Feeling the powerful pressure radiating from the monster before him, Hidan perked up once again.
"Even if he's just a brat, his strength looks pretty decent."
He licked his lips. The Three-bladed blood scythe in his hand was already restless, shimmering with a crimson light.
Suddenly, the little monster stomped heavily, crushing the ground beneath his feet. He lunged straight at Hidan like a rocket.
Just as Hidan was about to swing his scythe to finish the little fellow off, a palm slowly came to rest on his shoulder.
"Wait a moment."
Simu's calm voice rang out.
He stepped past Hidan just as the little monster's fist appeared before his face.
Suddenly, a sharp sonic wave erupted from Simu's body and expanded wildly. Hidan hurriedly covered his ears and retreated several steps.
As for the little monster, he let out a pained expression and clutched his head, rolling frantically on the ground.
Simu raised a palm and casually performed two hand signs.
The piercing sound stopped instantly. Hidan breathed a sigh of relief. The little monster lying on the ground fell into a daze, unable to move.
"I say, isn't that jutsu of yours a bit too noisy? It made my ears hurt."
Hidan grumbled, complaining while digging at his ears.
Simu glanced at him. "Next time, I'll move your waste disposal channel to your ears. If I plug them with your own excrement, they won't hurt anymore."
???
Hidan's expression instantly turned sour.
He knew that Simu had the ability to do it—and that he actually would!
"Uh, actually, come to think of it, I think your screaming sounds pretty good."
Hidan spoke awkwardly, sounding incredibly forced.
Simu gave a faint smile and said, "Since you're being so sincere, I'll only plug one side."
"You bastard Simu! If you really dare to do that, I'm not done with you."
Hidan got anxious. He was anxious again.
Simu ignored him. He had only recently mastered the technique he just used.
As for the source...
It had to be credited to the great Lord Orochimaru.
After bringing Rie Uzumaki to the Jashin Religion headquarters, Simu had begun analyzing the other experimental subjects and subordinates taken from Orochimaru's base.
Among them, only a few possessed traits that surprised Simu.
For instance, the Sound Echo Technique and the Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death were obtained from Orochimaru's subordinate named Shana.
The Sound Echo Technique involved condensing chakra and applying it to one's vocal cords, thereby triggering a terrifying sonic wave capable of bursting an enemy's eardrums.
The Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death was a genjutsu. By attaching genjutsu chakra to sonic waves, the chakra could invade the enemy's body through the sound, trapping them in an illusion.
These two jutsus functioned as a combo set.
Under the weight of this combination, the little monster stood no chance and fell into the genjutsu.
The only thing that puzzled Simu was why Shana hadn't used this move against him when he invaded Orochimaru's stronghold.
Oh, right. I think I instant-killed her back then.
However, with Simu's current spiritual power, even if an enemy used a genjutsu attack on him, it likely wouldn't be very effective.
To Simu, these were more than just two new jutsus.
Next, he would research how to apply these techniques to other Jashin kin. Especially with genjutsu—if he could transform it into a passive skill that triggered through normal speech to hypnotize enemies, the use cases would be endless.
True "invisible killing."
Of course, to achieve such an effect, Simu still needed to analyze more ninja genes and gain a deeper understanding of the essence of chakra and ninjas.
He slowly knelt down, resting his palm lightly on the little monster's body.
The mouthparts in the center of his palm instantly opened, absorbing chakra from the boy.
In the next second, Simu's palm petrified again.
"Is it natural energy?"
Simu wasn't worried about the petrifaction at all. After all, this was merely one of his clones.
The palm he had severed last time had already grown back; it wasn't a problem.
This time, Simu didn't choose to immediately sever the petrified hand. Instead, he carefully felt the riot of natural energy within his limb.
Only when the petrifaction reached his shoulder did he strike, using a sharp Rinkaku to completely sever the arm.
"Interesting. Truly interesting."
Simu's eyes flashed with intense interest.
The natural energy absorbed from this kid—both in quality and quantity—was something Rie Uzumaki couldn't even hope to compare to!
At this moment, as the genjutsu took effect, the strange markings on the boy's body slowly vanished. He quickly returned to the appearance of a normal child, and the natural energy within him dissipated.
Simu used Black Beetles to meticulously examine his body, only to find to his surprise that the boy's physique had suffered no damage whatsoever!
One must understand that even with the Uzumaki Clan special constitution, a riot of natural energy would cause immense damage.
But this boy, who looked to be only seven or eight years old, didn't have a single injury.
It was as if his body was inherently designed to contain natural energy!
He was practically a natural vessel for natural energy!
"Cough, cough, cough..."
As Simu pondered, the boy finally woke up.
He looked at Simu weakly, then glanced at the house he had destroyed behind him. Holding his head in pain, he said, "Did I... did I go berserk again?"
Seeing the guilt on the boy's face, Simu was somewhat surprised.
After all, he had been a manic beast wanting to destroy everything just moments ago, and now he radiated a gentle and peaceful aura. The contrast was staggering.
"Rest easy. The casualties you caused aren't large."
Perhaps because people were prepared, the boy had only destroyed some buildings, and no residents had died.
Hearing this, the boy's expression improved significantly.
He suddenly thought of something and snapped his head up, asking Simu, "Was it you who stopped me?"
"If you mean using genjutsu to restore your calm, then yes."
Simu folded his arms, looking at the little boy's behavior with curiosity.
Hearing Simu's words, a clear flash of excitement crossed the boy's face.
"What is your name?" Simu asked.
"My name is Jugo. People in town also call me Balance... the Balance of Destruction..."
His face looked a bit lonely, and he hurriedly explained, "I really didn't mean it. I don't know why I sometimes fall into that state..."
"Oh? You enter that state automatically?"
Simu adjusted his glasses. The heat in his eyes couldn't hide his excitement.
In Orochimaru's experiments, any subject wanting to absorb natural energy needed to be smeared with that special potion.
Yet this little guy could rely on his own power—and could even absorb natural energy without conscious control?
He was a truly rare specimen!