"Ora ora ora ora!"
Under Star Platinum's strength and speed beyond the limit, not a single knife could land on Ryosuke's body, all shattered midair.
The blade fragments bounced onto the surrounding cultists, stabbing them chaotically to death.
But the evil god's power entwined on the blades was transmitted over.
Black spots appeared dot by dot on Ryosuke's skin.
He took a deep breath, Ripple and natural energy fused together, sheets of withered skin and flesh fell off, then regenerated at extreme speed again.
"This won't do."
The other side possessed formation, cultists, and evil god. If compared by attrition, sooner or later Ryosuke would be exhausted to death by the White-haired Cult Leader.
He turned back and gave Tsunade a look, then patted his own shoulder.
Tsunade understood at once, and with a baseball-throwing posture, tossed something over.
Ryosuke raised his hand and caught it, placed it on his shoulder.
"I have an idea."
Through Slug Sage's healing communication, his voice was conveyed into Tsunade and Kakashi's ears.
Tsunade punched a cultist flying. "You've got a way to kill the cult leader?"
"No."
Ryosuke said, "I've tried many ways. As long as it's within the formation's shrouded range, and there are still cultists around him, then he's undying."
"And at present, the rate of the cultists' strengthening, if we wait until we've killed all one thousand people of the village, then the last surviving cult leader…"
"He will become an undying, immortal evil god."
Star Platinum once again smashed apart a blade, and at the same time kicked away the charging White-haired Cult Leader. Ryosuke continued, "In Left Protector's memory there was the formation they used to hold evil god rituals. Each formation corresponded to one spellcaster.
The evil god formation that covered the whole village is very large, but I've observed, it's just the ritual formation they commonly use."
Kakashi understood Ryosuke's meaning.
"You're saying, the White-haired Cult Leader is the formation's controller? But…"
'Wouldn't that loop back again?'
Not killing the White-haired Cult Leader, the formation can't be broken.
Not breaking the formation, can't kill the White-haired Cult Leader.
A no-solution dilemma.
"I'm going to sever his connection with the evil god formation."
Ryosuke straightforwardly threw out the answer, "But during this process, I need you two to stop the other cultists for me."
Tsunade's mouth half-open, "Sever the connection… how can that be done?"
Hermit Purple's vines appeared, wrapping around Ryosuke's arm.
This so-called "most useless" Stand, the divination ability it possessed, in essence was through the causal connection between things, serving as a link that connected and transmitted cause and effect.
If one manipulated Hermit Purple to completely wrap the White-haired Cult Leader, and then activate Hermit Purple's divination ability, filling his insides with "cause and effect"…
'Could it serve like a layer of insulating cloth, blocking off the causal link between the White-haired Cult Leader and the evil god formation?'
In Ryosuke's hand, Hermit Purple formed a small ball, inside which was a piece of cultist flesh.
In the ritual formation, there were many such flesh fragments.
They cheered, they rejoiced, they responded to the evil god's whispers.
Only this piece of flesh wrapped by Hermit Purple remained motionless.
The theory stood, the simulation experiment stood. Next...
Ryosuke looked at the White-haired Cult Leader.
It was time to practice.
He rushed once again at the White-haired Cult Leader, stretching out his hand to point at him.
"Hermit Purple!"
Purple vines flung out, coiling around the White-haired Cult Leader's body, covering him layer by layer.
The White-haired Cult Leader immediately sensed the abnormality.
His connection with the formation… weakened.
The White-haired Cult Leader didn't hesitate a bit, "Save me!"
The cultists roared, charging up.
Ryosuke raised his hand pointing at the White-haired Cult Leader, "Star Platinum: The World!"
Time stopped once more.
Star Platinum took a deep breath, clenched its fists, and placed them at its waist.
"Ora ora ora ora!"
Two seconds passed in a flash.
Time resumed flowing.
The White-haired Cult Leader's whole body burst out countless wounds.
But he still hadn't died.
Because Ryosuke discovered, when Star Platinum activated time stop, it occupied his mental energy space. At the instant of activation, it affected Hermit Purple's sealing effect.
If Star Platinum's final punch had landed, killing the White-haired Cult Leader, then in the very next second, he would've revived along the gap, through the cultists.
Hermit Purple wasn't a Stand specialized in sealing. Ryosuke's method was like using a dinner knife for surgery, a moment's distraction, and all would be for naught.
'Can't use time stop again.'
But if he couldn't use time stop, the cultists would pounce on him, then...
"Kakashi!"
"Tsunade!"
Ryosuke shouted to his companions.
Yet no response came.
He turned his head to look, and saw Tsunade and Kakashi clutching their chests, kneeling on the ground, unable to stop the cultists rushing at Ryosuke.
'What happened?'
Ryosuke suddenly felt his nose itch, then his lungs, then his chest and heart.
Inside his body, Ripple energy activated.
"This is..."
Ryosuke's pupils tightened.
Countless cultist flesh pieces, thinner than cat hair, floated in the air, inhaled into the lungs along with their breathing.
The tiny flesh flowed into the blood vessels, finally arriving at the hearts of the three, forcibly clogging their blood vessels.
This was why Kakashi and Tsunade couldn't stand.
If it was injury, Tsunade and Slug Sage could quickly heal. But now this…
It was angina pectoris and acute myocardial infarction caused by coronary heart disease.
This wasn't injury. This was "chronic illness." Even Tsunade, to treat it, would need surgical methods to proceed.
Ryosuke had no choice but to divert part of his Ripple energy into his body, forcibly grinding apart these cultist flesh pieces.
Behind him, Star Platinum punched one after another, but the cultists feared not death at all, charging endlessly.
Ryosuke again diverted part of his power to deal with the attacks from within his body.
