(Kakuzu's POV)
Kakuzu simply stared at Hidan's lifeless body, when he says "body", he means from the neck down, as Hidan's head had already been blown to smithereens.
He planned to fight Jugo as soon as he saw him, not because he had killed Hidan, but because he recognized Jugo and the bounty on his head was quite high, enough to make Kakuzu's hands itch.
But as soon as Jugo looked at him, Kakuzu felt something he hadn't felt in a long time, fear. Since attempting to assassinate the First Hokage, Kakuzu had never felt so powerless. Back then, he was just an ordinary Jonin from Taki, not even having learned the Jiongu yet. Even so, he felt that if he attacked him, he would die.
Thus, even when Jugo's mocking gaze wounded his pride, he could only clench his fists tightly, but did not attack.
Money is important, but it wasn't worth his life, so he gave up without thinking too much about it.
Jugo left and Kakuzu remained there for quite some time, staring at Hidan's lifeless body. He sighed and wondered if, when he reported his "partner's" death this time, someone would believe that he wasn't the reason.
Shaking his head, he was unhappy at the thought that without his head, Hidan couldn't be exchanged for a reward. He looked around at the scattered parts of his head and considered the idea of sewing it all back together, but there were so many fragments that it might be an impossible task.
Finally, he sighed and bent down, he began to gather the pieces of the head, in the end, the money was worth the work.
Even as the people around them commented in fear and looked at Kakuzu with dread, he ignored them. While he worked, his mind kept returning to Jugo's gaze and his body trembled unconsciously.
Deep down, he had already decided that he wouldn't go to Otokagure, even if Pain threatened him.
//-//
(Akatsuki POV)
Hidan's death alarmed the Akatsuki and the reason for the conflict was also discovered, a believer in the "Father of Devils" had been killed. Even so, besides Kakuzu, nobody took it very seriously. Hidan was the weakest of them, the only reason he joined them was his strange Jutsu.
Apart from that, he was just an ordinary Jonin.
If anything else changed, it was that Sasori became more interested in Jugo than in Orochimaru and that Itachi became more thoughtful when he found out.
If he hadn't found out about the agreement between Sasuke and Naruto, he would have already gone to Otokakure to cause trouble, now he hoped that Sasuke would get stronger and return to Konoha, even if Itachi himself had to get involved to make it happen.
But he grew increasingly alarmed about Otogakure, especially Jugo, the news about the place was getting stranger and stranger, but he still hadn't moved, though he was ready to investigate further.
The other members didn't pay much attention to Hidan, Kisame ignored him, Deidara asked how Hidan's head exploded, interested not in finding out information about Jugo, but in the beauty of Hidan's exploding head.
Konan was most worried about Nagato, Black Zetsu was more apprehensive about Jugo and White Zetsu didn't care at all.
Nagato ignored him, Hidan could easily be killed by him. Even without being able to kill the physical body, he could have pulled his soul out directly using the Human Path.
In the end, besides Kakuzu, nobody thought they would lose to Jugo.
Kakuzu also said nothing, openly admitting weakness in front of this group could cost him his life, so he kept it to himself, but his idea of staying away from Jugo hadn't changed.
//-//
Jugo observed the "Tartarus" region of the Tenebrous World, the once practically empty place was now surrounded by demons, bound by chains as they underwent the baptism of the Tenebrous World, screaming in pain and rage.
He called them demons, but those were still just corrupted souls, though that would change with time. Most of them probably weren't evil, being sacrifices to Jashin, unfortunately, they had already been corrupted to the core. Even if they weren't evil before, now they were.
Jugo lacked the purifying aspect of the Sun Pathway, he couldn't "save" these guys, so they became the basis for his demon production, waiting to become part of his army.
In the future, Jugo planned to transform the moon into the abyss of this plane, but that would have to wait until he received authority over the abyss, for now, he would simply work with what he had.
The black heart that sealed Jashin was also placed in Tartarus, sealed deep within the earth, where it would suffer corruption from the Tenebrous World. Jugo considered using it to build an artifact for himself, but in the end, he realized that turning Jashin into a follower wasn't such a bad idea.
Let it become a weapon in your hands.
Jugo glanced briefly at the desolate field filled with suffering and pain, then left, this place would still take time to become useful.
//-//
Jugo's joy was short-lived, while observing the corruption of the giant Tenseigan, he noticed a problem.
Those eyes that made up the giant Tenseigan weren't completely connected, to be more precise, they weren't really "one thing", but an amalgam of eyes.
That was just the first problem. After noticing this, Jugo used divination to find out if it would resolve itself over time. Through dream divination, he found himself trying to move forward and when he did, he split into thousands of eyes. The Tenseigan couldn't maintain its angelic form, it split into so many eyes that it even lost its sense of "self."
Jugo finally understood the problem, the evil aspect he was imbuing the Tenseigan with wasn't enough, or to be more direct, it wasn't the type needed for the ritual.
For it to work, all those eyes would not only have to truly become "one", but Jugo also needed a way to concentrate the evil energy into a different aspect, it would have to become a true curse.
He finally understood what "Ancient and evil" meant.
It wasn't simply something ancient overflowing with malevolent energy, but an ancient evil that concentrated the fear of several generations. This fear gave birth to something different, a curse based on the belief and lives of countless victims. What Jugo needed wasn't something ancient and evil, but a truly cursed artifact.
This complicated things, first, each eye retained the spirituality of its previous owner, it was residual, but this prevented true transformation into something unique, second, the curse had to be concentrated on something unique.
If he had to explain it in simple words, it would be like wine, the materials are the same as grape juice, but the preparation method (fermentation) transforms juice into wine.
The fusion of corrupted energy, tormented souls, negative beliefs and emotions.
Jugo had no doubt that, given enough time, if that eye remained in the Tenebrous World, it would still become a cursed artifact. After all, the remaining spirituality within it could serve as a catalyst and if Jugo sealed the souls of the Otsutsuki from the moon inside it, it would create the ideal conditions for transformation, making the souls not only sources of negative emotions but also fuel for the transformation itself.
But... how long would that take?
Jugo took a deep breath, he didn't want to wait centuries to advance again. So Jugo returned to square one. He didn't want to give up on the Giant Tenseigan. The power of this thing was perfect for him, besides, the symbolism, the fact that Jugo was an amalgam of curses while the Giant Tenseigan was an amalgam of eyes, made him feel that this item would be perfect for his advancement.
Confused, he racked his brain constantly, trying to remember the plot of Naruto, but without success, he resorted to dream interpretation once again.