________ POV Ken ________

It's strange... Not feeling your heartbeat in your body, feeling your hands grow colder and colder as the supply of blood to your brane made your vision foggy...

It's been quite some time since I've tasted my own blood like this... So much is coming out that I can't even keep it all in my mouth.

However, despite the obvious blood loss and pain, it seems that my regeneration can keep up with this... Just barely.

If this had been a year or two back, then I surely would've died from this, but as I am now, I can still hang on...

If he stabs his heart again and does more harm to himself, then I might actually die.

Apparently, healing a missing/burnt-off arm is easier than healing critical damage done to your heart...

This might be because the heart seems to also store chakra, which seems to somewhat conflict with Nature's Energy.

You'd think that you'd be able to move away chakra in your own body freely... But something in my heart seems to want to keep some chakra in there constantly...

I need to do some more research on this...

I don't understand how his technique works still... I've never seen anything like it either.

Is it some sort of sacrificial technique? Something that takes the life of the opponent away?

Wait... is he moving still? Is this man truly immortal? It's almost as if he doesn't need anything to survive...

He did defend himself from fire using his followers as meat shields... Would a surprise attack with flames actually be able to kill him?

But what do I do when my opponent both can't die, and whatever I do to him, happens to me as well?

There must be a way out of this... Even now, I sense a string of unidentifiable energy connecting the two of us...

It feels like chakra, but also not at the same time... It's broodier than usual...

There's no use in fighting him while this energy is connecting us, it would only be a waste of time on my end... An exercise in futility...

Oh, right... His blood formed some sort of circle, didn't it? Will our connection be severed if he leaves it?

... If not, then I'll have to play dead for a bit longer... Let's just hope everything goes well.

________ POV Narration ________

Kyumuro panted a bit as he looked at his opponent's dead body.

'Yet another offering to Lord Jashin... But at what cost?'

The Cult Leader looked around, to see all of his disciples had already been killed.

Maybe he could've saved them had he acted sooner, but he was unsure that he would've been able to take the masked assassin on without that surprise attack.

'And I thought we'd be safe if we stayed away from the 5 Great Shinobi Villages... Every other worshiper of our lord that was under me is dead... All because of that trash!'

Kyumuro was frustrated and angry. His pious and determined spirit trembled in rage when seeing the mangled corpses of his devout believers.

Alas, he managed to calm himself down.

'I'll surely get scolded for this... I need to quickly rebuild as much as I can...'

Kyumuro slowly walked away from the circle of blood, scowling as he did so. The Symbol of Jashin that had been formed from his blood was a powerful technique.

Jujutsu. A special type of Jutsu that relied on curse-like effects which normally stuck to others.

It was a rather esoteric and poorly researched art, but that was just because finding someone capable of Jujutsu was extremely rare.

So rare in fact, that you would be able to count the people capable of performing cursed techniques on one hand.

Now, the cult of Jashin and its high-ranking cultists were the exception to that. As they at least had a few dozen capable of performing Jujutsu with the help of their god, 'Lord Jashin'.

Kyumuro was leading nothing more than a small branch of the cult. They were a very widespread religion which had managed to stay hidden for a very long time.

It was only due to Kyumuro's bad leadership that people managed to track them down. It was a great failure on his part, which even he acknowledged.

'... At least Lord Jashin will forgive me, for I have already spilt the blood of the one responsible for this.'

Normally, his cursed technique would've transformed the user's body slightly, turning their skin dark and creating white bone-like markings on it.

However, Kyumuro already had those tattoos imprinted on his body, so it had no visible effect or difference.

The branch leader slowly walked closer to the corpse of the assassin that had assaulted them, finally getting a better look at his figure.

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'This runt...' Kyumuro got closer and closer, before raising his scythe and bringing it down towards Ken's back with bloodthirsty and ferocity.

Hitting a corpse was not beneath the cult branch leader after all...

Unfortunately for him, the corpse he was trying to stab fought back.

As soon as he raised his scythe, Kyumuro felt a bit of pain, then blood spilt on his face. Looking down, Ken had his blade raised and was already crouching instead of laying down.

Before the arm with the scythe even fell to the ground, Ken went for the other arm, swinging his blade again.

This time Kyumuro reacted and dodged out of the way, rolling backwards as his arm finally hit the ground.

"W-what?! Are you also a follower of Lord Jashin?!" Kyumuro shouted as he held onto his bleeding stump, his tattooed face whitening slightly as the foe he had thought dead was seemingly just fine.

'Shit... This guy's instincts are a lot better than I thought...' Ken scowled a bit underneath his mask.

"Yes indeed... This was merely a small test..." Ken stuck his long blade into the ground and cracked his neck.

The Blind Swordsman hoped to try and buy some time, to think up a strategy against the immortal cultist.

'His immortality may be 'better' than mine, but he can't actually heal himself or at least he can't accelerate healing.'

In the end, the most obvious strategy was also the simplest one... 'Dismemberment and capture.'

If Ken could make him drop his guard by pretending to be a follower of Jashin, then things would certainly go much better.

"T-test?! You call this a test?! After murdering all of my followers?!" Kyumuro didn't seem too pleased with the idea.

"Those that aren't strong enough aren't worthy of Lord Jashin's love."

Ken immediately entered his bullshitting mode. Trying to use whatever information he had gathered from listening in on them to try and appear as one of them.

