Rising Apostle Chapter 17

That evening Yoko knew she had to confront Hidan. She moved through the cave in order to find the room where Hidan had continued coming in and out of. She had to know what he was doing, and why he didn't want to tell her, or..

Her thoughts were cut off as she nearly ran right into Gonzo as he rounded the corner. He jumped slightly, not having seen or heard her coming, and placed a hand to his forehead. “Goddamnit Yoko-chan!” He growled in irritation, turning away from her, but continuing the turn in order to face her. “The hell are you going?”

She shook her head and placed her hand on his chest to shove him aside. “Not now Gonzo-san. I have to go see Hidan.”

His brow knitted tightly together, and he move to be beside of her. “Me too.”

She looked at him questioningly, but he continued to explain. “Taromaru-sama asked me to get answers out of him last night when I got up to piss. I wanted to wait until he was going back into that damn room before I did though, so I could catch him if he's plotting against us.”

Yoko nearly paused in her step. “Wait, he was up last night, and asked you? He just asked me this morning.” Why didn't Taromaru just ask himself? He found out about Shou on his own didn't he? Why didn't he just do the same with Hidan? Why was he using her and Gonzo? It wasn't making a damn bit of sense.

Gonzo shook his head and scoffed. “I don't know, but I'll ring his neck myself if he's trying to betray us.” Gonzo was a loyal man on top of being as religious as he was. He wouldn't stand for disloyalty from any Jashinist if he could help it.

The pair marched together in union, their minds flooding with questions, their hearts becoming fueled with anger, and distrust. Together, they simply walked in through the door to find Hidan standing in the middle of the room. He had set up a large triple ringed formation of candles, and in the center he stood upon a blood drawn diagram, his right hand coated in fresh blood. The ritualized suicide. Gonzo knew that set up anywhere. Why was he killing himself!?

They all stared at each other for a moment before Hidan finaly spoke. “Shut the door guys. I have to tell you something.”

Yoko did in fact shut the door as Gonzo approached the rings of candles circling around the diagram and Hidan. “You had damn well better start explaining yourself. What's going on with you?”

Hidan glared slightly, but began explaining, lowering his voice so nobody else would hear. “I think I've found a way to reach eternal life.”

Gonzo scoffed and tossed his hands up into the air, Yoko staring at him as if he'd lost his marbles completely.

“Hidan-nii,” she questioned. “What are you talking about? Why were you even....why?”

He shook his head and sighed. “I can't explain a lot right now because I have to get started before my focus breaks. Guys if this works...I can actually spend the rest of my life as a missionary for Jashin-sama. Don't you see? If I spread the word, and can't be killed...more people can be enlightened. More can be saved. I didn't mean for you guys to worry, but I didn't want word getting out. I wanted to be the one to do this because I want Jashin-sama to be proud of me. I want for him to look at me the way he does Taromaru-sama.”

Hidan couldn't wait to get started, and he was even more excited to see the look on Taromaru's face when he told him. Surely he'd be happy that Hidan had worked this hard in order to serve Jashin-sama, just the way that Taromaru had. Well then again, he had right by birth. No matter. Perhaps it would only impress him more.

Gonzo shook his head and went to protest, but stopped himself. He knew it was too late, and that Hidan's mind was already made up. “Fine, go ahead and kill yourself, see if I give a shit, you fucking idiot. This is never going to work! Don't you get it!? That story you heard from Junpei-san's gone to your fucking head. It's just an old legend that's been passed down and warped over the years!”

Gonzo knew better than that. Yes he believed that Jashin-sama had shown himself to mankind before. Otherwise how would they know about him? He believed that the rituals and ceremony's were held then in order to praise Jashin-sama's name. He believed they had praised his name however for sparing their lives, and promising to save them from their pain and suffering so long as they understood the pain of others. So long as they were enlightened, and were prepared to serve him during the event of their deaths, they would be saved. He didn't believe for a moment however, that the first man was gifted with immortality.

“Not even Taromaru-sama has immortality, and he's Jashin-sama's son! You're making a mistake, don't!”

