Kazuma: (In a quiet, trembling voice)
"I vow to myself, and commit myself, to use this power of mine solely for the sake of taking Jin's life."
Tin: (With raging anger)
"Stop! You have committed a disaster, and you will certainly regret it sooner or later!"
Rin: (With composed calmness)
"Could you please explain it to us? He hasn't done anything that warrants all this anger."
Tin:
"No, Rin, he has! And his action lies in the fact that he has made a vow to that 'Shin'."
Kazuma:
"Please, explain this matter to me clearly."
Rin: (In a quiet tone hiding concern)
"Master, don't tell me that the 'Shin' responds to this vow!"
Tin:
"As I mentioned before, the 'Shin' resembles a living being, and indeed it is. It responds to the command and the covenant placed upon it."
"However, the only positive aspect of this matter is that the 'Shin' will grant you a tremendous surge of power! But the price in return is that immediately after you kill Jin, you will perish."
(Rin was stunned by the shocking news.)
Tin:
"I am truly not joking. Those are the terms of the vow, that is the nature of the pact. You must adhere to it until you achieve your goal, and then you meet your demise."
Rin:
"So, even if he defeats Jin and achieves his revenge, his inevitable fate is death?"
Tin:
"Yes, that is the outcome."
Kazuma: (Interrupting the conversation, closing his sharp eyes slightly, then opening them with a glint)
"I do not fear death. What I truly fear is remaining weak, useless! To be a burden upon my destiny!"
(He opened his eyes with a biting gleam, and their usual sharpness returned.)
"In fact, I long for death, yearning to meet the one I loved. My hope for death has increased now, solely to meet Nich."
Kazuma: (With sudden astonishment)
"By the way, where is Hidan?"
Rin:
"We don't know anything about him. Frankly, his presence has become strange and suspicious."
Kazuma:
"I must help him escape the grip of his family. He deserves better."
Tin:
"Alas, he is truly wronged."
🌑 The Dream and The Destiny
Night fell, and Kazuma was asleep in his bed.
Suddenly, the scene shifts to a vast place: a sun setting behind towering mountain ranges.
Kazuma was standing, raising his neck upwards, clenching his fists with strength and determination.
Silence prevailed over the place, and a light breeze played with his sharp silver hair. Suddenly, the silence turns into a voice calling him:
The Voice:
"Kazuma... Kazuma... O Kazuma..."
Kazuma: (In a loud voice that rips through the silence)
"Who are you, caller?"
Suddenly, the calmness turns into a violent earthquake. The place transforms from a lush forest into a deep abyss; two mountains held by a long thread, very much like a thin rope, and underneath them, volcanic lava blazes and boils.
Kazuma's eyes were wide with shock and wonder, and his sweat soaked his elegant combat suit.
A man appeared with no feet, as if he were a ghostly entity. He held a massive axe in his left hand.
His features were not visible, as he was wearing a dark cloak and a hood that concealed his face in the shadows
Kazuma:
"Are you freaks or just monsters?"
Ahed (Covenant): (In a terrifying voice, like an echo from a deep cave)
"I am called Ahed (Covenant)."
(We see an exact replica of the entity to his left.)
Shart (Condition):
"And I am called Shart (Condition)."
(Kazuma stepped back, but tripped over a scattered rock and fell onto his backside on the narrow mountain edge.)
Ahed:
"You previously vowed to dedicate all your power to Jin."
Kazuma: (Shouting animatedly, while trying to get up)
"Yes! So what? Isn't a vow meant to be struck?"
Shart: (With cold, terrifying calmness)
"Do you know what this place is that you are standing in now?"
(Kazuma remained silent, his sharp eyes scrutinizing the surroundings.)
Shart: (Sighing with a calmness unfitting for the situation)
"This place is called The Consciousness. Here, willing souls acquire very great power."
Kazuma:
"So what are you waiting for? Give me the power!"
Ahed: (With biting sarcasm)
"You fool! First, you must cross this thin rope without falling into the blazing lava beneath you!"
Shart:
"We will grant you the power, but on the condition that you use it only on Jin. If you violate the command..."
Kazuma: (Interrupting nervously)
"I know, I know! What you want to say is well known: the punishment will be more severe than I can imagine."
Ahed:
"That's good. But remember that even if you kill Jin, you will also die, because this condition requires taking both the power and the soul together after the goal is achieved. This is the true pact of the 'Shin'."
Kazuma: (With an unsettling calmness)
"Can you change my fighting style or characteristics?"
Ahed:
"Based on what we know about you, your essential nature is The Blazing (which carries the energy of ignited light). But it can be changed to the Condition pattern (which carries the energy of the binding covenant)."
Kazuma: (Pointing his right index finger firmly toward the rope)
"You yourselves already said that I must cross this rope first!"
(Kazuma jumped onto the rope, but the rope began to shake violently under the force of his movement, and Kazuma lost his balance, clenching his teeth tightly so as not to fall.)
Shart: (With absolute scorn)
"What stupidity! Truly."
Ahed:
"He will cross it. I am confident."
(Kazuma was swaying on the fragile rope. Then the rope split slightly at its point of connection to the mountain, meaning it was moments away from snapping.)
