Naruto Manga Chapter 325: There is no "after"!

Such a powerful page eh? What with Asuma neatly slicing Hidan's head off;)

So this eagerly-awaited chappie promises to deliver a stunning plan as produced by the sheer cerebral brilliance that we have come to expect from one Nara Shikamaru. As Asuma said in Chp324: "In an instant and with his fingers like that, Shikamaru has the great analytic prowess to think of 200 different possible attacks. And he possesses a sixth sense that allows him to choose the best attack from all those." Does he disappoint? Let's find out;)

Shika has analysed the situation concerning Hidan and his freaky abilities as per last chapter and he puts his plans into motion. Using his shadow technique to bind Hidan, he starts initiating the movements that Hidan would be forced to imitate and Hidan realises that the kid had figured it out. You see, the way Shika saw it, Hidan has this huge three-blade weapon whose sole purpose is to hit the target. Why? To draw blood. One cut is all he needs and then he can start his macabre plans. As per the incident with Asuma, Hidan had managed to nick his cheek before proceeding to lick the blood off the blade. Once he did that, his appearance transformed into that weird reverse-print version of himself and he hot-footed his way to a circle he had created on the ground. Why? So he can finally begin "the curse". Sooo that's why Shika deducted that he needed to be in the circle to start his curse and finish his opponent. And that's why, by virtue of his shadow technique, Shika forced Hidan to move out of the circle in order to dispel the jutsu. Asuma, Kotetsu and Izumo look on in wonder at Shika's brilliant power of mind! (It never fails to amaze me how they give away all their knowledge in battle like that=p I know it's for our benefit and all but it's just amusing heh)

Anyway, he manages to move Hidan out! Asuma tests to see if the mutual-pain jutsu's really been lifted...and it has! (Did you ever even doubt that for a second?;D) Shika binds Hidan completely, entrapping him. He can't hold out much longer! Asuma understands and swoops in, making quick work of Hidan, ergo the descriptive pic of his slicing Hidan's head clean. And all was over...

...until Hidan's decapitated head started verbalizing to Kakuzu, indignantly asking for his body to be brought over. What. The. Fudge.??! Well, they did say Akatsuki's Hidan was invincible (did you really really think that it was over?;D) and here's to proving it! Konoha's shinobi look on in amazement as Kakuzu picks up Hidan's talking head. Uh-oh... Kakuzu hasn't even showcased his skills (wonder what that might be...), Shika's used up a chunk of his chakra (and Hidan has got it in for him!!=O), Hidan is pretty much invincible (once he gets re-attached to his body), I don't know how Kotetsu and Izumo will do and I hope Asuma's got plenty of tricks up his sleeve! I realize that the plot has to progress and reach a climax and everything but hopefully, Konoha prevails and *gulp* no one dies=( Chapter 326 preview: Hidan, Kakuzu, finally these two are getting serious!! "The cursed one".

PS: Isn't the page pretty? I dl-ed 325 done by a new group of scanlators, Naruto Buzz, and was just *blown* by their clean. It looks almost grayscale. Very neat. I'm not into dl-ing the raws so much so I can't say if there's been any hq raws circulating, but if this is what we readers can expect, then keep your oculars on this group!

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To check out a drabble I just read (implied Kakasaku): 'Pretend' by FallenXAngelXMystery. Angsty but good.