Several days later, inside a sealed chamber, candlelight flickered unsteadily.
Shinji sat cross-legged on the floor. Floating before him was a massive sphere of blood.
Suddenly, the blood sphere exploded—then froze in midair in an extremely eerie manner.
From a distance, one could see that the countless blood droplets scattered outward were not only identical in size, but even the distance between each droplet was perfectly uniform!
In the end, they formed a greatly enlarged, hollow spherical structure.
Next, the blood droplets abruptly shifted from stillness into motion. One moment they fused and transformed into all eighteen kinds of weapons, the next they became dragons and tigers locked in fierce combat.
And that wasn't even the most outrageous part.
One by one, characters written in blood rearranged themselves in midair, eventually forming an entire "Memorial on the Expedition"!
"Hoo…"
After letting out a long breath, Shinji immediately controlled all the blood in the air to descend into a container at the side.
Although he had painstakingly cultivated Blood Manipulation for many years from another person's perspective—and had successfully retained that priceless experience—differences in physical constitution naturally meant that a period of readjustment was unavoidable.
Fortunately, he was now "highly experienced." It didn't take long before he completed the transition, fully converting everything into his own combat power.
Not only were all methods of use deeply ingrained in his mind—available at a moment's notice—but through accumulated insight and refinement, he had even created a Supreme Technique uniquely his own!
Only at this moment did Shinji finally dare to say that even without his immortal body, he was no longer some insignificant nobody to be slaughtered at will.
After thoroughly cleaning up every trace left behind in the secret chamber, Shinji finally left.
He didn't want the Jashin Cult to know too much—lest, if things ever turned hostile in the future, they seized upon his weaknesses.
He hadn't even made it back to his room when someone called out to him.
"Akagi Shinji. The High Priest is waiting for you in Prayer Room No. 1. Go at once."
"Alright, got it."
Shinji nodded and immediately changed direction.
When he arrived, he discovered that besides himself, the Cult leader Takihata had summoned someone else as well—none other than that idiot, Hidan.
At the moment, Hidan's injuries had completely healed. Even the eyebrows and hair burned off in the previous fire had grown back somewhat.
Of course, they were still just short, patchy strands. If he wanted to return to his original slicked-back hairstyle, he'd need to wait a bit longer—but at least he wasn't a shiny bald head anymore.
Looking at the future of the Jashin Cult—his two "capable subordinates"—Takihata felt his ambitions swelling to the point of barely being containable.
"Ten days ago, I purchased a batch of sacrifices from the Land of Grass. But now, both the sacrifices and the escort personnel have vanished without a trace."
"I plan to send the two of you to investigate their whereabouts. If they were intercepted, find the culprits and offer them all as sacrifices to Lord Jashin. If the people of the Land of Grass turned on us and swallowed the goods themselves—then make them pay a painful price!"
"Yes, Lord Takihata," Shinji and Hidan replied in unison.
As the Jashin Cult expanded rapidly, it had become nearly impossible to find living people near the base.
To maintain a sufficient supply of sacrifices, they had no choice but to raid populations far and wide.
Takihata knew this was not a long-term solution, so he had secretly begun trading in human lives with various countries.
The deal with the Land of Grass was merely a test between both sides.
Judging from the outcome, however, it clearly hadn't gone well.
...
With the Executioner's Blade—now evolved into a cursed tool—strapped to his back, Shinji set out once more alongside Hidan.
According to the Land of Grass, the escort convoy had disappeared suddenly near the border between the Land of Rivers and the Land of Rain. They had sent people to search, but found nothing. They even suspected the Jashin Cult itself had taken action—after all, the cult's reputation was infamously terrible.
If both sides believed the other was at fault, and neither was lying, then there was a very high probability that a third party had intervened.
The only question was who this third party was—someone bold enough to rob both the Jashin Cult and the Land of Grass was either an idiot or someone who didn't take them seriously at all.
Shinji hoped it was the former. Otherwise, this mission would be troublesome.
Especially since the incident occurred so close to the Land of Rain—he knew better than anyone just how terrifying that place currently was.
If there was even the slightest chance to avoid it, he wanted nothing to do with suffering.
Along the way, Shinji wasn't in any particular rush. Instead, he frequently wandered off to "hunt."
Whether it was cute little rabbits or ferocious wolves and tigers, not a single one escaped his blade.
To the point that even Hidan eventually couldn't stand it anymore.
"What the hell are you doing? Killing so many animals—can you even eat all that? Don't expect me to help you carry it while we travel."
Shinji looked helplessly at the Seven Killing Lamps on the Executioner's Blade.
Not a single one had lit up.
So much for trying to take shortcuts.
After killing so many animals, not once had Soul Imprisonment triggered. Did it really require humans?
Would Tailed Beasts work?
What if it was someone who ate the Pig-Pig Fruit… or a reindeer who ate the Human-Human Fruit—how would that even be judged?
Alright, getting carried away.
This world didn't have Zoan Devil Fruits, nor druids. No need to worry about that for now.
"It's nothing. Let's go."
Shinji cut off several large chunks of meat to use as rations for the journey. As for the rest, he could only leave it behind.
Thankfully, it wouldn't go to waste. Before long, wild beasts drawn by the scent of blood would arrive and strip it clean.
However—whether by good luck or bad—Shinji and Hidan hadn't gone far before they heard the sounds of shouting and combat coming from the forest ahead.
Under normal circumstances, encountering something like this would usually lead to only two outcomes.
One was to pretend they hadn't seen anything and leave.
The other was for Hidan to get interested, rush over, and slaughter everyone as sacrifices to Lord Jashin.
But this time, Shinji couldn't just ignore it.
In this desolate wilderness, finding a few people to test his blade on wasn't easy!
Hopefully there would be enough of them—enough for him to use Piercing Shadow Strike several times and get a proper feel for it.
"I'll go take a look. Might as well chop a few people while I'm at it."
Hidan immediately raised an eyebrow, interest piqued. "Together?"
"Forget it. You want to steal even this from me?"
"Tch, boring!"
Hidan unhooked his Triple-Bladed Scythe, leaned back against a tree, and sat down. "Don't make me wait too long."
Shinji nodded, then drew the Executioner's Blade, slung it over his shoulder, and walked toward the loudest source of noise.
"Kill them!"
"Protect Her Highness!"
"You thieves have some nerve!"
"Hahaha! Didn't expect such a rare fat sheep to turn out to be a princess. Brothers, we're blessed today!"
"Together—wipe them all out!"
...
"This plot is way too cliché," Shinji muttered. "Good thing I'm not a hero—and I'm definitely not here to save anyone."
"Mm. Test the blade, then leave…"
As Shinji drew closer, the situation on the battlefield came fully into view.
Four to five dozen attackers—a motley group of bandit samurai and wandering ninjas—were launching a frenzied assault.
Meanwhile, a group of guards stood firm, desperately protecting a palanquin at the center.
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20 Power Stones= 1 additional chapters.