Kazuma: (In a quiet voice, questioning silently)
"What must I do? Is reaching power really this difficult?"
(Kazuma looked down at the thick, boiling lava. His features held infinite terror, but his silver eyes were still searching for a solution.)
Kazuma: (Frowning deeply, his interlocking silver eyebrows pressed together)
"I'm scared... very, very scared!"
Ahed (Covenant): (In a loud voice, like a divine command)
"You must become the thread itself!"
(Kazuma paused for a moment, as if the words registered in his soul before his mind. He looked at the thread with a tremor.)
Kazuma: (Repeating the words to himself, trying to internalize the meaning)
"I must be the thread itself... I must be the thread itself..."
(Kazuma took a deep breath, then stood only on his large toes. He began to run with extreme lightness, as the thread started cracking behind him and was torn from its anchoring point on the mountain.)
(Kazuma flew briefly in the air, heading towards the nearby second mountain. He extended his tightly clenched palms downward, grasping the edge of the mountain at the last possible moment before the rope fell and snapped completely. He began to climb slowly, clinging to the rocks.)
Ahed: (His voice filled with triumph)
"Didn't I tell you he would succeed, Shart?"
Shart (Condition): (With rigid arrogance)
"You told me, but it was just pure chance and shouldn't be counted as bravery."
Kazuma: (Breathing very heavily, struggling to regain his breath after reaching safety)
"So... now give me the power!"
Ahed:
"Do you know, White Lion boy, that this trial, the 'Consciousness' trial, very few survive it and reach its end?"
Shart:
"And now, to receive the required power, you must endure pain. Intolerable pain."
(Kazuma remained calm, ready for what was to come.)
🔪 The Shin Bomb (Embedding the Pact)
(The process suddenly shifts. We now see Kazuma shackled by heavy iron chains in a dark stone dungeon, where he was completely naked and unconscious.)
(Suddenly, he heard a booming voice.)
The Voice:
"Get up! Sleeping or being unconscious here is considered a failure that leads to your demise!"
(Kazuma opened his strong eyes, which now bore the distinctive scar. He saw Shart standing before him, holding his axe in his left hand.)
Ahed:
"Kazuma, Shart will cut open your stomach and embed a bomb crafted from the essence of the 'Shin' inside your entrails."
Kazuma: (Sighing with bitter frustration)
"Where is the power then? Are you joking with me? Is this the price?"
Ahed:
"When Shart embeds it, I will grant you the power I promised. But remember that changing your 'Shin' pattern to the Condition pattern is still a slim possibility, but the power is guaranteed."
Shart:
"But if you use this power on anyone other than Jin, the bomb inside you will explode, shredding your body, and you will die a gruesome death!"
Ahed:
"Let Shart begin implanting the bomb... Now!"
Kazuma: (In a steady voice that conveyed unshakeable resolve)
"Let him do whatever is required."
(Shart raised his massive axe and plunged it violently into Kazuma's chest. Kazuma squeezed his left eye shut.)
(Shart began pulling the axe downward, cleaving his chest toward his abdomen. We heard Kazuma scream at the top of his lungs, a loud, terrifying shriek of pain, as the axe split his chest until it reached his entrails.)
(Kazuma's body began to tremble violently, and the sound of the metal chains binding him echoed clearly with every spasm. Now, Kazuma's abdomen was open.)
Ahed (Covenant):
"And now Shart will implant the bomb! Remember: if you lose consciousness even for a moment, you will fail and die!"
Kazuma: (Eyes shut, breathing with effort)
"I feel excruciating pain... so very intense."
(Sweat poured from him, while his heart pounded violently, as if it wanted to leave his chest.)
Kazuma:
"It's alright! If I reclaim Nich's right and kill Jin, I will forget all this pain."
(Kazuma looked at Shart and Ahed, as tears streamed down his wide eyes. His face was completely strained, conveying the utmost agony.)
Kazuma: (In a husky, almost savage voice)
"This power... is mine alone!"
Shart (Condition): (In a loud, rumbling voice)
"Now I will implant the bomb inside your abdomen!"
(Shart was holding a dense, large purple vapor beam, and he forcibly inserted it into the open abdomen. Shart began to pass his hands over the torn abdomen, and the wound closed with lightning speed. A drawing appeared in the center of the abdomen, shaped like a container upon which the word "Condition" was written in bold.)
Ahed: (In a loud, triumphant voice)
"The bomb has been implanted in you! And now it is my turn to grant you the power!"
(Ahed began passing his hands over Kazuma's exhausted body, while a purple aura surrounded his palms. Ahed pressed his right index finger onto Kazuma's forehead, and Kazuma immediately lost consciousness.)
Ahed: (In a calm, neutral voice)
"You have now acquired tremendous power, and your 'Shin' pattern has been successfully changed."
🌳 Beginning of Hidan's Arc
(The camera shifted to Hidan, who was in the forest.)
(Hidan was sleeping on the green grass, his arms stretched behind the back of his head, as if in a deep slumber.)
Hidan: (Muttering to himself, eyes closed)
"It is infinite rest..."
And here we announce the beginning of Hidan's Arc.