Not far away...
The arrogant, bratty kid's eyes were bloodshot. With a sharp clack, he slammed the firewood in his hands onto the ground.
With a few lunging strides, he charged forward and grabbed Ren Uchiha by the collar.
Tears streamed down Hidan's face as he sniffled aggressively—the picture of a defeated cur. Yet, beneath that pathetic exterior, a violent fire burned in his eyes!
He shook Ren by the collar, roaring at the top of his lungs:
"Do you have any idea what you've done?!"
"Didn't we agree to join the Jashin Cult together?!"
"Didn't we agree on a bright future?!"
"Why... Why did you have to trample on my dream? Why did you grind my will into the dirt until it was worth nothing?!"
Hidan's voice cracked, turning into a desperate, sobbing wail:
"WHY?! WHY?!"
"Tell me, why?! I actually thought... I thought we were friends!"
The cold wind of early spring brushed against their faces, the silver moonlight illuminating the thin mist. By the campfire, the charcoal popped and crackled rhythmically.
Hidan hung his head, looking exactly like a shut-in who had failed his first-ever job interview.
To a boy like Hidan, who was deeply disillusioned by the Land of Steam's passivity and yearned to restore the nation's glory through the Jashin Cult, Ren's actions were like a bolt from the blue.
Ren took a deep breath. He gently patted Hidan's hand, the one still clutching his collar.
Counting this time, it was the second time Hidan had saved him.
Ren understood Hidan's feelings perfectly. It was strikingly similar to his own situation not long ago—when he tried to blow himself up to take out the Cloud trio, only to be pinned to the ground by a mysterious scroll, losing both his "treasure" and his chance at a payout.
The same unrequited longing. The same crushing despair.
Back then, Ren had wanted to bite Moloy to death.
Imagine preparing for months for a high-paying job, showing up in your best suit, only to find the entire company being hauled away in a police raid. You return home in despair, and your mother hands you a toilet plunger, telling you to clean the bathroom.
You walk into the bathroom and find it has expanded fifty times its size, like a football stadium, and it's filled to the brim with... crap.
The gap between ideal and reality was enough to drive anyone to suicide.
The current Land of Steam was that crap-filled stadium.
And Hidan—this arrogant boy with no Bloodline Limit, no powerful Ninjutsu, no money, and no power—didn't even have a decent toilet plunger to his name.
Ren looked Hidan straight in the eye, exhaling a heavy breath.
"Hidan... do you really want to join the Jashin Cult?"
"Your dream... your will..."
"Is it to become the next 'Demigod' and restore the Land of Steam? Or is it to truly worship some bullshit god?"
Hearing this, Hidan reacted as if he'd been struck by a blunt club. He roared back in defensive fury:
"What do you know?!"
"Ren... or should I say, Ren Uchiha! A ninja from a Great Nation, a Great Village, a Great Clan—what could you possibly know?!"
"The Land of Steam is caught between giants. It has nothing!"
"No sovereignty! No hope! No power!"
"That's why... that's why we have to rely on Lord Jashin! We pray for His descent to purge everything! Only then can this hopeless nation be saved!"
Ren's gaze sharpened. His voice dropped to a low, heavy baritone.
"So, what you want is a future where the Land of Steam is saved. You want a power strong enough to protect it."
"That... is the 'Evil God' you truly need."
"Am I right?"
Hidan went silent for a moment, then let out a self-deprecating sneer.
"Are you going to be like my Jonin instructor and lecture me with 'reason' too?"
His eyes turned cold as he mocked:
"Ren Uchiha, how beautiful your words are! Only a ninja from a Great Village can afford such pretty talk!"
"A bright future... powerful strength... what wonderful words to dream about!"
"But who is going to give them to me?!"
"If I don't beg and plead like a dog, who would give power to someone like me? Someone incompetent, helpless, and who has absolutely nothing?!"
Ren's expression turned fierce. He suddenly reached out, shoved two fingers into the brat's nostrils, and executed a brutal shoulder throw!
THUD!
Hidan, caught completely off guard, was slammed onto the ground.
He lay flat on his back, staring up at Ren from the damp earth.
Ren closed his eyes and snapped them open. The crimson Sharingan ignited in the darkness. He leaned down, straddling Hidan over the fresh grass, staring directly into the boy's soul with those cursed eyes.
Ren's voice was resolute, his tone absolute.
"I will give it to you!"
"You want power? I can be your power!"
"You want a future? I will personally slaughter a path to that future for you!"
"Since you are so desperate, so helpless, crying and feeling like you can't do anything... then stay behind me!"
"Stay in the back and watch closely. I will seize your will and fulfill the dream you crave!"
Ren formed a sword-seal with his fingers and slammed it hard against the center of Hidan's forehead.
"From now on..."
"I shall be your Evil God!"
Ren's words hit like the tolling of a great temple bell.
Hidan's eyes went vacant. It was as if this speech had torn open his wounds and shattered his mental defenses all at once.
Slowly, unknowingly, a single tear traced a path down his jaw, dripping onto the wet ground.
In the Land of Steam, no one had ever spoken like this. No one had ever validated his will or told him his dream was right.
Everyone else told Hidan: Run... we can't win... it has nothing to do with us... just be Lord Jashin's dog...
But this man... he denied all of that!
He was even arrogant enough to claim he would seize the dream of the great Hidan-sama!
Ren Uchiha...
He is a lunatic. Arrogant beyond belief!
Hidan opened his mouth, swallowing a gulp of saliva mixed with tears. He stared blankly at Ren.
He watched the single black tomoe spinning slowly within those crimson eyes. That tomoe seemed to be forged from the strongest will in the world.
Under the weight of that soul-stirring gaze, Hidan's throat felt dry. His scalp itched with a strange electricity. Every rejection he had planned turned to ash in his mouth.
Finally, he spoke, sounding like a man whose defenses had completely crumbled.
"Why?"
"You're just a Genin. Just an Uchiha with a single-tomoe Sharingan. You're just cannon fodder in this Third Shinobi World War that's consuming the world!"
"What gives you the right... the right to say something like that?!"
Ren's brow twitched. He felt a flicker of guilt as he thought of a certain line on his internal status panel:
[Employee: Ren Uchiha.]
[Insurance Status: Premium Paid.]
He cleared his throat twice and spoke with righteous conviction—