"Truly terrifying, that brat actually became so horrific."
Hidan remarked as he watched Mori Shiraishi display such overwhelming power in the village, clicking his tongue in wonder. He hadn't expected that plain-looking little fellow to explode with such frightening energy.
In contrast to Hidan's mockery, Simu narrowed his eyes. If Mori Shiraishi continued to be corroded by hatred, he would likely turn into a monster exactly like Sakamoto.
At this moment, the rampaging Mori Shiraishi had completely transformed into a hideous and terrifying insectoid dragon.
His entire body was encased in armor-like, dark red exoskeleton. His lower half was a massive centipede several dozen meters long, while his hands had transformed into two sharp, spear-like Rinkaku. Furthermore, his back sprouted dense, bright red tentacles that waved about like sea anemones!
His crimson eyes radiated a thick aura of destruction, and with just a few moves, he demolished several houses.
The ninjas of the Hidden Steam Village, who had come for the reward money from Sakamoto's mission, were no match for him. Countless ninjutsu were entirely deflected by the hard exoskeleton on Mori Shiraishi's surface. Even if they managed to break through his defense, such injuries were merely minor scratches on his colossal frame, which would heal instantly under the horrific vitality of the Kagune.
Of course, the price for this was... Mori Shiraishi's life.
All power comes at a cost. Although Mori Shiraishi could fuse multiple Kagune, the source of their power was the host. His current body simply could not support this level of consumption. Consequently, the Kagune would frantically squeeze out his life force to erupt with even greater power.
Under this power fueled by life itself, the Hidden Steam ninjas had no hope of resistance. Within their terrified and fearful expressions, the horrific beast that Mori Shiraishi had become slaughtered them all without mercy!
"Destroy..."
As Mori Shiraishi slammed a spear-arm deep into the ground, the last Hidden Steam ninja was declared dead. However, his fury did not stop there.
"Destroy... destroy everything!"
After losing all his relatives, Mori Shiraishi no longer had an "anchor" in this world. He was now like a small boat that had lost its anchor, drifting aimlessly upon the sea of sin that was the mortal realm.
He didn't care anymore—he cared about nothing. The only thing he wanted to do was destroy everything he could see!
"ROAR!"
Amidst the sea of fire, a horrific monster let out a long howl toward the sky as a terrifying aura of destruction poured out from its body. It was a scene of total apocalyptic ruin. With a casual sweep, half the village was instantly leveled.
Watching this, Simu let out a sigh, his face clearly showing disappointment.
"What a pity. Did he eventually lose control after all?"
He adjusted his glasses and shook his head slightly. As expected, one couldn't have too high expectations when experimenting on people; failure was a common occurrence.
Nevertheless, the harvest this time was acceptable. He had discovered two special Kagune carriers, Mori Shiraishi and Sakamoto. Bringing their corpses back should allow him to unearth plenty of useful data.
Hidan noticed the fleeting disappointment on Simu's face and immediately started laughing.
"I didn't think even a guy like you would miscalculate."
Hearing Hidan's mockery, Simu's expression remained neutral. "Miscalculate? Perhaps a little. But it's an experiment, and failure is normal. After all, aren't you a failed product of Lord Jashin's?"
"Kamizuki Simu, I'll f—ing..."
Hidan was frustrated. This time Simu was clearly the one who failed, so why was he the one getting worked up? He held back, licking his lips. "Hmph, do you need me to help you finish that guy off?"
Simu watched the continuously rampaging Mori Shiraishi and shook his head. "No need. Given his life force, he shouldn't be able to last much longer."
Hidan huffed. "Then I'll go take care of the sacrifices on the ship."
At the mention of sacrifices, Hidan's expression instantly became excited. It had been a long time since he had presided over such a grand, large-scale blood sacrifice involving hundreds of people! Lord Jashin would surely be very happy and satisfied!
In the sea of fire, Mori Shiraishi finally came to a halt after his terrifying venting. Standing before him was the old house where he had lived for over a decade.
For a moment, his violent, crimson gaze actually flickered with a hint of nostalgia. However, this trace of memory was quickly extinguished, replaced by another of his vent-like roars.
"Destroy..."
"Destroy the world!"
He shrieked as countless crimson Rinkaku tentacles on his back fired out in all directions, stabbing toward the house below from every angle! He wanted to destroy this place that held all his memories, completely sever his past, and then... make the world pay!
Countless crimson tentacles fell from the sky like meteors, only to stop abruptly. A small figure had cautiously crawled out from the house.
Looking at the numerous tentacles stopped right at her forehead, Rin Shiraishi was dazed. She looked up, and though the monster before her appeared completely unrecognizable, she could somehow sense a familiar aura from him.
"Are you... big brother?"
Rin Shiraishi asked hopefully. Once she was certain the monster was not moving, she reached out her small hand and gently grasped one of the tentacles.
"You are Rin's big brother, right?"
Sensing the girl's warmth, the monster that was dozens of meters tall and had easily slaughtered a squad of ninjas suddenly trembled. High in the air, a single tear silently slid down the face encased in dark red exoskeleton.
"Rin..."
The monster opened its mouth, letting out a raspy voice. In the next second, the crimson in its eyes faded completely, and the entire creature began to disintegrate. Like a tower of blocks losing its key components, it collapsed!
A white-haired youth separated from the mass, falling right in front of the girl.
"Rin..."
The white-haired youth struggled to reach out his hand. The girl also crawled toward him with difficulty, opening her arms to pull her brother into a gentle embrace. Beside the two embracing figures was an endless sea of fire, rising blood mists, and black crows flying through the sky, letting out strange caws.
"How unexpected."
Simu pushed up his glasses, his face full of surprise.
"Indeed, human emotions are the things most worth researching."
He turned around. Hidan had already prepared everything on the cruise ship. A massive Jashin symbol was carved into the deck of the cruise ship. In the center of the triangle within the circle was a mountain of various corpses. Sakamoto's terrifying, several-dozen-meter-long shell was also there.
Seeing Mori Shiraishi return to normal, Hidan felt a bit of regret. He knew that as Simu's important experimental subject, he probably couldn't drag him over for the sacrifice.
"What a shame. But with these sacrifices, Lord Jashin will surely be quite pleased!"
Hidan stood atop the mountain of corpses, opening his arms to embrace the sky with a look of pure ecstasy. The Jashin symbol drawn in blood on the deck flashed with a red light. Immediately after, a terrifying pillar of blood-red light shot into the sky!
"Caw! Caw! Caw!"
Countless crows circled the soaring blood aura, letting out mournful cries that sounded like curses.