Kusari no Naruto

Twenty Third Link

It was like fighting a child. An insanely fast, ridiculously strong child. There was no pattern to Hidan's attack, no structure. The man just swung his scythe blindly, flailing the weapon every which way as if he was simply hoping it would connect. What he lacked in technique though, he more than made up for in ability. Naruto could see why the Akatsuki recruited him; he was faster and stronger than any opponent he had faced yet, except for the two Sannin.

His technique for dealing with Tsunade's strength was rendered useless by the reach of the man's ridiculous weapon. He could also forget about trying to take it off him, it was connected to a cable that ran up the man's sleeve and was no doubt firmly anchored to prevent that very scenario. That was beside the fact that Naruto was too busy defending from his mad swings to even consider getting a grip on it.

He used the thick whip of chains he had been growing out his back, out of sight, to suddenly swing forward and divert one of the lunatic's strikes into the ground. He used the brief moment where Hidan was forced to pull his ungainly weapon out of the blood-soaked earth to dash forward. The chains he had been using to defend himself retracted, curling up his arm into the familiar drill. They were already wreathed in wind-Chakra by the time the blades formed the point; he wasn't taking any chances with an S-rank.

He was almost surprised with the ease his fist tore right through the man's stomach. Jiraiya had made the Akatsuki sound monstrously strong, there was no way this man measured up with his raw ability alone. There were plenty of Jounin faster, physically at least, than Naruto. Kakashi or Gai could have mopped this guy up with ease. He had to be missing something.

His answer came when he realised Hidan hadn't so much as grunted when an entire forearm was forced through his abdomen. Instead, the silver haired man looked down and grinned, mouth remarkably blood-free for somebody who should be hemorrhaging like a rusted pipe.

"That sweet pain. A gift from Jashin-sama that a heathen like you…" an extendable baton, filed down to a razor-sharp point, slipped into his other hand "…will never understand!"

As he swiped at the blond, Naruto reacted on instinct. The chains wound up his arm had already finished spinning, so he forced them in the opposite direction. The coiled chains twisted outward, expanding the hole in Hidan's body and forcing the man back a step. It was the sheer force of the manoeuvre that saved him as, once again, Hidan only seemed excited by the wound. It would have been excruciating to most anybody else.

Arm freed, Naruto immediately jumped back, examining his options. Hidan used the opportunity to recover his scythe, the hole in his gut still present. Curiously, it didn't appear to be bleeding. Blood surrounded the gaping wound, as it should, but the man's front should have been dyed red. Then he spotted it, recognising the signs from his own accelerated healing while under the influence of the Kyuubi. It was slow, the flesh stitching itself back together as the wound grew smaller and smaller, but it was noticeable. At that rate, a wound that would have killed just about anybody Naruto knew would be completely healed in about five minutes.

New problem. How did you kill something that didn't die?

"Do you see the futility of it now you fucking heathen? I am blessed with Jashin's gift! Me alone! None of those bastards in that fucking cult, they didn't get it. They didn't understand. They had their rituals and their traditions…. But they didn't see like I did. Jashin-sama rewards action!" His scythe finally came free, and he brought it up to his mouth, licking off the blood from one of the many bodies strewn on the ground. "And the only actions worth taking are pain, and death."

"So, you're crazy, and a masochist?" Naruto called out, hoping to buy more time to analyse the situation. It only had the opposite effect, inciting the cultist into another rage that saw him charging forward. Naruto's mind was a flurry, trying to figure out how to use that single-mindedness to his advantage.