"Hmph! Who the hell are you? You can't become the leader of the Akatsuki just because you feel like it!
Let me see if you're worthy of Jashin's favor!"
Before he had even finished speaking, Hidan gripped his enormous Blood-Moon Scythe, kicked off the ground, and shot toward Madara like an arrow loosed from a bow.
Standing to one side, Kakuzu's expression went from shock to utter exasperation in an instant.
That idiot Hidan-since when did he get so brave? Whatever. Let him see whether this guy's the real deal!
Hidan's figure traced an arc through the air. This was the most spectacular moment of his entire life: facing Uchiha Madara one-on-one.
He raised the scythe overhead with both hands, its blade howling through the wind as he brought it crashing down toward Madara's head-
Boom!
He charged in at blinding speed, then hurtled backward just as fast.
Squelch.
"Aaargh!"
Hidan's body slammed into an invisible wall. Blood burst from his mouth as he was driven against the wall of the hall.
A chakra blade dozens of meters long extended from Susanoo's skeletal arm. It pierced Hidan squarely through the abdomen, pinning him in place like an insect on a display board.
It's Susanoo!!!
Danzo and Kakuzu recognized the technique at the same instant.
The translucent chakra skeleton radiated a deep blue glow, one arm holding the enormous blade that pinned Hidan motionless to the wall.
At the same time, a suffocating surge of chakra erupted from Madara's body, like a volcano finally awakening after far too long.
Waves of chakra spread outward from Madara, making the candles in the hall flicker wildly and everyone's robes snap in the wind.
Then Susanoo began to expand at a terrifying rate.
Thirty meters, fifty meters, eighty meters, a hundred!
The deep blue