The Judgment

Asuma's Ash Pile Burning appears to burn Hidan alive, but the team is horrified to see Asuma scorched as well. When Asuma charges in with his chakra blades, Hidan drives his Retractable Spear into his own leg, and the identical wound opens on Asuma, dropping him. Hidan moves to pierce his own heart and finish the job, only for Shikamaru to halt him at the last instant with the Shadow-Neck Binding Technique. Aware he cannot restrain Hidan for long and cannot count on Kakuzu to keep clear of the fight, Shikamaru studies his enemy and pieces together a defence.

Turning over Hidan's talk of gods, rituals, and curses, and remembering that Hidan ignored Asuma's blow after licking blood from his scythe and stepping onto his Jashin diagram, Shikamaru realises the curse only links their bodies once Hidan has swallowed his target's blood, and only functions while Hidan stands within his painted circle. Combining his Shadow Imitation with the neck bind, he drags Hidan clear of the diagram, and Kakuzu privately admires the boy's sharp reasoning.

Shikamaru deduces the two conditions behind Hidan's Curse Technique, that it requires ingesting the victim's blood and that it holds only inside his ritual circle, then uses his shadow techniques to force Hidan out of it. Asuma confirms the theory by hurling a shuriken that tears Hidan's ear without any matching injury appearing on his own.

With the curse broken, Asuma limps toward the trapped Hidan, who begs Kakuzu to intervene. Kakuzu refuses, telling him his own carelessness caused this. Asuma then uses his Chakra Blade: Straight Line to decapitate Hidan.

The episode adapts chapters 323 through 325 and sits within the Akatsuki Suppression Mission arc. It highlights Shikamaru's tactical mind as the decisive factor against an immortal opponent, framing the victory as a puzzle solved rather than a contest of raw power. The friction between Hidan and Kakuzu, who declines to rescue his partner, underscores the pair's dysfunctional dynamic.