No Fair Play

"True, it's already this late... Hey, aren't you leaving?" Hidan decided to strike first.

Shinji chuckled at that, then put on a pained expression. "Don't mind me. My leg cramped up, so I need a minute. You go ahead. I'll be right behind you."

Hidan: "..."

Fuck, like hell I believe you!

He didn't know why, but at that moment, Hidan was absolutely certain that Shinji had the same idea he did. Fucking hell!

"It's fine. I'll wait for you."

"No need. You go out first."

"I'm not leaving."

"Then neither am I."

Everyone around them: "..."

These two... had something seriously wrong with their heads, didn't they?

Having been spectacularly ignored, Cult Leader Takihata's face darkened. He almost laughed in anger. "Fine. Neither of you wants to come out? Then stay in there!"

"A few of you stay here and watch them. If either tries to leave, beat him back in! Also, draw their blood once every hour. Keep recording the experimental data. Don't stop!"

"Yes!"

Those who stayed behind immediately broke into malicious grins.

So you won't come out, huh?

Fine!

We'll drain you bastards dry!

After Cult Leader Takihata left with the others, both Shinji's and Hidan's faces twitched, but neither would admit defeat first. They both had immortality, anyway. A few syringes of blood wouldn't kill them.

However...

Six hours soon passed.

Neither Hidan nor Shinji showed any intention of coming out.

Their faces had grown rather pale, though, clearly from having their blood drawn. Combined with soaking in the hot spring for far too long, it had left them both severely dizzy and lightheaded.

Just then, someone beside them approached, revealing a syringe as thick as a child's arm. With a sinister smile, he said, "It's time again. Will you two come out and apologize to the Cult Leader now, or contribute some more of your precious blood?"

He deliberately emphasized "precious." After five draws with such a massive syringe, there couldn't be much left. How could it not be precious?

An ordinary person would have been drained to death long ago!

Only their unusual constitutions, which produced blood several times faster than normal, and their immortality had allowed these two to hold out.

But if this kept up, they would probably have to start drawing brain matter out of their skulls!

Seeing that it was time for another round of mandatory blood donation, much to everyone else's delight, Hidan's pale face began turning green.

But he couldn't bear to admit defeat just like that.

"Still hanging on? Looks to me like you can't take much more." His head swimming, Hidan couldn't resist testing him.

Shinji feigned a relaxed smile. "It's pretty comfortable. I'm almost asleep. The water just isn't hot enough. Doesn't quite hit the spot."

Hidan didn't believe a word of Shinji's bullshit, but he stubbornly joined in the boasting. "Exactly. I could swim in freshly boiled water when I was six."

Fuck, how did you not boil to death, you bastard?

Were we just throwing logic out the window with these boasts now?

Shinji chuckled. "Ever drunk lava? That taste... unbeatable!"

Hidan's mouth twitched. Drunk fucking lava? It would burn holes straight through your cheeks!

"I'll count to three, and we'll get out together. How about it?" Hidan managed to put his brain to work and offered another suggestion.

"Sure."

"One, two, three!"

"..."

An amusing scene unfolded. Neither moved, and both gave the other a contemptuous look, as if to say, "Knew you wouldn't keep your word, you bastard!"

"Why didn't you get out?"

"You didn't move either, did you?"

This time, Hidan was completely out of ideas.

Clearly, that bastard Shinji was ready to hold out against him until the bitter end. In the end, Hidan threw caution to the wind instead. Gritting his teeth and closing his eyes, he forced out one word to the man beside him. "Draw!"

Shinji was even more direct. Without a word, he held out his arm.

Go ahead and draw! Who's scared of whom?

Fuck!

By now, the cultist couldn't help feeling a little admiration for them, but his hands didn't slow in the slightest. He and another cultist immediately began drawing blood.

As he drew, however, he noticed something was wrong. Why had the blood in the syringe suddenly stopped increasing?

