"Begin," the Cult Leader said calmly.
They entered another secret chamber, where two terrified wretches were bound to crosses like Susu. Their wrists had already been slit, and blood poured into the bowls beside them, quickly filling them.
Everyone in the room remained unmoved by the sight, including Akagi Shinji, who had grown accustomed to such scenes over the past few days.
Then Hidan walked straight up to one of the wretches. Under everyone's gaze, he unceremoniously picked up a bowl of blood, tipped back his head, and drank.
Gulp, gulp...
Crash!
The bowl shattered on the floor, spilling all the blood he hadn't finished.
Hidan gave a vicious grin, stepped into the blood, and began tracing a peculiar pattern.
Before long, he had drawn a circle enclosing a triangle in the blood on the floor.
With that done, Hidan stood inside the pattern, utterly exhilarated. He could feel the chakra inside him rapidly transforming into a strange power, which surged forward and enveloped all the blood he had swallowed!
"That's it, that's it! Hahahaha!"
Unable to hold back his wild laughter, Hidan covered his forehead with one hand and doubled over.
By the time he straightened up again, his appearance had changed dramatically!
His skin first turned black, then white markings rapidly appeared across it, evenly distributed in distinctive patterns over his body. He looked utterly horrifying!
Still laughing, Hidan took a short spear out of his clothes again and, with eager curiosity, lightly drew it across his chest.
A long, bloody cut appeared at once.
Was he simply hurting himself?
No!
Hidan's eyes grew even more feverishly excited!
Because an identical wound had suddenly appeared on the chest of the wretch whose blood he had drunk!
Shunk!
Keeping his eyes fixed on the man, Hidan plunged the short spear into his own right leg.
"Mmph, mmph..."
A jet of blood instantly spurted from the gagged wretch's right leg, but all he could manage were muffled whimpers.
"It hurts... but this really... really feels so damn good!!!"
"Hahaha... let's die together!"
Laughing wildly, Hidan kept swinging the sharp spear in his hand, punching one bloody hole after another into his own body. Blood splattered everywhere, yet amid the pain, his expression showed pleasure so intense he looked ready to ascend to heaven!
Thud!
The Jujutsu abruptly ended on its own, and Hidan fell backward onto the floor, his limbs splayed out. His face was so satisfied that he probably didn't even need a cigarette afterward.
At some point, the unfortunate man's eyes had gone wide. He had actually died of sheer fright!
Seeing this, the members of the Jashin Cult observing and recording everything nearby all looked immensely excited.
They had succeeded again!
Even the Cult Leader couldn't help smiling in satisfaction. Hidan truly was the most precious treasure Lord Jashin had bestowed upon him. Only a month had passed, yet he had already mastered this Jujutsu to such a degree.
Although its duration was still very short, it was more than enough to thrill them.
By comparison, the other one seemed like a watered-down version of Hidan in every respect...
A faint glint crossed the Cult Leader's eyes as he looked at Akagi Shinji. "Your turn, Shinji."
Akagi Shinji immediately took a few steps forward. The excited, admiring gazes around him instantly turned scrutinizing and doubtful as they settled on him.
That was because, compared with Hidan, who had learned to wield [Death Controlling Possessed Blood] to such a degree in just one month,
His own progress was... zero! In fact, even Akagi Shinji hadn't expected that he would be unable to learn [Jujutsu-Death Controlling Possessed Blood]!
He had overcome his own "Mental Cleanliness Obsession," persuading himself with the absurd reasoning that "at least drinking human blood means fewer parasites," and forced himself to drink it once...
But his very existence seemed to be an accident.
Someone who shouldn't have survived had inexplicably lived, then somehow lucked into a watered-down version of [immortality].
So his inability to master [Jujutsu-Death Controlling Possessed Blood] seemed reasonable enough.
Besides, he wasn't particularly willing to drink blood in the first place.
There was no other reason. He just thought it was filthy!
Who knew whether the other person had some bloodborne disease, like AIDS!
If he caught something, he wouldn't even be able to die if he wanted to...
What fucking rotten luck that would be!
So, apart from not knowing how to deal with these Jashin Cult members, Akagi Shinji wasn't particularly disappointed.
After all, he was a guy with a Golden Finger!
And the reward he had received this time could get him safely through this predicament.
After stepping forward, Akagi Shinji didn't imitate Hidan by drinking that bowl of blood, which might harbor who knew what infectious diseases. Instead, he suddenly pulled out a sharp kunai and slashed hard across his left wrist!
Drip, drip, drip, drip, drip...
In the silent secret chamber, Akagi Shinji simply held his left hand out level, the wound facing down, and let an unbroken stream of blood drip onto the floor.
At the sight, Takihata, the Cult Leader of the Jashin Cult, frowned slightly. A trace of displeasure flashed through his eyes before he asked, "What are you do... hmm!?"
Akagi Shinji made no attempt to explain. Instead, he closed his eyes and sensed the power inside his body.
His chakra suddenly sped up, flowing through specific pathways before rapidly transforming under the force of his intense emotions into another kind of power: cursed energy, which was used to perform Jujutsu!
Then Akagi Shinji abruptly opened his eyes and formed a Ram Seal with one hand.
Blood Manipulation!
Under everyone's astonished gaze, the large quantity of blood that had flowed out of Akagi Shinji's body suddenly seemed to come alive. It became strands of blood that flowed swiftly around him in erratic patterns.
The secret chamber's flickering lights, the corpse nailed to a cross, the eerie religious pattern, and the blood that suddenly began moving as though it had come alive...
There was a strangely uncanny beauty to the scene!
The question Cult Leader Takihata hadn't finished asking seemed to need no answer anymore. But to thoroughly bluff them into believing him, Akagi Shinji still spoke. "This is the new Jujutsu Lord Jashin bestowed specifically upon me-Blood Manipulation!"
A new Jujutsu?
Blood Manipulation?!!
Cult Leader Takihata recovered from his surprise and gave him a long, searching look. Then he resumed his kindly demeanor and said approvingly, "Very good. Since Lord Jashin has bestowed a new Jujutsu upon you, focus on that. Praise Lord Jashin~"
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