'We're getting closer... this place is controlled by the Nara clan. Sooner or later they're going to find us' Sighing wearily, Toru scanned the trees.
Large trees with roots in plain sight were scattered all over the place. It seemed that the trees were dry. On the way they could also meet some deer that escaped from the forest protected by the Nara clan, Shikamaru's clan.
The team of three Akatsuki members walked at a relaxed pace through this place.
...
"Hidan. How did you become immortal?" Toru had been wondering this for a long time.
On the other hand, Hidan was excited to know that Toru was interested in the Jashinkyō, so an arrogant smile showed on his mouth while touching his head as if saying 'At last you have chosen the right path', but Toru is just curious about this, nothing more than that, although he couldn't deny that he had interest in that specific god and the immortality it grants.
And, although immortality for Toru may be a curse, as for others a blessing, he is interested to know. In the end, no one is truly immortal, everyone has a beginning and also an end, even those whom death fears.
"Well... I certainly couldn't explain it well. Jashin is the god my cult prays to. He expects us, his followers, to perform total destruction and absolute death. Sometimes I think he watches us all from his tomb." Hidan takes the scythe in his hand. "I bought this scythe because it fulfilled the purpose of my curse. This is something you already know."
Toru paid close attention to this. Hidan felt proud of this, for he thought he had finally succeeded in bringing another wayward sheep into his cult, but that was far from the truth.
At the same time, Kakuzu watched everything in silence. At last he could relax for a few minutes without hearing Hidan's shouts and insults. Moreover, he even liked the way he explained to Toru about his religion.
'Like a pair of brothers' That was what Kakuzu thought when he saw these two.
They are both young men, they might as well be brothers, even though they both look nothing alike.
"My cult did some experiments. You might be interested in that too. They sought immortality, and they got it with me, but I had to kill them all because Jashin-sama demanded sacrifices" Hidan raised his arms high holding the scythe looking at the sky. "Everything I have accomplished has been thanks to Jashin-sama! So if you understand that, you will join the cult" He looked at Toru.
After hearing this, Toru put his hand to his chin. It was all quite interesting. However, there was something that Toru was more interested in than anything else.
"You said that you feel that Jashin is watching you from his grave. Does that mean that he used to be human or some kind of living being?" These words Hidan said at first were confusing. How can a god be in a tomb? Is there any way for any thinking being to manage to become a god?
Thinking about that possibility made Toru doubt if this world is really okay. There is something strange about all this.
"Obviously I don't know. From the beginning my cult says that Jashin-sama is dead, he died a long time ago, but I don't know anything more than that. Whether he's human or not doesn't matter. What matters is that he is the god I follow faithfully. I will not betray him for anything until the end, although I don't think there is an end for me."
An end for everyone, there is always the possibility. Even if immortal, death always comes, the end of things will always be there. That thought is something Toru had in mind from the first time he thought of immortality in his past life.
'In my old world, immortality was impossible. I always sought to extend the life expectancy of living beings, but I never succeeded... so much time thrown away...' Shaking his head, he thought seriously about this. "Your condition is interesting. Besides I'd like to know more about that god Jashin, but I guess you told me everything you know."
Hidan smiled with pleasure. Toru is now interested in the cult. This was going well for him, for after almost a year he felt he could finally get along with this crazy kid.
"That's all I know, unfortunately. It's been a while since I became immortal. The rest you already know" Nodding his head, Hidan smiled and looked down the road.
Toru saw this and remembered something from long ago. He used to have similar conversations with Naruto and Sasuke before everything went to hell. 'Is this something friends do?' he sighed. The past hit him in the head hard and made him feel nostalgic.
"If you continue to be interested you can-"
"Wait..." Interrupting Hidan, Toru felt something approaching. It was four people in total, hidden waiting. However, they had already started with their attack. "Kakuzu-san! Hidan!"
Both of them stood on guard and separated with a great leap. There was a shadow passing beneath their feet. That was the unmistakable jutsu of the Nara clan, Shikamaru's jutsu.
In a single second, three kunais with explosive seals were launched and fell like an inevitable rain. Toru watched this and threw a kunai to avoid the explosion. The explosive seal detonated in the air and exploded leaving a cloud of smoke.
"Holy shit!"
However, Hidan and Kakuzu were not as lucky. Hidan took the blast full on and Kakuzu could barely brace his arm to keep from exploding into a thousand pieces, but the rain of explosive seals didn't stop as three more kunais came out of nowhere in the direction of the three Akatsuki members.
Toru threw another kunai and it exploded, but taking advantage of the cloud of smoke that formed, more explosive seals shot out with kunais.
With Hidan and Kakuzu the same thing happened, but because both of them are not as fast as Toru, the kunais managed to reach them and hit the ground, but nothing happened.
The only thing the three knew was that now they could not move. Even Toru was surprised by this, as he didn't notice that there was a hole in the ground where the shadow was coming out.
