Being a rogue ninja is worse than being Hokage.

Upon hearing Kakuzu's words, Hidan immediately looked down.

He actually stepped out of the ritual circle on his own initiative.

No wonder the curse didn't affect Sarutobi Asuma!

Hidan couldn't remember when or why he left the ritual circle.

"Of all the ninjas I've met in all these years, you're the first one who stares at the Sharingan during a battle."

When Hidan first noticed Sasuke's three-tomoe Sharingan, he had already unknowingly fallen victim to the Sharingan's genjutsu.

In his hallucination, Hidan deliberately left the ritual circle.

"Hidan, they've figured out your abilities."

Kakuzu's gaze fell upon the Sound Four beside Sasuke.

Clearly, these guys had been hiding in the shadows, witnessing the entire battle between Hidan and Sarutobi Asuma, and then passed the information on to Sasuke.

"Analysis? I don't think so!"

Hidan didn't seem anxious about his abilities being exposed.

As long as he steps back into the ritual circle for administering the blood of the Death Sage, Sarutobi Asuma will die just the same!

However, when Hidan was about to return to the ritual circle, he was surprised to find that someone had taken his place in the circle before him.

It's that blond brat!

Not only Hidan, but even Kakuzu was surprised by the speed of Naruto's Body Flicker Technique.

"So fast!"

Hidan and Kakuzu both gasped inwardly.

"Let's start by dealing with you."

Naruto's Rasengan struck Hidan squarely in the chest before Hidan could even step into the ritual circle.

Hidan was thrown back into the air.

Hidan's chest was ripped open by the Rasengan.

Under these circumstances, Hidan is still alive!

Hidan staggered and steadied himself. Although he wouldn't die from the fatal wound, he would still have to endure the pain himself.

The pain inflicted by the Rasengan was a completely new experience for Hidan.

The intense pain twisted Hidan's emotions.

Hidan roared with a ferocious expression, "You brat, once I get your blood, I'll make you wish you were dead!"

Unfortunately, Hidan could only utter angry threats.

Before Hidan could even fully regain his footing, a pair of hands sprang out from the ground beneath his feet.

Those hands did indeed grab Hidan's feet, then pulled Hidan's entire body into the ground, leaving only his head above ground.

Hidan was imprisoned in the ground.

This is a ninjutsu that Naruto learned from Kakashi Hatake, and it's the ninjutsu he uses most often.

Earth Release: Heart-Slaying Decapitation Technique!

Noticing Hidan's defeat, Kakuzu suddenly stretched out his hand!

Countless black lines connected Kakuzu's outstretched hand, which was reaching out towards Naruto!

But the sharp cry interrupted Kakuzu's attack on Naruto.

Sasuke emitted a blue lightning bolt from his palm, which transformed into a spear that slashed Kakuzu and Naruto apart from a distance.

Sasuke's Lightning Release ninjutsu was also learned from Kakashi Hatake's Chidori.

Developed by Sasuke himself, it is called the Thousand Bird Spear!

Sasuke was constantly on guard against Kakuzu, the blue lightning of the Chidori Spear illuminating Sasuke's crimson Sharingan.

This further highlighted Sasuke's cold expression at that moment.

"Naruto and Sasuke..."

Ino, who was watching from the sidelines, couldn't help but express her feelings at that moment: "They've become so strong..."

Kakuzu and Hidan are powerful rogue ninjas who could easily defeat Asuma's team.

Sakura remained silent as she tended to Asuma Sarutobi's injuries.

But she felt the same way as Ino.

Sakura even thinks more than Ino.

Naruto and Sasuke reunite three years after they've both grown up—

—The two of them didn't need any adjustment period at all, yet they were able to cooperate with such perfect understanding.

Chapter 31 Feigned Attack

"Hey! Kakuzu, what are you up to?!"

Even though his entire body was imprisoned in the ground, Hidan's mouth kept muttering to himself.

The fact that Sasuke's lightning ninjutsu easily severed the hand of the person opposite him expressed strong dissatisfaction.

"If you pay a little more attention, how can you let that Uchiha brat see through your moves so easily!"

