Kaitlyn looked around at the destructive impact the battle had made on the surroundings.
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Stone reduced to rubble. Trees turned to splinters. The ground was stained red and body parts laid scattered. A normal person would find themselves paralyzed by the brutality of it, but this wasn't anything new for Kaitlyn.
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The clan members put up one hell of a fight, but unfortunately for them, they were out matched. One of them did, however, manage to land a pretty devastating blow to Kaitlyn's right knee mid-battle.
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She limped over to a partially fallen wall and sat down. She pulled her leg up to rest on the wall to take her weight off it. This will make walking difficult.
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"Are you injured?" Kakuzu said in his usual cold tone.
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"I think I blew out my knee," she responded, rubbing it with her hands.
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Hidan was about to add to the conversation, when a survivor of the slaughter suddenly jumped out, hoping to take at least one of them out, while they were distracted.
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All three looked over at the masked shinobi as he rushed towards Hidan.
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Hidan didn't even bother to fully turn to face his attacker, clearly unfazed as all he had to do to fend off the attack was bring up his elbow and collide it with the shinobis' face.
The impact threw the shinobi to the ground with an audible thud. The mask filled with blood, forcing the shinobi to pull it down to be able to breathe.
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The boy couldn't have been more than 15 years old. Hidan grinned sinisterly down at the boy. This was the perfect opportunity to perform a ritual. "Finally," he said, his voice dipping with evil intent.
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He wiped the blood off his elbow and licked it. His skin turned black with his signature white skeleton pattern. He reached into his cloak and pulled out a rod that turned into a spear as he flinged it up, then down.
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He plunged the spear into his palm, spilling his blood from the fresh wound onto the ground, as he pulled the weapon back out. Watching this display, the boy 's eyes went wide as he laid paralyzed with fear while Hidan drew the Jashin symbol in his own blood.
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Hidan stood in the center of this symbol, "The preparations are complete, and the ritual can now begin", he raised the spear over his head and started laughing maniacally.
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Kaitlyn jolted up, she couldn't watch this helpless boy be killed. Her body moved as if it had a will of its own. She drew her sword and in one fluent motion sliced through the symbol, breaking the connection and brought the blade to Hidan's throat. Hidan's skin faded back to its original light color. Hidan paused and turned his gaze to her, "you wanna rethink that move Kaitlyn?" he said, giving her the opportunity to back down.
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Kaitlyn hardened her gaze and stood her ground. Hidan's eyes shot forwards as the boy retreated and disappeared.
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Kakuzu had completely ignored what was happening, as he collected the heads of the bounties, clearly uninterested in what Hidan would do. She knew what she was doing and now she would face the consequences of her actions.
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But strangely, nothing happened. He didn't yell. He didn't strike her. He merely walked away.
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"You know, maybe it would be best for Kaitlyn to rest that injury of hers. It'll only get worse if she walks on it. There's a small village nearby. The collection office is in the opposite direction, so we'll be doubling back that way anyway." he said to Kakuzu.
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"Hmm, you have a point. Fine, take her to the village, I'll be back in three days."
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"I'm fine," she quickly claimed. That was a lie, she wasn't fine, she just didn't want to be left alone with Hidan after what she had done. On the outside, Hidan looked completely calm, but she knew that it was far from over.
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Completely ignoring her, Hidan placed his hand on the back of shoulder and forced her to turn in the direction of the village, "let's go." He said, pushing her forwards.
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…
Hidan came to a sudden halt, causing Kaitlyn to almost crash into him. He turned to look down at her, "Go ahead, I'll be back later." He didn't wait for her answer.
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She hesitated for a moment before walking through the door to the inn.