Hidan

is the partner of Kakuzu despite there multual dislike of each other, and was the second newest member of Akatsuki at the time of his expulsion. The first kanji in Hidan's name (飛) stands for hisha, the rook in shogi.

Background
Hidan belongs to a cult-like faith known as, a religion that worships a deity of the same name. The primary teach of this faith appears to be outright indescriminate slaughter, and where anything less than utter destruction is considered a sin. The amulet around his neck is a symbol of Jashin and he uses it to pray to his god before battling, requesting a good kill or, when he is not allowed too, for forgiveness. After a fight, should he have time, Hidan performs a thirty-minute ritual, consisting of lying within a Jashin symbol inscribed on the ground with a pike impaled through his chest. . Hidan claims to be very devout to his faith, refusing the battle Yugito Nii without praying and often claiming to be bringing his gods judgement down on his opponents. It is unknown which hidden villaige Hidan is from since his headband shows a symbol unlike any known village badge.

Personality
Hidan is one of the most foul-mouthed and disrespectual characters in the series and frequently swears and insults both partner and opponents. He rarely uses honourifics when speaking and even then usually as a form of sarcasm. He is the only member of Akatsuki who does not respect their leader Pein and openly challenges him in front of others. When Pein ordered him to retreat from a battle he was enjoying Hidan entertains the idea of using his curse on the leader. The only respect he ever seems to give is too his god, and even then he is quite willing to use his name as an insult. He openly holds his partner Kakuzu in contempt for his habit of blasphamy, love of money, and frequent ridicule of his religion and battle style. Despite this the two work together flawlessly in battle, whenever Hidan is in the mood to share a kill.

Although all members of Akatuski are dangerous killers, Hidan is probably the closest to being a genuine psychopath, showing obvious signs of sadomasochism. He has absolutely no moral restraints regarding who he kills, considering slaughter a religious calling, and often takes considerable pleasure in making his opponent's deaths as painful as possible. Given the requirements of his voodoo-like curse ritual he is quite willing to inflict pain and injuries on himself and openly relishes the shared pain between him and the cursed victim. Despite his sadistic attitude and zealous love of death, he has expressed a desire to die himself, but can't because of his immortality.

However, this same ability has made him very arrogant and he frequently engages opponents with no regard for strategy save to aquire some of their blood. Also, for an Akatsuki, he is not particularly bright and prone to panic when a battle isn't going his way. Despite his animosity for his partner he will also turn to him for help with tides turn against him and is grudgingly grateful whenever Kakuzu patches him up.

Abilities
Hidan's primary abilty is his complete inability to die. How he has acquired this gift is never revealed and it is the primary cause of his arrogant sadio-masogenistic tendencies. His immortality (or more accurately 'invulnerability', since his age and lifespan is unknown) allows him to survive repeated fatal injuries and almost any form of dismemberment, even retaining the ability to speak after being decapitated. Despite this, his head still needs to be connected to his body in order to control it. Kakuzu assists him in these instances by reattaching his severed body parts with his threads, allowing the wounds to heal with time. This inability to die is the primary reason for his partnership with Kakuzu, since he cannot kill him he does not need to find new partners after killing them in fits of rage. Although the two dislike working together, this advantage makes them the ideal team.

In battle, Hidan wields a large crimson triple-bladed scythe that he uses as a projectile while controlling it with a long rope connected to a coil hidden under his robe. Although he is very agile and skilled in wielding it (capable deflecting a swarm of shuriken thrown at close range with relitive ease), Hidan claims that the large size inhibits his speed. The weapons triple blades are not meant to increase his attack power, but rather to increase the chance of drawing blood. Should the scythe become inconvenient or unavailable for this purpose, Hidan can also use a number of retractable pikes as weapons.

During battle Hidan makes every attempt to acquire an opponent's blood where, upon consuming it, he draws the Jashin symbol on the ground. This procces somehow "links" his body with his opponents. Once this link is established, Hidan takes on a grim reaper-like appearance with black skin and white bone like markings. In this state he is essentially a voodoo doll for his opponent; any damage that is done to him is also inflicted on the opponent. Hidan refers to this as his 'curse', and is fond of toying with his victims by inflicting nonfatal injuries with his pike, takening obvious pleasure in their shared pain. Once he is done toying with the opponent, or just wants to kill them quickly, he impales himself through the heart, killing them.

Despite its effectiveness, the curses many requirements make it a slow technique to employ and can be avoided if the opponent knows what to look for. The links can also be broken prematurely if Hidan is removed from the symbol, though his tranformation remain, allowing it to be easily reestablished by simply reentering its boarders.

Hunt for the Nine-Tails
Hidan and Kakuzu are first revealed after cornering Yugito Nii, host of the Two-Tailed Demon Cat in the sewers of Kumogakure. Even when Yugito transformed herself into the demon cat, the Akatsuki duo managed to defeat her, allowing Zetsu to take her off their hands. After Hidan completes his ritual, the duo continues to the Land of Fire.

