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Neji stepped past the twitching heap that had been Hidan and lifted his gaze to Kakuzu.
"Your turn."
His stance lowered; an invisible octagon seemed to settle over the clearing as his chakra focused.
Kakuzu felt the pressure locking the field. He reached for the wind-heart to cover him and realized it wouldn't move.
[Shadow Possession Jutsu].
[Partial Expansion Jutsu].
Shikamaru's shadow lanced out, freezing the wind mask-creature mid-draw. Choji's giant palm came down like a falling slab.
Boom.
The windheart shattered under the blow.
Kakuzu staggered, only to feel his body tilted and dragged forward by a will not his own, right into the white-haired Hyūga.
[ Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams – Three Hundred Sixty-One Palms ].
Neji blurred. Arms multiplied in afterimages, each strike a needle of chakra. Kakuzu's frame convulsed as black threads burst from joints and seams only to evaporate where Neji's chakra cut through them.
Inside, something broke. Then another. The body that had battled since the First Hokage's era collapsed, unraveling into a slough of dead threads and ink-black sludge.
Neji exhaled, lowering his hands as the last motes of chakra faded. Experience gained. Level up. A brief, silent sorry for the antique who'd met a generation that didn't play fair.
Bad day to have a teammate like Hidan and worse luck to face a planner like Shikamaru with Neji on overwatch.
Against Team Guy this would've been ugly, too: Lee and Guy hammering the front, Tenten blanketing the field, Neji cutting chakra flow with [Eight Trigrams Air Palm] and sheltering allies under [Rotation]. Once Hidan's trick is known, it's just suppression and cleanup.
"Uh… looks like I'm late."
Naruto landed on a stripped stump with Kakashi and Yamato, rubbing his head. His new jutsu training glows all over him.
On the ground, Hidan lay locked stiff, only his eyes able to move. Even his mouth was sealed.
The black puddle that had been Kakuzu smoked faintly.
Shikamaru looked up, the weight finally sliding from his shoulders. He managed a crooked smile.
"Yep. You're late."
"Aw, c'mon! Captain Yamato's the slow one—I wanted to try my new move!" Naruto protested.
Yamato gave him the flattest look in the Elemental Nations. Who built your training ground, who kept the Nine-Tails chakra in check? He sighed and let it go.
Kakashi dropped beside the remains, studying them. "Nice work, Neji."
Neji waved it off. "Good field test. A little underwhelming, honestly."
They gathered around Hidan. The immortal glared like a caged monster being poked at in a village fair.
Kakashi arched a brow. "So—truly immortal?"
Yamato frowned, curiosity pricking through fatigue. "As in… limbs off, head off, still alive?"
Shikamaru shrugged. "From what we've seen—yeah. We took his head once and he kept talking. And Neji pulled his heart, and he's still… functioning."
Naruto leaned in, eyes widening at the neat hole in Hidan's chest. No heartbeat, no problem.
"Creepy," Yamato murmured. "Immortality plus shared-damage ritual… nasty combo."
Kakashi glanced at Shikamaru. "How do you intend to handle him?"
Shikamaru thought for a beat. "Bury him."
"Bury… him?" Choji blinked.
Ino eyed Hidan skeptically. "He's immortal. Does dirt help?"
Shikamaru shrugged again, practical to the bone. "They ate and drank on the way here. They're not fully divorced from being human. If we bury him deep where nobody will find him, he won't starve to death if he's truly immortal… but he'll be stuck. Forever. Immobile. Useless."
The logic landed. Heads nodded. Neji said nothing.
Kakashi made the call. "Bringing him back is a risk. We do it Shikamaru's way."
Earth rumbled under Yamato's seals, a deep shaft yawning open. Neji toed Hidan over the lip. The immortal's eyes went incandescent with rage; the sealed mouth could only muffle it.
Thump.
Yamato's hands pressed. Soil flowed. The ground smoothed over, unmarked.
A flat, empty clearing. No one would guess that ten meters down lay a screaming priest who would never die.
"Mission accomplished," Kakashi said softly. "Report in, get rest—and visit Asuma."
They vanished in flickers of movement, the ravaged forest finally quiet.
Underground, Hidan's awareness shrank to darkness.
On the return path, Neji's lips curved.
White mouse acquired.
He didn't know how Hidan's "immortality" functioned yet. But for an experiment, you couldn't ask for a better subject.
Not afraid of pain, right?
—
Back in Konoha, rewards posted and debriefs filed, they swung by the hospital. Asuma didn't need the crowd Kurenai had him. Kakashi and Yamato, meanwhile, had the long walk home to their empty apartments.
Neji headed for his lab, already planning a hop to the Land of Waves to set up work.
He didn't get far.
A message found him: a target, alone.
"Separated, huh?" Neji murmured, eyes sharpening.
The next hunt was already calling.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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