On the screen, as the narration continued, Shikamaru lay sprawled on the ground, pretending to be terrified.
Seeing Shikamaru's cowardly act, Hidan looked utterly delighted. He casually pulled out a long black blade and stabbed it fiercely into his own palm.
Schlick!
The blade pierced through Hidan's palm, blood streaming down the shaft. He then quickly used the blood to draw a pattern, preparing to perform the cursed ritual.
"Die!!" Hidan laughed maniacally as he stabbed himself through the heart.
Puchi—!!
The screen's scene then smoothly transitioned to Kakashi facing off against Kakuzu.
At this moment, Kakuzu had knocked Kakashi to the ground and was saying with a hint of amusement: "Your heart... is mine."
But just then, he suddenly felt a twinge in one of his hearts.
The heart on his right side of the body had been destroyed!
Only then did the people watching the screen finally understand what the earlier comment about Shikamaru smearing Kakuzu's blood onto his face had meant.
[Here, Shikamaru could have even tricked Hidan into believing he was also immortal. And with Hidan's simple mind, he'd definitely keep stabbing himself to confirm it, and then Kakuzu—without even needing Naruto to step in—would've been killed off by Hidan himself.]
[It's a pity really. As the Nara clan's Kekkei Genkai is decent, and when paired with the Yamanaka clan's reconnaissance and control, and the Akimichi clan's tanking and damage-dealing, they're considered a noteworthy force in Konoha. But compared to the eye-users like the Uchiha and Hyūga, they're still far behind.]
[In this battle, if Hidan hadn't been so stupid, they really wouldn't have been able to win.]
[That being said, the earlier evaluation of Hiruzen's strength was also somewhat unfair. In the contest for the weakest Hokage in history, Nara Shikamaru has effectively ended the debate.]
---
[Konoha, Year One. Outside the village, on the cliffside]
Hashirama stood on the high platform, listening to the joke about the "weakest Hokage," and couldn't help but defend Shikamaru: "To become Hokage, strength isn't everything—governance ability is also very important!"
"And from what the screen said earlier, as the man behind the Seventh Hokage, Shikamaru definitely has great skill in handling political affairs. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to serve as acting Hokage."
Beside him, young Hiruzen also nodded in agreement.
'That's right—not everyone could be like Lord First or Madara-sensei, possessing the power to pacify the entire Shinobi World.'
'As Hokage, other abilities were equally important.'
Just then, a fist came down with a thump on his head.
"Oww!" Young Hiruzen immediately clutched his head, tears welling up as he winced in pain. And when he turned to look who had struck him, he immediately stood up straighter, not daring to make a sound.
"Hmph!" Madara crossed his arms, looking at him with a mixture of disappointment and frustration. "As Hokage, strength is obviously more important! Stop thinking about all that irrelevant nonsense."
"Yes, Sensei!" Young Hiruzen's expression was resolute, his eyes clear—but the bump swelling on his forehead betrayed his true feelings.
Tobirama stood by in silent exasperation. It was one thing to steal his disciple, but to implement corporal punishment as well. This guy was truly annoying.
"Hashirama, don't pass on the wrong ideas to them either. In the future, there will be so many Ōtsutsuki in the world. Even a Six Paths-level shinobi like Naruto might have been done in by them. Without sufficient strength, how can we guard against them?"
"Or are you going to rely on talking? Your Talk-no-Jutsu isn't even that powerful, is it?"
Hearing that, Hashirama fell silent.
Indeed. The problems in the Shinobi World weren't limited to what was in front of them. The Ōtsutsuki clan on the moon was the true priority. Those beings wouldn't bother with reasoning. So without enough strength, the only outcome was death.
---
[Future timeline, Hokage Office]
The middle-aged Shikamaru, acting as interim Hokage, sat at his desk. Scrolls were piled before him like a small mountain.
His fingers pressed against his temple, his brow furrowed deeply, with a troubled expression on his face.
After multiple analyses, it was confirmed—Boruto was indeed Naruto's son!
It hadn't been in vain that he'd resisted the pressure from the advisors and secretly lent Boruto assistance. But what kind of Jutsu could continuously twist the perceptions of the entire world? It was truly terrifying.
"Hokage-sama." An ANBU knelt on one knee before the desk. "There is still no word on Lord Seventh's whereabouts."
Hearing that, Shikamaru sighed. "Keep searching. If he's alive, bring him back. If he's dead… no, he can't be dead."
The ANBU bowed. "Understood."
Shikamaru waved his hand, and the ANBU vanished into the shadows.
He then leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and in his mind flashed Asuma's dying words.
"What a drag," he muttered. "I really shouldn't have taken this Hokage job."
On the screen, the scene shifted back to the battle between Shikamaru and Hidan.
At this point, Shikamaru had already subdued Hidan through a sneak attack.
"Shadow Pull Jutsu!" With his left hand controlling Hidan, Shikamaru clenched his right fist and shouted.
The Explosive Tags that had been hanging on the tree branches instantly wrapped tightly around Hidan.
"You Bastard!"
"W-what are you trying to do?" Hidan demanded, confused.
"Just watch." Shikamaru tossed his short sword onto a hidden marker.
Crack—!!
Amid Hidan's panicked cries, the ground beneath his feet crumbled into rubble, collapsing continuously until it formed a bottomless pit.
Hidan's entire body hung suspended at the very center of the hole, held only by the wires.
"Goodbye... Sensei." Shikamaru then tossed out Asuma's lighter, igniting the Explosive Tags on Hidan's body.
BOOM!!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
In the massive blaze of light, a violent explosion erupted with Hidan's body at the epicenter.
When the smoke finally cleared, Shikamaru slowly walked to the edge of the pit. Hidan's body had already been blown to pieces—only his head remained relatively intact, lying at the bottom of the hole.
Then—
The severed head actually snapped its eyes open and started hurling curses at Shikamaru.
"Lord Jashin will punish you for this!"
"A greater judgment will be handed down by Lord Jashin himself!"
"That doesn't scare me." Shikamaru pulled another kunai from his waist, with several more Explosive Tags still attached to it.
"We believe in different things."
"I believe in the Will of Fire."
"But your god is not that stupid Jashin or anyone now."
"It's me!"
As Shikamaru finished speaking, he casually dropped the kunai into the pit and detonated the tags once again.
Hidan, blown to pieces, was thus buried deep underground, forever.
---
[Akatsuki hideout]
Deidara looked lost in thought, a hint of envy flickering in his eyes as he murmured, "What a way to go... Art is explosion! Hidan, you died in art—how fortunate."
Hidan, standing nearby, heard this and immediately objected: "What do you mean by that! I have an immortal body! Even like that, I'm obviously still not dead! I'm just buried underground—I'm not dead!"
Deidara sighed, his tone tinged with pity: "It would have been better to die in the explosion then. Buried underground forever, never able to get out—how miserable."
Hidan glared at him. "Being miserable is still better than being dead!"
"Kakuzu, you must find me in the future and help me stitch my body back together."
Kakuzu was instantly at a loss for words.
What was this guy thinking? From the looks of it, he wouldn't fare much better either.
*****
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