Round two: The dust settled!

Before Kakuzu, Sasuke struggled to rise. Hot vapor rose from his ravaged chest as its countless wounds healed!

His shoulders sagged, his head hung low, and he swayed, yet he resolutely straightened his knees. "I'm not someone who'll go down in a place like this..."

A chill ran through Kakuzu. He snatched the great sword from his back, gripped it with both hands, and swung at Sasuke's neck with all his strength!

"Even Hashirama Senju himself would die if his head came off!!!"

"But you don't have what it takes to cut off Hashirama Senju's head..."

—White Cursed Seal: Hardening!

Clang!

The great sword stopped against the back of Sasuke's neck!!

"!!!"

As Kakuzu reeled in shock, a Rasengan formed in Sasuke's palm. The instant he thrust it forward, it suddenly turned white!

Crack!

The Rasengan struck Kakuzu's chest, breaking through his Earth Release: Hardening Technique. Terrifying wooden spikes spread along its spiraling paths and burst out all over Kakuzu's body!!

"Gaaaaaaaah...!!!"

Kakuzu curled up on the ground, screaming.

Kabuto Yakushi said, "When did he learn that kind of Rasengan...?!"

Orochimaru said, "As far as I know, Sasuke-kun hasn't mastered changing the Rasengan's chakra nature yet. Perhaps he subconsciously infused it with the White Cursed Seal's power, giving it the effects of the Cutting Technique? How terrifying. He destroyed two of Kakuzu's hearts with a single strike. Though his final heart is still barely hanging on, with injuries like those, even Earth Grudge Fear probably can't save him..."

Sasuke was just as surprised by this instinctive application. He looked at his palm, recalling the strange sensation he had felt while using the Rasengan!

Just then, Kakuzu's hysterical roar snapped Sasuke back to reality. "Hidan, hurry... cut off your own head!!!"

Not far away, inside the ritual circle for Death Controlling Possessed Blood, Hidan cried out in disbelief. "My head? Hey, hey, that's going way too far! How am I supposed to cut off my own head...?!"

Kakuzu bellowed, "Hurry, or we're both dead!!!"

"Just so we're clear, you're sewing it back on!!!"

Hidan picked up the spike beside him and stood!

Whoosh! Seeing this, Sasuke charged toward him at full speed!!

"Don't even think about it!!"

The black threads of Earth Grudge Fear shot out of Kakuzu's remaining arm and wrapped around Sasuke's ankle!

Crunch!

At that moment, Hidan drove the spike into the side of his own neck!

Crunch!

"Ngh...!!" Sasuke clutched the side of his neck in excruciating pain. Blood spurted through his fingers. That was where his carotid artery lay, and the strike was fatal. But after absorbing more of the Cursed Seal, he could repair even damage to his heart. This wound was no problem either!

But just as Kakuzu had said, if his head came off, there was no way he could survive...!!!

"Aaaaaaaargh...!!!" Hidan desperately worked the spike embedded in his neck, intent on tearing his own head clean off!

Crack!

Sasuke severed the black threads binding his ankle with his Kusanagi Sword and charged at Hidan with everything he had!!

Tearing pain ripped through his throat, but he had no time to worry about it. Life and death hung by a thread!

Whoosh!

In that instant, the sound of the wind, the calls from Karin and the others, Kakuzu's urging, Hidan's roars... every sound vanished from Sasuke's senses!

Only his thoughts raced on!

His technique inflicts shared death on me through a specific sacrificial ritual. The medium should be blood. Also, he seems to need to stand inside the ritual circle beneath his feet to use it. So if I knock him out of the circle, the sacrifice should stop working... but if I were him, I wouldn't ignore that weakness. Sticking chakra to the soles of his feet would be the most basic precaution.

Then knocking him out of the ritual circle would require a powerful attack. An attack like that would inevitably rebound onto me through his technique. More importantly, there's no guarantee that the ritual circle is actually necessary. If I'm wrong, I'll be beyond saving...

Then... with the means I have now, how can I break out of this?

Leaving blood aside for now, the principle behind this sacrifice is simply to establish a connection between him and me. Whatever form it takes, the fundamentals remain the same. That connection is also a kind of contract!

Then... there's only one best solution!!

Please let my deduction... be right!!!

In those few moments, Sasuke analyzed what he knew about Hidan and found the theoretically optimal solution. He had already reached Hidan. Throwing aside his Kusanagi Sword, he stayed calm despite the agony of his neck nearly coming apart and planted his palm firmly against Hidan's chest!

—Contract Seal!!

Hiss!

The contract established between him and Hidan through Death Controlling Possessed Blood was unilaterally severed!

Hissssss...!

The black coloration that appeared on Hidan's body only during his sacrificial state rapidly faded!

"How could... this happen?!"

Thud!

Hidan's head toppled from his neck and rolled out of the ritual circle, coming to rest beside the money case he had thrown aside.

Thump!

Then Hidan's headless body collapsed!

My gamble paid off...

Almost completely drained, Sasuke sat on the ground and used the White Cursed Seal's power to repair his neck!

Hidan's face was pressed against the money case, blocking his vision. His features twisted viciously. "Damn it! What the hell's blocking my view?! Get it away from me!!!"

Although the contract for Death Controlling Possessed Blood had been sealed, Hidan's immortality remained intact. Clearly, his connection to that so-called Jashin was something greater than a contract!

Whoosh!

As his wounds healed, Sasuke's ruined throat regained its ability to produce sound.

He walked over to Hidan's head and said, still shaken, "If you'd used a blade for your sacrifice instead of a spike, I'd definitely be the one losing my head right now..."

"Aaaaaaah! Damn you! You heretics who blaspheme Lord Jashin! I'll make you all die horrible deaths!!!"

With nowhere to vent his seething resentment, Hidan could only bite Kakuzu's money case!

Kakuzu looked utterly bereaved. "Hey...!!! Don't defile my treasure with your filthy teeth!!!"

Sasuke shook his head at the hopeless pair. "Two complete lunatics..."

In the forest.

Karin and Kabuto Yakushi sank to the ground at the same time.

Kabuto Yakushi wiped the sweat from his forehead. "That life-or-death battle was far too intense... I felt like my heart was going to stop!"

"It seems round two has been decided..."

Orochimaru finally unclenched his hands. Though he had remained outwardly composed the entire time, inwardly he had been sweating for Sasuke.

Fortunately, Sasuke had won. Otherwise... not only would reviving him have meant more complications, but everything gained in the first round would have gone to waste!

He emerged from the forest, approached the gravely wounded, dispirited Kakuzu, and greeted him. "Kakuzu, it's been a while..."

Kakuzu's dark green eyes flashed fiercely. "Orochimaru. So you really were behind all this!!"

Orochimaru said, "Perhaps... but if your 'companions' hadn't stood by and watched, things might have ended differently!"

Kakuzu said, "You mean... they're here too?!"

"Look over toward the mountain. You're in for a surprise..."

Kakuzu painfully shifted his gaze and saw them: two figures in red-cloud cloaks atop the mountain hollow, bathed in the evening light!

A past too painful to revisit, intertwined with the resentment that had never left him, drove Kakuzu, a veteran nearly a century old, to lose all composure!

—"Betrayal... that damned betrayal again!!!"