Chapter 22: A sacrifice worthy of Jashin.
Hidan was so bored... When the fuck are they going to capture that Jinchūriki? They arrived in Wave almost two days ago, and now he was just sitting around on this shitty beach waiting for Kakuzu to find the Jinchūriki!
He grumbled irritably while sharpening his scythe. If they didn't do something soon, he was going to take a little trip to the nearest village and kill everyone there.
He was interrupted from his fantasies of slaughter when Kakuzu walked up behind him. "I found him."
Finally! He got up quickly and turned towards Kakuzu. "Well? Where is the little shit?"
"Close by." The miser answered, already walking back into the forest.
Hidan followed eagerly behind him, his anger replaced with excitement.
They would eventually arrive at a small cliff overlooking the ocean, where there was a cave in the wall. Within, they could see a few beds, a firepit, and a small group of people hanging out together.
"Watchers, they pretend to be fishermen, but they are clearly sentries." Kakuzu said after pointing towards one man who was on watch.
Hidan wasn't listening, he should sacrifice the people in the cave. Those people in the cave...
His mind felt foggy for some reason... But why? What is this feeling? It's like his entire being drawn to those men... Maybe he should go closer...
He shook it off, and reached into his robes and grabbed his Jashin pendant, it burned in his hand, as if angry at him for not killing.
Ah! Of course!
Lord Jashin always rewarded his faithful. The hunger he felt was probably a boon from Jashin-sama himself!
He wasn't under some Genjutsu or compulsion, Lord Jashin was simply showing him a bounty of sacrifices to slaughter.
"Lord Jashin..." He muttered quietly. "You truly are a merciful god."
Kakuzu looked at him with concern, but Hidan didn't pay attention to him, instead staring hungrily at the men below them.
He slowly started walking towards the cliff edge.
"Hidan? What are you doing?" Kakuzu asked suspiciously.
"I have a hunger that needs to be sated, miser." He replied cheerfully.
"What the fuck are you-" Before Kakuzu could finish, Hidan leaped forward from their hiding place, his scythe already drawn.
"JASHIN-SAMA!" Hidan screamed out as he descended upon them from above.
He brought his scythe down hard on one of the sentries, splitting him clean in half and spraying blood everywhere.
The other Watchers were startled by the sudden appearance of the immortal maniac, but swiftly moved into position regardless.
One started weaving hand signs rapidly as the other drew a sword and charged at Hidan with murderous intent.
The sword wielder trusted his odachi forward, aiming to stab the heart. A good tactic against any normal human opponent. Unfortunately for him, Hidan wasn't exactly a normal human anymore.
Hidan laughed gleefully, ignoring the blade piercing his chest completely.
He swung his scythe upwards, slicing off his attacker's arm before kicking him away violently.
The Ninja with the hand signs finished his Jutsu as Hidan turned towards him, a stream of water striking him dead-on. The Zombie was unimpressed, tanking the Water Bullet even as it broke his bones.
He staggered slightly but didn't fall over or show any sign of pain. "Is that all?" He asked mockingly before suddenly speeding up and grabbing hold of the Water User's head in one fluid motion.
"Jashin-sama be praised!" Hidan shouted triumphantly, smashing the poor soul's skull against a nearby rock.
With both of his opponents incapacitated, Hidan turned back to where he had left the man who tried to stab him earlier.
He found him trying to crawl away, leaving a trail of blood from his stump behind.
"You! Do you not understand the blessing I bring?!" Hidan yelled out angrily. "You should feel honored to give your life to Jashin-sama!"
The maimed Watcher frantically tried to get away, only to be grabbed by the leg and dragged back.
Hidan cut his own wrist on the scythe blade, drawing a circle of blood around the injured man. He was going to savour this sacrifice.
"Now then... I shall honour your sacrifice with the greatest gift of all..." He grinned, eyes wide and crazed. "Eternal life."
***
I was planning my expansion to the more remote regions of the Elemental Nations when I felt it, a sharp tug on the metaphysical tether that connected me to my followers.
Someone had died, they were an Initiate in the Military Wing, from the second batch of recruits...
But why did I not receive their soul?
My attention snapped towards where they died, a chunk of DP disappearing as I remotely viewed the scene.
A cave near the ocean, with 2 Initiates inside it. Both of them within a circle of blood, one unconscious from a massive head wound, and another missing an arm, who was also in the process of bleeding out.
Standing above him was a man covered in black skin and white lines, with a massive scythe...
Yeah, no.
Instantly, I tried using a good amount of DP to teleport the two wounded men into Kazuo's care.
Nothing happened, all the DP used for that vanished uselessly. Being absorbed into the circles painted in blood.
Well, isn't this just great? Someone is trying to steal my followers from me. Not cool dude, not cool.
I cursed silently, another chunk of DP disappearing as five rifts appeared on the cave's ceiling.
Five Star-Eaters fell out of them, landing around the man in a circle. Yatagarasu was leading them.
The Immortal Zombie looked at them curiously, he didn't seem worried at all, probably because he literally can't die.
"What the fuck are you supposed to be?" He asked gruffly, readying his scythe. "Angry pigeons?"
'Don't physically hurt him, any damage done will be reflected to the Initiates.' I ordered mentally, this fucker was going to regret ever touching my followers.
***
Hidan was looking at the 5 massive fucking crows warily, he had never seen anything like them before.
They were easily twice as tall as a person, covered in black feathers, with three glowing golden eyes.
What the actual fuck is going on?
Normally, he would have taunted them and provoked them into attacking first. But Lord Jashin was still urging him forward.
Before the creatures could respond, he stabbed himself in the heart with his scythe, a part of him burned at skipping the prayer and ritual of the sacrifice, but he could almost hear his god screaming at him to just kill already.
As his scythe blade sunk deep into his chest, the surrounding cave disappeared into darkness, replaced by a vast ocean of blood. A sea of corpses floating along with it.
It was beautiful, all those sacrifices for Jashin-sama.
"Hello Hidan." A voice echoed around him. It was made of thousands of screams and whispers combined into one.
He looked up and saw... a giant, human in shape, but clearly not in nature.
It as big as a castle, its skin made of a million tiny pieces, all of them different shades and ages, from young to old, man to woman, smooth to wrinkled, every race he had ever seen. All the sacrifices he had ever made were there too, he could recognize their skin tone or size amongst the mosaic of flesh that was this being.
In its head there were two holes where eyes should be, and it lacked a mouth, yet he heard it clearly regardless.
This had to be Lord Jashin! Who else would have such power?
"Lord Jashin! What is your will?" He cried out happily.
"Bring me more." Lord Jashin waved his hand, and three bodies rose from the blood ocean, the ones he killed earlier in the cave. "I struggled and toiled for eons to claim a sliver of divinity, yet this fool wastes it on meaningless blessings."
The bodies twitched, and from their heads emerged golden lights, rising up toward Jashin. Each one flew into him and was absorbed into his body.
"I want more." Lord Jashin spoke again. "Bring me more!"
Hidan suddenly felt overwhelmed by an intense desire to serve, a strong compulsion came over him, demanding obedience without question.
"Yes, my god!" He shouted joyfully.