Chapter 229: Don't Ignore Me, Lord Hiruko
Squelch…
"No!!"
The moment Hidan aimed his weapon at his neck, the fear of death consumed Hiruko's mind.
Under this extreme fear, he unleashed a speed that broke his limits.
His features twisted grotesquely. He no longer cared about the backlash from his forbidden jutsu, desperately activating Swift Release and lunging at Hidan in an instant.
In less than a second, Hiruko instantly realized that in such a short time, he could not kill Hidan, nor could he even destroy his ritual circle in time.
So, driven almost purely by instinct…
BANG!!
Just before Hidan could pierce his own neck, Hiruko's exceptionally pathetic figure crashed into him, knocking him out of the ritual circle at his feet.
It could be said that Hiruko was betting his own life, gambling that Hidan had to be standing within the ritual circle to perform the jutsu.
As it turned out, he won the bet.
"Gasp! Hah… hah!"
Feeling the coldness at his throat, Hiruko tremblingly reached up and touched his own neck.
Looking at the crimson blood on his fingertips, his face was left with only gloom and lingering fear.
If he had hesitated for even a moment just now, even if his head wouldn't have rolled, his throat would have been slit by Hidan.
"Ahhhhh! Bastard! I'm going to kill you!!"
Hiruko, who had never taken Hidan seriously, was almost consumed by rage at this moment.
This was the first battle after the successful development of his "Chimera Technique"!
Yet he was almost killed by a brainless fool who only knew how to swing his weapon wildly!
Anger, relief, lingering fear, terror, resentment…
An incredibly complex mix of emotions festered in Hiruko's heart.
Hiruko looked at Hidan with a savage expression and roared in a fit of rage, "You fool! You're dead! No one can save you!!"
As he spoke, a large number of flesh buds grew from his body again, and a purplish-black substance began to emerge.
SIZZLE!
The writhing flesh buds rolled up a strange black mass, grabbed Hidan, and once again began the frenzied process of devouring and fusing.
This time, he would devour that fool in one go, absolutely not giving him any chance to counterattack.
He didn't care even if it meant consuming more of his "Chimera Sprouts."
Immortality, and super-strong physical recovery ability, as well as that damage-sharing forbidden jutsu…
All of it will belong to me!!
I will catch up to the Sannin, even if it means becoming a monster!!!
The greed in Hiruko's heart was now magnified to the extreme, tinged with an ugly madness.
Unfortunately, before he could devour Hidan, his rage and greed had already devoured his reason.
Hiruko's weakness—his lack of combat experience and poor tactical awareness—was laid bare.
"Don't ignore me, Lord Hiruko~"
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!!
Almost at the same time as these various thoughts surged in Hiruko's mind, a harsh sound of metal clashing suddenly rang out from behind him.
Hiruko, sensing something was wrong, had just turned his head when several kunai were already in front of him.
The ends of these kunai were all tied with specially treated steel wires.
Hiruko was naturally caught off guard. His body was instantly entangled by several steel wires, restricting the range of his Swift Release.
"Damn it! Steel Release!!"
Realizing this as well, Hiruko roared in anger.
Following "Scorch Release" and "Swift Release," he recklessly used a third Kekkei Genkai, regardless of the consequences.
BANG! BANG! BANG!!
With the enhancement of the Kekkei Genkai, his whole body became pitch-black and hard.
In an instant, Hiruko broke the steel wires that bound him.
But just as Hiruko was about to break free…
No, almost at the same time as he threw the wire-bound kunai, Kabuto had already attached several explosive tags.
From an incredibly tricky angle, he shot them towards Hiruko's eyes, throat, armpits, ribs, and other weak points of his body!
HISS!!
BOOM! KABOOM!!
Before Hiruko could react, the explosive tags tied to the back of the kunai instantly detonated!
A series of violent explosions shook the ground, as if the entire mountaintop were trembling violently.
Smoke and dust billowed up, completely obscuring the platform.
Kabuto's entire offensive was completed in the blink of an eye.