Upon arrival, Hidan begrudgingly joins Kakuzu in attacking a temple so that they can collect the bounty on the head monk. The monk and his subordinates are defeated and slaughtered, and they take the monk's body to the nearest bounty station. Hidan opts to stay outside, not liking that the bounty station is hidden inside a lavatory and the smell. While he waits for Kakuzu to collect the bounty, Hidan is ambushed by Asuma Sarutobi, Izumo Kamizuki, Kotetsu Hagane, and Shikamaru Nara. Despite being immobilized, and stabed in the chest by two large kunai, Hidan suprises the Konoha nin by simply asking who they are.

Kakuzu soon after arrives to help, forcing Hidan's assailants to fall back. Instructing Kakuzu to leave the battle to him, Hidan exchanges blows with Asuma, eventually succeeding in obtaining some blood and initalising his curse. Not realizing what Hidan has done, Asuma charges, though falls over in pain when Hidan stabs himself in the leg. As Hidan prepares to kill Asuma, Shikamaru, realizing what's going on, again immobilizes Hidan with his shadow. While Hidan is restrained, Shikamaru analyzes everything Hidan has said and done up to that point, eventually figuring out the weakness of Hidan's technique. With that, Shikamaru forces Hidan to leave the safety of his symbol, releasing Asuma from Hidan's influence.

After Shikamaru explains Hidan's jutsu, and testing the theory, Asuma decapitates Hidan. To the leaf ninjas horror the severed head loudly curses Asuma for cutting off his head and Kakuzu for not stopping him. Kakuzu casually shrugs this off as his fault for telling him not to interfer. While Asuma and the others stand shocked by Hidan's survival, Kakuzu reattaches Hidan's head to his body. As Kakuzu deals with Izumo and Kotetsu, Hidan reenters his symbol and forces his scythe into his stomach, rooting the relinked Asuma to the spot with pain. As Shikamaru rushes to Asuma's aid, Hidan stabs himself through the heart with his pike, fatally injuring Asuma.

Reinforcements from Konoha arrive as Asuma collapes on the verge of death. Although Hidan expresses interest in getting to kill them as well, the Akatsuki leader calls him and Kakuzu away. Promising to kill them later, Hidan leaves with Kakuzu to a secluded area where they spend the next week sealing the demon cat and the Three Tails. Once the sealings are over, the two head for Konoha, eager to continue their battle. Along the way, the two are again ambushed by Shikamaru, the latter having been waiting for them. Although Kakuzu manages to escape from Shikamaru's shadow, Hidan is left under Shikamaru's control and is forced to fight Kakuzu.

When Kakuzu is apparently killed by Kakashi Hatake, Kakashi prepares to finish Hidan as well, but is repelled by the still living Kakuzu. Freed from Shikamaru's shadow due to its inherent time limit, Hidan charges at Kakashi while Kakuzu fires blasts of elemental attacks at the two. Recognising the two Akatsuki are too powerful as a pair and need to be seperated (and plotting revenge on Hidan for Asumas death), Shikamaru volunteers to draw the immortal away. Hidan, having been trapped by Shikamaru's technique so many times, is determined not to fall prey to it again and makes sure to avoid Shikamaru's shadow. In doing so, he doesn't pay attention to his surrondings allowing Shikamaru to get close and stun him with a punch to the face. Trapped by Shikamaru's shadow as a result, Hidan is lead away by Shikamaru.

Upon reaching his destination, Shikamaru surrounds the area in exploding tags, preventing Hidan's escaping. However the immortal has no desire to do that and attacks then the shadow wears off, managing to get some blood in the process. Quickly drawing his symbol and transforming Hidan seemingly kills Shikamaru. However as he departs the fallen leaf ninja jumps up, still alive and tries to decapitate him from behind but fails to make a cut deep enough. Surprised that Shikamaru is alive, Hidan learns he has been tricked into consuming Kakuzu's blood, so he in effect destroyed another one of Kakuzu's hearts.

As Hidan tries to kill Shikamaru in retaliation, he is again stopped by Shikamaru's shadow. With Hidan restrained, Shikamaru covers Hidan with the surrounding exploding tags, tying Hidan to the spot. With Hidan unable to fight back, Shikamaru activates a preprepared mark to cause the ground beneath Hidan to break away. Finally having a chance to avenge Asuma's death, Shikamaru lights a cigarette and tosses it at Hidan, causing the exploding tags to detonate. As his remains fall into the pit below, Hidan's detached head promises to kill Shikamaru in any way possible and that his god will deliver his judgement. Shikamaru coldly causes the pit to collapse, trapping Hidan, still screaming curses, beneath the rubble and burying him alive. Despite his immortality Akatsuki makes no move to recover him and Pein no longer considers him a member.