"Hidan, can't you even handle a child?"
"With strength like that, you think you're fit to be my partner?"
"I don't know what Pain was thinking, letting just anyone into the organization." Kakuzu let out a dry, mocking laugh, showing no mercy.
"Hidan, try not to die on us." Sasori of the Red Sand's calm voice echoed from within his puppet, Hiruko. "I have no interest in turning an artistic heretic like you into one of my puppets."
"Is this Jie Uchiha really that strong?" White Zetsu murmured from the sidelines. "Do we really not need to step in and help Hidan?"
"There's no need." Black Zetsu's voice came low and heavy. "Hidan is immortal. If he truly dies here, it only means he was never worthy of joining the Akatsuki."
The nonstop mockery pushed Hidan's anger to its limit.
"Cut the sarcasm! That was just a slip-up!" he barked, before snapping his furious gaze forward. "Brat, you've really pissed me off. Now watch the true power of the great Hidan!"
"Blood March Scythe: Continuous Slash!"
He swung his massive three-bladed scythe, unleashing a frenzied barrage of attacks at Jie Uchiha—each strike heavier and more desperate than the last.
"Your strength isn't bad, but your technique is far too crude," Jie said, his words as sharp as his blade as he effortlessly deflected each of Hidan's frantic attacks. "Do you rely solely on your immortal body—trading injuries and gambling with your life?"
"You damn brat!" Hidan roared. He hoisted his massive scythe and brought it crashing down toward Jie's head with all his might.
"Repeating yourself over and over just makes you sound pathetic." Jie's expression didn't change as he deflected the heavy scythe. "It's nothing but the useless barking of a beaten dog. Hatake Style: Iai Slash!"
A flash of white blade-light cut through the air. Before Hidan could even blink, a perfectly clean line appeared across his midsection. In the next instant, his body split apart—severed cleanly in two.
"Pathetic. Just as I thought—you can't even beat a kid," Kakuzu sneered at Hidan, lying in two pieces. "I wonder if there's a bounty on you in the underground exchange. If there is, I might just take your head and trade it in for some cash."
"Enough with the jokes! Put me back together!" Hidan yelled. "Getting chopped in half and left on the ground actually hurts, you know!"
If an ordinary person were sliced in half at the waist, they would die instantly. But Hidan's unnatural immortality—granted by his sacrifices to Jashin—turned what should have been a deadly wound into a mere inconvenience. Both halves of his body remained full of vigor as he writhed in pain on the ground.
"An immortal body... there really is something to it," Jie mused casually, a faint smile curling on his lips. "It seems your body would make for some excellent experimental material. Once I slaughter the rest of your companions, you can rest easy knowing you'll be put to good use in my laboratory."
"Brat, we can't just pretend we didn't hear that."
As Kakuzu spoke, thick black threads shot out from his arms, wrapping around Hidan's severed halves and stitching him back together, from his internal organs all the way to his skin. The very next second, Hidan sprang to his feet as if nothing had happened.
His immortality, coupled with this terrifying recovery ability, made the situation far more interesting to Jie.
"This brat is abnormal. Kakuzu, let's take him together." Hidan patted the freshly stitched wound on his waist, his cocky grin immediately returning.
"Fine." Kakuzu's eyes narrowed. "But don't use your strange jutsu to crush the brat's heart. It's been a long time since I've seen a heart so young and full of talent." A trace of greed glinted in his eyes as he stared at Jie.
"You want to attack together?" Jie smiled warmly. "Not a bad idea. In fact, I think it would be better if all four of you came at me at once. Perhaps then you could use each other as a distraction and actually manage to escape."
"What an arrogant brat," Sasori said calmly from inside Hiruko. "Kakuzu, I'll leave him to you. Don't keep me waiting—I hate waiting."
"We should wrap this up quickly," the flytrap-covered Zetsu said lazily. "I can feel that all this commotion has already drawn a lot of attention."
"If we wait for the Uchiha clan's reinforcements, it won't be dangerous—but it will be highly inconvenient," Black Zetsu added. "As a non-combatant, I'll be taking my leave. This place is yours to handle."
With that, Zetsu slowly sank into the earth, disappearing from sight.
Jie didn't make any move to stop him. That flytrap—White Zetsu—was nothing more than a replaceable drone; Black Zetsu was the true core. Right now, Jie didn't possess the absolute certainty required to eliminate him. Even the divine brilliance of Kotoamatsukami might not suffice. After all, Black Zetsu was the physical embodiment of a fragment of Kaguya Otsutsuki's will, placing his mental resilience on the same level as the Progenitor of Chakra herself.
Since Jie hadn't awakened the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan yet, he didn't fool himself into thinking his current ocular power could threaten such an ancient being. He simply let Black Zetsu depart, making sure the shadowy manipulator remained entirely unaware that Jie already knew his deepest secrets.
"Man, what a drag. I really wanted to teach this obnoxious brat a lesson," Hidan grumbled, frustration etched across his face.
"But since Zetsu has spoken, it can't be helped. Still… brat, are you ready to die? Because what you're about to face is the full force of the rest of us!"
Hidan licked his lips, let out a bizarre shriek, and charged at Jie, swinging his massive scythe wildly.
"Tch, how troublesome," Kakuzu muttered casually, his hands already a blur as he formed a rapid series of seals. "Fire Release: Intelligent Hard Work! Wind Release: Pressure Damage! Combination Ninjutsu: Blazing Wind Wild Wave!"
A surging sea of super-compressed fire surged forward, completely engulfing both Jie Uchiha and Hidan within its devastating inferno.
"Kakuzu, what the hell are you doing?!" Hidan cursed furiously, crying out in pain from the searing flames. "I'm still in here!"
"You can't die anyway, so what does a little fire matter?" Kakuzu replied coldly.
"Even if I don't die, it still hurts like hell, okay?! If you weren't an immortal freak too, I'd definitely sacrifice your ass to Lord Jashin!"
"Enough. Stop spouting nonsense," Sasori's voice cut through the bickering. "That brat isn't dead yet."
"Oh, don't mind me."
Through the roaring flames, a thick earthen wall crumbled, revealing Jie Uchiha's unbothered, smiling face. "I find listening to you guys bicker quite entertaining. It's far more entertaining than any cheap comedy routine."
Although Hidan and the others didn't fully understand the comparison, judging solely by Jie's smug demeanor one thing was clear—it was definitely not a compliment.
"Earth Grudge Fear: Thread Shower!"
"Hiruko: Tail Stinger!"
"Struck a nerve, did I?" Jie said lightly, the smile never leaving his face as he observed the incoming attacks. "Then the rest of this battle is going to be very interesting."
Upto 40 chapters ahead on patreon :-
patreon.com/Vristikk