He knew it was a lost cause. As he watched Hidan ignore him and his warnings altogether, and sit his happy ass down in the diagram to begin, he gave up trying. He just couldn't believe he would go through with it. After this was over, Gonzo would see to it that the stupid legend wasn't repeated to new, bullheaded members. Immortality his ass.

Hidan knew Gonzo was just worried for him, and he understood why he didn't believe his words. However Hidan had to trust his instincts. Another reason why he hadn't told them. When they heard about the sacrificial bits, they would try to talk him out of it. Not happening. The same could be said for Taromaru-sama. Either he would be worried for Hidan, or more likely, want to be the only immortal among the group. However, Hidan knew he wouldn't have much of a choice but to accept the fact once it was presented, and as Jashin-sama's son, he couldn't deny the practicality of having an immortal missionary. It would all work itself out in the end.

Yoko and Gonzo could only watch however as Hidan pulled out a pair of retractable, sacrificial pikes, his lips moving in a wordless prayer, his eyes closing. They knew it was too late for him, and they held to much respect for Jashin-sama to interrupt a sacred ritual, no matter how foolish it was being used. It wasn't their jobs to stop anybodies death. It countered all points of Jashinism.

It happened so fast for them however as they watched the pike being lifted, and soon driven through Hidan's body, by his own hand altogether. Yoko squeezed her eyes shut, as Gonzo lowered his head solemnly. After a brief cry of pain, blood poured from the wound, and Hidan's body stilled, unmoving.


Pain was all he could feel. However his hands couldn't move off of the pike. His mouth fell open, and his body simply went numb before his eyes fell closed. He was aware of feeling as though he were asleep. Dreaming. He wasn't aware of anything except for a harsh voice filing his ears. Growls mixed with the barely humanoid voice as it spoke, obviously male.

“You little fool.” It sounded displeased. Jaashin-sama?

Yes. Hidan knew as soon as he heard it. It was him. It was really him. He wasn't happy however like he thought he would be. He could still feel the pain in his heart, and it was all he could focus on before the voice's volume rose. However, there was no room now for doubt in Hidan's mind. All along, it was all true. Jashin-sama existed, and was with him.

“You are deceived. There is now but one with my gift. Become the brother of your enemies through their blood, and give them to me.”

He couldn't answer, though he worked force his lips to move. He wanted to speak, but simply couldn't function. It was as if he was just floating through a cloud of Jashin-sama's words, aware of his presence, but he couldn't see him. At least not until the last minute. It happened within a split second. So fast that Hidan wasn't even certain he had seen what he had seen.

A giant tiger stood in the distance of his vision. The tiger in his vision from the mountains. The head was nothing but a skull, the rest of the body furred with the signature orange and black coat. All along the coat were deeply embedded scars from what Hidan could only assume was battle. Around his thick neck, a long, bellowing, black cloak had been clasped with a silver Jashinist symbol. The ends of the cloak, which stopped at the rump of the cat, were torn and tattered from wear. The beast let out a massive roar, chilling Hidan to the bone.


The purple irises snapped open in shock, a gasp of pain coming from his mouth. “Oh!.....Fuck! Son of a bitch!” He tried to roll to his side, but realized the pike was still stuck within his chest. He gasped, and coughed in pain before moving to pull the weapon from his body, then forcing his legs to pick his body up off of the ground.

His heart skipped a beat however when he noticed his hands. His skin was completely black, layered with white strips that vaguely resembled bone. He rose his hands slowly, making certain he was seeing it correctly before his jaw fell open. “What....what's...”

He looked down at himself, but couldn't see through his robes the rest of his skin. However he did note Yoko and Gonzo's faces. Horror was the only word he could use.

Yoko shook her head in disbelief, fear laced in her eyes. “No....no you died! Hidan-nii....no! This....” She was silenced by Gonzo who placed his hand on her shoulder, never taking his eyes off of Hidan.

For the longest moment, all three stood in shock and fear.

Only when Gonzo spoke did they all seem to snap back to reality. “Hidan-nii....what...what happened?” He slowly approached his friend, but it was obvious he was nervous.

Hidan shook his head, now unsure of how to explain it. “I saw him! I, I heard his voice! He...he said I was deceived. That....there was one with his gift...something about making myself a brother by blood?” He gripped his head with both hands, closing his eyes in frustration. What had he meant?

