"This body has reached its limit."
Simu tested his movements. Although he hadn't stopped breathing yet, using this frame for combat was becoming far too strenuous.
As for Hidan?
If Simu ended up in this state despite the protection of his numerous Kakuhou, Hidan fared even worse. He had been slammed directly into the earth, his fate unknown.
Their Great Lord Jashin was currently doing his utmost, consuming energy to snatch souls back from the Reaper.
Pain walked slowly toward Simu, looking down at him with a cold authority. "Can you provide your answer now? Will you choose to join Akatsuki?"
"That is certainly a blunt and crude way to recruit someone."
Simu raised a trembling hand and gently pushed up his glasses.
Pain's brow furrowed slightly. Suddenly, a premonition of doom surged violently within his heart.
Dense swarms of Black Beetles surged out from Simu's heavily injured body. This terrifying tidal wave of insects acted as a wall, blocking out the rain and firmly encircling Pain!
Simu flashed a smile. "Everything for the Great Lord!"
"Pain!"
Konan cried out from a distance.
The moment the Black Beetles appeared, Pain immediately used the Body Flicker Jutsu at maximum speed. He managed to escape the insect tide's range in time, reappearing in mid-air.
However, when he sensed a certain type of insect crawling on the surface of his clothes, his normally calm face twisted into an expression of extreme displeasure.
"Damn it."
Without hesitation, he ripped off his red-clouded black cloak and hurled it away with all his might.
Just as the cloak left his hand, the insects attached to it swelled rapidly. The chakra contained within them, converted through a specialized technique, turned into violent flames that erupted with a roar!
"Boom!"
A massive fireball lit up the sky, instantly evaporating every raindrop that dared to fall near it.
A dark shadow representing Pain fell from the high altitude. With his torso bare and slightly scorched, he landed on the ground looking quite disheveled.
"Pain, are you alright?"
Konan flew anxiously to his side. Seeing his singed hair and damaged skin, her heart ached.
Since the founding of Akatsuki, this body representing the Deva Path had never suffered such a severe injury.
"I am fine."
Pain narrowed his eyes, speaking in an icy tone. "That man has already seen through the Deva Path's weakness during our exchange."
Konan's expression instantly became grave.
While the Deva Path controlled powerful attraction and repulsion, it also possessed a significant flaw. The activation of Almighty Push required a five-second interval.
Furthermore, the more powerful the Almighty Push released, the longer the required cooldown time!
To demonstrate absolute dominance just now, Pain had used a large-scale Almighty Push. The cooldown would be at least five minutes.
Fortunately, that man was on the verge of death. As long as they dealt with that bizarre insect tide...
As Pain calculated, the massive swarm of insects had already rushed before him.
Konan stepped forward first, her hands weaving signs.
"Water Style: Giant Waterfall Jutsu!"
A terrifying torrent of water erupted from Konan's mouth, violently scattering the incoming insect tide.
Following this, countless paper sheets flew into the air, folding themselves into spinning shuriken. They aimed their sharp points at Simu, who stood at the center of the swarm.
"As I expected, those eyes of yours do not come without a price. At the very least, you cannot continuously use that terrifying power."
Simu's voice echoed from within the gradually dispersing insect tide. Though his body was mangled beyond recognition, his tone remained as calm as if he had already secured victory.
"If my guess is correct, the interval for small-scale repulsive attacks is about five to seven seconds. But what about such a large-scale attack? Is the cooldown three minutes? Five? Or perhaps ten?"
The intelligence Simu could gather from a single battle was limited, but it was enough.
For the first time, a smile appeared on Pain's face. His eyes showed deep appreciation.
"Your tactical mind is quite sharp. However, even if you are right, how can that broken body of yours hope to stand in my way?"
"Do you mean to say that even now, you still refuse to surrender?"
Pain held his black rod, looking like a man who held all the cards.
"Join Akatsuki. Become our comrade!"
Simu manipulated his body, forcing his mouth into a difficult grin. "Heh. Let me guess. What makes you so certain of your victory?"
Glancing at his own heavily wounded frame, Simu's tone didn't waver. "Is it this body that can no longer fight?"
Noticing the slight shift in Pain's expression, a trace of mockery surfaced in Simu's eyes. He said composedly, "I'm sorry, but for a true believer of the Jashin Religion, the most useless thing of all... is one's own body."
A frenzied smile appeared on Simu's face. He plunged his hand ruthlessly into his own chest, cleanly tearing out his still-beating heart and holding it high.
Each throb of the heart felt like a drumbeat echoing against the hearts of Pain and Konan.
"Is this guy insane?" Konan said in disbelief.
Never mind Konan; even Pain's face took on an incredibly solemn expression.
He knew clearly that a man like Simu would never commit suicide. If this act wasn't suicide, then he was preparing some strange technique.
Ignoring the incredulous stares of Pain and Konan, Simu used his other hand to gently push up his glasses. He said calmly, "I shall show you now the meaning of true..."
"Evolution!"
He crushed the heart in his hand.
With a terrifying explosion, Simu opened his mouth as the sound of Sanskrit chanting praising the Lord filled the area.
Within the chanting, the numerous villagers who had been blown away by Pain's attack quickly stood up from the ruins.
Whether they had only one arm, one leg, half a body, or even just a single finger left.
When the Lord's chanting sounded, they followed the guidance of their souls, becoming the Lord's shield and spear!
This was...
The Contract!
Watching various severed limbs rush toward Simu with a frenzied posture and terrifying speed, even Pain, who called himself a god, felt a chill.
This Jashin Religion... just what on earth was it?
A strong sense of unease clouded the hearts of Pain and Konan.
"Stop him, now!"
Regardless of whether Simu was dead or what technique he was preparing, they had to stop him before he finished!
Konan nodded, splitting off a massive amount of paper to attack Simu's remains.
Suddenly, a crimson shadow appeared, intercepting all the incoming paper.
"Bastards! Don't you dare forget about my existence!"
Hidan, wielding his Three-bladed blood scythe, made his entrance!