Compared to Hiruko's hesitation and inexperience, his attack was decisive, crisp, and precise.
However, Hiruko, having simultaneously activated Swift Release and Steel Release, had also elevated his reaction speed and defense to another level.
As the dust settled, Hiruko's clothes were tattered, making him look exceptionally pathetic.
What was most eye-catching was his blood-stained face, full of suture marks, and his right arm, which looked as if it had been torn apart and pieced back together.
A large number of threads covered this broken shell of a body.
"Don't get in the way, you brat!"
His face was abnormally grim. He looked at Kabuto with disdain. "After I finish off that fool, you're next."
As he spoke, a strangely shaped giant bird suddenly rose into the air.
Without any extra reminder from Hiruko, the giant bird flapped its wings violently.
SCREECH!!
SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!!
Countless feathers with strange patterns shot towards Kabuto.
As a red light flashed on the feathers, soon, all the feathers stuck in the ground exploded like explosive tags.
However, when the dust settled, Kabuto stood in his original spot.
There was only a little dust on his clothes, but his body appeared completely unharmed.
A thin black shadow shot out from under his robe.
It was a green python that, with incredible speed, tightly bound a wolf-shaped creature that had launched a surprise attack from behind.
"ROAR!!"
As the python's tail tightened, the wolf-shaped creature let out a shrill roar until the force exceeded its limit, and it burst into a shower of blood that splattered in the air.
"How arrogant." Kabuto adjusted his glasses, his tone calm. "It seems you're not going to listen to me until you're beaten down."
"In that case…"
The aura around Kabuto gradually turned cold, until it sublimated to a terrifying critical point.
The extremely oppressive aura seemed to materialize, turning into a torrent that gushed out from his body.
"It seems necessary to make you understand your own weakness."
Kabuto, with purple eyeshadow now visible, quickly formed hand seals.
"Sage Art: White Rage Technique!"
A red dragon's phantom, clutching a black pearl, shot out rapidly from his mouth.
The red dragon phantom began to rotate around the black pearl, and Hiruko subconsciously looked at the phantom.
But when the red dragon phantom drilled into the black pearl…
BOOM!!
In an instant, the ball of light exploded violently about ten meters away from Hiruko. A blinding white light burst out from the small black ball.
Like a great sun hanging in the sky, the night that shrouded the heavens seemed to be lit up by this white light, dispelling the darkness for a hundred miles around.
"Argh! You!!"
Hiruko's pupils shrank. The instantaneous change from extreme darkness to broad daylight made his eyes incredibly painful, and two lines of bloody tears involuntarily flowed from the corners of his eyes.
Not only that, but at the same time as the blinding light was emitted, a violent and rapid tremor came from the ball of light.
BUZZ! BUZZ! BUZZ!!
A strange vibration suddenly emanated from the ball of light. The sharp sound waves formed a visible ripple and distortion in the air.
Through light and sound, it triggered a chain reaction like falling dominoes, causing everything around to fall into this strange resonance.
CRACKLE…
The surrounding trees only lasted for a few breaths before they were shattered by this strange vibration, turning into a pile of debris scattered on the ground.
"What… what kind of ninjutsu is this?!"
Assailed by this sudden bright light and sound wave, Hiruko, who had activated Steel Release and Swift Release, was in extreme pain.
Even if he closed his eyes and covered his ears, the highly penetrating sound waves continued to assault his body, shaking him until his blood churned and his whole body went numb, as if it were going to make all the muscles and internal organs in his body vibrate.
His internal organs, flesh, skin, membranes, tendons, bones, and eardrums were all being ravaged by this strange vibrating sound wave.
Blood gradually seeped from his eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth. Hiruko's mind was a blur, and his bones felt weak, as if his five senses had been directly stripped away.
Not only that, but even the "Chimera Sprouts" on Hiruko's body trembled wildly like living things, as if they were candles in the wind that could be extinguished and exhausted at any moment.
"What an ugly sight."
Kabuto looked indifferently at the expanse of white light before him, and at Hiruko, who was convulsing and twisting under the shroud of white light.
