"That's a lot!" Shikamaru exclaimed, his voice tinged with excitement.
"Yo! Shikamaru," Naruto laughed, landing beside him. "You're lookin' kinda miserable."
Shikamaru sat up from the ground, brushing dust from his vest. "In any case, I'm relieved that you bastard showed up."
"It's not just me~" Naruto replied with a sly grin.
"Human Boulder!" a loud voice shouted from above. Chōji had leapt from the rooftop, spinning rapidly in his enlarged form, chakra infused into his hair. His whole body turned into a spiked ball, resembling a hedgehog as he barreled straight toward Kakuzu.
"Tch!" Kakuzu grunted, releasing Izumo and Kotetsu from his grasp and retreating swiftly.
"The Nine-Tails Jinchūriki?" Kakuzu eyed Naruto cautiously as more figures joined the battlefield.
It was Kakashi's team—Ino, Chōji, and Kakashi himself—alongside the remaining members of Team Asuma and a reinforcement unit from the Hidden Cloud. Thunderclaps echoed as the Lightning-natured shinobi gathered around.
"Just as I thought," Kakuzu growled. "You're different from my usual partners… you're smart." He glanced sharply at Shikamaru. "We wasted too much time and gave you enough leeway to bring reinforcements."
"Oi!" Hidan barked from where he was restrained. "What the hell's that supposed to mean?! How am I different from that punk?! Huh?!"
Hidan, still pinned under Naruto's foot, snarled up at Kakuzu like a feral dog.
"It's a figure of speech, you moron," Kakuzu muttered with disdain.
"Um…" Asuma spoke up, standing shakily in front of Naruto and raising a hand.
"Huh? What is it, Asuma-sensei?" Naruto asked.
"Can you please get this lunatic out of the blood ritual circle? He's stabbing me by proxy... it hurts like hell..."
"Ah—my bad!" Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry, sorry~"
With a swift motion, he kicked Hidan clean out of the ritual circle.
"Fuck!" Asuma doubled over, holding his stomach, groaning.
"...Oops," Naruto winced. "I really forgot..."
With a sudden flicker, Kakuzu reappeared beside Hidan. "You alright?"
"It hurts, damn it!" Hidan barked, clutching his abdomen. "But I'm not dead, so whatever."
The two exchanged a glance.
"It's time," Kakuzu said.
Hidan nodded, retrieving a vial of blood from his robes. He uncorked it and began drawing his ritual symbol again in fresh blood.
"Nine-Tails Jinchūriki…" Kakuzu's eyes narrowed as he addressed Naruto. "The Akatsuki sent us to Konoha with a purpose."
Hidan, grinning maniacally, raised the blood vial to his lips and downed it.
Black and white markings once again spread across his body as his curse technique activated. He turned his deranged eyes toward Naruto.
"AHAHAHA! SURPRISED, ARE YOU?!" Hidan cackled. "Three years ago, during the First Shinobi World War, we collected your blood during the chaos! All for this moment—to kill you the second you appeared again!"
"Die!" he screamed, driving a black spear down into his own leg.
Ding~!
"NANI?!" Hidan's eyes widened in disbelief. His spear had stopped—refused to pierce through his leg. The tip of the weapon was blocked.
He looked down—and saw Naruto's blade, Hyōrinmaru, resting against his thigh, shimmering with spiritual frost.
The black spear had failed to penetrate.
"This thing..." Naruto looked at the pale, ominous phantom that shimmered beside Hidan. "Is this the so-called Jashin god?"
Naruto blinked, unimpressed. "What a pain... I was just about to jab myself with a stick, but now this."
"No wonder this technique feels so twisted. It's like the Reaper Death Seal—just another demonic technique that binds the soul. If I didn't have this Zanpakutō, I might've ended up cut down by the Shinigami himself."
He frowned. "Is it just me, or does this thing look a bit like a Menos Grande?"
Hidan trembled. "What did you do, you bastard?!"
