^ Team 10 regroups to retry taking out Hidan and Kakuzu once more, with Kakashi going along with them (had he not gone along, Tsunade would not have permitted them to go, even though they WOULD have gone either way). Prior to the mission execution, Shikamaru hands Kakashi something. They find them using Ino's shintenshin no jutsu, and then after a bit of kicking and scratching, Shikamaru manages to trap Hidan and Kakuzu in his shadow using a clever combination of his shadow jutsu with the chakra knives he recently obtained from Asuma.
...Or so it seems. Kakuzu was already prepared for the shadow jutsu, having already seen it, and manages to escape capture, though he is later forced to dodge Hidan's attacks, for Hidan could not escape it. Chouji aims an attack at Kakuzu, but Kakuzu reveals his earth affinity by hardening his entire body and thus nullifying the attack.
...Or so it seems. Prior to this, Yamato explains about how each element has its weakness with the others, i.e. water beats fire, fire beats wind, wind beats lightning, lightning beats earth, and earth beats water (some of them may not make much sense, but this isn't really pokemon we're talking about, are we?). Basically, Naruto's wind affinity made him weak against Sasuke's fire, but it is effective against his Chidori attacks. And Kakashi manages to demonstrate just how effective lightning was against earth by shoving a Raikiri straight into Kakuzu's backside into his heart, killing him.
...Or so it seems. Apparently, Kakuzu's body was composed of more than just one heart; it actually contained FIVE (it's now four, since Kakashi destroyed one). Kakuzu now takes the coat off and begins to get serious, with his four remaining hearts appearing in the form of animal-like masks. Aside from their weird appearances, the masks held a deadly secret (well, not much of a secret anymore): they each had a different element affiliation, and therefore they were able to shoot extremely deadly high-powered elemental attacks. Kakuzu and Hidan thus began their team attack, where Hidan (he's free from the shadow jutsu now) goes in for a close-range attack on Kakashi. By being distracted by Hidan, Kakashi becomes unable to dodge Kakuzu's deadly wind attack, and takes the full force of the attack. Hidan, being immortal, did not even need to dodge. Their teamwork seemed flawless.
...Or so it seems. Shikamaru devises a plan to trap Hidan again with his shadow (and he again does, because of Hidan's carelessness to realize that just dodging the shadow isn't enough) and split him off from Kakuzu so their teamwork would cease. While he does this, Kakuzu bombards elemental attacks all over the rest of the team...but luckily Kakashi was still functioning enough to produce TWO Raikiris in each hand to counter the attacks (at this point, his entire green vest is completely destroyed, and he looks seriously ragged). Before Shikamaru left, Kakashi gives something to Shikamaru. Shikamaru leads Hidan off from the main battleground into a forest, where the forest is completely strewn with exploding tags, making any false move Hidan would make into his last. Shikamaru got Hidan where he wanted him, while Kakashi, Chouji and Ino were left to deal with only Kakuzu...seemed fair enough.
...Or so it seems. The shadow binding on Hidan stops again, and Hidan maniacally yells how the battle has gone in his favor and rushes straight into Shikamaru. Shikamaru tries to dodge, but unfortunately he is cut, and Hidan licks the blade.... Kakuzu remarks on how terrible a mistake Shikamaru made to split them apart, then says that he is definitely strong...and definitely old. So old, that he says the very first Konoha shinobi he ever fought...was the First Hokage. He sends his tendrils to try to capture Kakashi and the rest in order to take their hearts (cuz taking hearts was how he managed to live this long...). Before Shikamaru can do anything, Hidan finishes setting up his ritual, and performs the fatal blow...and Shikamaru falls. Kakuzu in turn finally captures Kakashi and begins to take his heart.
...Or so it seems. Remember that "something" I mentioned earlier that Shikamaru gave to Kakashi, who later gave back to Shikamaru? Well, that something was actually a capsule. A blood capsule. Carrying KAKUZU's blood...which was on Hidan's blade when he licked it...so really, the only thing that really died from Hidan's ritual was yet another one of Kakuzu's hearts...which preoccupied Kakuzu long enough for Kakashi to escape near death. And speaking of escaping near death, Shikamaru also gets up and attacks Kakuzu with a short sword. Hidan begins to stab Shikamaru with his pike, but gets trapped in Shikamaru's jutsu ONCE AGAIN. Meanwhile, Chouji manages to hold off several of Kakuzu's attacks with his oversized attack, but Kakuzu, by sacrificing a heart, gives himself more power to the other two remaining hearts, and proceeds to shoot an overwhelmingly powerful blast at the team while the team is completely trapped by the tendrils. They were really going to die.
...Or so it seems. Naruto, Sakura, Sai, and Yamato come as reinforcements, and by a combination attack of Yamato's water jutsu, and Naruto's new wind-element rasengan, they completely nullify Kakuzu's attack. Sakura and Sai go off to back up Shikamaru, while Naruto resolves to take out Kakuzu on his own. Meanwhile, Shikamaru demonstrates another cool shadow move where he uses his shadow to summon EVERY SINGLE exploding tag and stick them all onto Hidan, preventing him from doing anything. He then activates a switch, where the ground underneath Hidan opens up, and Hidan is lowered into the pit, exploding tags and all. Shikamaru then says how the forest they were in belonged to his family, and that the pit is Hidan's grave. He lights up a cigarette, and thinks about how Asuma has passed on his will of fire down to him, and then as a climax, tosses the cigarette into the pit, creating a huge explosion. Naruto is finishing creating his Rasenshuriken attack, where he goes in and gives Kakuzu the beating of his life!
...Or so it seems. Like every single time Naruto uses a jutsu for the first time in battle, this jutsu also failed to execute properly. The others want to help out, but Naruto reinstates his resolve to fight alone, and does the same maneuver on Kakuzu once more. In a moment of carelessness, Kakuzu concentrates only on Naruto with the jutsu in his hand, only to find that he had only killed a clone, and that the REAL Naruto was RIGHT behind him with the Rasenshuriken, and gave him the beating of his life!
...And this time, its for real. Kakashi goes up and delivers the finishing blow to Kakuzu, who was completely defeated by the multiple blows from Naruto's attack, while Sakura and Sai arrive to realize that Shikamaru had already finished the job. Back home, Tsunade tells them to take a break, while Shikamaru tells Kurenai that he'll protect her unborn child as Asuma would have wanted. He reveals who the "king" really is in a Shougi match between him and his dad, and his dad shows Shikamaru that the son can never beat the father, as Shikamaru's dad deals Shikamaru a rare loss in Shougi.
...In a different area, Sasuke is shown standing over a dozen or so bodies, none of whom he killed, much to Orochimaru's concern. Sasuke remarks that he only wants to kill the ones that he REALLY wants to kill...
...And that's all of what's happened until this point
. The length is ludicrous, I know, but I simply just got carried away...
;;
. If his intent this whole time was to kill Orochimaru after he's reached his peak, then all that stuff he said to Naruto and Sakura about being a willing container for Orochimaru could have been complete bullsh1t. Now, if it really were bullsh1t, then I'm guessing the reason why he bothered to say such bullsh1t is that even if he did fulfill his revenge, it's highly unlikely he'll ever be accepted back into the village again...he definitely knows this; therefore that means he basically told Naruto and Sakura to just forget about him.
But if the anime goes with the manga, that would be even better, I think. 