Looking back, he saw that Shinji's head had slumped to one side and he was no longer breathing. His skin had shriveled, leaving him looking completely drained.

With all his blood gone and the man dead, of course there was nothing left to draw!

The cultist jumped in fright and shouted, "Something's wrong! Hurry, notify the Cult Leader!"

Someone immediately rushed out to find Cult Leader Takihata.

"What do we do now?"

The cultist beside him, who had just finished drawing Hidan's blood, looked equally terrified. He nearly lost his grip on the blood-filled syringe and dropped it.

If something really had gone wrong, even slicing the two of them into a thousand pieces wouldn't be enough to vent the anger!

Until they successfully replicated Miracles, Hidan and Shinji were worth more than half the Jashin Cult!

How could they not be afraid?

"What do we do? Get them out, now! Especially Hidan. Nothing else can happen to him!"

"Right, right! Save them..."

The two frantically began hauling them out.

At last, a genuinely happy smile appeared on Hidan's deathly pale face, and he made no attempt to stop them from carrying him out.

Because in the end, the great Hidan had still won!

Shinji, oh, Shinji. So even you had a day like this, you bastard.

But Hidan was destined to celebrate a little too soon.

Just as he thought the matter was settled and victory was his, his eyes suddenly widened in astonishment!

"No! You cheated! Let me go, hurry..."

Amid Hidan's furious cries, Shinji-who should have been drained of blood and in a state of suspended animation-suddenly shoved away the cultist about to carry him out with surprising force.

Then he dropped back into the hot spring, glanced at Hidan with the corners of his mouth slightly raised, and silently mouthed:

"Take care..."

By the time Hidan realized that what had just happened might have been that bastard Shinji's scheme, it was already too late.

Afraid that something else might happen to Hidan, the cultist ignored his feeble struggles. With just a little effort, he carried him completely out of the hot spring.

Instantly, Hidan went blank, like a limp wax figure.

I lost...

Who would have thought I'd lose in the end, and in such a hollow way...

Akagi Shinji! You don't play fair!

Hidan wanted to confront him with those words, but a loss was a loss.

In a brutal fight to the death, no one cared whether you launched a sneak attack or resorted to dirty tricks.

Because only the one left standing, the one still alive at the end, was the true victor!

What baffled Hidan even more, though, was why Shinji still had the strength to break free at this point.

They had both soaked in the hot spring for so long and had so much blood drawn...

Wait!

If he remembered correctly, hardly any blood had been drawn from Shinji that last time!

Everyone had simply been fooled by his appearance!

Once Hidan understood exactly why he had lost, he couldn't hold on any longer. His vision went black, and he passed out.

At that moment, Shinji finally heard the system's notification that the mission had been completed, just as he'd hoped, and breathed a sigh of relief.

He had indeed pulled a little trick at the end, using the properties of [Blood Manipulation] to forcibly control the blood inside his body and prevent it from being drawn out.

His aim had been to lull everyone into a false sense of security at the last moment, creating the illusion that something had happened to him.

After all, given how important he and Hidan were, even if the people nearby knew he might not truly be dead, they would still fear taking the blame, producing exactly the outcome he wanted.

If he had used the trick too early, he wouldn't have fooled everyone and would have exposed it prematurely.

If he had used it too late, he might not have had the strength to break free, costing him everything.

Fortunately, his final judgment had been correct, and he had succeeded.

Just then, a clatter of footsteps sounded in the distance, along with Cult Leader Takihata's furious demands.

"What are you all standing around for? Hurry up and get them out!"

Unwilling to face the enraged cult leader right then, Shinji immediately let his mind relax and slipped into unconsciousness as well.

(PS: Today's ten-thousand-word update is here. Asking for some bookmarks, recommendation votes, and monthly votes shouldn't be too much, right? I've also heard that keeping up with new chapters has become really important now. Once this book gets a recommendation slot, I hope you'll all keep reading~)