Chapter 260: A Fate Worse Than Death

Disclaimer: Naruto and all of its characters belong to Shueisha and Masashi Kishimoto. I own nothing but the original characters I create.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author notes-

Chapter 260: A Fate Worse Than Death

"Thanks…" Asuma opened his eyes and saw that Ino had already healed all his wounds. He then looked around and noted Chouji sleeping close by. Shikamaru was at his side, but he wasn't looking at him; instead, he was staring into the distance.

"What the!..."

Asuma almost choked when he saw Naruto holding the head of Hidan while the rest of the body stumbled around aimlessly.

There were also at least a hundred clones of Naruto fighting the other ninja, the one who had his face covered. He could see all sorts of elemental reactions in the distance as this one tried to fend the clones off. By the looks of it, he wasn't having much luck.

"Hinata Hyuga?... When did she…" Asuma had just noticed the girl standing a bit further away. She was glaring at Naruto right now.

"She won't respond right now," Ino told him. "But after this is over, don't forget to give your thanks. She saved your life."

"She did?" He had presumed that Naruto had done something to break the curse Hidan had placed on him. He was shocked to find out that it had been Hinata who did it.

"What are you going to do with him? Maybe if you destroy his body completely, he won't be able to regenerate," Hinata suggested to Naruto.

He turned to her and showed her a smile that made her wary. "One should be careful when they pursue this type of immortality if they're so weak."

"Hey! Who are you calling weak? Wait until I can get my head back onto my body. Then I'll—ouch!" Hidan flinched when Naruto kicked the body away.

He then began to levitate in the air while still holding onto the head.

The group wondered what he had in store for the Akatsuki member, and then… they saw him ascend into the sky at a tremendous speed.

Naruto ascended so fast that they could see the shockwaves being created as his body broke the sound barrier.

In a moment, he disappeared into the clouds.

"What is he planning?... Does he want to drop the head?" Ino muttered.

"No. I think he's taking it further away," Hinata said. She was able to watch him with her special eyes for a bit longer than the rest. "He just keeps going up… He's out of my range already."

All of a sudden, Hidan's body tripped over and began to shake violently on the ground.

"What's happening to the body?" Asuma asked.

"It's shaking from the cold…" Ino noted.

Shikamaru looked back at the sky. "I see… That's what he was planning… What a terrible fate." He was the only one to realize why the body was cold.

Not even a minute later, they saw the figure of Naruto descending at a tremendous speed until he landed, cracking the ground in the process.

"It's done."

"What did you do to the head?" Ino asked.

"I threw it toward the moon," Naruto responded.

"You went to the moon?" Asuma couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Oh no… I'm not that fast yet. I just went into open space and tossed the head in its general direction. It may take a few years to arrive," Naruto shrugged. "Not my problem anymore. Now he can live forever, as a head floating in the vastness of space."

They felt shivers run through their bodies. Like Shikamaru had said, that was indeed a terrible fate.

Hidan would constantly feel the freezing temperatures of space cracking his skin while also being suffocated by the lack of oxygen. And yet… he wouldn't be able to die, no matter how much time passed or how much he suffered.

"What about the body?" Hinata asked, pointing at the shaking body on the ground.

"Oh…let me see." Naruto got closer to it before placing his hands on the ground.

The dirt beneath Hidan's body began to move and change, transforming into sand.

"That jutsu…!" Shikamaru and the others stared in shock at what Naruto was doing. This was something they had seen before.

"Prison Sand Burial." Naruto made one hand seal, and the sand forced the body to become buried dozens of feet into the earth.

After a short moment, Naruto returned the dirt to its previous state. Once the grass had the chance to grow back, no one would be able to tell that an immortal body was buried deep underground.

"There… I even made you a tomb. Be grateful," Naruto said as he stood back up.

"That's Gaara's jutsu… How can you use it?" Asuma asked.

"Some things are better left unknown… Trust me," Naruto responded.

When he absorbed the Bijuus, he gained more than just their chakra. He also acquired their affinities and some of their knowledge. The rest came with practice, thanks to his endless army of clones who were training every day, all day.

Right now, he could use hundreds of different jutsus and had access to several special bloodline abilities.

Ignoring the stares, Naruto turned to Hinata. "Your use of natural energy was a bit clumsy, but overall… you did a good job. Considering how little time you've been training in it."

"T-thanks… I still have a long way to go," Hinata said.

"You need more practice," he said, pointing to his right, where his clones had been fighting Kakuzu.

"What do y—"

Hinata was interrupted by the sound of Naruto snapping his fingers. As he did, all of his clones disappeared, revealing the form of Kakuzu, who was still standing and didn't seem seriously injured.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Kakuzu shouted. "Are you going to fight me for real, or are you going to keep playing around with those clones?" His tone showed his outrage.

Naruto smiled. His clones had only been keeping him busy but didn't try to kill him or hurt him. This was because he had initially intended to face this opponent in person.

But now he had a different idea in mind. "Hinata… Kill this one for me."

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