Divine Punishment

Bam!!!

Hidan's face burst open under the blow, his feet leaving the ground as his head snapped back.

But it wasn't over. Determined to make Hidan understand the gap in their strength, Shinji immediately stepped in close and drove a crushing elbow into his chest.

Crack!

The sound of breaking bone rang out.

Then, the instant Hidan flew backward, Shinji seized one of his arms with perfect precision and hurled him upward.

He stomped hard against the ground and leaped into the air!

His hands rested lightly on Hidan's body, while his right knee was already pressed against the spine at Hidan's waist...

All he had to do was bear down as they landed, and he could easily fold Hidan in half!

The kind of fold that would press the back of his head right against his heels!

Boom!

The force of the landing sent spiderweb cracks spreading across the ground beneath Shinji's feet.

Yet, unexpectedly, the gruesome sight that should have followed never came.

At the last moment, Shinji suddenly held back instead of snapping Hidan like a chopstick.

Thud...

Shinji casually tossed the badly injured Hidan aside and exhaled a long, slightly scorching breath. The blood-red mark on his forehead vanished as well.

He had lost!

He had lost again!

And this was his most crushing defeat yet!

Lying on the ground, Hidan felt his chest fill with overwhelming resentment!

Especially when Shinji held back on the final attack and showed him mercy-it struck straight at Hidan's rawest nerve!

"Hahahaha... I can't die! Even if I'm smashed to pieces and all that's left is my head, I'll crawl out of hell and bite through your throat!"

"If you can do it, then go ahead and try. But right now... you're too weak. So weak that, in the end, I couldn't even be bothered to waste the effort to finish you off!"

With that, Shinji turned and left.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? Are you mocking me?!"

"Listen up! Next time, I'm going to kill you, no matter what!"

"Hey, Akagi Shinji! You bastard, get back here!"

Hidan's furious, defiant roars echoed throughout the base. Cult members who hurried over at the commotion promptly carried him to the infirmary for treatment.

The next day, Hidan emerged after receiving treatment.

He had assumed he would face an extremely harsh punishment. After all, he had defied the Cult Leader's orders and gone looking for trouble with Akagi Shinji first, only to suffer a humiliating beating...

But to his great surprise, Cult Leader Takihata never showed up, even by the time he was discharged.

Given his personality, however, he couldn't be bothered to wonder why and soon put it out of his mind.

Until, during a meal, a conversation nearby made his fists clench!

"Hey, did you go watch?"

"Of course! The Cult Leader's execution techniques are pure art! They really get your blood pumping!"

"Shit, you freak! Still, that Akagi guy really is tough. He didn't make a sound the whole time."

"Tch. If you ask me, he's just relying on the immortality he got from Lord Jashin. Otherwise, he probably would've pissed himself in terror! No normal person could endure that punishment!"

"Maybe. That's the punishment for defying the Cult Leader's will. No one gets an exception."

Bam!

Hidan shot to his feet, knocking over his stool, then grabbed the bitter-sounding man by the collar and lifted him into the air.

"Hey, Hidan! What do you think you're doing?!" the man's companion demanded, his bluster barely concealing his fear.

"What punishment? By Akagi, do you mean Akagi Shinji? What happened to him?"

The suspended man's face flushed red.

He was about to spit out a few threats, but then he saw Hidan's cold gaze, as though he were looking at a corpse. He shuddered and hurriedly said, "Yes, Akagi Shinji. I don't really know what happened, but it seems to have something to do with his fight with you yesterday. The Cult Leader was furious, so he punished him in front of everyone."

Yesterday?

Hidan froze. But hadn't he been the one who started it?

Even if the Cult Leader wanted to punish someone, it should have been him, not Shinji!

Unable to make sense of it, Hidan decided to go take a look.

"Where?"

"What?"

"I asked you where he is!"

"In... in the main hall... agh!"

Bam!

Hidan hurled the man away and said with undisguised malice, "Next time you talk shit behind someone's back, make sure nobody's around. Even without immortality, that bastard Shinji isn't someone a piece of trash like you gets to insult. Got it?"

"G-got it."

The man lowered his head, his eyes full of venom, unable to understand why Hidan would speak up for his sworn enemy.

But if he didn't want to die, he had better stop provoking him.

Hidan strode away and soon entered the main hall.

This was where the Jashin Cult normally worshipped Jashin, but now something had changed.

Before an enormous, faceless Jashin Statue, a figure hung in midair, impaled by eighteen pitch-black spears. Blood dripped steadily into the grooves in the floor.

This was the Jashin Cult's "Divine Punishment." Eighteen spears pierced the victim's limbs and torso, avoiding vital points throughout the process to keep the victim alive.

Once the blood filled the grooves forming the Jashin Cult's symbol on the floor, the victim could receive redemption. It meant that, under Lord Jashin's gaze, their transgressions had been washed clean with blood!

In truth, however, no one had ever survived this punishment before.

Hidan approached for a closer look. Sure enough, the person undergoing "Divine Punishment" was Akagi Shinji!

Sensing someone approach, Shinji instinctively raised his blood-covered face. When he saw Hidan, he split his lips into a grin.

"Seeing me looking like this must feel pretty good, huh?"

"Yeah, sure does. So good I could die of happiness. But I'm more curious about what you actually did."

"Why do you ask?"

"Because someone told me you were punished over what happened yesterday..."

"Hey, hey, hey. You don't think I took the blame for you, do you? Keep dreaming. I'd jump at the chance to kick you while you're down. For all you know, you'll end up just like me in a little while, so if I were you, I'd crawl back to my room and go to sleep."

"You've still got the strength to mouth off. Looks like this so-called 'Divine Punishment' isn't all that impressive."

After that jab, Hidan left.

Behind him, Shinji gradually sank back into the darkness, with only the ceaseless sound of dripping blood echoing through the hall.

On his way back to his room, however, Hidan's expression kept shifting.

Finally, he stopped, turned around, and headed toward Cult Leader Takihata's quarters.

Sure, just as that bastard Shinji had said, it would be a miracle if he didn't kick Hidan while he was down. Why would he take the blame for him?

But unless he got to the bottom of this, Hidan felt he wouldn't get a decent night's sleep for the entire month.