Footsteps echoed down the corridor.
Konan walked in front, and Hoshino followed behind; everything seemed so harmonious.
Suddenly, a huge silhouette emerged from the shadows ahead.
Hiruko's ferocious body slowly appeared. The puppet's metal shell gleamed coldly in the dim light, and its twisted puppet face seemed to be frozen in a painful roar forever.
But Hoshino knew that beneath that terrifying exterior huddled a red-haired boy.
His delicate features contrasted sharply with the puppet's ferocity, and his amber eyes were calm to the point of indifference, as if everything in the outside world was irrelevant to him.
In Hoshino's view, Sasori transformed himself into a puppet not only in pursuit of eternal art.
It was also to hide that true, vulnerable self, just as Pain used the shell of 'god' to conceal Nagato's weakness.
Konan, Obito, Kisame Hoshigaki, Kakuzu, and even Black Zetsu, the mastermind behind it all, are the same.
The members of this organization are all escaping something in their own ways.
Hoshino smiled slightly and casually raised his hand, saying, "Oh, isn't this Sasori-senpai, coming to greet you personally?"
Konan turned slightly to the side and explained, " Hidan's research involves another project of the Akatsuki and cannot be interrupted. Therefore, Sasori will be with you the entire time."
"Oh? You're afraid I'll secretly dismantle Hidan and not return him to you?"
"No," Konan's voice was soft, yet carried an undeniable authority, "It's to ensure you don't hide anything you discover."
Hoshino smiled, his gaze shifting between Sasori's puppet and the boy's true form hidden in the shadows.
He had long anticipated that Pain wouldn't fully trust him, but sending Scorpion to monitor him still surprised him somewhat.
This means that Hidan's value may be more important than he imagined.
" The Akatsuki really values Hidan." Hoshino chuckled, glancing meaningfully at Konan. "I thought he was just a fanatical cultist."
Konan's steps suddenly stopped for a moment.
"Each member has their value," Scorpion answered for Konan, "Just like your research, isn't it?"
The atmosphere among the three suddenly became awkward.
The lights on the corridor ceiling flickered, casting distorted shadows on the metal walls.
Hoshino turned to Konan and said, "Since we're going to cooperate, why not be honest? What else is Hidan involved in?"
Konan said, "This has nothing to do with your research."
Hoshino shrugged, stopped asking questions, and followed Konan and Sasori through several heavy metal doors to the Akatsuki's underground laboratory.
The configuration of this underground laboratory was clearly carefully designed.
The walls are constructed of composite armor plates, and the surface is covered with a special coating that absorbs Chakra fluctuations.
An array of shadowless lamps lined the ceiling, and the central experimental table was made of a single piece of Chakra- conducting metal, surrounded by standard analytical instruments.
Judging from its configuration alone, this laboratory has reached the level of the top-tier research institutes of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, but it is still a level below the Scientific Research Department of the Reform Society, which was built at great expense.
"What? You look down on our lab?"
Scorpion glanced sideways and, seeing Hoshino unconsciously pursing his lips, couldn't help but ask.
"It's alright, at least it's better than I expected!"
Hoshino surveyed the laboratory, his gaze finally settling on an unusually active figure in the corner.
His short, silver-gray hair was sticking up haphazardly, and his scarlet eyes gleamed with a sickly light as he excitedly fiddled with various experimental instruments.
Judging from its appearance, it doesn't look like an object being studied at all; instead, it looks like an impatient child.
"Hahaha! Is it finally going to start?"
Hidan suddenly moved closer to Hoshino, his scarlet tongue licking his lips.
Hoshino raised an eyebrow and walked towards the experimental table. Hidan immediately lay down on it and even adjusted the position of the monitoring electrodes himself.
"What brainwashing work did you do to him?" Hoshino asked while deactivating the fault detector.
"No brainwashing is needed. The followers of the Jashin Cult are all willing to sacrifice themselves for the doctrine," Konan said expressionlessly.
I'll be going now!
After saying that, Konan turned around and left the laboratory.
Suddenly, Hidan propped himself up and shouted fervently, "That's right! To be used to research the secrets of immortality—this is the honor bestowed upon me by the Lord Jashin!"
Then, pointing to his chest, he exclaimed, "Come on, cut me open here! I want to see with my own eyes how my internal organs work!"
"Don't rush, let's try a more civilized approach first."
Hoshino took out a delicate Chakra sensing device from his ninja tool pouch.
"This is a Chakra scanner developed by the Reform Society, combining Medical Ninjutsu and the Sharingan. It can see the flow of Chakra within your body without requiring open surgery."
Hidan pursed his lips, clearly disappointed by such a 'gentle' examination method, but still cooperated by lying down and letting Hoshino place the device on his chest.
The crystal began to emit a pale blue light, and ripples of light spread out, gradually covering Hidan's entire body.
Hoshino's prosthetic eye simultaneously received the scan data, projecting a diagram of Hidan's Chakra flow onto his retina, carefully observing every detail.
But soon, his brows began to furrow.
"Strangeness..."
Based on the scan results, Hidan's Chakra network system is almost indistinguishable from that of an ordinary ninja.
There were neither any special Chakra Nature Transformation nor any unusual energy nodes.
It could even be said that his Chakra pathways are more ordinary than those of the average ninja.
His meridians were so thin they were almost underdeveloped, his Chakra flow was slow and thin, and the capacity of important nodes was less than half that of an ordinary Genin.
This discovery surprised Hoshino quite.
How could someone who is immortal have no special features inside their body?
This completely defies common sense.
Even ninjas with Kekkei Genkai will at least exhibit some unique characteristics in their Chakra pathways.
With Hidan's Chakra aptitude, there's no way he could become a ninja.
The Ninja Academy of the Five Great Shinobi Villages would screen out students with this kind of aptitude during the entrance exams, because such people would struggle even to perform a basic Ninjutsu.
No wonder Hidan never used any Ninjutsu during the battle.
It wasn't that he didn't want to, but that he simply couldn't. With that Chakra control, he probably couldn't even complete the simplest Clone Technique.
"What? Even the renowned genius of the Reform Society has times when he can't handle things?"
Seeing Hoshino's confused expression, Hoshino couldn't help but sneer, then sneered.
"Isn't it ironic? A piece of trash who's not even as good as Genin possesses an immortal body that even Kage Level shinobi can only dream of."
Hidan, instead of being annoyed by these words, burst into smug laughter.
"Hahaha! This is the grace of the Lord Jashin! Allowing a 'trash' like me to trample all of you geniuses under my feet!"