"Begin," the cult leader said calmly.
They entered another hidden chamber. Inside, two unfortunate men were bound to wooden crosses, just like Susu had been before. Their wrists had already been slit open, and blood streamed steadily into bowls placed beside them, filling them quickly.
Faced with such a gruesome scene, no one in the room reacted—not even Shinji Akagi, who had already grown accustomed to sights like this over the past few days.
Then Hidan walked directly over to one of the unlucky captives.
Under the watchful gaze of everyone present, he grabbed one of the bowls of blood without hesitation and tilted his head back, drinking it in one go.
Gulp. Gulp.
Crash!
The bowl fell to the floor and shattered into pieces. The remaining blood spilled out and spread across the ground.
Hidan let out a savage grin.
He stepped directly into the spilled blood and began drawing some kind of strange symbol with his foot.
Soon, a circular symbol enclosing a triangle was completed, painted entirely with blood across the stone floor.
After finishing, Hidan stood in the center of the symbol, trembling with excitement. He could clearly feel it—at that moment, the chakra inside his body rapidly transformed into a special kind of power. That energy surged forward and wrapped around every drop of blood he had swallowed earlier.
"Yes… that's it! That's exactly it! Hahahahaha!"
Unable to contain himself, Hidan burst into wild laughter. One hand covered his forehead while his body bent forward in sheer exhilaration.
When he straightened up again, his appearance had changed drastically.
First, Hidan's skin turned completely black. Then stark white lines rapidly spread across his body, forming distinct patterns evenly distributed across every part of him. The sight was horrifying and grotesque.
Still laughing, Hidan once again pulled a short spear from his robe.
With curious excitement, he lightly dragged the blade across his own chest.
Instantly, a long gash appeared.
Was he simply indulging in self-harm?
No.
Hidan's eyes grew even more excited and restless.
Because at that exact moment, the unlucky man whose blood Hidan had drunk suddenly developed an identical wound across his own chest.
Spurt!
While staring fixedly at the victim, Hidan drove the short spear into his own right leg.
"Mmmph—!"
The man's mouth was gagged, but blood immediately burst from his right leg as well. All he could do was produce muffled cries.
"It hurts… but this… this feels so damn good!!!"
"Hahaha! Let's die together!"
Amid hysterical laughter, Hidan kept swinging the sharp spear again and again, carving bloody holes across his own body. Blood splattered everywhere, yet the expression on his face was one of blissful agony, as if he were on the verge of ecstasy.
Thud!
Suddenly, the curse technique ended automatically.
Hidan collapsed onto the floor in a spread-eagle position, his face filled with satisfaction—like someone who didn't even need a cigarette afterward.
At some point, the unfortunate victim's eyes had widened in terror.
He had been scared to death.
Seeing this, the members of the Jashin Cult observing and recording everything nearby all revealed expressions of intense excitement.
They had succeeded once again!
Even High Priest Takihata couldn't help but show a pleased smile. Hidan truly was the most precious gift Lord Jashin had bestowed upon him. In just a single month, he had trained this curse technique to such a level.
Although the duration was still very short, it was already extremely encouraging.
Compared to him…
The other one was practically a completely weakened version of Hidan in every aspect.
High Priest Takihata's gaze flickered slightly as he turned to Shinji Akagi.
"Your turn, Shinji."
Shinji Akagi immediately stepped forward a few paces.
The excited and admiring looks around him instantly turned into scrutiny and doubt.
The reason was simple.
Compared to Hidan, who had managed to master Curse Technique: Blood Possession to such a degree in just one month, Shinji Akagi's current progress was… zero.
In fact, even Shinji Akagi himself hadn't expected this.
He simply couldn't cultivate Curse Technique: Blood Possession.
Despite overcoming his own psychological aversion—convincing himself with the ridiculous reasoning that "at least human blood probably has fewer parasites"—and forcing himself to drink it once…
It seemed his very existence was an anomaly.
A man who should have died had somehow come back to life.
And by sheer luck, he had obtained a weakened version of Immortality.
So failing to learn Blood Possession almost seemed reasonable.
Besides, Shinji Akagi wasn't particularly eager to drink blood in the first place.
There was only one reason:
It was filthy.
Who knew what kinds of bloodborne diseases those people might have? HIV, for example.
If he caught something like that and couldn't even die because of immortality…
That would be unbelievably unlucky.
So aside from worrying about how to deal with these Jashin Cult fanatics, Shinji Akagi himself wasn't particularly disappointed.
After all—
He had a cheat ability.
And the reward he had obtained this time was more than enough to help him get through this crisis.
Stepping forward, Shinji Akagi did not imitate Hidan by drinking the bowl of blood that might contain who-knows-what diseases.
Instead, he suddenly pulled out a sharp kunai.
Then he slashed hard across the wrist of his left hand.
Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip.
Inside the silent chamber, Shinji Akagi simply held his left arm out with the wound facing downward, letting the blood stream steadily to the floor.
Seeing this, High Priest Takihata frowned slightly. A trace of displeasure flashed through his eyes before he spoke.
"What exactly are you doing—wh—?!"
Shinji Akagi didn't bother explaining.
Instead, he closed his eyes and focused on sensing the power inside his body.
Chakra suddenly accelerated through specific pathways within him. Under the influence of his intense will, it rapidly transformed into another type of power—
Cursed Energy, the power used to perform curse techniques.
Then Shinji Akagi suddenly opened his eyes.
With one hand, he formed the Boar Seal.
Blood Manipulation!
Under everyone's astonished gaze, the large amount of blood that had flowed from Shinji Akagi's body suddenly seemed to come alive.
Thin streams of blood rose into the air and began swirling around him like living creatures, moving unpredictably and rapidly through the air.
The flickering light inside the secret chamber…
The corpses nailed to crosses…
The eerie religious symbols…
And the blood now writhing through the air as though it possessed a will of its own…
Together, the scene formed a strangely sinister yet mesmerizing beauty.
The question High Priest Takihata had been about to ask no longer needed an answer.
But to completely fool everyone present, Shinji Akagi still spoke.
"This is the new curse technique that Lord Jashin personally granted to me—"
"Blood Manipulation."
A new curse technique?
Blood Manipulation?!
High Priest Takihata snapped out of his shock and stared deeply at Shinji Akagi for a moment.
Then his expression returned to its usual kindly demeanor.
"Excellent. Since Lord Jashin has bestowed a new curse technique upon you, then focus your efforts on mastering it."
"Praise Lord Jashin."