" Jashin's ritual?"
Pain frowned slightly. Through the unique sensory abilities of the Rinnegan, he saw phenomena that ordinary people could not understand.
The surface of the bone spur is covered with countless honeycomb-like energy nodes, each of which releases a special Chakra fluctuation, causing the molecular structure of matter to disintegrate at an astonishing speed wherever it goes.
The entire tower area is undergoing an ultra-fast decay of matter.
Metals corrode, plastics crack, concrete crumbles—everything is accelerating towards the end of its material lifespan.
"It's not erasure, it's accelerated decay," Pain said gravely.
Scorpion suddenly looked up and asked, "What do you mean?"
"Look at those steel bars," Pain said, pointing to the collapsing tower.
"It wasn't directly erased, but rather underwent an oxidation process that would normally take millions of years within seconds."
The scorpion looked in the direction indicated.
The metal supports were covered with reddish-brown rust at a visible speed, turning into fine powder and drifting away. The concrete walls peeled off layer by layer, completing a weathering process that had taken countless years in just a few seconds.
" Hidan's arm works on the same principle," Pain continued.
"The cells underwent an aging process that would normally take tens of thousands of years in an instant. Even an immortal body couldn't withstand that, let alone Hidan, who isn't immortal."
At this moment, Hidan was curled up on the ground.
The stump was still slowly spreading grayish-white, peeling off bit by bit like dried, rotten wood.
"It's hopeless. Notify the Reform Society to come and collect the body."
Although there won't be any corpses left!
Pain slowly descended to the ground, gazing intently at the completely grayed-white cocoon.
"Are you really that sure?" Scorpion asked incredulously.
"What else?"
Pain raised his hand to indicate the decaying ruins.
"Even the repulsive field of the Rinnegan can't stop this decay. Do you think Hoshino, as the source, can escape it?"
" Lord Jashin... it won't be that easy..."
Hidan struggled to his feet and retorted, swaying precariously.
"Shut up."
Pain coldly interrupted, "Your Jashin can't even keep the immortality he granted himself."
He then turned to Konan, "Immediately notify the Shinobi Alliance and have them contact the Reform Society. Tell them... it was an experimental accident, and there were no survivors."
Konan nodded, and several paper cranes flew out from her sleeves, rushing off in different directions.
Scorpion stared silently at the gray-white cocoon of bones.
This junior, who was more than ten years younger than him, developed a subtle connection because of the presence of Grandma Chiyo.
Although they had never met before, that didn't mean he wasn't paying attention.
Every time he received information from Sunagakure and saw Hoshino's achievements in the Reform Society and the changes he brought to Sunagakure, it reminded him of that stubborn old woman.
What an ironic ending!
At this moment, Scorpion felt no regret, no anger, only a strange, indescribable feeling.
Will my mother-in-law be sad...?
The scorpion left the ruins without looking back, its menacing appearance casting a long shadow in the setting sun, as if everything decaying behind it had nothing to do with it.
Pain took one last look at the decaying area.
This ability to touch the essence of matter is perhaps the true 'realm of the gods'!
The inside of the grayish-white bone cocoon.
The feeling Hoshino got here was that it wasn't a physical space, but a chaotic space with no distinction between up, down, left, or right.
Only countless flowing turbulent energy currents, like the scene at the beginning of the universe.
Hoshino floated in this void, his mechanical prosthetic eye long since shattered, leaving only an empty eye socket.
At this moment, his body is undergoing a war that transcends the material realm.
The Power of Jashin the All-Killing Ash Bones, the evil god, and the Mutant Insect are locked in a three-way struggle, each vying for control of this body.
"This is... my body?"
Hoshino tried to move his finger, but found that he couldn't even complete this simplest movement.
The neural signals have been severed, distorted, and recombined by the three forces, and the body no longer obeys the commands of consciousness.
The first to launch an attack were the All-Killing Ash Bones.
This Kekkei Mōra, originating from the Ōtsutsuki Clan, is like the most ruthless executioner, mercilessly erasing all 'abnormalities'.
Grayish-white bone spurs continued to grow, colliding with the Power of Jashin, causing Hoshino's body to violently oscillate between 'existence' and 'nothingness'.
The alloy skeleton crumbled like grains of sand, the artificial nerves turned to dust in the grayish-white light, and the internal organs lost their function...
Hoshino watched helplessly as the mechanical parts he had painstakingly designed crumbled.
These technological creations that he was once so proud of were as fragile as children's toys in the face of the All-Killing Ash Bones.
The chilling power seemed to have lost ground in the physical confrontation and began to erode his will from the spiritual level.
Whispers from Jashin crawled through my brain like countless tiny insects.
Hoshino's vision began to distort, and a non-human whisper echoed in his ears, "Become my vessel... and you will gain true immortality..."
The Power of Jashin spread like a black tide along the nerve pathways, disrupting memories and corrupting consciousness wherever it went.
Childhood memories in Sunagakure, conversations with Shion, days and nights in the laboratory... all these images are shattered and reassembled, turning into a twisted nightmare.
"Get out!"
Hoshino roared in his mental world, only to find that he couldn't make a sound.
The corruption of the Jashin is too bizarre; it doesn't forcibly take over, but rather induces and assimilates, making the host willingly give up resistance.
Hoshino felt his will softening, like a piece of iron gradually being melted by high temperature.
The only ones still putting up a fight are the Mutant Insect Swarm.
These creatures, which coexist with the Hoshino, are now displaying astonishing loyalty.
They relentlessly repaired the tissues decomposed by the All-Killing Ash Bones, secreting special substances to resist the erosion of the Jashin.
But for every part repaired, more parts collapse.
The number of Mutant Insect has decreased dramatically, like a candle flame in a storm, which could be extinguished at any moment.
The tug-of-war between the three forces created a strange balance within Hoshino's body.
The All-Killing Ash Bones, contamination by Jashin, and repair by Mutant Insect.
The cycle repeated itself, pushing Hoshino's body to the brink of collapse and rebuilding.
"Is this... what death feels like?"
Hoshino's consciousness began to blur. He recalled Shion's prophecy, that blurry image of his own death.
Is this the end?
They didn't die on the battlefield, nor did they die of old age in their sickbeds; they were annihilated in the rampage of power they themselves had unleashed.
Where is Shion? She was clearly mentioned in the prophecy!
At this moment, most of the mechanical body had been reduced to dust by the effects of the All-Killing Ash Bones, and the remaining head was being slowly eroded by grayish-white bone spurs.
The will of the Jashin surged into the depths of his consciousness like a tidal wave, almost completing its final invasion.
He was just one step away from completely replacing his soul.
At this critical moment, Hoshino suddenly sensed an unusual fluctuation.
The spot on his chest, where Shion had given him his protective charm, was now emitting a soft purple light.
The Priestess Power!
This pure energy, like a sharp sword, pierced through the chaotic darkness.
For the first time, panic broke out in the whispers of the Jashin, and the decomposition speed of the All-Killing Ash Bones also slowed down. The Mutant Insect seemed to have been blessed, and they began to evolve again in a bizarre way.
Hoshino, with her last ounce of willpower, struggled to reach out to that ray of light of redemption!