Kurenai's shout did nothing. Her words alone could not stop Hidan's hand.
A sharp, sickening sound rang out.
Hidan drove the iron spike clean through his own stomach.
"Ah!"
Asuma clutched his abdomen and collapsed with a cry. Blood soaked through his clothes instantly, spreading fast. His face grew pale.
He was no Hidan. He had no immortality.
"Damn it!" Guy's fists trembled as he saw Asuma's condition. Rage burned in his eyes. He dashed forward in an attempt to stop Hidan from striking again.
But Kakuzu blocked his path effortlessly.
"Hehehe!" Hidan stabbed himself again, smiling like a deranged fanatic.
Kurenai cast a genjutsu at him, desperate to slow his movements, but Hidan's inhuman tolerance for agony rendered it useless.
Pain so intense would paralyze normal men. But Hidan thrived in it.
He lifted the iron spike again, this time aiming for his own neck. He looked at Asuma with a bloodthirsty grin.
Then he thrust the spike toward his throat.
"No!" Kurenai screamed, terror ripping through her voice.
Guy was forced back by Kakuzu and watched helplessly, eyes burning red.
Just as the spike was about to pierce Hidan's neck, a hand closed around his wrist, stopping the motion cold.
"Huh?" Hidan froze, turning to see who had grabbed him.
He saw blond hair.
Then everything blurred as his body was hurled away like a ragdoll.
"I heard you can't die?"
The calm voice drifted up to him as he flew through the air.
Hidan twisted midair and landed on his feet.
But the instant he touched the ground, several wooden tendrils erupted beneath him. They sprang up and wrapped around his body with terrifying speed.
Before he could even struggle, he heard a voice behind him.
"Wood Style: Cutting Sprout Technique!"
The branches impaled him, then split and grew, piercing through his body from the inside out until he looked like a human pincushion.
Hidan howled in pain. He was immortal, but that did not mean he could not feel agony.
"Tsk tsk… so you really don't die. Interesting."
Hidan gritted his teeth and shouted, "Who the hell are you?!"
"The Nine-Tails' jinchuriki," Kakuzu answered flatly.
He was right. The one who arrived was Naruto, sensing the Flying Thunder God kunai he had given Shikamaru and teleporting straight to the battlefield.
"Naruto!"
Guy felt the pressure melt from him the moment Naruto appeared.
Kurenai and Asuma looked at Hidan's impaled form and felt overwhelming relief. Gratitude flooded their hearts.
If Naruto had arrived a second later, Asuma would already be dead.
"I didn't come too late, right?" Naruto said with a grin.
"No. You came at the perfect time."
Even gravely wounded, Asuma forced a smile.
For a heartbeat, he saw an image overlapping Naruto's figure.
The Fourth Hokage.
If Minato was here, everything would be fine.
"Guy-sensei, Asuma-sensei, Kurenai-sensei, please rest for now. Leave the rest to me." Naruto glanced at their injuries, then created three shadow clones who immediately began healing them with medical ninjutsu.
Naruto himself turned toward Kakuzu and the three masks hovering beside him.
"You seem good with ninjutsu," Naruto said, smiling.
Kakuzu did not respond. His gaze sharpened.
"Perfect. I'm pretty good at it too. Let's see whose ninjutsu is stronger." Naruto formed four more shadow clones.
"Hmph. You're still too young," Kakuzu said coldly.
In ninjutsu proficiency, he had no fear.
"You may know Wood Style, but compared to the First Hokage you're a child." His voice grew darker.
He was wary.
He had witnessed the First Hokage's Wood Style with his own eyes.
The jutsu that ended an era was no joke.
Naruto nodded with an excited grin. "True, I'm not on his level yet. But who said I was going to use Wood Style against you? I'll use the five basic elements."
He had trained Five-Style Great Consecutive Bullet under the Third Hokage. It was finally time to unleash it.
Naruto and his clones exchanged a glance. No words needed.
All five raised their hands.
Their palms met.
A tidal wave of chakra exploded outward.
The sheer power warped the air around them.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Burst!"
"Fire Style: Flame Dragon Shot!"
"Lightning Style: Thunder Dragon Roar!"
"Earth Style: Stone Dragon Smash!"
"Wind Style: Sky-Rending Gale Dragon!"
Five Naruto roared in unison.
Five colossal elemental dragons erupted into existence, each monstrous and fierce.
The water dragon surged forward with crushing pressure.
The fire dragon scorched the ground black with heat.
The lightning dragon crackled violently, spilling arcs of electricity.
The earth dragon rose with seismic force.
The wind dragon spun with vacuum-cutting ferocity.
But they did not move independently.
Under Naruto's flawless chakra control, the five dragons intertwined, empowered each other, and fused into a single overwhelming surge.
Water did not extinguish flame but became steam, lifted by wind.
Lightning raced through the mist, amplifying its reach.
Earth ground into razor edges by wind pressure.
Heat fed the cyclone.
All elements strengthened one another.
This was the Third Hokage's ultimate secret art.
Ninja Art: Five-Style Great Consecutive Bullet!
Now unleashed by a Naruto with chakra far beyond Hiruzen's youth, its power was even more terrifying.
Kakuzu countered instantly.
His fire mask spewed a burning wall.
His lightning mask unleashed violent bolts.
His wind mask generated a massive storm.
His own body raised an earthen barrier.
Four great elemental forces surged to meet Naruto's five.
The collision was apocalyptic.
A blinding flash burst at the impact point, like a miniature sun detonating.
Guy, Kurenai, and Asuma shielded their eyes.
The roar shook the heavens. Shockwaves blasted outward like solid walls.
Even Hidan's impaled body trembled under the force as debris flew everywhere.
Kakuzu's weakness immediately showed.
Guy had destroyed one of his hearts earlier.
He lacked one element.
Against a complete five-style combination, missing one attribute meant his entire defensive cycle had a fatal gap.
And Naruto's chakra was immense, overwhelming, endless.
Naruto's power surged like a rising ocean tide, while Kakuzu relied only on stored heart chakra and his own reserves.
The difference was crushing.
In only two or three seconds, Kakuzu's four-element barrier shattered.
Completely.