Chapter 123 : Asuma vs. Hidan!!

[With Kakuzu's confirmation, the devout Hidan and greedy Kakuzu formed a Zombie Duo and officially debuted.

[In their first appearance in Naruto Shippuden, they captured the Two-Tails Jinchuriki but did not kill her. This went against Hidan's religious belief of sending enemies away.

[Next, Kakuzu attacked the Fire Temple to earn money for their organization, while Hidan fulfilled his beliefs by wiping out the monks present.

[Kakuzu then took the body of the temple's head monk, known as Chiriku, to the black market to collect his reward.

"Asuma, didn't you say you would invite Chiriku and the others to stay in Konoha for a while? What happened?" 

"Don't even mention it. I wrote to Chiriku to come to Konoha, and he did. We caught up for two days, but then he left." 

Mentioning Chiriku made Asuma's expression turn melancholic. He was the friend he could talk to the most among the Twelve Guardians. 

Asuma truly didn't want Chiriku to die at the hands of Hidan and Kakuzu. He thought it would be great if he could know the exact plans of this immortal duo. That way, Konoha could make targeted preparations and save Chiriku while dealing with the two.

"Don't worry, Asuma. I'll personally visit the Fire Temple soon and place some ninja frogs there. As soon as Hidan and Kakuzu appear, I'll receive news and use Reverse Summoning to get there." 

"Really? Thank you so much, Lord Fifth Hokage!" 

"Haha, no need to thank me; it's just a small effort."

[On the way, Hidan's desire for killing was not satisfied, and he kept provoking Kakuzu, wanting to fight. 

[After Kakuzu got a bit angry, he regained his composure and sternly educated Hidan. 

[After talking to himself, Hidan finally gave up.

[He had no choice; in terms of strength, he couldn't beat Kakuzu.

[Thus, Hidan's violent and talkative personality was fully revealed.

[When collecting the bounty, Hidan complained about the Bounty Station hidden in the restroom and went back to the entrance, grumbling that his clothes had been stinking.

Hayashi Sora commented, "Haha, he actually cares about his personal belongings!"

[Moments later, while sitting at the entrance, Hidan bumped into Asuma, Shikamaru, and a four-man team from Konoha who had been chasing him from the Fire Temple.

Seeing the scene on the screen, Asuma silently thought: Here they come.

Normally, he would die in this battle against Hidan.

For a moment, Asuma fixated on the scene displayed, not wanting to miss any details.

The Third Hokage felt the same way.

Asuma was his son.

How could he not be angry that his own son died at the hands of the enemy?

He also wanted to see how Hidan had killed Asuma.

[Asuma, that old rascal, didn't play fair. He suddenly appeared behind Hidan and began throwing shurikens for a sneak attack.]

[Unfortunately, Hidan easily dodged it.]

[After dodging Asuma's shurikens, Hidan swung his scythe to counterattack, but his movements were too wide, leaving him open to two surprise attacks.]

[At the same time, Shikamaru used his Shadow Imitation Technique to bind Hidan while the two surprise attackers went for Hidan's vital spots.]

[This attack would likely have killed a normal person.]

[But our friend Hidan isn't a normal person; such an attack couldn't kill him.]

[No wonder they say Hidan has an IQ of only six.]

[He publicly declared his ability to not die, almost as if he was suffocating from the shock.]

[The two attackers didn't believe it. They twisted their blades inside Hidan's stomach a couple of times to confirm that it really didn't affect him.]

[All four of them were shocked by Hidan's immortality for an entire year, which ultimately brought Kakuzu into the scene to save Hidan.]

"Hidan is still as arrogant as ever," Orochimaru scoffed at Hidan's performance on the screen.

According to normal logic, when someone throws an attack and you dodge it, you should create some distance from the attacker.

This way, whether the enemy continues to attack from afar or comes close for a fight, you'd have some time to react.

But what did Hidan do?

After dodging Asuma's shurikens, he didn't create any distance. Instead, he wanted to chat and joke with Asuma, which led to him being bound by Shikamaru and stabbed twice by the surprise attackers.

Undoubtedly, Hidan's actions showed he was relying on his immortality.

As someone who values his life, Orochimaru looked down on Hidan's behavior.

In a way, Orochimaru could also be considered immortal.

He not only had the ability to recover from injuries quickly using his Forbidden Jutsu, but he also had a technique that allowed him to revive himself.

Even so, Orochimaru never held back in battle; he fought how he needed to.

It's not like someone like Hidan, who relies on his immortality, can just do whatever he wants.

Orochimaru speculated that Hidan likely died at Shikamaru's hands because he was being reckless.

"This immortality is indeed ridiculous. He can survive even after his head is cut off. Is there anything that can limit him?"

Jiraiya, the Fifth Hokage, was also annoyed with Hidan. Watching the battle scene on the screen, he thought silently about what methods he could use to limit Hidan's immortality.

"Normal methods probably won't work on Hidan, but the Dead Demon Consuming Seal should be effective. After all, as long as there's a soul, this technique can restrain him."

"Old man, what are you talking about? We obviously know that the Dead Demon Consuming Seal should work on Hidan, but can we use it casually? We don't need to waste our lives just to deal with this useless guy."

Jiraiya's words were agreed upon by everyone present.

Despite Hidan's seemingly unbeatable immortality, based on his fight with Asuma, he didn't seem all that strong.

After all, if even Asuma could suppress him, how strong could he really be? He was only relying on his immortality and that yet-unknown Blood Curse Technique to act tough.

"Hidan doesn't seem to have the ability to self-repair. When the Akatsuki officially goes to war later, it's best to keep him separated from Kakuzu."

"That's right. Without Kakuzu's stitching abilities, Hidan is just an immortal punching bag."

"If we cut off his head and chop off his limbs, he won't be a threat at all."

[Kakuzu's appearance allowed Hidan to free his hands.]

[He began to draw a curse formation on the ground with his own blood.]

[At that moment, Asuma devised the most effective beheading plan at a less-than-ideal time.]

[Hidan, who was eager for battle, didn't let Kakuzu take action and declared he would take on four opponents alone.]

[Two members of the team were guarding Shikamaru, who was pursuing Hidan with his shadow, while Asuma pushed Hidan toward the shadow, looking for the right moment to behead him.]

[However, Hidan was twisting and turning, extending his scythe to attack while also dodging the shadow.]

[Using his weapon advantage, he managed to slash Asuma's face and successfully acquired his blood.]

Asuma: "I was careless; I didn't dodge!" 

*********

Support me on my ko-fi account and read upto 15 early chapters,

https://ko-fi.com/aayume