"Shut up! I'm cleaning up your mess right now!"

Kakuzu interrupted Hidan's complaints in an unfriendly tone.

What flowed from his severed arm was not fresh blood, but wriggling black lines.

The black line continued to extend and touched the palm that Sasuke had just severed with Chidori Spear, which was connected to the black line.

Reattach the hand that had fallen to the ground.

The black line pulled back to Kakuzu's palm, causing his palm and wrist to rejoin.

"It seems you have similar abilities to that noisy slick-haired guy, at least in terms of physical strength... you're both equally 'hard to kill'."

Sasuke did not stop Kakuzu from retracting his hand.

His Sharingan discerned Kakuzu's "reconciled" severed hand, combined with the information revealed by Hidan.

Sasuke astutely guessed why Akatsuki had Hidan and Kakuzu participate in activities in pairs.

A ninja who is difficult to kill.

Or rather, "immortal".

Sasuke recalled Hidan, who was still full of energy even after Naruto's Rasengan pierced his chest with a huge hole, and Hidan's methods of killing.

If you attack someone like this without knowing their background, you'll easily find yourself in an unexpected and difficult battle in your first encounter.

They might even have to risk their own lives to gather intelligence for their companions, even if it means making a mistake.

“Jirobo, Kidomaru, Tayuya.”

Sasuke immediately made a judgment and gave the order to three of the Sound Four beside him: "Perform a feint attack."

Having received Sasuke's orders, the three immediately began to divide the work in perfect harmony.

Sasuke didn't need to give any detailed explanations; the tacit understanding between the Sound Four was personally cultivated by Orochimaru.

Orochimaru, who was keen on using his subordinates as tools, managed to keep the Sound Four by his side at all times.

This is enough to prove how "easy it is for these four people to use".

Jirobo was the first to launch an attack.

His fat and muscular body did not affect his reaction speed.

Jirobo bends his knees, leans forward, and presses his hands on the ground with his fingers spread.

Earth Release Barrier: Earth Prison Hall Without End!

Jirobo channeled his chakra into the ground, causing the originally flat ground to shatter from in front of him, and rapidly affecting the land around Kakuzu.

The land surrounding Kakuzu broke into a circle that enclosed Kakuzu.

Then, these broken clods of earth actually began to "grow" with the help of the chakra injected by Jirobo.

In the blink of an eye, the circle transformed into a sphere that enveloped Kakuzu!

Despite the Earth Release barrier that had been successfully cast, Jirobo, the caster, felt that he had failed to imprison Kakuzu.

Jirobo's technique was fast enough, but Kakuzu dodged it with an even faster reaction.

And in turn, they used the blind spot of the spherical earth sphere formed by the Earth Release Barrier: Earth Prison Hall to launch a counterattack against Jirobo!

Kakuzu used the cracked earth created by Jirobo to break through the ground beneath Jirobo's body with his hand!

But all that appeared at Jirobo's feet was Kakuzu's hand!

Kakuzu's black lines connected his palms, extending his attack range and allowing him to attack enemies from a safe location!

Jirobo quickly adjusted his posture, gathering chakra in his feet to enhance his jumping ability, and dodged Kakuzu's attack with several large backflips!

"Four o'clock direction."

While Jirobo was being attacked by Kakuzu, Sasuke's Sharingan also detected the location of Kakuzu's true form by sensing the chakra in his vision.

"Leave it to me, Lord Sasuke!"

Kidomaru had already spat out hard chakra spider silk from his mouth, shaping it into the form of a longbow.

This is Kidomaru's ninja tool-type ninjutsu.

Originally, it required entering the second stage of the cursed seal to activate the third eye and enhance vision and insight before it could be used.

However, with the aid of Sasuke's Sharingan, Kidomaru no longer needs to worry about accuracy and can use this move under normal circumstances.

Kidomaru gripped the bow with both hands, and with an extremely terrifying pull, he yanked the arrows wrapped in spider silk on the bowstring, which was also made of spider silk.

Fire an arrow toward the four o'clock direction that Sasuke told you about!