No matter how reluctant Shinji was, he still ended up setting out on the journey together with Hidan.
And just as High Priest Takihata had said, it seemed that no one had been assigned to follow them. It almost looked as if the priest completely trusted that the two of them would successfully complete the mission and return safely.
But unless Shinji had truly lost his mind, there was no way he would believe that.
The far more likely explanation was that members of the Jashin Cult had already been sent to secretly protect them—or more accurately, to monitor them.
"What are you staring at?"
Hidan asked impatiently. Clearly, if he had any choice in the matter, he wouldn't want to carry out a mission with Shinji either.
"Nothing. Let's go."
Shinji withdrew his gaze without offering any explanation and simply started walking forward.
Hidan clicked his tongue and followed behind him.
According to the map, they needed to cross the Land of Fire first and then take a boat to the Land of Waves.
Although the journey was long, for ninja it was only a matter of a few days if they traveled at full speed.
Of course, this mission wasn't urgent enough to require that.
So there was no need for them to rush.
Walking and resting along the way, it took them three days to finally reach the deeper regions of the Land of Fire.
But once they entered the Land of Fire, Shinji's behavior began to seem a little strange.
It wasn't that he wanted to ditch Hidan and escape.
Nor did he have any intention of defecting to Konoha.
The real reason was that he had suddenly realized something—
He was getting closer and closer to the location marked on the [Cursed Treasure Map].
Should I go check it out?
He hesitated slightly, worried that doing so might expose his greatest secret.
But then another thought occurred to him.
If he missed this opportunity, who knew when he would ever get another chance to come this close to the marked location again?
Besides, he really wanted to know what could possibly be dug up from this so-called Cursed Treasure Map.
"Damn it. Why am I hesitating so much?"
"If I really dig something up, I'll just say I buried it here myself a long time ago. That should be believable enough."
Shinji wasn't blindly overconfident.
After all, the Jashin Cult had invested so many resources in both him and Hidan. As long as he didn't betray them outright, it was unlikely that they would be short-sighted enough to seize whatever he found.
There was another concern as well.
Considering how unreliable the system could be—and the ominous word "cursed" in the item's name—
What if something went wrong during the excavation?
What if he dug up something strange… like a reanimated corpse?
Great. A Naruto fanfiction turning into a tomb-raiding novel.
Shinji glanced up at the sky. Nightfall was approaching.
He casually said,
"It's getting dark. According to the map, there's a small village nearby. We could head there, buy some food, and maybe stay the night."
"What a hassle."
Hidan muttered, but he didn't object.
After all, they had been eating dry rations and sleeping outdoors while getting eaten alive by mosquitoes for the past few days. He was getting pretty sick of it.
If he could eat something hot and get a proper night's sleep, there was no reason to refuse.
Of course, that didn't stop him from mocking Shinji.
"Can't even handle a few days of hardship? Some people are really spoiled."
Shinji didn't let that slide.
"Then stay here and keep feeding the mosquitoes. I'll go check out that village. Maybe they've got fried pork cutlets."
And with that, he left without hesitation.
Hidan stood there alone, suddenly conflicted.
If he followed Shinji now, it would feel like he was slapping himself in the face.
But if he didn't go…
What if there really were fried pork cutlets?
As a natural carnivore, Hidan despised vegetables and loved meat above all else.
And fried pork cutlets were one of his favorite foods.
Besides, why should he stay behind eating dry rations and feeding mosquitoes while Shinji enjoyed himself?
Hidan stiffened his face and quickly chased after him.
When Shinji glanced back at him, Hidan immediately spoke first.
"Tch! I've got no choice but to indulge you this once. Hidan-sama will generously compromise for your sake. But there won't be a next time, got it?"
Such a classic tsundere—his mouth said one thing, but his actions said another.
Shinji smirked but didn't bother exposing him further.
Most of his thoughts were focused on the treasure map anyway.
Teasing Hidan was a long-term project. Building up that bond value couldn't be rushed.
"Keep up. We need to move faster."
After confirming the direction, Shinji put away the map and immediately increased his speed.
In the original story, Hidan was the slowest member of the Akatsuki—but that was only when compared to the absolute monsters within the organization.
Compared to ordinary ninja, Hidan's speed was still impressive.
Before long, the two of them had completely deviated from their original route and headed north instead.
After running for nearly an hour, they finally saw the faint outline of a village in the distance.
By then, night had fully fallen.
As soon as they stopped, Hidan couldn't help but complain.
"This is what you call a nearby village? Where the hell did we end up?!"
After all, for ninja traveling at full speed, an hour's distance was hardly what anyone would call nearby.
Hidan felt like he had been tricked.
That whole fried pork cutlet thing had obviously been bait.
And he had stupidly taken it.
If he'd known earlier, he would've stayed behind and fought the mosquitoes instead.
Shinji knew his excuse was pretty flimsy, but he really hadn't had a better option.
After all, he had only followed the treasure map's location.
Even if the excuse was terrible, he still had to detour and check the place out.
"Then leave."
"Leave my ass! If I don't get fried pork cutlets tonight, I'm sacrificing everyone in this village to Lord Jashin!"
Hidan cursed angrily and marched straight into the village.
Shinji instantly felt a headache coming on.
He had no doubt Hidan was fully capable of doing something like that in a fit of rage.
But that definitely wasn't the outcome Shinji wanted.
I'd better figure out a way to fool this guy later…
Fortunately, Shinji's Blood Manipulation technique completely countered Hidan's ability. It wasn't impossible to control him if necessary.
Just then, while the two of them were wandering conspicuously around the village, an elderly man approached them.
"Young men, are you looking for someone?"
Shinji was about to answer when Hidan beat him to it.
"Hey old man! Bring out whatever good food and drink you've got, or Hidan-sama will burn your village down—mmph!"
Shinji hurried forward and clamped a hand over Hidan's mouth.
Then he forced a polite smile.
"Please don't misunderstand. My little brother had water in his brain when he was young. He says nonsense all the time."
"We're not looking for anyone. We just happened to pass through and hoped to buy something to eat—and maybe find a place to stay for the night."
The old man visibly relaxed.
"Oh, I see. I thought something was off… your brother does seem to have something seriously wrong with him."
Hidan's eyes widened in rage.
"Mmfff! Mmff!"
(I'll kill you, old man!)
Shinji had to use all his strength to keep Hidan from drawing his scythe and chopping the old man on the spot.
The elder continued speaking.
"Travelers are guests. Meeting like this is fate."
"How about this—don't worry about money. If you don't mind, come back to my house. You can eat something and stay the night."
"That would be wonderful. Thank you very much. We'll leave first thing in the morning and won't cause any trouble."
"Well… speaking of trouble…"
"Yes, sir?"
"You'd better keep an eye on your brother. There are many women and children in the village. Don't scare them."
Shinji chuckled.
"Of course not. My brother may have a loose screw in his head. He says unpleasant things, acts arrogant, and has plenty of bad habits."
"But he does have one good quality."
"He has absolutely no interest in women. He actually finds women and children annoying and avoids them whenever possible."
"That's good then."
The old man sighed.
"Such a strong build… what a waste. Too bad he's a fool."
"The joys of women—well, a fool wouldn't understand."
The old man seemed like someone with quite a few stories in his past.
Sighing as he walked, he led them deeper into the village.