Hidan

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

Background
Hidan hailed from Yugakure. After Yugakure deteriorated from a shinobi village to a tourist site, Hidan became infuriated with how things were turning out. He believed that the shinobi that resided there were meant to kill, and thus slaughtered his neighbors before leaving Yugakure and joining the cult-like faith known as, a religion that worshiped a deity of the same name. The primary teaching of this faith appears to be outright slaughter, where anything less than utter destruction is considered a sin. The amulet around his neck is a symbol of Jashin and he used it to pray to his god before battling, requesting a good kill, or (when he was not allowed to) for forgiveness. After a fight, should he have time, Hidan performed a thirty-minute ritual consisting of lying within a Jashin symbol inscribed on the ground with a pike impaled through his chest. Hidan claimed to be very devout to his faith, refusing to battle Yugito Nii without praying, and often claiming to be bringing his god's judgment down on his opponents.

Personality
Hidan was one of the most foul-mouthed, disrespectful characters in the series; he frequently sweared, cursed, and complained at allies and opponents alike. He rarely used honorifics when speaking, and even then, usually as a form of sarcasm. He was the only member of Akatsuki who did not respect their leader, Pain, and openly declared his willingness to kill him around others. The only respect he ever seemed to give was to his god, and even then, he was quite willing to use his name as an insult. He openly held his partner, Kakuzu, in contempt for his habit of blasphemy, love of money, and Kakuzu's frequent ridicule of Hidan's religion and battle style. Despite this, whenever Hidan was in the mood to kill, the two worked together flawlessly in battle.

Hidan had absolutely no moral restraints regarding who he killed. He considers slaughter a religious calling, and often took considerable pleasure in making his opponents' deaths as painful as possible. Given the requirements of his voodoo-like curse ritual, he was quite willing to inflict pain and injuries on himself, and openly relished the shared pain between him and the cursed victim. Despite this, he reacted "normally" (that is, he doesn't enjoy the pain) to being injured by someone else, or when the opponent doesn't share the pain.

Hidan was shown to be a sadist, particularly during his ceremony, taking sincere pleasure in the pain he caused his victims. His behavior in the anime bordered on insanity; he was frequently heard shrieking loudly while attacking and laughed maniacally when he was about to kill Asuma. Hidan also appeared to be quite spiteful towards his enemies (and nearly everyone else), even commenting to Shikamaru that "I've been waiting for this." ("this" referring to using his ceremony to kill Shikamaru).

However, his immortality had made him very arrogant (though not quite stupid), and he frequently engaged opponents with no regard for strategy, save to acquire some of their blood. Although ridiculed for his foolishness by Kakuzu and Shikamaru alike, and being obviously inferior in tactical genius to either of them, he was able to analyze the nature and limits of Shikamaru's Shadow Imitation Technique and conducted battle accordingly (though he retains his arrogant attitude even under these circumstances). Interestingly, he seemed to panic when Shikamaru took control of his body, shouting at Kakuzu to do something in a rather frantic voice. He didn't particularly like it when Kakuzu assisted in his battles, and only called for his help when he decided he needed it. Kakuzu tended to return the favor by coming in "late" and letting Hidan "die" as punishment for his arrogance.

Sasuke Retrieval Saga
Though he didn't make an actual appearence, Hidan did appear as a hologram at the end of episode 135.

Rescue Gaara Saga
Zetsu informed the rest of the Akastuki members that enemies were approaching the base. Hidan was complaining by his lack of progress finding his Jinchūriki, and wanted to have "a piece of the action" in the case of Team Guy and Team Kakashi, but he didn't get the chance as Kisame had "an old score to settle with that strange beast".

Hunt for the Two-Tails
Hidan and Kakuzu were first revealed after cornering Yugito Nii, host of the Two-Tailed Demon Cat, in the sewers of Kumogakure. Intially, Hidan arrogantly offered Yugito the option of surrender, claiming his faith did not allow him to fight an opponent only to leave them half-dead (for the capture of her bijuu). However, even when Yugito refused his offer and transformed herself into the demon cat, the Akatsuki duo managed to defeat her, thus allowing Zetsu to take her off their hands. After Hidan completed his ritual, the duo continued to the Land of Fire.

Assault of The Temple of Fire
Upon arrival in the Land of Fire, Hidan begrudgingly joined Kakuzu in attacking a temple so that they could collect the bounty on the head monk, Chiriku. The monk and his numerous subordinates were defeated and slaughtered, and Hidan repeated his lengthy ritual. Afterward, Hidan traveled with Kakuzu to take the monk's body to the nearest bounty station.

