"Oi, oi, oi! You useless Shark Face!"
"You're actually asking this brat for help?!"
"Do you have any dignity as a man at all?!"
"Good! Very good!"
"Then today, right in front of you, I'll tear this brat who appeared out of nowhere into pieces!"
After being stunned for a moment, a flush appeared on Hidan's deathly pale face.
From pure rage.
He didn't even continue his ritual.
Instead, he directly pointed his triple-bladed scythe at Uchiha Kai.
His expression was filled with mockery.
"A useless brat?"
Hearing those words, Uchiha Kai finally raised his head.
The playful amusement on his baby-faced features gradually faded.
What remained was pure indifference.
The corner of his lips curled upward into a silent smile.
"Hidan."
"It seems you're very confident in your immortality."
"Of course I am!"
"My immortality was bestowed by Lord Jashin himself—"
Hidan raised his chin even higher.
His voice dripped with disdain and arrogance.
But halfway through his sentence—
He suddenly realized something.
How did this brat know about his immortality?
The Akatsuki knew because they had seen it firsthand.
But this little bastard in front of him...
He was certain he had never met him before.
And Konoha?
Because of distance alone, he had never even come within a hundred miles of the place.
Then how had information about his immortality leaked?
The realization caused his movements to slow.
Even his expression changed slightly.
Not fear.
Just surprise.
"As expected... Kai even knows this..."
Seeing the scene, Itachi revealed a look that said exactly what he had anticipated.
He already knew.
His second younger brother looked lazy and carefree on the surface.
But somehow...
He seemed to possess nearly every piece of intelligence in the entire ninja world.
As if—
Nothing could escape those small eyes.
"Second Brother even knows that?"
Future Sasuke smacked his lips.
Silently, he lowered the Kusanagi Sword he had been preparing to swing and folded his arms.
He himself hadn't learned about Hidan's immortality until much later.
If they had known that information earlier...
Asuma might never have died.
And Konoha would have had one more elite jōnin.
Thinking about it, Sasuke suddenly shook his head with a bitter smile.
Given the current situation...
One elite jōnin.
Two elite jōnin.
None of it would make any difference.
Even someone like him, who had surpassed the peak of Kage-level strength...
In Second Brother's hands...
At that thought, the bitterness on Sasuke's face deepened.
But then another thought suddenly struck him.
"If Second Brother is this strong in this timeline..."
"Then Kaguya..."
"And later Momoshiki and Isshiki..."
"Wouldn't they just be walking to their deaths?"
Almost instantly, Sasuke's mouth curled upward.
His eyes filled with anticipation.
He suddenly wanted to stay in this era a little longer.
Just to see what kind of miserable fate awaited the enemies who had nearly driven him and Naruto crazy.
"Oi! Oi! Brat!"
"How do you know that?!"
"Was it Shark Face who told you?!"
"Damn it!"
"I knew this stupid Akatsuki organization was full of idiots!"
"Actually betraying teammates..."
After a brief moment of confusion, Hidan immediately shifted his anger toward Kisame and began cursing again.
However—
Right in the middle of his rant—
Something flashed before his eyes.
The small figure standing not far away...
Had disappeared.
Vanished completely.
Not the blur of the Body Flicker Technique.
Not the spatial distortion of the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Just...
Gone.
Without any warning whatsoever.
The sight instantly froze the grin on Hidan's face.
His already pale complexion turned even whiter.
Even his pupils contracted violently.
Where did he go?!
Where?!
Smack!
As Hidan frantically looked around, he suddenly noticed something.
His face hurt.
And a crisp sound echoed beside his ear.
The sound of a slap.
A thunderous slap.
"GAAAH—!"
Hidan finally realized what had happened.
But before he could curse—
Before he could even finish a scream—
His entire body was struck head-on as if a fully loaded truck had smashed into him at full speed.
Whoosh—
The next second, he spun through the air like a broken top.
After tumbling dozens of meters and rolling more than ten times across the ground, he finally stopped.
Stars exploded before his eyes.
The entire left side of his face had gone completely numb.
The only thing left in his ears was an endless ringing.
"Ptooey!"
"D-Damn it!"
Hidan clawed his way out of a pile of shattered rocks and spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with broken teeth.
His face darkened further.
Especially the searing pain in his left cheek.
It caused the fury in his heart to multiply exponentially.
Since when?!
Since when had he ever suffered such humiliation?!
Slapped?
Sent flying?
Did they think Hidan was some stray dog by the roadside?!
After spitting out another mouthful of blood, he laughed from pure rage and glared at Kai.
"Heh."
"Brat!"
"It's useless!"
"I'm immortal!"
"Your pathetic little—"
Smack!
Before he could finish.
Another slap landed.
This time, Hidan still couldn't react.
He opened his mouth to curse—
Then immediately shut it.
Not voluntarily.
Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!
What answered him was a storm of increasingly violent slaps.
Hidan couldn't even see Kai.
He had become a worn-out punching bag being battered from every direction.
The frequency was too fast.
The force too overwhelming.
His entire body was actually lifted into the air.
Left cheek!
Right cheek!
Left cheek!
Right cheek!
"Immortal body?"
Kai shook his hand and spoke mockingly.
"Isn't it all dependent on that little ritual circle on the ground?"
"With reflexes this slow..."
"You probably couldn't even eat hot shit before it cooled off."
"If it weren't for your teammates..."
"Your head would've been carried off by wild dogs long ago."
The moment the words fell—
Kai swung his arm in a full arc.
Like a full moon.
And unleashed a savage slap.
Whoosh—
Hidan was launched into the sky once again.
Immediately afterward—
Kai lightly tapped the ground with his foot.
His figure instantly appeared in front of Hidan again.
Looking down from above.
Staring at the swollen pig-like face covered in blood.
His expression remained utterly indifferent.
"Or..."
"Did you think that just because your crappy scythe can collect blood for your ritual..."
"That means you'll never fail?"
The moment those words left his mouth—
Kai's foot came crashing down.
Directly toward Hidan's head.
BOOM!!!
But those words shocked Hidan far more than the attack itself.
The swollen slit that remained of his eye widened to its absolute limit.
His gaze filled with disbelief.
Terror.
Confusion.
How?!
How could he possibly know?!
This was one of the most secret and important abilities of Jashin's faithful.
Even the Akatsuki only knew that he could kill people through strange means.
Very few knew exactly why.
In the distance.
At the observation point.
Inside Hiruko, Sasori's cold mechanical eyes rarely showed emotion.
Regarding Hidan, he knew some information.
But he had never expected...
The key was blood.
He knew about the immortality.
But the blood requirement?
That was new.
In other words—
As long as Hidan obtained someone's blood, he could trade one-for-one without suffering any damage himself.
Yet even he, as a teammate, didn't know that.
So how did that Konoha boy know?
Beside him, Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan narrowed slightly.
His gaze toward Kai became even deeper.
It was as though the entire ninja world had no secrets before him.
"This..."
Future Sasuke unconsciously gripped the hilt of his sword with his remaining arm.
His mind was completely numb from shock.
The Second Brother of this timeline...
Knew far too many secrets.
Even things like this.
Could there really be someone who was truly all-knowing and all-powerful?
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