"You bastard, why are you still alive?" Hidan roared, unable to understand what had just happened.
Nara Shikamaru's voice was calm.
"The blood on your weapon wasn't mine. It was your partner's."
On the other side of the battlefield, Kakuzu had already lost another life. Moments later, he revived again. The mask creatures that had separated from him fused back into his body one by one.
"This time, none of you are getting away."
Now truly enraged, Kakuzu shot out black threads and bound everyone in place.
"Die."
He was just about to unleash a composite jutsu that would wipe them all out when the reinforcements everyone had been waiting for finally arrived.
"Wind Release: Rasengan!"
"Water Release: Tearing Torrent!"
"Typhoon Water Vortex Technique!"
"He's here."
Outside the screen, Uchiha Sasuke recognized that voice the instant he heard the Rasengan.
Who else could it be but that dead last?
Looking closer, he saw Yamato and Uzumaki Naruto combining their techniques, intercepting Kakuzu's attack with a massive collaborative jutsu.
"Sorry we're late."
Uzumaki Naruto arrived in a rush.
"He looks exhausted. Probably just came from another fight," Hatake Kakashi observed quietly.
On screen, Naruto did not look refreshed at all. He looked like someone who had just crawled out of a brutal battle.
"Did they launch a full assault on Akatsuki? Were there other enemies there too?"
Kakashi's mind raced.
Meanwhile, back on Shikamaru and Hidan's side of the forest, Hidan was gradually breaking free of the Shadow Imitation Technique. Just when it seemed he was about to kill Shikamaru, the truth revealed itself.
That had been part of the plan.
Shikamaru had been waiting for Hidan to get closer so he could seize him again.
"I'm not letting you off that easily."
His voice was cold.
"Shadow Gathering Technique."
All the traps he had prepared earlier activated at once. Layers of Explosive Tags wrapped around Hidan's body. At the same time, Shikamaru triggered the final mechanism. The ground beneath them had long since been hollowed out into a massive pit.
"Goodbye, sensei."
He tossed Sarutobi Asuma's lighter into the pile of tags.
Flames ignited.
The explosion tore Hidan's body apart, scattering it into pieces that tumbled deep into the pit below.
And yet…
Even reduced to nothing but a severed head, Hidan did not die.
His eyes snapped open.
Only now did everyone truly understand what Kaede Kitahara had meant by the "Immortal" in Immortal Duo.
He really would not die.
Blown to pieces, reduced to fragments, and he was still alive, still screaming.
"You'll be punished by Lord Jashin!"
Hidan howled.
"Jashinism will bring you the most terrible judgment!"
Shikamaru's expression did not change.
"There's nothing to fear. We don't share the same faith."
He pulled out another Explosive Tag from his pocket.
"The god you answer to now isn't some useless Jashin, and it isn't anyone else. It's me. I'll be the one judging you."
He detonated the tags.
The entire pit collapsed inward, burying Hidan beneath tons of rubble.
Even then, Hidan's voice echoed up from below.
"I told you, Jashinism will punish you! I'm the one who'll judge you! I don't even need hands. I'll tear you apart with my teeth!"
That was the end.
Shikamaru had avenged Sarutobi Asuma.
He could not truly kill Hidan, but burying him alive in that forgotten pit was close enough. No one would dig him out in a hundred years. Or a thousand.
"So that's what immortality means…" Kakashi murmured. "Without it, Hidan isn't even close to Kakuzu. Kakuzu is clearly Kage Level. Hidan, without that body, is probably just elite Jonin at best. And what he uses isn't ninjutsu. It's some kind of forbidden ritual."
Kakashi had traveled the world. He knew the shinobi continent's power system was not limited to ninjutsu. There were other paths, just not as refined or widespread.
From start to finish, Kakuzu had relied on ninjutsu.
Hidan had relied almost entirely on taijutsu and rituals.
"Jashinism… has there ever been an organization like that?"
Kakashi could not recall one. But he had gathered enough intelligence.