"W-which branch are you from?" The mad cultist unfortunately seemed to be asking some hard-hitting questions.

Ken couldn't just give him a random number or area where his 'branch' was.

Instead, he chose the safest option... 'If there are several branches... There must also be...'

"I am from the main base, an emissary for Lord Jashin. I am to make sure that all of the lower branches have adequate members and that their efforts are enough to please our Lord.

I am also tasked to test the faith and power of each branch leader... I must say, I am quite pleased with your show of faith. You placed your trust into our lord till the very end of our fight."

Ken crossed his arms as he spoke, looking at the long blade that was still embedded in the ground in front of him.

"M-main base!? I was not aware of missionaries being sent to test us and our faiths..." Kyumuro still sounded confused, he rubbed his chin a bit. He also seemed quite flattered at Ken's praise.

The Blind Swordsman was sure to pick up on that.

'It seems that having his faith praised is most effective on this man... As expected.'

"It wouldn't have been much of a test if the branch leaders were made aware of it. This was meant to be a surprise... We were also told to kill all of the unfit members in the name of Lord Jashin."

Ken turned his head slightly and pretended to look around the battlefield.

"I-I see... It's my bad for recruiting such unworthy disciples." Kyumuro nodded, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth.

"It is fine. Your devotion to Lord Jashin could be seen in the sheer number of recruits. My report will certainly be a positive one." Ken smiled underneath his mask as he continued to bullshit the man.

"B-but what will happen now? Should I start rebuilding right away?" Kyumuro asked, his tone a bit confused, as he went and collected his heart.

"You will start rebuilding, but not in this area. Rumours say that you've been a bit too high profile..." Ken's voice gained an accusatory undertone, as he pretended to stare at the cult branch leader with his arms crossed.

"Apologies..." Kyumuro seemed to hang his head in shame, seemingly already aware of his own mistakes.

"... You will apologise directly to our superiors and Lord Jashin. All Branch Leaders were called to the main base. I am to also act as an escort, to make sure you reach the main branch safely."

Ken continued on with the charade, wondering how to try and squeeze some more information out of Kyumuro.

'I'll extend this for as long as I can, gather as much information as I can while he's still willing to talk.

Even if I don't plan to go after them, having more information on them will be beneficial...'

"A general gathering after the test? I guess it does make sense... The worst of us will likely be judged... Will the blessings of Lord Jashin be inverted as well?"

Kyumuro rubbed his chin after he placed his heart in his back pocket.

Immediately, he gave a rather interesting piece of information...

'So this 'blessing' can be retracted, huh? I'm guessing he's referring to his immortality...'

"I was not made privy to those details. Depending on the results, it is possible, it is all Lord Jashin's choice, however... I will put in a good word for you." Ken shook his head and continued building rapport with the madman.

"I see... Thank you." Kyumuro smiled and nodded. His tone was honest, losing some of its previous insanity.

"Are we heading for Mt. Shimatama right away?" The cult leader asked as he started walking towards his arm, trying to collect it.

'... Mt. Shimatama, huh?... Worth looking into.'

"Yes, Lord Jashin waits for no one, and you know it," Ken spoke out in a resolute tone, making Kyumuro smile even wider and nod.

"By the way, you never introduced yourself. Since you have a blessing, I'm guessing I already know you, right? We are after all the chosen few."

'... Shit... I can't really bullshit my way out of answering that question...

Well, I could if I really tried, but he's giving me a great opportunity now... Don't think I'll get much more information out of him like this anyway...'

In the end, Ken chose to follow his instincts. To take the opportunity that was presented to him so graciously.

Just as Kyumuro crouched down and went to pick up his arm, Ken kicked the blade that was in front of him.

The sword came out of the dirt instantly, cutting through it with ease as it spun in the air and cut into the madman's legs, its exceedingly sharp edge making his legs fly off instantly.

"W-wha-" Kyumuro didn't even get the chance to react, he only felt himself slipping forward as he lost his balance before he was attacked again.

The Blind Assassin caught his spinning sword in one hand and slashed away the remaining arm of the immortal cult leader.

"Well now, this was surprisingly easy... I guess there really was no need to fight you." Ken shrugged as he shoved the tip of his sword into the madman's mouth.

The cult leader seemed to go mad at that point, trying to trash around, his limbs flailing by themselves as Ken started tying him up in metal chains.

The Blind Swordsman also gagged him, wrapping the chains around and into his mouth with a deft hand.

'Ah... Peace and quiet...'

Ken sighed as he slowly started packing the cult leader's pieces and tying them to his torso. It formed a rather strange and morbid backpack for Ken to carry around easily.

On one hand, Ken could've tried to extend the information gathering a bit more. But there was no guarantee that he would've gotten any chance as good as that one to dispatch the mad cultist.

Kyumuro's speed and reflexes did seem to match his own, so it would've been a rather annoying waiting game to play.

There was also the fact that the longer that charade kept going, the more the possibility of getting an answer wrong grew. And that would've certainly made the mad cultist put his guard back up.

'No use thinking about it anymore... Our resident cult leader's already turned into a rather fine backpack.'

Ken strapped the Kyumuro backpack to his back before he started fleeing from the scene.

'It's only a matter of time before the Shinobi of this land show up, I don't want them to get involved with them... At least not while carrying such an important research subject...'

'Oh yes... Saburo is going to be extremely pleased with this.'