Gonzo frowned and shook his head. “One with his gift? Deceived?” What did it mean? One with his gift.

Hidan's brow furrowed suddenly as he opened his eyes, letting his hands fall back to his sides as he picked up the pike, the pain finally starting to become more bearable. “The gift....was immortality. One....me.” Was Gonzo right? Did Taromaru not have this gift? Obviously not. Jashin-sama had said so. Over all, Hidan trusted the word of his God, over the word of his Leader. However, was it really his mortal leader? Why would the son of Jashin-sama be mortal?

“I'm going to see Taromaru-sama.” It didn't make sense. Hidan wanted answers. Yoko and Gonzo seemed to stunned to really do anything but chase after Hidan as he suddenly bolted to the dining room where he knew the rest of the group would be.

Upon arrival, he didn't stop until he entered the dining room, the sound of shocked gasps, and soft screams rising from the chatter. Everybody rose to their feet, but nobody dared approach. Taromaru also stood, his eye wide behind the deer skull. “What is this!?”

Hidan frowned, and began slowly moving towards him, Yoko and Gonzo skidding to a halt behind him. “Is it true!? You aren't immortal?!”

Taromaru seemed caught off guard, and could hardly force his lips to move. The blood covering Hidan's chest wound singled he should have been dead, and what had happened to his skin?

“What have you done?”

At that moment, it was confirmed. Hidan felt his blood boil, the pikes suddenly in each hand. Taromaru seemed to follow suit, his hand slowly reaching over his shoulder to grip the triple bladed scythe, pulling it free and into his hands.

“You lied. All along...all this time I believed in you. You were the one I thought I could trust. You don't have the promise of eternal life at all....you....you aren't the son of Jashin-sama at all! You fucking liar!” His voice suddenly rose to a shout as he stomped his foot.

“Falsifier!! Blasphemer! Traitor! You deceived me! It was you!” Suddenly, each piece to the puzzles, even those long since passed, began to fall into place faster than Hidan could grasp.

“You tried to have me killed! You killed Junpei! You killed Shou! It was all you! Shou never betrayed anybody did he!? Why!? Why did you do it, tell me you ugly sack of dog shit! Fucking tell me!”

The crowd of Jashinist looked at Taromaru, Yoko, and Gonzo wide eyed with disbelief.

Taromaru only stood there with the scythe in his hands, his palms slick with sweat.

However before he could even manage to answer, Hidan started all over again. “You set me up! You knew Shou was innocent! You knew I'd find out your secret, and you wanted to get rid of me, and anybody else around me that would question you!”

Yoko's eyes welled up with tears, the truth hitting her the hardest among Hidan. Her own Father. Lied about who he was to her very face, trying to turn her and Gonzo against Hidan, all because he knew about Hidan's quest to be closer to Jashin. During that time he had gotten more paranoid by the day. Paranoid that Hidan would find out. So he tried to set it up to get rid of Hidan's friends, and Hidan himself, to make sure nobody could find out once the pieces didn't match up. However, that included her. He had already promised to kill her had she aided him. It was sickening to her, and she hated herself for believing him.

Gonzo glared daggers towards Taromaru. He hadn't felt so betrayed since Shou, and here all this time, it had never even been his fault. He had simply been murdered in cold blood. May his soul reach Jashin-sama's care, and may Taromaru be punished forever!

Hidan suddenly charged, having had enough of yelling, and screaming at what was going to be one less leader of the Jashinists. Taromaru of course jumped into action, swinging the massive scythe, only he seemed to have severely underestimated Hidan's rage.

The attack landed, but it only knocked Hidan slightly to the side. With the scythe still embedding itself deeply within Hidan's abdomen, Hidan swung one of the pikes violently, hitting Taromaru in the chest. It was a side slice, and the pike alone wasn't really enough to cause much harm to such a wide target.

Taromaru growled in pain, and jerked the scythe free, before lifting his leg, and kicking Hidan down the stairs. Hidan tumbled down while the other Jashinists seemed to move out of the way, but remained in the room to watch.