Hidan's first trait was immortality. Ordinary jutsu could not kill him. Even decapitation was useless. The source was likely the so-called power of Jashin.
"His method of killing… once he gets your blood, he can sacrifice himself and transfer the damage. That's how Asuma died, isn't it?"
Uchiha Itachi silently recorded every detail as he watched.
"Do not let Hidan obtain blood. Killing him is extremely difficult. Conventional methods ineffective, unless…"
He thought of the legendary spiritual weapon he had acquired, the Sword of Totsuka.
He had originally prepared it to deal with Orochimaru, who also refused to stay dead. Whether it would work on Hidan remained uncertain.
Even if it failed, Shikamaru had provided a clear example.
If you could not kill him, you could bury him.
There was still one unknown.
Did Hidan's immortality only apply in battle, or did it grant true agelessness?
Compared to him, Kakuzu was more troublesome. Five hearts meant five deaths.
But if that was all, Itachi did not consider it insurmountable.
He still had a trump card.
Susanoo.
One punch would shatter Kakuzu.
That was the most shameless aspect of the Uchiha Clan. At nearly every stage of a shinobi's growth, their bloodline was absurdly strong.
At the Jonin level, it already took two opponents to reliably deal with one Uchiha.
Once the Mangekyo Sharingan awakened, it became even more unreasonable.
Activate Susanoo.
Attack and defense in one.
Kakashi had struggled so much against Kakuzu because he had to juggle offense and defense at the same time, calculating every move.
A Mangekyo Uchiha could simply summon a towering avatar and crush the enemy head-on. Even an incomplete Susanoo, if it landed a solid hit, would be enough to kill.
At most, it was a matter of how many strikes were needed.
That was the terror of the Mangekyo Sharingan.
"Jashinism?"
Jiraiya racked his brain, trying to remember if he had ever encountered such a cult.
Being decapitated and still alive… that was beyond twisted.
"Where does Akatsuki even find these freaks?"
He could not help muttering.
He had lived a long life, but he had never seen so many lunatics gathered in one place.
Tsunade, who had already set her sights on becoming Hokage, was in no mood to joke.
She now viewed Akatsuki as a confirmed future enemy.
And that was a problem.
In terms of numbers, Akatsuki was tiny.
But if every single member was this difficult to deal with, that was terrifying.
Of the five members revealed so far, one might be what Kaede Kitahara called Super Kage Level. Three were clearly Kage Level. Even the weakest, Hidan, would require elaborate traps to handle. Otherwise, he could probably withstand multiple elite Jonin at once.
And they were fearless.
Try killing them. If you can.
Konoha's combat strength felt painfully thin.
Was this still the village that once stood at the pinnacle of the world?
They did not even have guaranteed confidence against a small terrorist organization.
Unlike the others, Uchiha Sasuke's eyes were locked onto the newly arrived Uzumaki Naruto.
Naruto formed several shadow clones.
Then unleashed a massive Wind Release: Rasenshuriken.
"Th-this…"
Even through the screen, Jiraiya could feel the terrifying pressure of that technique.
"This must be the jutsu he was developing during that last battle. It shouldn't even be fully completed at this stage. To take Minato's technique and evolve it this far… that kid really is Minato's son. A genius."
For the first time, Jiraiya acknowledged Naruto as a genius.
In Kaede Kitahara's diary, Naruto often came off as reckless. He had flashes of cleverness, sure, and some impressive moments.
But compared to Namikaze Minato, he had always seemed lacking.
Naruto fought on instinct.
Minato fought with his brain.
Yet seeing Naruto develop an S-rank jutsu of this caliber, Jiraiya had to admit it.
He was a genius too.
Comparing him to Minato was unfair. Almost anyone would pale in that light.
"That's the incomplete version of that jutsu from before, right?"
Even Uchiha Sasuke had to admit he was shaken.
He had felt proud of developing Chidori Current in the future.
But seeing that dead last create his own technique like this…
It was a shock.
That dead last…
He had earned the right to stand beside him as a teammate.