Hidan: Death!

The instant Susanoo transformed into a barrier, the Akatsuki members had already positioned themselves around the arena, encircling and firmly locking Kou in the center.

Deidara and Sasori landed on the dilapidated stands on the west side of the arena, while Itachi and Raiga Kurosuki occupied the shadows on the east side, one after the other. Kakuzu and Hidan stood side by side beside the broken stone pillar on the north side.

Pain and Konan, along with the Naraka Path, stood firmly in front of Koko, never moving an inch away from him from beginning to end.

Kou remained as composed and infuriatingly arrogant as ever, as if the battle just now was nothing more than a routine warm-up.

"Are Susanoo into a closed barrier to prevent our retreat?"

Pain looked directly into Koko's calm eyes, his tone growing even more serious:

"Kou, I do acknowledge your current strength, but isn't what you're doing a bit too arrogant?"

Do you really think you can maintain a barrier of this level of energy consumption while simultaneously fighting all of us?

"... It's hard to say."

Pain smiled and shrugged.

"If you're really curious, you can try it yourself?"

Hearing Koko's almost provocative words, apart from Hidan who was eager to try, the rest of the Akatsuki members all looked somewhat displeased, but none of them really wanted to make a move.

Nobody was a fool (except Hidan). The strength that Kokoro had previously displayed far exceeded everyone's previous understanding of "Uchiha Kuro".

Although the Susanoo that had caused them so much trouble had indeed been removed, who knows what other outrageous trump cards this guy might have up his sleeve?

Making a move before fully understanding his background is by no means a wise choice.

"Don't be so arrogant, you bastard! I've put up with you for too long!!"

Hidan raised his blood-red Triple-Bladed Scythe scythe high, a ferocious smile spreading across his face:

"Now, you don't have that damn turtle shell on you anymore!"

Offering a sacrifice of your caliber to the Lord Jashin personally... hehehe, the Lord Jashin will be very pleased!

He slung the blood-red scythe, gleaming in the sunlight, over his shoulder and shouted excitedly to his Akatsuki colleagues who were still carefully weighing their options:

"Hey! Anyone can do it, hurry up and make a cut on this kid's body!"

If I can get even a single drop of this guy's blood, I'll kill him with my own hands!

Hearing Hidan's arrogant words, the Akatsuki members couldn't help but frown.

But they were all seriously considering Hidan's seemingly reckless suggestion.

The strength that Kou has displayed is simply too exaggerated. If we were to defeat him head-on, the difficulty would be extraordinary!

If, while ensuring their own safety, they can fully cooperate with Hidan's Curse Technique: Death Controlling Possessed Blood in a coordinated battle, allowing this madman who can take a life with just a drop of blood to complete the curse ritual...

This is indeed the most reasonable and efficient tactical solution under the current circumstances!

Scorpion pondered the feasibility of this tactic, a cold, dark glint flashing across his eyes.

"Kid, I'm here to help you!!"

The instant his hoarse, stern shout rang out, he unhesitatingly drew out the dark red scroll hidden behind his body!

Hundreds of puppets of various shapes and sizes surged out of the scroll at the same moment, densely packed and suspended in mid-air, casting a suffocating shadow over the entire arena.

"Red Secret Technique - Performance of a Hundred Puppets!!"

Sasori instantly connected the Chakra Threads to the hundreds of puppets and shouted sharply downwards:

"Go to hell, you damned brat!!"

Beside Sasori, Deidara looked at his murderous partner, a flicker of struggle crossing his eyes.

The Clay Bomb that was not yet formed in his palm had been slightly deformed without him even realizing it.

Kou glanced coldly at the dense army of puppets surging towards him, and curled his lip in disdain.

He placed his hand firmly on the hilt of the sword Inazuma at his waist and whispered:

"Lightning Release: Swift Thunder: Annual Meeting!"

Before he could finish speaking, his body was completely enveloped by countless blinding blue lightning bolts!

The tall figure vanished completely from its spot the instant the lightning flashed, leaving not even a trace behind.

In the next instant, he appeared out of thin air beside Hidan.

Under the gaze of Kakuzu's suddenly narrowed eyes, he raised the hand that wasn't holding a sword, patted Hidan's shoulder, and slowly said:

"Excuse me, could you let me pass?"

Hidan clearly hadn't reacted yet.

He turned his head and looked at Kou, who had somehow appeared beside him and was talking to him. He subconsciously tilted his head.

"... well?"

"Oh, by the way, you probably can't move anymore, right?"

Koko glanced down at the dripping blood on the blade, then gave Hidan a friendly smile:

"After all, you're already dead."

As Kou finished speaking, all the Akatsuki members' eyes simultaneously focused on Hidan.

Countless extremely fine lightning cuts instantly appeared on Hidan's body, like the surface of a porcelain vase about to shatter!

The cuts were so fine that blood didn't even have time to seep out the instant they appeared.

Hidan's face, still bearing the bewildered expression from before, along with his supposedly "immortal" body, silently crumbled into a pile of blood foam that could never be pieced back together, under the incredulous gazes of everyone!

At the same time, the hundreds of puppets that had been rushing towards the enemy were also completely sliced into countless fragments by countless crisscrossing bolts of lightning with a sharp cracking sound!

The Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets, consisting of one hundred puppets, has been rendered unusable.

Hidan, Three Platforms Hidan, died.

"Heh, it seems this so-called immortality isn't truly immortal after all."

He raised his hand, wiping away the few drops of blood splattered on his cheek with a look of disgust. Looking down at the pool of blood at his feet, where human figures were no longer recognizable, he said coldly:

"Go see your so-called Lord Jashin, you damned cultist!"

As he spoke, he turned to Kakuzu, who stood there dumbfounded, Kakuzu Hidan's blood, and asked slowly:

"Should we quietly find a corner to stay in, or keep fighting?"

"You only have one heart left, right?"

Kakuzu's lips twitched very slightly, and almost instinctively he opened his mouth and coughed up a mouthful of blood, staining his sutured chin a bright red.

He looked down in disbelief at the Black Cloak with Red Clouds, which was becoming increasingly dark with blood.

What's soaked in it isn't just Hidan's blood—it also contains his own.

Five hearts, four of which have been destroyed sometime ago!

Kakuzu stiffly raised his head, his eyes filled with fear as he looked at the black-haired youth who was giving him a gentle smile.

Decades ago, there was a man with a similar smile, yet it instilled in him a fear that emanated from the deepest recesses of his soul.

And at this moment, that incredibly distant face from my memory is slowly overlapping with the one before me...

"The God of Ninjas."

Kakuzu coughed up blood and murmured a weak sentence before falling straight backward, crashing heavily onto the blood-stained stone floor.

"Wow, he even complimented me before playing dead. This old geezer's pretty savvy, isn't he?"

Looking at Kakuzu was lying on the ground pretending to be dead, clutching his last heart, Koko's lips twitched slightly.

"Never mind, this guy poses no threat anymore anyway."

He shifted his still somewhat mocking gaze from Kakuzu's "corpse," raised Inazuma high in his hand, pointed it at the remaining Akatsuki members around him, and a gentle smile appeared on his lips:

"Nine minus two, that leaves... seven!"