Bounty Station Ambush
Reaching the bounty station, Hidan opted to stay outside, not liking the fact the station was hidden inside a lavatory that smelled particularly foul. While he waited for Kakuzu to collect the money, Hidan was ambushed by Asuma Sarutobi, Izumo Kamizuki, Kotetsu Hagane, and Shikamaru Nara. Despite being immobilized and stabbed in the chest by two large kunai, Hidan surprised the Konoha ninja by simply asking who they are.

Kakuzu soon arrived, forcing Hidan's assailants to fall back. Instructing Kakuzu to leave the battle to him, Hidan exchanged blows with Asuma, eventually succeeding in obtaining some blood and initializing his curse. Not realizing what Hidan has done, Asuma charged and fell over in pain when Hidan stabs himself in the leg. As Hidan prepared to kill Asuma, Shikamaru, realizing what was going on, again immobilized Hidan (with his shadow technique), but had difficulty maintaining his hold on the missing nin. While Hidan was momentarily restrained, Shikamaru analyzed everything Hidan has said and done up to that point, eventually figuring out the weakness of Hidan's technique. With that, Shikamaru managed to force Hidan from the safety of his symbol, temporarily releasing Asuma from Hidan's curse.

After Shikamaru explained Hidan's jutsu, Asuma tested the theory by slicing Hidan's ear without reprisal, so Asuma proceeded to decapitate Hidan. To the leaf ninjas' horror, Hidan's severed head loudly cursed and sweared at Asuma for doing so and Kakuzu for not stopping them. Kakuzu casually shrugged this off as he felt it was Hidan's fault for telling him to not interfere. While Asuma and the others stood shocked by Hidan's survival, Kakuzu reattached Hidan's head to his body. As Kakuzu dealt with Izumo and Kotetsu, Hidan re-entered his symbol and, once more, linked himself to Asuma. Hidan swung his scythe at Asuma, only for Asuma to duck and the scythe to bury into Hidan's own vital organs. Asuma doubled over with pain, and as Shikamaru rushed to Asuma's aid, Hidan used the opportunity to stab himself through the heart with his pike, which fatally injured Asuma.

Reinforcements from Konoha arrived as Asuma collapsed on the verge of death. Although Hidan expressed interest in getting to kill them as well, the Akatsuki leader called him and Kakuzu away. Angry and promising to kill the Konoha ninja later, Hidan left with Kakuzu to a secluded area, where they spent the 3 days sealing the demon cat. During this time, all of Hidan's previous injuries were healed.

Konoha's Retaliatory Ambush
Once the sealing is over, Hidan and his partner, Kakuzu, headed for Konoha, eager to continue their battle. Along the way, the two are again ambushed by Shikamaru, the latter having waited for them. Although Kakuzu managed to escape from Shikamaru's shadow, Hidan was left under Shikamaru's control and is forced to fight Kakuzu.

When Kakuzu was apparently killed by Kakashi Hatake, Kakashi prepared to finish Hidan as well, but was repelled by the still living Kakuzu. Freed from Shikamaru's shadow due to its inherent time limit, Hidan charged at Kakashi while Kakuzu fired blasts of elemental attacks at the two. Recognizing the two Akatsuki were too powerful as a pair and needed to be separated (and plotting revenge on Hidan for Asuma's death), Shikamaru volunteered to draw the immortal away. Hidan, having been trapped by Shikamaru's technique so many times, was determined not to fall prey to it again and made sure to avoid the shadows. In doing so, Hidan mocked Shikamaru for fighting in a sneaky and distant manner. While focusing on the shadow attacks, Hidan didn't notice Shikamaru suddenly appearing close enough to stun him with a punch to the face. As a result, he was trapped by Shikamaru's shadow and was lead away by him.

Hidan was led towards an area that is surrounded with wire and exploding tags, which Shikamaru had prepared a few days in advance. However, Hidan had no desire to escape, and he attacked Shikamaru when the shadow jutsu wears off, and it appeared as though he has acquired some of Shikamaru's blood. Quickly drawing his symbol and transforming, Hidan seemingly killed Shikamaru. Once Hidan departed, the fallen leaf ninja jumped up, still alive, and tried to decapitate Hidan from behind, although failing to make a cut deep enough. Surprised that Shikamaru was alive, Hidan learns he has been tricked into consuming Kakuzu's blood, so he, in effect, destroyed one of Kakuzu's hearts.