His eyes were covered by a snake-like cornea, allowing him to ignore the effects of the strong light.
His snake-like, extremely flexible body could also freely cope with the sound wave vibrations.
Conversely, Hiruko opened his mouth wide and screamed shrilly, but even though he had torn the corners of his mouth, he still couldn't hear any sound.
Under the terrifying threat of Kabuto's "White Rage Technique," the "Chimera Sprouts" began to uncontrollably burrow back into Hiruko's body.
Countless "Chimera Sprouts" could be vaguely seen crawling frantically under his skin.
For the current Hiruko, who had been deprived of four of his senses and was left with only touch, this pain was simply an unbearable torture of "heart-drilling and flesh-gouging."
After persisting for a few seconds, Hiruko, who was on the verge of collapse, finally let out a silent roar. The fear of death had suppressed the unwillingness and frustration in his heart.
After blasting out a Scorch Release fireball by feel, Hiruko intended to use Swift Release to escape.
"Lord Hiruko, isn't it a bit too late to think of escaping now?"
Kabuto grinned.
Although Hiruko already possessed three Kekkei Genkai, all three were enhancements for taijutsu.
Against a taijutsu-type ninja like Hidan, he could stand undefeated, but against a ninjutsu-type ninja like Kabuto who specialized in Sage Art…
Hiruko couldn't even get close to Kabuto.
"Sage Art: Inorganic Reanimation!"
The next moment, a violent chakra fluctuation erupted from Kabuto's body again.
RUMBLE. RUMBLE. RUMBLE.
Amidst the deafening roar, the rocks and soil on the ground, and even the remains of the modified beasts, seemed to come to life.
Sharp spears shot up from the ground, growing at an astonishing speed, sweeping towards the panicked Hiruko, step by step forcing him into a smaller and smaller space.
In just the blink of an eye, this area had turned into a pale forest of bones. Anything that stood in their way would be easily pierced and shredded!
SWISH!!
Hiruko, having lost his sight and hearing, could only rely on his half-baked senses to narrowly avoid a ground spike that suddenly pierced out from under his feet.
The ground spike grazed past his cheek, bringing up a spray of blood that splattered in mid-air.
Hiruko's face turned pale, his heart filled with anger and astonishment.
"Damn it! Damn it! What the hell is this thing?! Is this the ninjutsu that killed Orochimaru?!"
But, why?!
I've already developed the "Chimera Technique"! I already possess three Kekkei Genkai! I've already changed my mediocre aptitude!
My Chimera Technique was born to seize the aptitude of those geniuses!
But that damn brat, that brat who used to follow Orochimaru, on what grounds can he possess such powerful strength and outstanding aptitude?!
"On what grounds!?"
Squelch… squelch…
The ground spikes surrounded the trapped Hiruko in the center. Several ground spikes pierced his limbs and torso.
While ensuring he lost his ability to resist, they also perfectly avoided all fatal spots.
It was as if Hiruko had been directly locked up.
"Are you jealous? Are you resentful? I can see the unwillingness and greed in your heart."
Walking to Hiruko's side, Kabuto said in a calm tone, "Greed is something engraved in human bones. It is because of desire and greed that humans have been able to survive in cruel environments."
"The essence of the Chimera Technique is endless devouring, a reflection of your deep-seated craving for power."
After a pause, Kabuto said with a confident smile, "You should be in need of powerful Kekkei Genkai ninja."
He had already gained some understanding of the forbidden jutsu Hiruko had researched, the Chimera Technique.
Fusing the Kekkei Genkai of those Kekkei Genkai ninja for his own use, the Chimera Technique was undoubtedly an extremely terrifying forbidden jutsu.
Hiruko's current strength might be a bit weak, but as long as he was fed enough Kekkei Genkai ninja, his strength could soar in a straight line, reaching a very terrifying level.
Although Hiruko's ears were still ringing, his hearing was gradually recovering.
He naturally heard Kabuto's words as well.
"Cough, cough! So what if I am?"
