I am the new Hokage of Konoha.

Although this remnant of the Jashin cult, who somehow joined Akatsuki, seems to want to act alone, Asuma doesn't believe his enemy's words.

Therefore, he specifically instructed the well-coordinated Yamashiro Aoba and Namiashi Raido to keep an eye on Kakuzu, who seemed to be standing by, while he and Shiranui Genma would deal with Hidan.

A perfect immortal body?

There's also the blood curse mentioned in the intelligence.

Asuma's eyes flashed with a thoughtful look. After exchanging a glance with Genma Shiranui, who was holding a senbon needle, he quickly prepared for battle.

On the other side, seeing Kakuzu emphasizing the 35 million, Hidan, who knew there were high-ranking members among the Konoha ninja, still nonchalantly said, "Relax, Kakuzu, just don't interfere. I'm going to use these people for the ritual. As for the corpses and money later, you can have them at the end."

Kakuzu nodded upon hearing this, and then moved aside just as he had said.

Seeing this, Yamashiro Aoba and Namiya Raido also moved over.

Upon seeing this, Hidan immediately retorted, "Hey! You bunch of faithless bastards! I already said I'd take you all on one-on-one, why are you splitting up? I, who believe in the great true god, am honest and trustworthy! Kakuzu, don't you agree?"

Before Kakuzu could say anything, the Konoha ninjas all looked at Hidan with expressions of utter disbelief, as if he were an idiot.

To avoid the latter from going on and on and on.

After Asuma and Genma Shiranui nodded to each other, the latter launched the first attack.

Ninja Technique: Senbonsame!

Genma Shiranui spat the senbon needles from his mouth into the air, and instantly they split into countless needles that rained down on Hidan.

"Oh dear~~ Are you in such a hurry to die?" Hidan, still somewhat unsatisfied, looked at the large number of senbon needles flying towards him and laughed arrogantly.

Just as the senbon were about to arrive, he waved his hand, and the huge, blood-red crescent scythe swung rapidly in front of him like an electric fan, blocking all the senbon without any gaps.

"Now it's my turn, you unbelievers!"

Hidan, completely unharmed, charged forward with a roar.

On the opposite side, Asuma, wielding Flying Swallows in both hands, also took the lead.

Clang!

A piercing crash rang out.

Hidan, who had rushed forward, brandished his Bloodstained Three-Moon Scythe, slashing downwards to tear apart the Konoha ninja in front of him, when Asuma, wielding his Flying Swallow, stopped him.

"Tch, you've got some pretty good weapons."

Seeing that Asuma's short sword had blocked his attack without sustaining any damage, Hidan muttered something under his breath and then nonchalantly swung his scythe again.

As the representative weapon of the Jashin Cult, Hidan, an absolute follower of the Jashin Cult, has a very high level of mastery over it. When he fights, he is in no way inferior to an ordinary Jonin.

In addition, the rarity of the Bloodstained Three-Month Scythe makes it easy for many powerful ninjas to be injured in a fight when attacked unexpectedly, leading to their deaths at the hands of Hidan's curse ritual.

However, Konoha had a very detailed understanding of Hidan's abilities, so Asuma was very careful not to get injured in the ensuing battles.

Ta-da!

The continuous clanging of metal against metal, accompanied by blinding sparks, echoed between the two rapidly moving figures.

Hidan, who had just forced Asuma back, took a step forward and then twisted his waist, his Bloodstained Scythe slashing down from the other side with incredible speed due to inertia.

Tear!

A series of sharp sonic booms echoed behind the rapidly passing scythe.

Hidan's attack was extremely swift.

Asma was caught off guard and saw the three extremely sharp blades on the scythe about to pierce him.

Just as Hidan's face showed a look of joy.

The next second, his smile suddenly froze.

Asma, who was hit, instantly turned into a wooden stake in a puff of white smoke.

Behind him, the real Asuma, who had been prepared all along, suddenly appeared, his incredibly sharp chakra blade aimed straight at the opponent's neck.

tearing~

A shallow bloodstain appeared on Hidan's neck.

Asuma wanted to make the blade even deeper, but it was too late.

Hidan, realizing he had been tricked, not only did not dodge when faced with a deadly attack from a normal person, but also pulled out a long, black spear from his clothes and pointed it straight at his heart.

If he didn't dodge, the result would be that Hidan's head would be severed and his heart would be shattered.

I am truly dead.

But for Hidan, it was just a matter of experiencing extreme pain.

Asuma would never do something so unprofitable, and he quickly stepped back, creating distance between himself and Hidan.

"Ouch~~ That was close! I don't want to experience the pain of being beheaded!" Hidan, who didn't give chase, touched his bleeding neck and said thankfully.

