"Hmph. I've taken Ichibi Shukaku's half. Next time, I'll grab something else."
Hidan casually flicked the IOU in his hand. The paper turned to ash and scattered away.
Obviously, he didn't care about the IOU itself—what he liked was the concept of forcing someone into a deal they couldn't refuse.
That was the kind of 'strong-arm business transaction' Hidan always enjoyed.
All he wanted was Gaara's signature anyway. Once he had that sense of satisfaction, he could rip a piece of Shukaku straight out of Gaara's body—whether Gaara agreed or not.
But because even Hidan felt a faint sense of dread toward Black Zetsu, he came up with this more "civilized" approach.
He even went to study the sealing techniques in the Scroll of Seals, specifically the Four Symbols Seal.
That seal was the one the Fourth Hokage used to seal the Nine-Tails into Naruto… the same seal that cost his life when he used the Reaper Death Seal and had half of Kurama's Yin chakra consumed.
That Yin half of Kurama?
Yeah—Hidan was planning to steal that eventually too.
He had even sent Konan ahead of time. While the Chūnin Exam kept Konoha busy, she was searching for something crucial—something Hidan was certain she could find thanks to the intel he stole from Orochimaru.
―――――――――――――――――
A day passed quickly, and the remaining candidates finally reached the third test: actual combat.
This was the purest assessment of strength—no written tricks, no survival luck.
Just ninjas beating the crap out of each other.
Every candidate sharpened their focus. Well…
everyone except Hidan.
He was busy thinking about when Orochimaru would launch the "Konoha Crush" plan so he could use the chaos to rip half of Shukaku out of Gaara.
Everything after that? Not his concern.
Hidan's schedule was packed.
After the Chūnin Exams, every major plotline was going to explode.
Powerful characters would appear one after another.
Perfect farming season for his Kill Points.
After the long wait, the first-round matchups were announced.
Aside from Hinata replacing Kiba and facing Neji, everything remained identical to the original timeline.
Kabuto chose to forfeit—worried he couldn't control himself if he fought.
That left exactly twenty candidates.
Ten matches. Winners advance.
The battles heated up quickly.
And Hidan immediately noticed Sasuke's condition.
He clearly had Orochimaru's Cursed Seal of Heaven on his neck, and Orochimaru had tweaked it in some way—restricting the power unless Sasuke pushed it.
But even without using the curse mark, Sasuke was still the strongest genin of his generation—thanks to Hidan's brutal training methods.
He dispatched Yoroi Akadō with ease.
Still… the curse seal pulsed.
Even Kakashi's temporary suppression seal couldn't eliminate its influence.
But Hidan was more curious about something else:
Where the hell was Orochimaru?
He had ordered Anko Mitarashi to harass him, and it seemed Orochimaru still couldn't bring himself to kill his former student. The fact Anko survived after the exam was proof enough.
"Sasuke's already far stronger than most chunin. As long as he doesn't activate the curse seal, it should stay suppressed for a while."
Hidan smirked.
"But maybe… just maybe… it'll erupt during his fight with Gaara. I'm looking forward to it. What kind of state will Gaara be forced into by a Cursed Seal–amped Sasuke?"
He remembered how, in the original timeline, Sasuke used Chidori—originally Hatake Kakashi's Raikiri—against Gaara and drove him insane.
This time, Hidan hadn't taught him Raikiri, but the A-rank Chidori was more than enough.
And in this era, Sasuke's Chidori was arguably stronger than the Raikiri he couldn't fully control later.
"The next match… Hyuga Hinata versus Hyūga Neji."
Hayate Gekko announced the matchup, though his voice trembled slightly when saying Hinata's name.
Every Konoha jōnin instructor and the Third Hokage looked at Neji with guilt.
A prodigy of his level would normally advance effortlessly.
But he had the misfortune of facing Hidan…
so they all knew he was doomed.
Neji, as the Hyūga Clan's rising genius, instantly recognized the boy with the tengu mask and silver hair.
He knew exactly who stood before him.
But he refused to accept it.
Just a few years older.
Another wielder of a supreme dōjutsu.
Why was the gap so impossibly huge?
"I humbly ask for your guidance."
Neji bowed slightly. Even knowing defeat was guaranteed, he still wanted to see the difference with his own eyes.
He refused to believe he could never catch up.
"Oh?" Hidan raised an eyebrow.
This poor guy—called a genius, yet repeatedly surpassed by Naruto of all people, then killed later… his life was just one tragedy after another.
Hidan understood Neji's determination.
The pride of a genius who refused to be left behind.
"Ah… what a shame." Hidan sighed.
"The gap between us is like heaven and earth."
How lonely it was to stand at the top.
He gave a small nod.
If Neji wanted to be crushed, it would be rude to refuse him.
SWOOSH—!
Hidan vanished instantly, leaving multiple afterimages lingering in the air.
A trick he had recently mastered.
Useless in combat…
but perfect for showing off.
And it looked amazing.
The entire arena filled with Hidan's blurred figures, surrounding Neji completely—like a storm of phantom clones.
Neji stood in the center, feeling suffocated.
Even with nearly 360-degree Byakugan vision, he couldn't track Hidan.
Despair gnawed at him.
Whoosh—
A fierce gust hit him a split second before Hidan's fist came crashing down.
Not even using a kunai.
