"Unforgivable! Unforgivable!"
Hidan's eyes turned blood-red as he glared at the chipped edge of his scythe.
"How dare you damage a divine artifact granted by Lord Jashin! I'll drain every drop of your blood and offer it as a sacrifice!"
"Die, brat!"
With a roar, he hefted his triple-bladed scythe and charged straight at Jie Uchiha.
"Lost your mind?" Jie murmured, a faint smirk tugging at his lips as he watched the fanatic rush in...."It's no fun once you've lost your composure."
Hidan's true combat ability wasn't particularly overwhelming. His Kage-level threat came almost entirely from his immortality and the bizarre curse technique of the Jashin faith. But here, none of it mattered—no one in the Akatsuki could even break Jie Uchiha's defenses, let alone draw the blood Hidan needed for his ritual. His greatest trump card was useless.
As for his reckless, erratic taijutsu? In front of Jie, it wasn't even worth mentioning.
Watching the zealot charge in, Jie simply shook his head and casually swung the Sword of Kusanagi.
The next instant—
Hidan froze.
A look of pure disbelief washed over Hidan's face as his head slowly slid off his neck from a perfectly smooth cut, thudding onto the ground.
Though immortal, the separation completely robbed his body of movement.
'When…?'
Though his body was immobilized, Hidan's thoughts raced wildly. Replaying the moment again and again, he realized he hadn't even seen when Jie Uchiha had swung the blade that severed his head.
Seeing Hidan's head hit the ground, Kisame Hoshigaki's pupils shrank.
Even he hadn't been able to follow the trajectory of that strike.
...In other words, if he had been in Hidan's position, it would likely be his head rolling on the ground right now.
As Hidan's headless body collapsed to the ground, a new wave of attacks surged in.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Drizzle"
Countless grains of iron sand rose from the ground, gathering into the air like a dark tide. In an instant, they compressed into dense clusters of fine needles and shot toward Jie Uchiha at terrifying speed.
Driven by Magnet Release, the sheer penetration and wide area of effect made even Jie frown slightly.
'As expected… the signature jutsu of the Third Kazekage,' he thought. 'My current Lightning Release Chakra Mode isn't enough to block this head-on.'
"Summoning: Rashomon!"
A thick plume of white smoke erupted as a massive gate, carved with a demonic visage, materialized before Jie Uchiha, shielding him completely.
The dense iron sand needles slammed into the gate in a relentless barrage. Each impact shook the heavy structure violently—yet not a single needle managed to pierce through.
Seizing the moment while Jie was occupied defending against Sasori's jutsu, Kisame Hoshigaki lunged forward, bringing Samehada crashing down with brutal force.
"Samehada: Devouring Slash!"
At Kisame's command, the spikes covering Samehada flared out, making the massive blade look twice as thick. While Jie didn't fear Kisame's physical strike, he couldn't afford to ignore it. Samehada could devour a target's chakra, and Jie had no intention of letting the shark-faced rogue steal his energy just to use it against him.
Jie immediately raised the Sword of Kusanagi to parry the blow. However, a bizarre scene unfolded.
Just as the two blades were about to clash, the front half of Samehada suddenly curled backward. The flexible blade bent away, completely avoiding the Kusanagi.
Kisame's eyes widened. His own weapon had betrayed him.
With the force of his swing already committed, he couldn't stop—his body was dragged forward by momentum.
Boom!
With a heavy crunch, the bent Samehada smashed straight into Kisame Hoshigaki's own foot, mangling it instantly. Ignoring the pain, he kicked off hard with his remaining leg and rolled backward to create distance.
A split second later, a brilliant white arc of a blade tore through the space he had just occupied.
"Nice reflexes," Jie Uchiha remarked calmly, showing no frustration at the miss. A faint smile curved his lips.
"But your sword…" he added, eyes settling on Samehada, "is quite interesting. Why not hand it over as a trophy?"
"A living blade that can feel fear… it's just qualified enough to join my collection."
Kisame Hoshigaki ignored Jie Uchiha's taunt completely, as if the mangled flesh of his left foot didn't exist. His gaze dropped to Samehada, his expression turning heavy, his shark-like eyes clouded with confusion.
"What's wrong with you, Samehada?"
A faint tremor passed through the blade—
Pain… pain…
Break… break…
Die… die…
Weak, fragmented pulses of consciousness flowed from Samehada into his mind, laced with fear. Kisame's brows slowly knit together.
"So you're saying… if you clash with that sword, you feel pain? And if it continues, you might be broken… even killed?" Kisame Hoshigaki asked quietly.
'Yes... yes...' Samehada immediately pulsed in affirmation.
When Kisame looked back up at Jie Uchiha, his eyes were filled with deep caution—and disbelief.
Samehada had been forged from a symbiotic creature once connected to the Three-Tails. Its defining trait was the ability to shave away and devour an opponent's chakra on contact, feeding it back to its wielder.. It could even gorge on Tailed Beast chakra without issue.
Yet in that brief clash with Jie Uchiha, Samehada had not only failed to absorb a single trace of chakra—it had recoiled in fear. For Kisame, this was disastrous news. It meant his greatest offensive advantage was rendered entirely useless.
"This is troublesome." A heavy sense of foreboding rose in Kisame's heart.
"Human Puppet: Magnet Release: Iron Sand World Method!"
The scattered iron sand gathered once more, forming into massive, spiked lattice barriers in the air. The long iron thorns extended outward under the pull of magnetic forces, enclosing the area and restricting Jie's movements.
"More of this annoying stuff," Jie sighed. "Do you think you're some kind of tentacle monster? Always tossing out these thick, long, spiky things. Keep them for yourself."
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Four plumes of white smoke popped, and four shadow clones instantly materialized beside Jie.
"Five Elements Combo Jutsu!"
In perfect sync, the original and his clones formed hand seals at blinding speed.
In an instant five different jutsu erupted simultaneously, each representing one of the five elemental natures: Wind, Fire, Water, Earth, and Lightning.
The fused elemental blast erupted outward in a chaotic surge. The towering iron sand thorns were reduced to molten slag in the blink of an eye. Caught within the resulting elemental explosion, the prized Third Kazekage puppet was completely obliterated, turned to ash in the blast radius.
Five Elements Combo Jutsu
Jie had acquired this signature Jutsu of Hiruzen Sarutobi as a System reward years ago, back when he had blown up the Sarutobi compound during the Night of the Nine-Tails.
However, so much time had passed without him finding the right opportunity—or rather, a worthy enough opponent—to test it out.
Now, In this moment, its full destructive power finally bloomed—instantly erasing the so-called strongest Kazekage in history.
But before Jie could properly admire his handiwork, his face suddenly darkened.
"Oh, man, look at all this destruction..." he muttered, scanning the cratered wasteland around him. "How much is it going to cost to rebuild this place?!"
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