Kakashi hadn't expected the masked entity to attack both Hidan and himself. But the moment he was blasted backward by the elemental jutsu, he began putting the pieces together.
It made perfect sense now.
Hidan, despite being thrown into the blast alongside him, was practically unfazed. The masked creature was Kakuzu's, and Kakuzu knew full well that Hidan's immortality made him nearly impervious to collateral damage. A blast like that would do nothing more than inconvenience Hidan. Kakashi, on the other hand, wasn't so fortunate. Had he taken the attack directly, it would've caused severe injuries and slowed him down considerably—something they couldn't afford in this battle.
And Kakuzu knew that.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Hidan sprang forward like a blood-crazed predator. His target: Ino.
Ino's reaction was swift, but not fast enough. Hidan's sheer physicality overwhelmed her. His speed, his reach, and his brutal unpredictability forced her to remain on the defensive, barely dodging fatal strikes. The earlier injury he had received—a kunai wound straight through the chest—seemed to do little to dull his aggression. If that kunai hadn't pierced him earlier, Ino doubted she'd have even had the opening to retreat, let alone fight back.
Kakashi, meanwhile, was still locked in a fast-paced skirmish with the wind-masked creature. Each of its attacks tore up the ground and shredded the surrounding air. Every dodge cost Kakashi precious energy, and he couldn't afford to take his eyes off it.
But Ino wasn't alone.
Sakura arrived just in time.
Stronger and more physically capable than Ino, she leapt into the fray and confronted Hidan head-on. For nearly a minute, she managed to hold him off with calculated punches and precise dodges. But Hidan's madness had a method. His attacks were wild, yet strategic.
Suddenly, his arm twisted unnaturally, and a long, needle-like weapon appeared in his grip—its surface slick with blood. In one swift, fluid motion, he slashed across Sakura's cheek. A thin line of red appeared, followed by a single droplet of blood trickling down.
In that moment, Sakura froze.
Ino gasped. Her eyes widened in horror.
They both knew what it meant.
Hidan had her blood.
Kakashi caught the sight out of the corner of his eye.
No.
He vanished in a puff of smoke—his Substitution Jutsu narrowly dodging a slicing gust of wind from the masked beast—and reappeared beside Hidan, lightning crackling in his hand. His eyes were filled with urgency.
He couldn't allow Hidan to begin the ritual.
If Hidan succeeded, Sakura would be finished.
Kakashi's mind raced. If it had been anyone else on the team, Sakura could stabilize them with her medical ninjutsu. But if she was the one cursed, who would heal her?
He couldn't let it happen.
But before Kakashi could strike, the wind-masked beast reared up for another assault. Its mouth gaped open, wind swirling violently inside like a brewing storm.
And then—
A blade of ice shot through its mask from behind.
The sharp, translucent sword pierced clean through its head. The creature froze, its chakra destabilizing. Then its form shattered like brittle glass. It collapsed to the ground, and it melted into nothingness.
Kakashi stared, stunned.
He had noticed something odd just before the attack—Hidan had abruptly halted, looking over his shoulder as though anticipating something. Then, he had stiffened, pausing as if bracing for an incoming blow.
That's when it happened.
As the pieces of the defeated masked creature dissolved, a presence emerged.
Inoiki.
He sat on his ice throne at the exact location the masked creature had fallen, calm and composed. His ice blade still hovered beside him, its shimmering edge catching the light.
He had been there all along.
In truth, Inoiki had arrived well before the battle began, when both teams were still lying in ambush for Hidan and Kakuzu. But instead of intervening immediately, he had held back—watching, analyzing.
If Inoiki continued stepping into every battle, they might grow dependent on him—and perhaps even begin to resign their own growth to his strength. Of course, the chances of that happening were slim, but it wasn't something he could risk. As a shinobi, he understood that struggle was the key to strength. And they needed that struggle—these battles, as dangerous as they were, would shape them.
So, instead of interfering immediately, he had blended into the background using camouflage, his chakra veiled and presence undetectable. From a distance, he observed. He had decided he would only intervene if the situation truly called for it.
Now was such a time.
He had to act.
Kakashi's earlier observation was spot on—Hidan had suddenly stopped mid-movement, and the reason for that was Inoiki himself. Using his psychokinesis, Inoiki had immobilized Hidan the moment he attempted to initiate his deadly ritual using Sakura's blood. The blood-slick needle never even made it to his mouth.
Simultaneously, the masked elemental beast that had been battling Kakashi fell, impaled through its face by an ice blade. Its death drew everyone's attention.
Ino and Sakura instinctively turned toward the source of the attack.
And there he was—Inoiki, calmly seated on an elegant throne of ice. The last remnants of his camouflage technique faded, revealing his full presence for the first time.
Everyone froze.
Even Kakashi stared in stunned silence.
For a brief moment, the battlefield fell quiet.
Ino's breath caught in her throat, her eyes wide in disbelief as they filled with tears. She couldn't believe it. Her brother—whom she thought she'd never see again—was alive, sitting right in front of her.
Inoiki gave a small smile and spoke with calm familiarity, "It's been a long time, hasn't it? Hello, everyone."
His voice broke the stillness, and all eyes turned toward him with a mix of awe and relief.
Kakashi blinked a few times as if making sure he wasn't seeing things.
Ino could no longer contain herself.
She dashed toward Inoiki, cautious of her surroundings but unable to stop the flood of emotions. Tears streamed down her face as she flung her arms around him in a tight embrace.
"Brother… I thought I'd lost you forever," she whispered, her voice trembling.
Inoiki gently patted her back, his expression soft. "It's okay now. I'm here. Everything is fine—nothing happened to me. But let me handle these two first. Then we'll have that long-overdue reunion."
As soon as he said that, his eyes shifted to the battlefield once more.
Without wasting another second, Inoiki vanished from his ice throne, his figure blinking from one location to the next in bursts of speed and space-bending movement. With precise control over both his teleportation and psychokinesis, he targeted the four remaining hearts of Kakuzu.
One by one, he crushed them.
Before they could even react, the monstrous masks were seized mid-air by an invisible force. Bound in place by immense gravitational pressure, they struggled in vain as their chakra pulses flickered and died.
Within seconds, Kakuzu's backup hearts were gone.
The legendary Akatsuki operative, once feared for his near-immortality, had no time to retaliate. The tides had shifted beyond recovery.
Now, only Hidan remained.
With his partner defeated and his ritual disrupted, Hidan's confidence began to falter. He growled in frustration, trying to break free from Inoiki's psychokinetic grip. He reached for the blood-stained needle in one last attempt to carry out his attack—but it wouldn't budge.
The object trembled but remained fixed in mid-air, surrounded by an invisible field of energy. Hidan's muscles strained, his teeth clenched in rage—but it was futile. The psychokinesis binding the weapon was far too powerful.
Realizing this, Hidan had no choice but to back away, leaving the needle behind.
He was alone now.
And the battlefield was no longer in his favor.
----
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