Just bare hands.
Disrespectful.
Hyūga-style hand-to-hand combat was their pride, and Hidan dared to insult him like this.
"Eight Trigrams Palms: Rotation!"
Neji unleashed his strongest defense.
White chakra burst outward as he spun, forming the Hyūga clan's iconic dome of spiraling protection—an almost unbeatable defense.
Almost.
The spectators around the arena frowned in confusion.
Even veteran shinobi struggled to think of a clean counter to the Hyūga Clan's absolute defense—Eight Trigrams: Rotation.
It was famous for a reason.
A perfect sphere of chakra, repelling all attacks around the user.
Even Hidan had to admit… the move was pretty damn cool.
In fact, the rotation looked almost like a tiny Shinra Tensei—though the technique itself worked completely differently.
But to Hidan, whose speed and power had long exceeded ordinary genin and chunin, Neji's Rotation wasn't even a speed bump.
And breaking someone through their strongest technique?
That was exactly the kind of psychological destruction Hidan loved.
Crackle…
A fissure spread across the spinning chakra dome.
Then—
CRASH—!
The swirling blue sphere shattered like glass under Hidan's punch.
Neji's eyes widened.
He didn't even have time to react before—
BOOM!
Hidan's fist buried itself in his chest, launching him across the arena like a ragdoll.
He hit the ground more than ten meters away and didn't get up again.
"Young man… having pride is fine," Hidan sighed dramatically.
"But you need to pick the right targets. You can't catch up to everyone."
If Neji hadn't signed that ridiculous IOU earlier, Hidan might've shown him what a "three-day cheerleader routine" looked like right here in front of everyone.
And frankly? That would've been a traumatic memory Neji would never escape.
"Winner… Hyūga… Hinata."
Hayate Gekkō nearly choked saying it.
This kid wearing a tengu mask, calling himself Hinata, mopping the floor with a genius like Neji—
Absolutely infuriating.
Hidan stepped back to the waiting area… only to notice the "Fourth Kazekage" sitting in the stands.
Orochimaru's disguise was perfect—appearance flawless, voice accurate—but that sickly, oppressive aura still leaked through.
And his eyes?
Locked on Sasuke like a hungry predator.
"Must be because Anko kept pestering him," Hidan muttered.
"Too bad Sasuke's not gonna touch the curse mark yet. But once he fights Gaara… that's another story."
The candidates nearby watched Hidan from a distance.
To them, he was the biggest enigma of the entire exam.
He barely showed his strength.
And when he did—it was one-sided annihilation.
If they faced him, they wouldn't just lose.
They'd die.
―――――――――――――――――――
The third exam soon wrapped up.
Gaara's monstrous sand attacks left the audience terrified.
Rock Lee's Eight Gates–boosted taijutsu was explosive enough to shake the entire stadium—not that his body could endure it for long.
And now…
Among the remaining candidates, only Gaara and "Hinata" (Hidan) were seen as true threats.
Just as the matches ended, Hidan found a new target.
The Toad Sage himself—
One of the legendary Sannin.
Jiraiya had returned to the village.
And the man carried something Hidan wanted desperately:
Knowledge of the Three Great Sage Regions.
More specifically, the summoning techniques tied to those lands.
Not because he wanted to sign with toads—far from it.
Hidan wanted the locations of the Sage Lands themselves.
Each Sage Region had its own Sage Mode.
And Hidan wanted them all.
―――――――――――――――――――
Konoha – Women's Bathhouse
"…He really does this."
Hidan stared at the middle-aged man crouching beside a wooden wall.
White spiky hair.
Red haori.
Eyes glued to a tiny peep hole with the intensity of a starving wolf.
Jiraiya of the Sannin was trembling with excitement, cheeks flushed, practically vibrating as he peeked at the women inside the bath.
His entire posture screamed "unrepentant pervert."
Hidan's eyebrow twitched.
This guy was absolutely deserving of the title Pervy Sage.
With a long, suffering sigh, Hidan calmly pulled out the one thing that could destroy Jiraiya's life:
A camera.
Click!
Click!
Click!
Three perfect shots.
Captured at the ideal angle.
Beautifully framed.
The huge "Women's Bathhouse" sign visible right behind Jiraiya's crouched, drooling form.
O__O?!
Jiraiya froze.
He turned slowly… painfully… like a dying puppet.
Hidan waved the camera with a bright smile.
"Yo."
Jiraiya: "WHAT THE—!? #%$&@!!"
Illegal!
Invasive!
Blackmail material of the century!
He wanted to bawl.
He had just returned to the village!
He wanted to gather new material for his novel!
And now?
His entire reputation—gone!
The legendary Toad Sage… caught red-handed.
Jiraiya stared at the cheerful silver-haired boy, realizing that smile belonged to someone absolutely planning to blackmail him.
A brat.
A literal brat.
About to blackmail a Sannin.
His pride snapped in half.
Jiraiya's gaze narrowed slightly.
He cracked his knuckles.
He didn't believe for one second that a kid like this could handle a Sannin.
Hidan saw right through him and shrugged.
"Friendly reminder… you can't beat me."
Jiraiya: "…"
A Sannin.
Just got a friendly reminder
from a teenager.
Unacceptable.
Fine.
If that's how the brat wanted it…
He'd show him what the "Toad Sage" could really do.
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