As Hidan attempted to kill Shikamaru in retaliation, Hidan was again stopped by Shikamaru's shadow. With Hidan restrained, Shikamaru covered Hidan with the surrounding exploding tags, tying Hidan to the spot. With Hidan unable to move, Shikamaru activated a prepared mark to cause the ground beneath Hidan to break away. He then informed Hidan that the land that they're on belongs to his clan and that they would ensure that Hidan remained bound to it for eternity. Finally, having a chance to avenge Asuma's death, Shikamaru lit a cigarette and tossed it at Hidan, causing the exploding tags to detonate. Hidan was literally blown to bits. As Hidan's remains fell into the pit below, his detached head promised to kill Shikamaru in any way possible. Shikamaru caused the pit to collapse, trapping the screaming Hidan beneath the rubble. . As Hidan was required to periodically kill to retain his immortality Hidan is considered deceased.

Abilities
Hidan's primary ability was his complete inability to die, a result of extensive experimenting with the Jashin religion's various jutsu. Although, in one of the Databooks it was stated that in order for Hidan to remain immortal he must to continue to kill others, presumably with his special seal that links his body with their's. His immortality allowed him to survive numerous fatal injuries, and almost any form of dismemberment; he even retained his ability to speak after having his head cut off. However, his head still needed to be connected to his body in order to control it, so Kakuzu apparently helped reattach it and other body parts when needed. This inability to die was the primary reason for his partnership with Kakuzu. Since Kakuzu could not kill him, Kakuzu did not need to find new partners after his fits of rage. Although the two disliked working together, this advantage made them the ideal team. Furthermore, while capable of surviving injuries that would otherwise be fatal, Hidan was still not immune to pain (though he seemed to get over it very quickly, partly because of his masochistic nature).

In battle, Hidan wielded a large crimson triple-bladed scythe that he used as a multipurpose attack; he wielded it as a short to long-range weapon. He controled it with a long rope that was connected to a coil hidden under his robe. Although he was very agile and skilled in wielding it, capable of deflecting a swarm of shuriken thrown at close range and keeping up with Kakashi who is skilled at taijutsu himself, Hidan claimed that the large size inhibited his attack speed. He even openly declared himself as Akatsuki's member with the slowest attacking speed. Shikamaru also speculated that the weapon was more designed to draw blood instead of dealing major damage. Using this weapon, Hidan made every attempt to acquire an opponent's blood, where upon consuming it he drew the Jashin symbol on the ground. This process somehow "linked" his body with his opponents. Once this link was established, Hidan took on a grim reaper-like appearance with black skin and white bone-like markings. In this state, he was essentially a voodoo doll for his opponent (any damage that was done to him was also inflicted on the opponent). Hidan referred to this as his "curse", and he was fond of toying with his victims by inflicting nonfatal injuries with his pike. He took obvious pleasure in their shared pain. Once he was done toying with the opponent, or if he wanted to kill them quickly, he impaled himself through the heart, killing them and relishing in intense satisfaction.

Despite its effectiveness, the curse had many requirements and could be a slow technique to employ. The curse may be avoided if the opponent happened to know what to look for and knew of Hidan's inability to die. The link between Hidan's curse and his opponent could be broken prematurely if Hidan was removed from the symbol; however, Hidan would remain in his transformed state, allowing the curse to be easily re-established by him simply entering the symbol's borders once more.

Trivia

 * Both Hidan and Kakuzu will make their first video game debuts in Naruto Shippūden: Gekitou Ninja Taisen EX 3.
 * Hidan's foul-mouthed personality and attitude is reminiscent of Tayuya of the Sound Four, who ironically also ended up fighting Shikamaru.
 * Though Hidan is immortal, he will eventually die. This is due to the fact that his immortality comes from killing others while under his curse, which he is unable to do while he is now dismembered and buried.

Quotes

 * "No need to tell me, Kakuzu."
 * "Now! Let's savor the utmost of suffering together!"
 * "You're already under my curse."
 * "As the other dies, their agony radiates through my body, and living through it is pure ecstasy!"
 * "Kakuzu-kun, pretty please? With sugar on top?"
 * "End of the line"
 * "Dude, that was weak"
 * "Are my scythe and abilities that scary?"