Chapter 7 — Red Scales in Motion
Seven days later, Shinji, who had just been released from the confinement cell today, was enjoying his lunch.
Today's meal was curry chicken. It tasted pretty good, and the portion was generous, with plenty of meat—so he ate happily.
To be fair, his time in the Evil God Cult since crossing over had actually been fairly peaceful and fulfilling.
Every day he trained diligently, got his blood drawn, and helped record experimental data… cough, cough. Once you got used to it, it wasn't so bad.
After all, compared to war orphans and refugees constantly struggling on the brink of death, he was living several times better.
At the very least, his life was guaranteed, and he didn't have to worry about food or clothing.
At one point, he even thought that if he could just keep coasting along like this, eating and killing time, it might be a pretty comfortable life.
As long as he didn't get too reckless, he could theoretically keep surviving like this forever.
Even if aliens really did come to attack the Ninja World someday, there was always "Naruto" and the second pillar to take the frontlines.
No matter what, it wouldn't be his problem!
However, after recalling the information he had about the Evil God Cult, Shinji could only sigh lightly. He realized that his thought was probably unrealistic.
He didn't know when exactly, but the final fate of the Evil God Cult was certain: total annihilation.
He vaguely remembered reading something on the Internet about it while watching The Inflammable Chronicles. There was a fool who somehow inherited part of the cult's legacy and then tried to gain immortality. By that time, the Evil God Cult had already been gone for a long while.
Shinji wasn't clear on the exact details of how the cult was destroyed—after all, it had been so long—but he only remembered seeing something online that suggested the entire cult had been sacrificed to the Evil God by Hidan.
Honestly, that sounded like something Hidan could pull off. If that day ever came, Shinji would definitely lend a hand.
The world would be vast for the fish to leap, and the sky high for the birds to fly—life would be wonderful.
If the cult leader, knew Shinji was thinking this way right now, he would probably immediately rip him to pieces!
After all, he had spent so much effort cultivating two immortals, only for both to turn out to be traitors. Wasn't that a bit too much?
Bang!
A loud noise.
Shinji, sighing while eating his curry, suddenly looked up.
Whoa, the wooly one~
Hidan, who had kicked over his chair, was now glaring at him with a menacing intensity!
Clearly, the past few days of treatment, recovery, and confinement had left Hidan in a foul mood—angry and frustrated!
Because of that boring "tacit understanding" match, the cult leader had separated them into confinement cells and subjected them to no fewer than ten sessions of ideological correction, to prevent any future chaos.
At the same time, it was also to let them recover properly—after all, immortality didn't mean invincibility, and given the previous situation, it had been a mess.
But of course, if Hidan didn't pick a fight, he wouldn't be the single-minded Hidan we all know.
Just released, he was already running around asking questions, eager to make trouble for Shinji.
"Yo, you eating? Want to sit and eat together?"
Shinji greeted casually, speeding up his eating so he wouldn't starve if a fight broke out.
Master Yuan had already taught him never to waste food!
"You bastard, Shinji! Die!!!"
Hidan drew his jet-black spear, gritted his teeth, and lunged straight at him.
Even after confinement, he didn't care!
It was simply because losing last time had been too frustrating!
But the moment they clashed, Hidan's expression suddenly changed.
Normally, their strength should have been roughly equal; before confinement, neither could gain the upper hand over the other.
But this time, everything was completely different!
Hidan's multiple spear attacks were easily dodged by Shinji, who even casually used the openings to shovel the remaining curry from his plate into his mouth.
He didn't even regard Hidan's attacks as a threat!
"Damn it!"
Hidan gritted his teeth, accelerating his attacks again.
At this moment, Shinji finally lifted his head, and Hidan noticed something he hadn't before: a red, X-shaped scar had appeared on Shinji's forehead, as if stained with blood.
Crimson Blood Manipulation · Red Scales in Motion!
Boom!
Bang!
Just from putting down his plate and throwing a single punch, the unprepared Hidan flew backward, smashing into the wall, and then involuntarily spat out a mouthful of blood. Even his black spear slipped from his grasp and clattered to the ground.
How could this be?!
Supporting himself on his hands, Hidan's eyes showed utter disbelief. He couldn't understand how, in just a few days, Shinji's strength could have increased so much.
Could it be that the cult leader secretly gave this fool special training while he wasn't around?
Seeing Hidan's confusion, Shinji calmly explained, "My Blood Manipulation allows me to freely control components of my blood, including body temperature, pulse, and red blood cell count.
"Just now, I simply accelerated the flow of blood to strengthen my body, enhancing my speed and power.
"In this state, you can't even touch my clothes."
Hidan, sliding down the wall, couldn't believe that just a few days could widen the gap so drastically. Gritting his teeth, he picked up his black spear and charged at Shinji again, saying nothing.
Shinji shook his head. A few days ago, his former self would have struggled in a fight like this.
But after experiencing near-fatal blood loss and quietly reflecting for several days, he had, by chance, discovered a method to enhance his own body.
As he explained, it involved accelerating the flow of blood to strengthen physical ability, increasing speed and power.
It was somewhat similar to Luffy's Gear Second, though with important differences.
The cost, however, was severe damage to his body, and frequent use could even shorten his lifespan.
So, Hidan had chosen the wrong time to provoke him!
Feeling the power of Crimson Blood Manipulation · Red Scales in Motion, Shinji decided to give Hidan an unforgettable lesson.
He tilted his head slightly to dodge Hidan's swift spear strike, then unleashed a hidden yet lightning-fast right punch, hitting Hidan squarely in the abdomen.
Immediately, Hidan felt a sharp pain, his eyes bulging, and he doubled over with a yell.
Then, Shinji's knee seemed to grow larger right in front of his eyes…