Everyone could see Hidan struggling, attempting again and again to stab himself—but the spear refused to go further.
Naruto calmly eyed the ghastly figure and spoke, "Sit upon the frosted heavens—Hyōrinmaru!"
In that moment, a half-moon shaped chain surged from the end of the Zanpakutō, swirling upward into the air like a summoned dragon.
The chain lashed around the Jashin phantom, binding it tightly.
"IMPOSSIBLE?!" Hidan howled.
A creeping frost spread along the chains, inch by inch until the entire specter froze solid in midair.
A towering ice sculpture of the so-called Jashin god now hung frozen in the sky, immobile and silenced.
"THAT'S IT?!" Shikamaru gasped. Even the most hardened shinobi stared in stunned awe. Ninjutsu couldn't explain what they had just seen.
Hidan's eyes bulged with fear—true, soul-piercing fear. His unshakable belief, the core of his immortality, had just been shattered.
Naruto raised Hyōrinmaru high, and brought it down with a chilling slash.
There was no sound—yet every soul on the battlefield felt the scream echo within their bones.
"You..." Hidan clutched his throat as blood spurted violently from his body.
His form began to rupture—tearing apart at the seams.
Naruto sneered. "Your soul was just shackled to that rotting body. Now it's over."
Everyone watched the grisly scene in disbelief.
Kakuzu, stunned, leapt back instinctively. His heart masks twitched in panic.
Naruto's gaze sharpened. He raised his right hand, and an enormous Rasenshuriken began forming—glowing with violent, whistling winds.
The air itself screamed.
"WHAT IS THAT?!" Kakuzu's eyes widened. "I mustn't get hit by that technique!"
"Watch closely—Wind Style: Rasenshuriken!" Naruto roared, launching the massive vortex of spinning chakra.
"It's too slow!" Kakuzu sneered, sidestepping with ease. "You think you can hit me with something that sluggish? In your dreams—HAHAHA!"
He sprinted forward, laughing.
BOOM!!!
An immense explosion detonated in front of him, chakra winds tearing the earth apart.
"NANI?!" Kakuzu skidded to a halt, eyes wide with shock. He turned—and saw another Rasenshuriken flying straight toward him.
"YOU SON OF A—IS THAT WHAT YOU CALL A SPECIAL MOVE?! YOU'RE JUST SPAMMING FLAT ATTACKS!!" he screamed in rage.
But it was too late.
The technique struck before his masks could react.
In an instant, Kakuzu was obliterated—reduced to ash and fragments by the microscopic chakra blades of the Rasenshuriken.
Orochimaru's Hideout – Underground Lab
Inside the dimly lit base, Orochimaru sat with a grin on his pale face, speaking with Kabuto.
"So, Hidan and Kakuzu are both dead?" Orochimaru asked, clearly amused.
"Yes," Kabuto confirmed, crushing herbs into a paste. "It appears Naruto was the one who finished them off."
"Hehehe…" Orochimaru chuckled darkly. "Fools. Provoking that monster? Reckless doesn't even begin to describe it."
Kabuto smiled. "The Akatsuki just lost two of their members in one strike. That's something even their so-called 'god' didn't expect."
"With this," Orochimaru mused, "they won't have the luxury of hunting us down as traitors any time soon."
"Speaking of which," Kabuto continued, "they've already secured the Two-Tails. If we want to weaken them further, now's the time to act—strike while the iron's hot."
"Indeed." Orochimaru nodded. "Oh, and what about that child?"
Kabuto adjusted his glasses. "Preparations for the final experiment are nearly complete. All data suggests success is imminent."
"Excellent." Orochimaru licked his lips.
Still, something gnawed at him.
"It's not enough yet," he murmured to himself. "I'll need another piece on the board to carry out my Tourmaline Plan..."
He turned to Kabuto again with a twisted smile. "By the way... bring that woman to me."
Kabuto stiffened. "You want her brought here?"
Orochimaru grinned, eyes gleaming with menace.
"Hehehe... yes."
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