"Hahaha! Ready to feel Lord Jashin's blessing? This pain that sinks into your very bones is the ultimate pleasure in this world!" Hidan stood at the center of the Jashin formation, which reeked of blood, like a statue of death from hell.
Hidan's face, transformed into a black-and-white skull, twisted into an utterly deranged, sickly smile. He raised the sharp black metal spear in his hand high, its tip glinting with a chilling light in the sun. His gaze remained fixed on Asuma Sarutobi nearby, as though he were looking at a perfect offering about to be sacrificed.
"Damn it! My body... won't move!" Asuma gritted his teeth, beads of sweat covering his forehead. To his horror, he discovered that ever since Hidan had stepped into that formation, he felt as though invisible, incredibly heavy shackles had locked him firmly in place. The chakra flowing inside him became unusually sluggish, and even lifting a finger was incredibly difficult. It felt as though some evil entity had forcibly bound his soul.
"Asuma-sensei!" Shikamaru's eyes were bloodshot as he maintained the hand seal for the Shadow Imitation Technique, doing everything he could to extend his shadow far enough to control Hidan. But the distance between them was simply too great, and the evil chakra fluctuations emanating from Hidan were actually faintly repelling Shikamaru's shadow.
"Izumo! Kotetsu! Stop him!" Shikamaru shouted in despair.
Without the slightest hesitation, Izumo and Kotetsu simultaneously drew the enormous ninja blades from their backs and charged wildly toward Hidan in the formation like two hunting leopards. "Die, monster!" The two heavy blades whistled through the air, cleaving viciously toward Hidan's head from either side!
Yet Hidan did not even glance at them in the face of this lethal pincer attack. Just as the two blades were about to