Thinking of this,
Yoruha couldn't help but sigh.
Because of his presence,
many things in the Naruto world had shifted—
some subtly, some significantly.
The most obvious change was Ino.
That girl had truly grown.
Now, the combined strength of the new-generation Ino-Shika-Cho trio was far greater than in the original timeline.
Which was probably why Asuma hadn't replaced Ino and Choji on this mission.
But that also made Yoruha feel a little uneasy.
If anything happened to that sister of his...
Wouldn't it be a huge loss?
One hour later.
Outside a seemingly ordinary bounty exchange station...
Hidan sat slumped near the entrance, complaining to himself.
"Damn it... Every time I end up stuck doing crap work in weird places."
"The Lord Jashin is probably pissed off again…"
But just then—
two swift shadows approached from behind him.
"???"
Hidan's expression froze.
He leapt up, spinning his scythe to cut down the incoming kunai.
But before he could make out who had attacked—
Boom!
A massive human battering ram hit him head-on.
Choji's Human Bullet Tank Technique!
Hidan's body was launched into the air.
There was no time to dodge.
He had no choice but to take the blow full-on.
Sparks flew as the edge of his scythe clashed with Choji's armor-like spin.
But even before Hidan could hit the ground—
a black shadow descended like a guillotine.
He suddenly felt his body freeze—
SHING!
A dazzling arc of sword light flashed.
Hidan's head fell cleanly to the ground.
The whole operation had flowed with ruthless precision.
It embodied the perfect coordination of the new Pig-Deer-Butterfly trio.
"Well, weren't we told that Akatsuki members were all big-time threats?"
Ino casually dusted off her hands, mimicking Yoruha's usual relaxed expression.
"Dude felt like a total pushover."
Still, she was buzzing inside.
Big sister Ino had just dropped a boss-level enemy.
Who said girls can't kick down doors?
She quickly pulled out Konoha's special signal tool,
alerting the other teams—
Mission accomplished, come applaud your queen.
"Ino, don't get cocky just yet," Shikamaru muttered.
"According to intel, these Akatsuki guys always work in pairs. The other one might be the real threat."
Right now, Konoha had gathered a decent amount of information about the Akatsuki organization.
From the Uchiha Itachi–Kisame duo
to Sasori and Deidara...
None of them were weak.
Just as Shikamaru was analyzing—
"Hey! HEY! Kakuzu! You done yet?"
Hidan's decapitated head suddenly began shouting from the dirt.
"These little bastards think I'm a joke?
I'll show them what real pain is!"
The sight made the team's blood run cold.
"Wha… the dead can talk?"
Choji's eyes were wide.
"This is straight out of a horror movie..."
"An immortal, huh?" Shikamaru's face turned grim.
"No wonder he's in Akatsuki."
Before he could say more—
a wave of intense chakra surged behind them.
Boom!
Shikamaru was blown away as Kakuzu arrived on the scene.
He quickly reattached Hidan's severed head to his stitched-up body.
Hidan cracked his neck and grinned viciously.
"Cut off my head again, little girl—
you'll pay for that."
Ino paled.
"What the hell kind of monsters are we fighting?"
The battle was on.
Team 10 engaged Hidan and Kakuzu with practiced precision.
Their formation was solid, their timing tight.
But Kakuzu's Earth Grudge Fear was nothing to scoff at.
And Hidan had already absorbed some of Asuma's blood.
Although Shikamaru had managed to interrupt Hidan's sacrificial ritual with his Shadow Possession Technique,
the situation was still dangerous.
But right then—
a sharp wind blew through the trees.
And with it—
Hidan's head flew through the air again.
Yoruha had arrived.
"Asuma-sensei," he nodded casually, "I heard you needed backup?"
"How did you get here so fast?" Asuma blinked in disbelief.
It had been less than five minutes since Ino sent the signal.
Was Yoruha flying?
"Yoruha—careful! This guy can't die!" Shikamaru warned quickly.
"Immortal?"
Yoruha raised an eyebrow, smiling coldly.
He stepped on Hidan's face with zero hesitation.
"Sorry, but in front of me—
there's no such thing as immortality."
He raised his foot—
Two swirling chakras—one of wind, one of fire—
gathered beneath him, fusing into a glowing Taijitu-like seal.
Whoosh!
Like a grinding millstone,
the yin-yang spiral spun—
erasing Hidan's head into ash.
Yoruha stood there, shaking his head.
Immortality, huh?
Everyone dreamed of it.
Even he wasn't immune to that kind of fantasy.
But the body and soul always came with limits.
What kind of "eternal life" could survive that?
With Hidan's soul anchor obliterated,
the crazed cultist was finally, and truly, gone.
Dead.
For real.
"I can't believe you actually killed Hidan," Kakuzu said coldly.
"Do you know how hard it is to find a partner I can't accidentally kill?"
Despite being told multiple times that Hidan's face didn't scream "cash magnet,"
Kakuzu still kept him around.
Because he was—
surprisingly—un-killable.
And now?
Yoruha had broken his favorite toy.
"Looks like you're pissed," Yoruha said, grinning.
"Thinking of avenging your immortal buddy?"
Then he casually added:
"By the way, isn't there a rumor that you once threw a kunai at the First Hokage…
from eight hundred miles away?"
"Any truth to that?"
Kakuzu's eyes turned murderous.
This punk was really trying to piss him off.
And it was working.
"The infamous Yoruha, huh?"
"You've officially pissed me off. Now you'll pay the price."