'Reminds me of the chūnin exams' Unable to get off the ground, Toru sighed.
'Damn bastard... he manages to catch us' Hidan looked to the front where a teenager had appeared after throwing the explosive seals that didn't detonate.
At the same time, Toru felt surprised. In fact, Shikamaru thought of catching Toru first than the other two strange guys, so this was obvious.
'He knows who I am, or at least he suspects me. It's time to use my ace up my sleeve' Having thought of that, Toru relaxed and waited for the right moment.
Right now, Kakuzu's threads are underground. That's the trump card for these three.
"We're screwed, Kakuzu. We're so screwed! What the hell are we supposed to do now!"
"..."
Kakuzu fell silent. It was obvious that Toru knew about the threads, for that strange monochromatic gaze was active, he could see it from that angle he was at.
"The moment my jutsu catches them, they are finished" A small shadow began to emerge from Shikamaru's shadow, which spread across the ground like a snake until it reached Toru's feet. "I'll see to it that I don't miss this time."
Toru's reaction was nothing out of the ordinary. He simply stood quietly as Shikamaru began to move Toru as if he were a puppet, copying Shikamaru's movements.
Toru did not resist, and Shikamaru took advantage of this to use it to punch Kakuzu in the face, then kick Hidan and remove his scythe, to finally make Toru kill these two ending with a suicide, this is Shikamaru's plan.
Everything went as expected. Toru punched Kakuzu, but after that, Kakuzu's threads came out of the ground and lashed out at Shikamaru, who at the same instant was protected by a strange thorny sphere that rolled all over the place, breaking the threads.
"Thank you, Chouji."
"No time to thank, we have to finish this quickly."
Shikamaru nodded his head, and looked at Toru, at once, with a continued expressionless face, but... Toru didn't move.
Instead, he just stood in front of them. Slowly he began to walk towards Shikamaru, who tried to hold him back with the shadows, but it was impossible, Toru had a lot of strength, he was so strong that his footsteps broke the ground slightly.
"Hakuto, now!"
Running at an overwhelming speed, Hakuto passed by Shikamaru's side and made the seals that make up a jutsu, immediately after, hundreds of butterflies with crimson wings appeared and then Kakuzu and Hidan stood still, but the same did not happen with Toru, who continued walking while a tear of blood fell down his cheek.
Shikamaru couldn't hold it back anymore, so he acted differently.
"Toru... it's you, I know... if you surrender now, I can take you to Konoha and have Hokage-sama absolve your crimes..."
But Toru didn't react.
"We know you didn't betray our village, you never went with Orochimaru. But you still went with the first person who allowed you to live safely, the leader of Akatsuki..." Toru was already ten feet away from Shikamaru. He could no longer hold him back, so he released his hands and the jutsu was undone.
While this was happening, Hakuto was keeping the genjutsu with Hidan and Kakuzu. Kakuzu was resisting very well and was about to break the genjutsu by himself, but Hidan got carried away and was now suffering from the hallucinations of his nightmares.
...
After hearing Shikamaru's words, Toru just sighed and approached Shikamaru so much that the two were facing each other.
Boom!
Blood came out of Shikamaru's mouth after being kneed in the abdomen. Chouji couldn't protect him in time, but he still launched an attack against Toru, but....
'Crimson...' Shikamaru's eyes widened in disbelief. 'Shit... I was wrong. He's not Toru..." On the ground, after seeing the crimson glow in the stranger's eyes, Shikamaru had no more doubts. He was wrong again...
But...
"Chidori!"
Toru looked back and saw Kakashi, who at this moment had hit Kakuzu in the heart with that electric jutsu.
He quickly went to defend Kakuzu, who fell on the ground. At the same time and fortunately, Hidan broke free from Hakuto's genjutsu and glared at the girl in anger. "Damn bitch. You're cute, but now I'm going to make you suffer like you made me suffer. You made me see things I didn't want to..." Swinging the scythe as if it were a toy, Hidan licked his lips.
At that moment, Hakuto's legs trembled, fear invading her heart. Her genjutsu doesn't work on anyone, and that was frustrating. Even though Asuma took it upon himself to help her overcome her fears, she was still weak, still dependent on her friends to live. She was like a parasite who only took and wasn't able to give anything in return.
She unconsciously crouched down and covered her head with her hands, making Hidan feel grateful that his sacrifice was going to be easy this time, but that wasn't going to happen.
Because Toru went to help Kakuzu, Shikamaru and Chouji were left free to help her, so they went on the attack.
'There were complications, but everything is going as I want' Clenching his fists and throwing his shadows at Hidan, Shikamaru waited for Chouji to follow the plan. All that was left was to get Hakuto to regain her fighting spirit.
He knew that she is in love with him, but he can't accept her feelings because he doesn't feel the same. Still, if it took telling a half-truth, then Shikamaru was willing to accept the consequences.
To be continued...