Not far away, Kakuzu said impatiently, "Hidan, how much longer are you going to take? If not, I'll make my move."

Upon seeing this, Yamashiro Aoba and Namiya Raido immediately took precautions.

Hidan retorted, clearly annoyed, "Didn't we agree not to interfere? Kakuzu, I'm enough on my own!"

"Then hurry up! You know the mission the organization assigned you hasn't been completed yet." Without even glancing at the wary Konoha ninja in front of him, Kakuzu reminded him of this and then stopped moving.

"Tch~ Only now do you remember the organization's mission? I wonder who had their eyes light up when they saw 35 million." Hidan scoffed, then raised the Bloodstained Scythe again and looked at Asuma. "Looks like I have to get serious. Although the injury hurts, I have to bear it so that Kakuzu won't look down on me."

Licking the blood from his own hands, Hidan smiled coldly and charged at Asuma again amidst a rapid sonic boom.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

In the following minutes, the aftershocks of their battle continued to reverberate throughout the arena.

Asuma and Hidan, both top-tier Jonin in terms of taijutsu, delivered a spectacular melee duel when they went all out.

However, as time went on, Hidan was visibly gaining the upper hand.

This was an unfair contest from the start.

One has locked health, the other has only low health.

With Hidan disregarding pain and resorting to suicidal fighting tactics, Asuma, who had to be constantly careful not to get hurt, was undoubtedly in an even more difficult situation.

"Fire Escape·Ashes Burning!"

Having finally found a sliver of an opening, Asuma tossed the swallow upwards and swiftly formed hand seals.

He opened his mouth, and a cloud of hot ash shot out and rushed towards Hidan.

Rumble!

The moment the ashes hit the ground, a violent explosion rang out.

As he watched the flames engulf everything in front of him, Asuma breathed a sigh of relief as he gripped the swallow tightly once more.

He didn't think his ninjutsu would be able to do anything to Hidan.

The reason for doing this was simply to disrupt the opponent's rhythm and give myself time to adjust.

To his surprise, amidst the raging flames, a figure, blackened and disheveled from the fire, charged toward him with undiminished speed.

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! It hurts so much!"

Hidan, his Akatsuki uniform burned to the bone and his skin covered in burns, looked like a vengeful ghost. He screamed in pain as he angrily slashed forward through the sea of ​​fire, his scalding, blood-stained scythe blade flashing.

"You bastard who doesn't understand other people's suffering! I will punish you on behalf of God!"

The sharp, three-sectioned blade, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound, slashed towards Asuma, who was completely caught off guard and had no time to react.

Just as the latter was about to be stabbed, suddenly!

A rapidly spinning wind demon shuriken shot out from not far away and struck the Bloodstained March Scythe.

Clang!

The ear-piercing clang of metal clashing rang out between the two enormous weapons.

Taking advantage of the moment when the Bloodthirsty Scythe paused, Asuma seized the opportunity and quickly retreated, thankfully escaping unscathed.

Seeing the fat meat that was about to be eaten fly away, Hidan, who was so angry that his nose was crooked, turned his head to look at the person who fired the Fuma Shuriken and said fiercely, "It's you again!"

The person Hidan was referring to was none other than Genma Shiranui.

In the tactical setup, Asma is responsible for close combat, while he is responsible for ranged distraction.

In previous battles, he would occasionally seize opportunities to cause considerable trouble for Hidan, who was fighting Asuma, using ninja tools and ninjutsu.

Now, with both old and new grudges combined, Hidan no longer cares about Asuma, but instead turns his attention to him.

"Let's just swat you dead, you buzzing fly in my ear!"

After saying that, Hidan unexpectedly swung his Bloodstained Three-Moon Scythe, which flew towards Genma Shiranui at incredible speed.

boom!

Three sharp blades plunged violently into the ground.

Genma Shiranui, who was only a hair's breadth away, couldn't help but shrink back.

'If I had dodged a little slower...'

But he didn't have time to think about it too much right now.

Suddenly, the rope attached to the bottom of the sickle was pulled, and Hidan flew over instantly from the other end.

"go to hell!"

With a swift, sweeping motion, Hidan grabbed the hilt of the sword and cut Genma Shiranui, who had not retreated far, in half.

boom!

White smoke rose.

The shadow clone of Genma Shiranui, which had replaced the original body at some unknown time, dissipated.

next second.

Suddenly, one of its hands emerged from the ground where Hidan was standing, grabbed his ankle, and pulled him down sharply.

Rumble!

When most of his body was forced into the ground, Hidan showed no panic whatsoever. Instead, he grinned ferociously and once again took out his black spear and thrust it forcefully into the ground.