Hidan stood back to his feet, only to be hit with the sudden blast of a fireball jutsu from Taromaru. Once more he found himself on the ground, his robes slightly charred and his skin feeling crisp and sticky. He growled in frustration and stood once more. His body burned beyond belief, and pain threatened to bring him to his knees.

He went to move forward until the sight of the blood dripping from his stomach caught his eyes. Blood. Become their brother. His eyes narrowed deeply before he brought the pike to his mouth, the pink tongue uncertainly flicking out to ingest the crimson liquid.

Hidan watched Taromaru's confused expression, but couldn't see anything happening yet. Become their brother...through blood right? What did that mean. He knew it had something to do with blood. What else? There had to be more to it.

He didn't have time to think however, as yet another fireball jutsu was cast towards him. This time Hidan managed to avoid it. Leaping to one side and rushing back towards Taromaru, moving to strike him with the pike, but the giant scythe blocked his course, deflecting the thin pike.

Damnit, what did Jashin-sama mean by what he said? Why were these things never clear? He growled in frustration as the scythe once again tore into his chest, however resting in the knowledge he couldn't die made Hidan forget about dodging completely. He wanted to kill Taromaru, but it was killing him to try to figure out what Jashin-sama meant. He made it sound like there was more to giving somebody to him than...of course. Sacrifice!

Suddenly, it all seemed to click at once, as blow for blow was exchanged, Taromaru fighting to keep Hidan at bay. Sacrificing him, the way Hidan had sacrificed himself to Jashin-sama! Suddenly he felt like an idiot, but there was no time to beat himself up. Taromaru was trying to do that for him.

Before the next attack could follow through, Hidan jumped backwards, landing a few feet away from Taromaru. He stood for just a moment, long enough for the blood to drip on the floor, but Taromaru had other ideas. He charged forward once more, striking him with the massive scythe. Damnit, Hidan would never be able to draw the diagram with him attacking like this!

“Yoko, Gonzo back me up!”

The larger man happily complied as he pulled out the finished scroll, opening it and dropping it to the ground. Biting his finger to draw blood, he slammed his palm down onto the ground, Yoko following suit with her own scroll.

Suddenly from the parchment, leapt the bloodthirsty ape, but along with it, was in fact what Gonzo had been working to summon, all these years.

An ashen gray skinned demon drug itself across the floor by its arms, the end of its spine rattling as it scrapped across the stone floors, teeth bared, claws spreading. He glanced around to see where he was before Gonzo rushed to his side at a dangerously close distance. However he trusted the demon, and wasn't afraid. To him, no demon deserved to be treated anything less than as a friend.

“Lo-sama! Please, I need you're help, there is no time to explain.” The creature nodded his head with a sickening growl. “Very well human...”

The ape jumped towards Taromaru as Lo's subtly drug himself under the tables, being more of an ambush type.

Taromaru swung his scythe at the ape before he had to do a complete 360 in order to avoid an attack from Gonzo.

Hidan meanwhile had began to drag his feet through a pile of his own blood, creating the well practiced motion of drawing the diagram. Upon being finished, he blew out a breath. This was going to hurt. Lifting the pike up over his head, he slammed it through his stomach once more, crying out in pain, but soon, the cry turned into a moan, the sudden rush of pain seeming to shift into waves of...ecstasy.
His body, seemed to be perceiving it in a totally new way. It...it barely was hurting him at all.

Taromaru however had staggered mid swing, and fell to the ground, the scythe clattering noisily to the floor. The rest of the Jashinists could only watch in awe, even Gonzo and Yoko pausing their attacks. However as soon as his body hit the ground, the demon's hand reached out from underneath the table, gripping Taromaru's leg. Using the leg's weight, he pulled himself over to the downed man, and gripped the same leg with his free hand, the jaws parting viciously and biting down into the flesh, another cry of pain ringing from the blonde.

Only it wasn't just one summon he had to worry about. The ape raced over to the same leg, the smell of blood driving it almost blindly as it's teeth also sank into the leg beside of where Lo was biting, the mutual understanding between the creatures being to simply hold him there, while trying to sever the limb altogether.  

Hidan watched the carnage, but a wicked smile appeared on his face. “That can be for betraying me. This...is for Shou!” He pulled the pike out of his body, only to drive it through the opposite leg of the creatures. Another scream of pain filled the room, Taromaru trying to stop the creatures, but it only received with his hand being bitten through completely by Lo.

