Chapter 389: A Masterstroke
"You!"
Hidan only had time to spit out a single word.
The sound of a sharp blade entering flesh rang out clearly.
Hidan's head flew high into the air under the force of his own weapon, like a tossed watermelon.
Blood erupted from the severed stump of his neck like a fountain.
And almost at the same time.
The Mangekyo Sharingan in Uchiha Hikari's eyes flared with intense light.
Buzz—!
Violent Chakra surged into the sky as blood-red energy rapidly condensed.
In the blink of an eye, a red Susanoo consisting of only an upper body enveloped Hikari and Naruto within it.
The armor opened its huge mouth, armoring the Susanoo that was previously only bone and muscle tissue.
This was not the end.
In the Susanoo's right hand, Chakra surged wildly, quickly condensing into a massive red energy greatsword burning with pitch-black flames.
A Susanoo sword infused with Amaterasu's flames!
Without any hesitation, Hikari controlled the Susanoo to raise the greatsword burning with inextinguishable black flames and slashed it down fiercely toward the area where the Akatsuki Organization members were!
"The Shindo Sword?"
Obito's gaze suddenly sharpened as he recognized Hikari's weapon.
Just like Itachi's Totsuka Blade, this weapon had a significant origin.
He didn't have time to think, nor could he worry about Hidan, whose head had been cut off. His right Mangekyo spun wildly, his body instantly entered a phased state, and he retreated rapidly to the side and rear.
The faces of Sasori, Deidara, Kisame, and Kakuzu also changed drastically. Each used their own methods to scatter in all directions at top speed.
The demon face on the back of Sasori's Hiruko opened, ejecting Sasori out.
Deidara directly detonated the clay bird he had already prepared under his feet, using the impact of the explosion to soar into the sky.
Kisame gave a strange laugh as his body merged into Samehada, gliding dozens of meters along the ground like a fish.
Kakuzu was the most decisive. An instant before the greatsword fell, he threw his four masks out of the attack range, sacrificing one mask to avoid the direct impact.
Their reactions were all top-tier, narrowly avoiding that lethal blade edge in the heat of the moment.
Hidan, who had been hit by Naruto's masterstroke and was still in a state of "confusion" and "rage," was unable to make any effective evasion.
That head flying in the air could only watch helplessly as the red greatsword burning with pitch-black flames slashed down like divine punishment toward his headless body and the surrounding ground!
"No!"
Hidan's head let out a roar of despair and indignation; he could feel the destructive power contained within those black flames.
That was a power capable of killing him.
But it was all too late.
Boom!
A deafening roar accompanied a terrifying shockwave that swept through the area.
The red greatsword burning with Amaterasu's flames slammed solidly into Hidan's body and the ground beneath him.
First was Hidan's body.
The moment it touched the blade and the black flames, his supposedly "immortal" body began to rapidly carbonize like snow meeting a scorching sun.
The black flames of Amaterasu clung and burned wildly, not only devouring his flesh but seemingly burning away the eerie power of the Wicked God within him as well.
In just a single breath.
Hidan's headless body was burned into a pile of charred ash that could no longer be recognized as human, right before everyone's shocked eyes.
And the light in the eyes of his head flying through the air rapidly dimmed, eventually falling powerlessly to the ground in the distance with a "thud," turning into carbon powder without another sound.
Hidan, the man with the immortal body, had actually been "killed" so completely and cleanly.
Even with his so-called immortality, he could not survive if his body was burned to powder.
This sudden, extremely swift kill caused a bone-chilling cold to rise in the hearts of all the surviving Akatsuki members.
Even more terrifying was the residual power of that strike.
The red greatsword's momentum didn't slow after incinerating Hidan, slashing heavily into the ground.
The earth shook violently! It was as if a small earthquake had occurred.
A massive, bottomless trench, hundreds of meters long and five to seven meters wide, was forcibly carved out by this single strike.
One must remember, this was not the hundred-meter-tall Perfect Susanoo, but the ten-plus-meter third form.
Residual Amaterasu black flames still burned at the edges and bottom of the trench, scorching the surrounding rocks and soil black with a "sizzling" sound, the air filled with the scent of char and destruction.
The power of a single sword strike was terrifying indeed!
Obito steadied himself in the distance, his expression under the mask becoming solemn to the extreme.
He stared fixedly at the red Susanoo and the black flame-burning greatsword in its hand.
"The Shindo Sword... and it's infused with Amaterasu..."
Obito muttered to himself.
"Has this Uchiha Hikari's mastery of Mangekyo Dōjutsu already reached such a proficient level?"
He could feel the stinging sensation in his right eye seem to intensify by several degrees.
If he had retreated a bit slower just now, or if the duration of Kamui's phasing had been a bit shorter... the consequences would have been unimaginable!
His margin for error had truly become far too low.
Kakuzu's scattered Earth Grudge Fear tentacles reassembled into human form. He looked at the terrifying sword mark on the ground and the remains of Hidan's ash, a flash of deep wariness and relief in his green eyes.
Fortunately, he had been decisive.
He didn't have much in the way of escape abilities, as Earth Grudge Fear granted him a body that was practically immortal when facing ordinary Ninja.
Kakuzu was the type who didn't need to run from those he could beat, and likely couldn't run from those he couldn't.
Sasori stood silently in the distance, his Puppet shell seemingly vibrating slightly from the impact just now.
Deidara hovered in the air, his originally excited expression becoming somewhat stiff.
He licked his dry lips. "Art... this explosive power... hmm..."
But his tone was not as fanatical as before.
Kisame separated from Samehada, grinning, though the smile was a bit forced: "Truly... a terrifying woman. Even Samehada is afraid."
In just a single exchange, a single surprise attack.
The Akatsuki Organization had lost a core member, and in a manner that was almost crushing and humiliating.
This was undoubtedly a heavy blow to the morale and confidence of the remaining members.
How were they supposed to fight this?
Unless that masked man really was Uchiha Madara and not some imposter.
Naruto casually stuck the stolen triple-bladed scythe into the ground, his gaze calmly sweeping over the Akatsuki members who were as if facing a formidable enemy, before finally landing on Obito.
"Uchiha Obito," Naruto's tone carried a hint of faint mockery, "Since you've come all this way, why be in such a hurry to leave?"
"Why not stay and 'catch up' properly?"
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