Cursed Tool Conversion

Shinji hurled Haku straight at Zabuza.

A blood rope immediately shot out, precisely snaring the airborne Kubikiribōchō and pulling it back.

The instant it landed in his hand, the system notification sounded.

[Special weapon from the current world detected. Consume 5,000 cursed soul points to convert it into a cursed tool.]

[Insufficient cursed soul points. Conversion unavailable.]

Shinji felt as though his emotions were riding a roller coaster, soaring and plunging!

Who knew the system even had a cursed tool conversion feature?!

But this was way too expensive!

He had only earned a total of 1,500 cursed soul points so far. He had planned to save up some more, then try his luck with a ten-pull.

Great, now there was another use for cursed soul points. What was he supposed to do from here on out?!

Should he do a ten-pull first, or convert a cursed tool?

Oh, he couldn't afford either. Never mind, then!

Holding the Kubikiribōchō, Shinji immediately moved away, making it clear through his actions that he would not get involved.

Since Hidan did not want him interfering, he was happy to sit back.

More importantly, without the Kubikiribōchō, Zabuza's threat level had instantly dropped by more than two notches.

With both opponents in terrible condition, Hidan, whose immortality let him trade wounds without fear, had an enormous advantage.

If Hidan still could not win this, Shinji was going to throw him into the sea to feed the sharks.

With the meddler gone, Zabuza gently laid Haku down, held a kunai in his mouth, and pulled two samurai swords from the pile of corpses on the ground.

Even Zoro from next door would have called him a pro!

Hidan picked up his machete again. In a clash of weapons, his black spear offered little advantage and was less handy than the blade.

In that brief span, several wounds on Hidan's body had already begun to heal.

Of course, the spot where his arm had been severed was still empty.

He merely had powerful self-healing, not ultra-fast regeneration. There was a difference!

When their equally murderous gazes met, both moved in an instant, charging at each other.

Kill!

Clang! Clang! Clang!

It was the sound of weapons colliding fiercely.

Whoosh!

Slice!

It was the sound of blades cutting into flesh.

Splat!

It was the sound of blood spraying out.

On the surface, Zabuza seemed to have the upper hand, attacking furiously with three weapons at once.

Within their brief exchange, he had already carved wound after wound into Hidan.

In truth, however, these injuries meant nothing to the immortal Hidan and did not hinder his movements in the slightest.

Even taking three wounds to inflict one on his enemy was worth it!

Naturally, Zabuza noticed something strange about Hidan too.

Normally, he should have immediately abandoned this exchange of wounds and sought a lethal strike instead.

But his severe injuries had caused so much blood loss that he was now intensely dizzy, and his vision was beginning to blur.

If he dragged this out any longer, he might collapse without his opponent having to do anything.

At this point, sheer determination was all that kept him fighting Hidan!

So he could not retreat, nor could he afford to wait!

Only by killing the enemy before him as quickly as possible would he have a chance to leave with Haku.

And so, step by step, he began luring Hidan in a certain direction.

Splash!

A familiar spray of water immediately rose.

The water in the puddle suddenly turned into a water clone... it all looked so familiar!

"Like I'd fall for the same trick twice!" Hidan snarled with a vicious grin.

He swung back and slashed it apart, having been on guard all along. What he had not expected was for Zabuza to suddenly discard the samurai sword in his left hand and begin forming one-handed seals.

Water Release: Water Prison Technique!

The next instant, the shattered water clone transformed directly into a large sphere of water, engulfing Hidan before he could dodge.

Hidan was trapped!

Seeing this, Zabuza discarded the samurai sword in his other hand as well, maintaining the Water Prison Technique with one hand while summoning another water clone with the other.

The moment this water clone appeared, it picked up a samurai sword from the ground and swung with all its strength at Hidan, who was trapped inside the water prison.

But at that very moment, an explosive tag glowing white drifted inside the water prison.

Boom!

Smoke from the explosion swallowed both men.

Shinji was the reason Hidan carried explosive tags.

Shinji often said strange things, including his idea for a "human bomb."

When Hidan first heard it, he thought it was utterly absurd. What if he could not be put back together after exploding, or lost a few parts?!

But after giving it some thought, he decided it might break a stalemate under certain circumstances, so he secretly stashed a few on his person for emergencies.

He had never expected them to actually come in handy.

"Cough, cough..."

Blasted away by the explosion, Hidan was covered in dust and grime, with several burns on his body.

Fortunately, he had only detonated one explosive tag. Otherwise, he really might have been blown to pieces.

Thud!

A kunai pierced straight through Hidan's chest!

Zabuza had used the smoke from the explosion to perform his Silent Killing Technique!

However, the blast had clearly caught him too, making his hand tremble during that final strike. He missed by a few centimeters and failed to pierce the heart.

The next instant, however, Zabuza's pupils suddenly contracted, and blood surged up his throat as he spat out mouthful after mouthful.

Looking closer, his chest was stained red as well, with an identical wound!

While Zabuza had taken advantage of the smoke to use his Silent Killing Technique, Hidan had used that same opportunity to step back into the ritual symbol!

The ritual had begun again!

This time, Zabuza had failed to notice that detail.

It was as though even his beastlike instincts had been dulled by excessive blood loss.

It was over...

His gaze tilted upward as Zabuza fell backward.

Thump!

Hidan grasped the kunai embedded in his chest and was about to twist it hard enough to shred his own heart when he felt someone lunge at him from behind.

He turned sideways and easily dodged. The figure stumbled past him and fell onto Zabuza.

"Lord Zabuza, I truly hope I can go to the same place as you..."

With that, Haku closed his eyes.

Hidan walked over with a frown and checked them, only to discover that neither had a heartbeat.

With his target dead, the ritual naturally ended.

He pulled out the kunai, tossed it aside, and lay flat on the ground.

Clearly, this thrilling battle to the death had left him deeply satisfied.

But no one noticed that the senbon in Haku's hand had already vanished.