Hidan cackled at the sight, his excitement growing to a higher, and higher peek as he barely recognized his own voice. He didn't even know he could hit that high of an octave.

“This, is for Junpei, this is for those that you were supposed to lead, and this is for Jashin-sama!” With each name, came one blow, then another, and then another.

At the time, Taromaru's life was slipping away altogether, the blood pouring from his body at a none stop rate. His eyes began to flutter closed, his screams having died down. Only Hidan wouldn't let blood loss beat hm to the punch line.

Pulling back one final time, he yelled out, driving the pike through his own heart, almost feeling Taromaru's as it stopped beating completely.

It was over....he stood as still as a statue, moaning in absolute pleasure, and he was sure he had ejaculated from the rush of endorphins.

Both Yoko, and Gonzo dismissed their summons, the crowd of Jashinists moving to be closer to their dead leader, all eyes fallen on the skeletal form of Hidan.

The job was done. With his skin seeming to fade back to it's normal shade, Hidan exhaled deeply, pulled the pike out of his body, feeling slightly dizzy from his own blood loss. His eyes scanned the crowd before he moved to be near Taromaru's body.

“Before any of you can say anything listen up!” He pointed a finger towards Taromaru's body, his eyes set in a glare. “This shit stops here! I am Jashin-sama's chosen one, so I claim the right to title of High Priest now! Any of you who have an issue, speak now so I can silence you forever! Deception, is NOT what we are supposed to be about! So I am disgusted to know he had gotten away with this for so long!” He scanned the crowd once more, but nobody moved, or even breathed loudly.

At that point Hidan scoffed and kicked Taromaru's corpse. “Strip him down, and burn this body. I don't want to fucking see it. Jashin-sama will deal with him now.”

At once, Yoko, Gonzo, and three others were in the process of removing the man's jewels, mask, and robes. All of it being offered to Hidan as he stripped himself down, unashamed in front of the crowd, slipping himself comfortably into the High Priests wear. It felt right. However the rings were annoying...so those wouldn't be pulled out until the ceremony’s, but for now he would wait until he could put them away in his room.

During the meantime, Taromaru's body was in fact burned per request, and soon, Hidan took what he knew was his rightful place at the head of the dining room once they all returned. He sat down heavily, his head falling back against the stone. For the first time in years, he felt like he had reached his purpose. Everything that had happened, had paid off. It was worth it....in the end...it was all worth it. All he regretted, was cursing Shou's name unjustly. For that, he felt guilt.

He watched as Gonzo and Yoko seemed to encourage the others to simply resume their evening routines, to dig back into their feasts, which most of them did, only a few of them seeming to have to discuss what happened amongst themselves. Only Hidan could see that nobody seemed to be displeased with the results, especially after how bitter the comments were becoming about Taromaru. Soon it would be forgotten, and they could move on. For now, venting would be needed. It was a hard betrayal, but Hidan was determined to never again let his people be falsely lead again.

“Gonzo!” The man perked his head up and rushed over to the bottom of the stairs, of course pausing there and nodding his head. “Yea Hidan-n....sama?”

Hidan scoffed and motioned for him to come up all the way. “Come here you moron, don't give me that shit. Look, I need to eventually get into the swing of this shit, but in the meantime, I want to go out to start spreading the word. I'll come back as often as I can, especially for the ceremonies...in the mean time, will you and Yoko look after them while I'm gone? I can't do both at once.”

Gonzo seemed speechless, but knew not to be surprised for what Hidan wanted to do. He nodded his head once and locked eyes with Hidan. “You can count on us. Don't worry about them...just do what you need to do, but you have to be here when we need you for the new moons alright?”

Hidan nodded firmly and began to stand from his seat. “Okay...I'm not leaving tonight of course, but I'm gonna be gone hopefully by tomorrow. Until then, I want to sleep.”

Gonzo nodded once more, bidding the silver haired man a good night, for once, feeling at peace. He knew how seriously Hidan took his faith, so it wasn't a matter of question if he would be good for the role of Leader or not. They could rest easy.