"What's with that look? You look like you want to kill soone. Hey, hey—don't tell that after I just saved you once, you're already thinking about killing ? If you really insist, shouldn't you at least take care of that guy first?"
Lying on the ground, Shinji showed no concern whatsoever for the fact that he was already crippled. He even had the leisure to crack a few jokes.
"If you hadn't saved , would you have—"
"Good heavens, how could you think that?" Shinji interrupted, looking utterly incredulous. "You don't seriously believe I ended up like this just to save you, do you? I'm not that noble. I was just taking the chance to lure that thing out. Turns out I miscalculated—that's all. No one to bla."
He paused, then added bluntly, "If I'd known it would turn out like this, I would've run as far away as possible. At most, I'd co back later to set up a grave for you."
The look on Shinji's face was one of pure disdain.
But the more casually he spoke, the more violently Hidan's emotions surged—and the more intense his killing intent beca.
"I'll kill him."
This ti, Hidan's voice was calm.
It sounded less like a threat and more like a vow—like a promise carved in stone.
Shinji nodded casually. "Be careful. That thing's strong—probably on the sa level as that bald, four-eyed cursed spirit we ran into before. No… it might even be stronger. If you can't beat it, just run. There's no sha in that."
"I won't run. And I won't lose."
"Yeah, yeah. Got it." Shinji waved it off. "Before you go, do a favor. These two floppy things are really an eyesore. Cut them off for ."
Hidan's body stiffened for a mont.
Then, in a low voice, he said, "Alright."
Slash. Slash.
Two clean strikes.
Shinji's already-ruined right arm and right leg fell to the side.
[Bond Points 50]
Stimulated once again, Hidan didn't dare look at Shinji any longer. He turned his back, preparing to pour every ounce of his rage into the coming battle.
anwhile, Shinji couldn't help but sigh inwardly—sure enough, the further things went, the harder it beca to increase Bond Points.
...
"Even though their strength was pathetic—so weak they were barely useful—you shouldn't have killed them so casually."
The one speaking was the "Sand Spirit," Saibote, who had frightened Maki and the others into retreat not long ago.
After that encounter, he had rushed forward at full speed, intending to regroup with his subordinates. Instead, he found their corpses halfway there—along with two humans who seed to be resting nearby.
It left him with a profound sense of futility, as if all his efforts had been for nothing.
So he struck decisively, choosing to kill these two humans.
Hidan, on the other hand, was much more straightforward.
He raised his blood-soaked triple-bladed scythe and pointed it at Saibote.
"I don't care what the hell you are. Next, I'm going to tear you apart—piece by piece—until you're nothing but a disgusting ss! No matter what, I will kill you!"
Kill!
Without another word, Hidan charged forward.
Saibote flicked his snake sword, and countless razor-sharp sand blades surged toward Hidan like a storm.
"I'll kill him… I'll kill him…"
Without realizing it, that single thought consud Hidan's mind. Everything else was stripped away.
Once again, he entered that state of absolute focus.
Every command his brain issued was executed instantly, without delay.
"Slow. Too slow. I can see every single trajectory."
Without reducing his speed at all, Hidan plunged straight into the storm of sand blades, weaving through them with movents so bizarre they defied logic.
At minimal cost, he closed the distance.
Then he raised his blood-stained scythe and brought it crashing down toward Saibote's head!
While Hidan and Saibote were locked in fierce combat, Shinji quietly pulled out a strip of bandage and, without hesitation, wrapped it around his head.
Cursed Item — [Mummy's Bandage]
Effect: Instantly restores injuries. Severed limbs can regenerate. Takes effect when wrapped around any part of the body. Self-use only.
Negative Effect: Death occurs five seconds after use.
Cooldown: 2 hours.
P.S.: Perhaps all you really want… is a dignified way to die.
...
In the blink of an eye, Shinji's freshly severed right arm and right leg regenerated completely. Even the minor injuries scattered across his body vanished, restoring him to peak condition.
But before he could even feel happy about it—
Five seconds passed.
And he died on the spot.
Then, three seconds later—
"Hah—"
Shinji sucked in a breath.
He died.
And then he lived again.
Hey—just ssing around.
That said, even though he'd recovered, he didn't make a sound. He continued lying there, playing dead.
To avoid exposing any flaws, he buried his newly regenerated arm and leg beneath the scorching sand.
It hurt but he endured it.
For those asly Bond Points, you think this was easy for him?
After finally setting up such a deeply moving scene for Hidan, how could he let it end so anticlimactically?
Besides, judging from Hidan's berserk combat power right now, even if he couldn't win outright, he shouldn't be losing anyti soon.
Still… that had been dangerous.
If he hadn't had "Little Black" buried beneath the sand ahead of ti, that last attack might not have been sothing he could dodge.
If he'd turned into a dried corpse back then, whether he could've co back at all was honestly uncertain.
Little Black had really taken one for the team.
That entire "tentacle" had dried up completely—dead on the spot.
Fortunately, damage to the black hair didn't affect the main body. It could just regenerate later.
The only surprise was that Little Black—aside from being afraid of fire—had once again encountered a natural counter.
Shinji discreetly controlled a blood serpent, retrieving the [Perfect Perfu] buried in the sand.
Now that he knew the enemy's abilities restrained Little Black, there was no reason to risk losing it here.
That would've been a huge loss.
Only after finishing all that did he narrow his eyes and look toward the battlefield.
Clang clang clang clang—
The rapid, continuous sounds of weapons colliding echoed through the air.
After closing into lee range, Hidan—now in his state of extre focus—was actually suppressing his opponent.
The blood-soaked triple-bladed scythe shifted fluidly between long and short range, making it impossible for Saibote to judge the true reach of Hidan's attacks.
As a result, Saibote suffered greatly.
He'd been struck no fewer than seven or eight tis already. If not for his ability to enter a sand-transformation state and evade damage, he would've been hacked to pieces by Hidan's fury long ago.
But precisely because he could rely on that sandification ability, Saibote never truly took Hidan seriously.
He even began using Hidan as a sparring partner—to refine his own close-combat techniques.
Hidan might have been in a state of extre focus, but that didn't an he'd lost his brain.
On the contrary—he imdiately saw through Saibote's intentions, and the flas of rage in his chest burned even hotter.
"Using for practice? Who the hell do you think you are?!"
"Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!"
Under Hidan's frenzied barrage, Saibote was forced to maintain his sandified state constantly, unable to find even a mont to counterattack—let alone do anything else.
Of course, Saibote wasn't obligated to keep treating Hidan as a training dummy.
Seeing that his secondary objective wasn't being t, he decided to end things quickly.
"Sand Curse Transformation · Sand March!"
Saibote spread his arms wide and charged straight at Hidan, aiming to give him a "warm embrace."
And having just witnessed the terrifying effects of this technique not long ago, there was no way Hidan wouldn't be on guard.
---
20 Power Stones= 1 additional chapters.
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