Hiruko's face was ashen. He spat out a mouthful of clotted blood, his tone low. "Even if I can't kill you now, it only proves that I haven't devoured enough Kekkei Genkai!"
"If you want to show off in front of me, you might as well just give me a quick death!"
Hearing this, Kabuto shook his head and smiled. "How could I bear to kill a genius?"
"Our organization is currently short on manpower. The leader of the organization is thirsty for talent, and you are the one I personally recommended to him. I came here this time just to invite you to join us."
"Your intelligence system isn't very complete, is it? The organization can provide you with sufficient logistics, and the intelligence system can also be shared with you. We can even help you capture Kekkei Genkai ninja."
Kabuto's words directly hit Hiruko's sore spot, causing the originally resentful and unwilling Hiruko to fall silent.
Although he was unwilling to admit it, what Kabuto said was the truth.
He had wanted to establish his own intelligence system more than once.
But back in Konoha, he was just an ordinary jōnin.
After leaving Konoha, he had been here researching forbidden jutsu. His intelligence on the ninja world came entirely from Orochimaru.
Now that Orochimaru had died at Kabuto's hands, it would not be so easy for him to find out the whereabouts of Kekkei Genkai ninja in the future.
Just as Hiruko was weighing the pros and cons in his heart…
"Kabuto-san, I really don't get you."
Hidan staggered over, glanced at the dog-like Hiruko, and complained with a disdainful tone, "You didn't stop boasting about this guy's abilities on the way here."
"But besides his Kekkei Genkai, he's worthless. His taijutsu level and combat experience are even worse than mine. Are your expectations of him a bit too high?"
Hidan had spent a considerable amount of time with Kabuto, but Kabuto's strength was as bottomless as his personality.
As it turned out, this time he had misjudged.
He had three Kekkei Genkai, none of which he had mastered. His strength was completely built up by quantity.
Hearing this, Hiruko was both anxious and angry. He was about to say something, but only coughed up a mouthful of blood.
He was speechless, unable to voice his grievances.
Looking at Hidan's disdainful and contemptuous gaze, he felt an unprecedented sense of frustration and unwillingness.
"Hidan-san, don't say that."
The same smile was on Kabuto's face. "Lord Hiruko just hasn't adapted to his own power yet. I believe his potential is not weak at all compared to ours."
As soon as these words were spoken, a large part of the gloom in Hiruko's heart dissipated.
That's right. This brat killed Orochimaru, after all.
Even if I was defeated by this brat Kabuto, it only proves that I'm on the same level as Orochimaru.
What's more, didn't even Kabuto recognize his abilities?
Hiruko constantly reassured himself in his heart, and his resentment towards Kabuto also lessened slightly.
And his appearance was not out of Kabuto's expectations.
Insecurity was a shadow buried deep in Hiruko's heart.
He had tried to prove himself countless times, but his mediocre talent could only be ignored and ridiculed.
In Konoha, he had desperately chased after the backs of the Sannin, but the distance between them only grew wider.
Unwillingness and anger grew wildly in his heart.
Only then did he break through the final moral bottom line and begin to conduct crazy and cruel human experiments.
Therefore, what Hiruko craved most was not power, but recognition from a genius.
And Kabuto's recognition of him would naturally make him feel satisfied.
"...What are the conditions for joining you?"
After a moment of silence, Hiruko asked with a frown.
It was obvious that his heart was already wavering.
The smile on Kabuto's face did not change. "The organization will basically not restrict your freedom. There will just be regular meetings every month."
If it was really as Kabuto said, that this organization could provide him with a lot of convenient logistical support, and he would still have a lot of free time, with only one regular meeting a month, it wouldn't be very restrictive for him.
However, was this organization so lenient?
Hiruko frowned, a trace of doubt rising in his heart.
"Oh, right."
As if remembering something, Kabuto suddenly added, "Lord Orochimaru… had joined our organization before. He was kicked out because of his poor performance."
"Cough! The conditions are very tempting. It wouldn't hurt to go with you."
(End of Chapter)
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