Just by Ryosuke alone, there was no way to kill the White-haired Cult Leader in a short time.
Once time dragged on, Kakashi and Tsunade would die, cultists would also die, and the White-haired Cult Leader would grow stronger, until completely breaking free of Hermit Purple's restraints.
"Ryosuke."
The White-haired Cult Leader forced open Hermit Purple's vines, one eye staring into Ryosuke's.
"I can understand your hatred for me."
"You think we're just a group of murderers. But think carefully, what's so good about living?"
"Endless work, superiors' scolding, futile efforts, true feelings misplaced… as long as you live, pain will be born."
"I admit, there indeed exist fleeting moments of beauty in life, but suffering, that is life's main storyline."
By Ryosuke's ear, the evil god's whispers rose again. In the dark sky appeared the evil god's horrifying phantom.
He faintly saw beautiful images one by one. So long as he died, his soul would fall into the evil god's embrace and slumber, enjoying eternal peace and beauty.
"Do you think, why do we worship the evil god?"
"Because you, standing in this already rotten world, look at us as 'evil.' Just like standing on a tilted boat, you see the whole sky tilted too."
"But when you stand at the correct angle to look, "
Ryosuke raised his head to the sky.
The terrifying evil god shone with endless radiance, as if becoming the most beautiful, most benevolent being in the world. It opened its arms to Ryosuke.
Ryosuke raised his hands, as if to welcome the evil god's embrace.
The White-haired Cult Leader smiled.
But in the next second, his smile froze on his face.
Ryosuke raised both his hands, extended two middle fingers.
"Uploading souls after death to the evil god's terminal to become digital life? That's the lame excuse you use to fool people?"
"You don't want it?"
Ryosuke clenched his fist, punching the White-haired Cult Leader in the eye.
"F*ck you!"
Ryosuke's punches grew heavier and heavier.
The White-haired Cult Leader laughed instead, "Ryosuke, you're really amazing. But you can't kill me. Before you beat me to death, I'll break free of the vines."
"Alone, I really can't kill you."
Star Platinum turned its back to face the White-haired Cult Leader, as if not seeing the cultists about to pounce.
Ryosuke clenched his fist.
"But I was never facing you alone."
BOOM!
Tsunade's kick blasted dozens of cultists away. A few stragglers still wanted to lunge, but lightning crackled, Kakashi used Raikiri to cut through their necks.
"What!"
The White-haired Cult Leader couldn't understand, "How can you two still move?!"
His gaze fell on their bloodied chests.
Yes, using cultist flesh to block blood vessels indeed couldn't be healed by medical ninjutsu. But since it was blocked vessels…
Then smashing all the blocked vessels apart could heal it...
The White-haired Cult Leader's thoughts grew chaotic.
Suddenly, he felt two gazes. His heart thumped, as if falling into an icy abyss.
"Ryos...."
Before he could finish, Ryosuke and Star Platinum's fists landed on him together.
"Ora ora ora ora!"
"Ora ora ora ora!"
"Ora ora ora ora!"
Heavy fists battered, blood flowed out from the gaps of Hermit Purple's vines.
Ryosuke and Star Platinum's fists bombarded the White-haired Cult Leader, from the ground, pounding all the way into the sky.
Pounded all the way to the barrier sealing the village.
Crack!
A fissure appeared on the barrier.
A ray of light poured through the crack. Wherever the light passed, a thin band of light appeared.
Within the band of light, swaying with the dust, faintly appeared faces of innocents who had been slaughtered by the evil god cult.
"When you go to hell, don't forget..."
Ryosuke's right fist slowly pulled back, clenched tightly.
Star Platinum did the same.
"The one who sanctions you, is me!"
Ryosuke stepped forward, and man and Stand swung the final punch.
The White-haired Cult Leader stared blankly at the fist.
The world in his eyes faded, turned gray-white, then even gray-white was gone, became simple lines, then to…
Nothing.
BOOM!
The barrier shattered. The White-haired Cult Leader was blasted away, arcing down to the ground.
No life remained.
[Slain Evil God Cult Leader, gained 1444 soul fragments.]
The evil god formation broke apart piece by piece. Sunlight spilled down. Without the White-haired Cult Leader to sustain it, without the protection of the formation, the cultists all dropped dead.
Ryosuke landed back on the ground.
Tsunade and Kakashi collapsed onto the ground regardless of dignity.
"At last, it's over."
Kakashi let out a weary sigh, then they looked at each other, and at their disheveled appearances, showing smiles of survival after disaster.
Only, with the blood covering their faces and bodies, it looked especially frightening.
Ryosuke walked over and pulled them up. Just then, "Ahhh!!!!"
A farmer riding a donkey cart, passing by, happened to see the three of them and the ground full of corpses. He screamed in terror, slapping the rump of his little donkey.
Man and donkey fled quickly.
Ryosuke wanted to explain, but as soon as he raised his hand, the farmer's donkey was whipped again even faster. He had no choice but to drop it.
———
The old farmer ran for a long while, until he could no longer see the three murderers.
He breathed a sigh of relief.
Suddenly, he heard sobbing.
Following the sound, he saw a handsome young man, holding a letter, crying his heart out.
The farmer stopped the cart and walked over.
"Young man, what's wrong, why are you crying?" he said, offering a flatbread.
For a farmer, sharing precious food was the best way to express kindness.
"I am Hidan."
Hidan took the flatbread, tearfully looking at the farmer, "Uncle, you really are a good person! A good person…"
Even though he hadn't touched the old man, black spots spread over the man's body. The farmer and his donkey collapsed on the ground, eyes gradually emptying.
Before death, the last words he heard Hidan say, "…Good people must be rewarded."
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/XenosX
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