That was a surprise. My head almost got chopped off. Dangerous, dangerous."

Hidan had some mental issues, but his intelligence was perfectly normal.

Kakuzu's green eyes fixed on Hayato in the distance. "Come on, Hidan. Let's go meet him. Our host has a rather unusual way of welcoming guests."

Hayato did not try to hide again. He stood quietly in the middle of the road, waiting for the immortal duo.

"Hey, Masked Guy, were you the one who tried to kill me just now? Your... mask looks pretty nice. How about giving it to me? If you do, then I'll..."

"Then what? Forgive me?" Hayato cut Hidan off.

"Hahaha..."

As though he had heard an unbelievably funny joke, Hidan threw back his head and laughed, one hand pressed to his forehead. "It's been ages since I met someone as amusing as you. Fine, fine. Since you made me laugh so happily, I'll let you die quickly. Kakuzu, don't interfere."

"No, wait!"

"Hm? It's too late to beg for mercy. Just die obediently as a sacrifice."

Hayato said seriously, "Ah, I'm not begging. I was thinking, if we're going to fight, could I fight that old man in the back with the green eyes and the gloomy face, like everyone owes him money?"

Hidan froze. "Eh, why?"

Hayato grinned and said, word by word, "Be-cause-you're-too-ugly."

Hidan: [furious]

Enraged, Hidan directly swung out his Bloody Triple-Bladed Scythe, bringing it down from above.

Kakuzu said, "A boring attempt at provocation."

Hayato sidestepped, and the scythe sank viciously into the road. He said lightly, "Then will you make a move?"

Kakuzu said, "No, I won't. If you can help me kill him, I'd actually be quite grateful."

Hidan yanked hard on the retractable cord attached to the scythe's handle, ripping apart the ground. "You bastard! Can't you focus when you're fighting someone? Manners, manners! Didn't anyone teach you? Die!"

Hidan might have been a bit slow in the head, but his taijutsu was genuinely impressive.

Hayato did not dare let his guard down. If the scythe's three blades cut him, the consequences would be impossible to predict.

He first had to deal with that scythe's enormous attack range.

"Five-Colored Strings."

Five transparent threads sliced at the retractable cord of the triple-bladed scythe.

The cord remained completely unscathed.

It was actually made from thin steel wires twisted together. To cut it, he would have to use Lion Maru.

Unfortunately, Hayato's swordsmanship was terrible. He simply did not dare use it in a situation like this.

For a time, Hayato was chased into a miserable state by Hidan, fleeing in every direction.

Kakuzu suddenly spoke. "Hey, Hidan, you really are beyond saving. He's deliberately wearing down your stamina."

With the triple-bladed design of the Bloody Triple-Bladed Scythe, combined with its retractable cord made of twisted steel wire, constantly swinging such a heavy weapon would inevitably consume enormous amounts of stamina.

Hayato stopped and said, "Old man, didn't you say you wouldn't get involved?"

Kakuzu said, "Did I make a move?"

Psychological tactics really were useless against an old fox who valued his life so much.

"Bastard, you actually played me!"

Hidan tossed aside the Bloody Triple-Bladed Scythe. A sharp, pitch-black spear slid from his sleeve. He leaped high into the air like a jumping frog.

Had he lost his mind in anger and humiliation? Otherwise, why would he use such an obviously flawed move?

Or was he acting so recklessly because of his immortal body?

Hayato hesitated for only an instant.

And in that instant—

"Konoha Style Secret Technique: Dance of the Crescent Moon."

Three Sarara clones attacked from three different angles.

Bang!

The clones vanished after a single strike, leaving three bloody wounds on Hidan's body.

"Moonlight Iaido: Upper Crescent."

Sarara emerged from invisibility, drew her blade, and slashed diagonally, creating a crescent-shaped gleam of steel.

The blade cut diagonally across Hidan's chest and abdomen. Still airborne, Hidan was sent flying up once more by the tremendous force of the slash, scattering great amounts of blood through the air.

The upper crescent turned blood-red.

Hidan, who had leaped like a frog, landed flat on his back, his limbs twitching like a frog's.

"One down." Sarara grinned.

Hayato complained, "Didn't I tell you to cut his vital spots? His neck, his head. Cutting off his hands and feet would've worked too."

Sarara: ???

His intestines were spilling out, and his heart was visible—wasn't that vital enough?

But~~~

Sarara quickly understood why Hayato had said that.

"Are you serious? I actually ended up this miserable one day. It hurts like hell." Hidan propped himself into a sitting position, stuffed his organs back into his abdominal cavity, and studied his exposed heart with great interest.

Hayato noticed that the heart was not beating.

This matched Hayato's earlier speculation: the reason for Hidan's immortal body was that his body was already dead. Other than his nerves and his ability to absorb and extract energy, the rest had been sacrificed to Jashin through some method. The relationship between Jashin and Hidan was somewhat like that between a summoned beast and its contractor, except Jashin held the dominant position in this relationship.

"Kakuzu, sew me up. Hurry." Hidan shouted.

Kakuzu said, "Didn't you tell me not to interfere? How does it feel to nearly be finished?" Though he said that, thin, long tendrils still extended from his hands and stitched up the massive wound in Hidan's chest and abdomen.

Hidan shook his head and actually stood up as if nothing had happened. If not for the stitched wound and the bloodstains still there, Sarara would have doubted whether her slash had even landed.

"One day, I'm going to curse that bastard Kakuzu to death." Hidan muttered. Then he looked up at Hayato and Sarara, his eyes turning feverish. "What a long-awaited misery. I don't know why, but I'm so excited. Could it be that Lord Jashin especially likes these two sacrifices? Hahaha... You two are even more worthy of being cursed to death now."

Hayato glanced at Kakuzu.

Kakuzu seemed to understand what Hayato meant. "Don't worry. It's not my turn to act yet. Also, Hidan is crazy, but he isn't stupid. You'd better not underestimate him, or you'll die."

Had Hayato underestimated Hidan?

Not really. He simply did not regard him as highly as Kakuzu.

Hidan had defeated Yugito Nii using the Jashin Ritual, though Yugito had been careless and lacked intelligence on his abilities. But as a "perfect jinchuriki," Yugito's strength was no small matter.

In the original story, apart from taijutsu and the Jashin Ritual, Hidan had never displayed any other ninjutsu.

Did Hidan only know those two tricks?

Obviously not!

Seeing Hidan's fanatical gaze and addict-like expression, Hayato let out a breath.

Let the storm come even fiercer.

[PS] Thanks to 1A90 for the 1 recommendation vote, yuleiflyfly for the recommendation vote, and Harmless Ghost for the 4 recommendation votes.

[PS] See you tomorrow in the next chapter. There's no need for a reader group yet, right? Just leave comments if you have anything to say. I'll reply.